Datasets:

Glow-01

/

multiews-dataset01

like 0

Jeff Strohl’s stomach dropped when he checked his mail on July 21. “I know about the secret you are keeping from your wife and everyone else,” a mysterious letter read. “More importantly, I have evidence of what you’ve been hiding.” The letterwriter, GreySquare15, threatened to expose a secret — unless Strohl wired the sender $15,750 in bitcoin. “First, it’s disbelief. Then, a sinking feeling in your stomach — you search your soul and say ‘What have I done? What secret is actually damning?’ ” Strohl said. “Then, you recognize, I don’t have anything that’s gonna bother me if other people knew.” Strohl, who lives in Washington’s Chevy Chase neighborhood, has been happily married for 14 years and said he recognized the letter was a likely scam. After posting about it on a community listserv the next morning, he realized he was one of several residents in the area to receive similar threats in the past month in a scheme the FBI says appears to target affluent neighborhoods across the country. The double-sided letter, postmarked from Nashville, came with step-by-step instructions explaining how to work with bitcoin. If Strohl didn’t pay the $15,750 “confidentiality fee” within nine days, GreySquare15 threatened to send evidence of Strohl’s alleged wrongdoings to his wife, friends and neighbors. “They leave it up to you to figure out what secret is so damning and you fill in the blanks,” Strohl said. “Psychologically, it’s really well put together.” In a particularly cheeky paragraph, the intricate instructions on how to acquire bitcoin included a caution to work only with traders who had done at least 100 transactions and had an approval rating of at least 99 percent “to avoid being scammed.” [One of the letters mailed to D.C. residents threatening to expose ‘secrets’] Geoff Jacobi, who is also a member of the Chevy Chase listserv and lives near the District, said he got a letter July 19 threatening to make known a secret he’d been hiding from his wife — from whom he’s been divorced seven years. Even so, Jacobi said the letter’s convincing language made him think to himself: “Have I done anything?” “I’m wary of scammers but my first reaction was ‘Wow, this is kind of well-written,’ ” Jacobi said, comparing the letter to “Nigerian Prince” scams and other extortion attempts. He was also asked to send the scammer about $15,000 in bitcoin to shield a secret. “At no time did it ever cross my mind that I would even think about paying it,” Jacobi said. Just four days later, he received an email from another scammer named Gus who allegedly possessed evidence from Jacobi’s webcam that shows him watching pornographic videos. “Gus wants $8,000,” Jacobi said. “Gus doesn’t know that my webcam has been blocked since the day I received my laptop.” These scammers tend to target higher-income communities — including some in the Washington and Northern Virginia area, said Andrew Ames, a spokesman in the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Flooding an area with letters ramps up the chance of fooling at least one victim, he added. Asking for a payoff in bitcoin is often part of the attempted swindle because of the anonymity and perceived tracking challenges the cryptocurrencies pose, he said. The customized blackmail threats using a name or other personalized detail to bolster the all-knowing tone in the letters may draw on names and addresses found on publicly available sites or have been acquired through private data the fraudster bought. “Because of the amount of people’s personally identifiable data out there on the dark Web, criminals can purchase this type of information and attempt to use it against you,” Ames said. “But it’s a scam, and folks should not pay the demand money.” The fact that someone appears to have access to passwords or other information — even if the information is out of date — can be unsettling all on its own. “I was concerned because of what information he might have that he could use against me,” said Sam Steinberg, a 76-year-old resident of Chevy Chase who received an extortion email last month containing an old username and password. “If he was ever to get the passwords to my bank account or to my investment account, it could be a disaster.” Ames said people should be wary of what they share online and should never pay off the scammer. Instead, he advised victims to contact local law enforcement and report the incident to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. On Tuesday, the Internet Crime Complaint Center said in statement that it has noticed increased reports of extortion attempts in the form of letters and emails. The release said the scams typically include personal information and accuse the recipient of being involved in “compromising situations” that blackmailers are prepared to make public unless the victim buys their silence. Updating passwords and usernames is a good precaution, along with being alert on the Web since scammers change the paths they use to reach potential victims, Ames said. “[The scammers] evolve, they’re trying to stay one step ahead as well,” Ames said. “If they can defraud one individual who falls for the crime and pays them the money, they see that as a good day.” ||||| Filing a Complaint with the IC3 The IC3 accepts online Internet crime complaints from either the actual victim or from a third party to the complainant. We can best process your complaint if we receive accurate and complete information from you. Therefore, we request you provide the following information when filing a complaint: ||||| A new scam threatens to reveal people's darkest secrets if they don't pay thousands of dollars in Bitcoin. News4's Erika Gonzalez reports. (Published Friday, Aug. 10, 2018) A new scam threatens to reveal the skeletons in your closet if you don't pay up thousands of dollars in Bitcoin. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says it has received numerous reports from people who live in wealthy neighborhoods that they received a letter or an email that claims someone knows their deepest darkest secrets. The letter says it will reveal those secrets unless the recipient coughs up a large sum of Bitcoin, which is harder to trace than other payment methods. Special agent Matthew Desarno with the FBI's Washington Field Office said the letters include step-by-step details on how to make the transaction, which is different from what a lot of scams used to look like. "So where in the past, many financial scams, blackmail schemes, extortion schemes, utilized wire transfers or other type of funds transfers, now we're seeing a significant rise in the use of cryptocurrency to facilitate financial scams," Desarno said. The FBI says the letters include personal information like a username or password, likely stolen from the web, to make recipients second-guess whether or not it's fake. The FBI gave the following tips for protecting yourself against such scams: Don't open emails from unknown people Check your bank accounts regularly Report it to the FBI here if you or someone you know is a victim of the scam

– "I know about the secret you are keeping from your wife and everyone else," the letter read. "More importantly, I have evidence of what you've been hiding." Jeff Strohl, resident of a wealthy Washington suburb, admits he wasn't too thrilled to read the July 21 letter postmarked from Nashville—or the roughly $15,000 bitcoin payment demanded by its author, the Washington Post reports. Strohl says he felt "a sinking feeling" and asked himself, "What have I done? What secret is actually damning?" Then he decided he had no such secret and posted the letter on a community listserv the next morning. Lo and behold, others in and around the Chevy Chase neighborhood said they'd received similar letters. The FBI says affluent neighborhoods nationwide are being hit by the scam, which uses cryptocurrency to aid anonymity and often includes targets' personal information (like usernames and passwords) stolen off the Web, per NBC Washington. Strohl's scammer even offered detailed instructions on using bitcoin and advised him to work with highly rated traders "to avoid being scammed." "I'm wary of scammers but my first reaction was 'Wow, this is kind of well-written,'" says DC-area target Geoff Jacobi, who later received a blackmail email from "Gus" claiming to have webcam images of Jacobi watching porn. "Gus wants $8,000," says Jacobi. "Gus doesn’t know that my webcam has been blocked since the day I received my laptop." The FBI's advice: Victims should contact law enforcement or report any scam letters to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

(CNN) -- A security alert aboard a Northwest Airlines jet ended Sunday after investigators determined the incident -- the second in two days involving a Detroit, Michigan-bound flight -- was "non-serious," federal authorities said. The crew of Northwest Flight 253 reported a "verbally disruptive" passenger Sunday and requested police meet the plane when it arrived from the Netherlands, the airline told CNN. The man was questioned by police after the plane landed in Detroit early Sunday afternoon. That passenger was released from the custody of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He was allowed to make a planned connection to an unspecified destination, a spokesman for the Detroit Wayne County Airport Authority said. The passenger's name was not released. The Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight is the same one targeted Friday in what prosecutors called a failed attempt to blow up a jetliner. Sandra Berchtold, a spokeswoman for the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Detroit, said Sunday's alert was caused by a passenger who "spent a lengthy time in the restroom." "This raised concerns, so an alert was raised," she said. "JTTF investigated, and the investigation shows that this was a non-serious incident and all is clear at this point." The passenger spent about an hour in the bathroom and got upset when he was questioned by the crew of the flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, according to government sources. Law enforcement agents questioned the man Sunday. The jet had the same designation -- Flight 253 -- as the one on which a Nigerian man is accused of attempting to set off an explosive device Friday, said Scott Wintner, a spokesman for the Wayne County Airport Authority. Winter told CNN the flight "requested emergency assistance and was pulled aside upon arrival in Detroit." The jet was taken a long distance from the terminal and "completely engulfed" by emergency vehicles and heavily armed police once it landed, said Don Graham, who was waiting for relatives to arrive at the airport. The flight arrived about 12:34 p.m., said Susan Elliott, a spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines, which owns Northwest. The 257 passengers were allowed to leave the aircraft about an hour after the jet landed, she said. Sunday's strong security response -- with emergency vehicles converging on the plane and President Obama being notified immediately -- showed how the failed bombing on Christmas Day had shaken the nation. Meanwhile, a movie clip and two men watching it led to a security scare aboard a jetliner Saturday night heading to Phoenix, Arizona, authorities said. Police and federal agents greeted US Airways Flight 192 as it landed at Sky Harbor Airport after passengers reported two men on the plane were acting suspiciously on the trip from Orlando, Florida. Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Suzanne Trevino said the two men were detained as K-9 units swept the plane. Nothing was found. FBI spokesman Manuel Johnson said a combination of behavior caused passengers to be concerned, including the men talking loudly and one man standing up when the stay-seated light was on. Johnson said the men, described to the FBI by passengers as being "Middle Eastern" in appearance, were watching a movie clip of what appeared to be a suicide bomber. It turned out to be the movie "The Kingdom," starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner. The 2-year-old film is about FBI agents investigating a mass murder in Saudi Arabia, according to the movie's Web site. Johnson said the men were released when their story checked out, and they were allowed to travel on to San Diego, California. CNN's Mike M. Ahlers, Alona Rivord, Miguel Susana, Steve Brusk and Lynn Lamanivong contributed to this report. ||||| A Nigerian passenger onboard the same Northwest Airlines route that was attacked on Christmas Day was taken into custody in Detroit on Sunday after locking himself in the bathroom for an hour and becoming verbally disruptive upon landing, officials said. Scott Studer takes his daughter Ella from his wife Jen as they prepare to return home to Boston at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport after visiting family in Detroit Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009 in Romulas, Mich.... (Associated Press) Passengers bound for the United States wait in lines due to security delays at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Frank Gunn, The Canadian Press) (Associated Press) Northwest Airlines flight 253 sits on the tarmac after requesting emergency help at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulas, Mich., Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009. A passenger onboard the same Northwest Airlines... (Associated Press) The latest disturbance aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 came as the U.S. system for checking suspicious travelers and airport security came under new scrutiny, prompted by an alleged terrorist bent on destroying a jetliner who was thwarted only by a malfunctioning detonator and some quick-thinking passengers. Delta Air Lines spokeswoman Susan Elliott said crew members on Sunday requested that security remove the man from Flight 253 after he became disruptive. The remaining 255 passengers got off safely, she said. A law enforcement official said the man was Nigerian and had locked himself in the airliner's bathroom. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. An apparent malfunction in a device designed to detonate the high explosive PETN may have been all that saved the 278 passengers and the crew aboard Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day. No undercover air marshal was on board and passengers subdued the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, of Nigeria. Abdulmutallab was hospitalized with burns from the attack and was read an indictment filed Saturday in federal court in Detroit charging him with attempting to destroy or wreck an aircraft and placing a destructive device in a plane. He was released from the hospital Sunday to the custody of federal marshals, who would not reveal where he was being held. Abdulmutallab was on a watch list, but not one that denied him passage by air into the U.S. His own father had discussed concerns about his radical religious views before the attack. Still, in appearances on Sunday talk shows, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the traveling public "is very, very safe." "This was one individual literally of thousands that fly and thousands of flights every year," Napolitano said. "And he was stopped before any damage could be done. I think the important thing to recognize here is that once this incident occurred, everything happened that should have." Even so, airport security and intelligence played no role in thwarting the plot. Abdulmutallab was carrying PETN, also known as pentaerythritol, the same material convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid used when he tried to destroy a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001 with explosives hidden in his shoes. Abdulmutallab is alleged to have carried the explosive in condom-like pouches attached to his body. Abdulmutallab was on a "generic" terrorist watch list, which includes more than half a million names, but was not elevated to a no-fly list or even designated for additional security searches, Napolitano said. That would have required "specific, credible, derogatory information," she said. "We did not have the kind of information that under the current rules would elevate him," she said. Napolitano said the Obama administration is considering changing those rules. Despite being on the broad terrorist watch list, Abdulmutallab, who comes from a prominent and wealthy Nigerian family, had a multiple-entry U.S. visa. It was issued last year. U.S. officials say he came to the attention of America intelligence in November, when his father expressed concerns to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria about his son's extremist views. Napolitano said Abdulmutallab was properly screened before getting on the flight to Detroit from Amsterdam. The administration is also investigating aviation detection systems to see how the alleged attacker managed to get on board the Northwest flight in Amsterdam with explosive materials, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. No other flights were known to have been targeted. However, Gibbs says federal authorities took precautionary steps "to assume and plan for the very worst." Napolitano said there is no indication yet Abdulmutallab is part of a larger terrorist plot, although his possible ties to al-Qaida are still under investigation. The United States is reviewing what security measures were used in Amsterdam where he boarded the flight. "Now the forensics are being analyzed with what could have been done," Napolitano said. Additional security measures are in place at airports around the world that are likely to slow travelers. Napolitano advised getting to airports earlier. Congress is preparing to hold hearings on what happened and whether rules need to be changed. "It's amazing to me that an individual like this who was sending out so many signals could end up getting on a plane going to the U.S.," said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Republican leader in the Senate. Gibbs appeared on ABC's "This Week," NBC's "Meet the Press" and CBS' "Face the Nation." Napolitano spoke on CNN's "State of the Union" as well as on NBC and ABC. McConnell appeared on ABC. ___ Hess reported from New York. Associated Press writers Ed White in Detroit and Devlin Barrett in Washington contributed to this report.

– After two security alerts in 3 days on the same Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, officials now say today's incident was "nonserious." The behavior of a passenger who spent an hour in the bathroom alarmed the crew, but he does not appear to be dangerous, reports CNN. Like the man arrested after Friday's incident—who was discharged from the hospital today—the "verbally disruptive" passenger on today's flight is Nigerian, the AP reports.

Image copyright Wessex Water Image caption The 40-seat "Bio-Bus" runs on biomethane gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste The UK's first bus powered entirely by human and food waste has gone into service between Bristol and Bath. The 40-seat "Bio-Bus" runs on biomethane gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste. The eco-friendly vehicle can travel up to 300km (186 miles) on one tank of gas, which takes the annual waste of about five people to produce. It is run by tour operator Bath Bus Company and will shuttle people between Bristol Airport and Bath city centre. The biomethane gas is generated at Bristol sewage treatment works in Avonmouth, which is run by GENeco, a subsidiary of Wessex Water. GENeco general manager Mohammed Saddiq said: "Gas-powered vehicles have an important role to play in improving air quality in UK cities but the Bio-Bus goes further than that and is actually powered by people living in the local area, including quite possibly those on the bus itself." How do you power a bus with waste? Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The bio-bus runs between Bath and Bristol Airport A single passenger's annual food and sewage waste would fuel the Bio-Bus for 37 miles (60km) Its combustion engine is similar in design to diesel equivalents in conventional buses Compressed gas is stored in dome-like tanks on the roof of the Bio-Bus The gas is generated through anaerobic digestion - where oxygen starved bacteria breaks down biodegradable material to produce methane-rich biogas To power a vehicle, the biogas undergoes "upgrading", where carbon dioxide is removed and propane added Impurities are removed to produce virtually odour free emissions Compared to conventional diesel vehicles, up to 30% less carbon dioxide is emitted Green capital The service from the airport to Bath carries about 10,000 passengers each month. Bath Bus Company's Collin Field, said: "With so much attention being directed towards improving air quality generally, the public reaction to the appearance of this bus on a service between a world heritage city and an airport will further focus on the potential for this particular fuel." He said the bus was being launched at a very "appropriate" time, as Bristol is to become the European Green Capital next year. Bristol sewage treatment works processes around 75 million cubic metres of sewage waste and 35,000 tonnes of food waste each year. A total of 17 million cubic metres of biomethane, enough to power 8,300 homes, is generated annually at the plant through a process known as anaerobic digestion. ||||| Here’s an unusual math problem: How many miles can a bus travel on five years worth of human waste? Answer: 186. This is the distance the Bio-Bus — dubbed the “poo bus,” the United Kingdom’s first — can drive before a refill. It hit the road on Wednesday, traveling between Bristol and Bath. According to the BBC, the 40-seat bus, run by tour operator Bath Bus Company, actually runs on biomethane gas, a byproduct created when oxygen-deprived bacteria breaks down food scraps and the stuff we flush down the toilet. Before the gas is bus-ready, the carbon dioxide must be removed and propane added. The “impurities” are removed so the gas doesn’t smell like a potty. The fuel comes from the Bristol’s sewage treatment facility, which is run by GENeco, a renewable energy company. Their motto: “We make waste work!” The facility processes about 35,000 tons of food waste per year, producing enough biomethane to power 8,300 homes. “The bus also clearly shows that human poo and our waste food are valuable resources,” Charlotte Morton, the chief executive of the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association, said in a statement, adding that biomethane could supply about 10 percent of the United Kingdom’s domestic gas needs. “Gas-powered vehicles have an important role to play in improving air quality in UK cities but the Bio-Bus goes further than that and is actually powered by people living in the local area, including quite possibly those on the bus itself,” GENeco’s general manager Mohammed Saddiq told the BBC. According to the BBC, the bus’s combustion engine is similar to that of a regular diesel bus, only it emits 30 percent less carbon dioxide. The only telltale sign the bus isn’t a run-of-the-mill gas guzzler are dome-shaped tanks on top that store the gas. Well, that and the bus wrap featuring cartoons of passengers sitting on the toilet. The bus’s debut comes as Bristol is set to become Europe’s 2015 “Green Capital,” an award given each year to a European city with a good environmental track record. Predictably, it was greeted with potty humor: #BioBus #DadJokes Which line is it? Number Two? Does it have stools instead of seats? Does it run a wee late? — Antony Collins (@ant_tweets) November 20, 2014 Britains first Bus powered by poo insists other road users should ‘give it at least 15 mins’ before following it. #poobus — Graeme Casey (@graeme_l_casey) November 20, 2014 Accident investigators are examining a huge skid mark left on a bend. #poobus — LUFCMadferret (@LiloMan_LUFC) November 21, 2014 ||||| Get a quote Please complete the form below with your enquiry and a member of our team will contact you shortly. Select if you are an existing customer Choose enquiry type Liquid waste Food waste Waste management Other waste Biosolids Other

– Move over, poop cruise. There's a new poop-related form of transport on the road, and this one is more neat than nasty. A "Bio-Bus" that runs solely on the biomethane gas generated by treated waste (of the food and human variety) is up and running as of this week in the UK, where it's following a Bristol-to-Bath route. The BBC reports that the 40-seat bus can go 186 miles on a single tank of gas; creating that tank requires the equivalent of five people's waste for one year. (It's unclear if that's sewage waste only, or includes a person's food waste, too.) The bus emits 30% less carbon dioxide than a comparable diesel engine would. GENeco runs Bristol sewage treatment works, which produces the gas through a process known as anaerobic digestion: oxygen-hungry bacteria break down the waste, producing the gas; carbon dioxide is removed and propane is added. Also removed: "impurities" that might make the bus smell like, well, your bathroom. A quote from GENeco's GM, which may have passengers eying each other warily: The bus "is actually powered by people living in the local area, including quite possibly those on the bus itself." The Washington Post notes the news has been predictably greeted with bathroom humor. Among the funniest tweets, compliments of @ant_tweets: "Which line is it? Number Two? Does it have stools instead of seats? Does it run a wee late?"

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy Monday morning that he intended to block every Senate appointment until the survivors of Benghazi were made available to a congressional committee for testimony. “For god’s sakes, let the House have a select committee where you get three or four committees together to look at this situation as one unit, rather than stove piping,” Graham said. “And where are the survivors? Fourteen months later, the people who survived the attack in Benghazi have not been made available to the U.S. Congress for oversight purposes. So I’m going to block every appointment in the United States Senate until the survivors are being made available to the Congress.” “I’m tired of hearing from people on TV and reading about stuff in books,” Graham continued. “We need to get to the bottom of this. And to my House colleagues: Darrell Issa (R-CA) has done great job. To Speaker [John] Boehner (R-OH): please, for god’s sake, form a joint committee to get away from this blame game and find out exactly what happened…We’re just beginning on Benghazi. And to the families: we’re not going to let this go. Congress needs to up its game.” Watch the full clip below, via Fox News: Please enable Javascript to watch. [Image via screengrab] —— >> Follow Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) on Twitter Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday that he will block every one of President Obama's nominees on the Senate floor until the administration discloses information about the survivors of last year's attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. Where are the #Benghazi survivors? I'm going to block every appointment in the US Senate until they are made available to Congress. — Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) October 28, 2013 Graham's comments came the morning after CBS's "60 Minutes" aired a report Sunday night featuring a rare eyewitness to the attack — a former British soldier who used a pseudonym. One of the four Americans killed during the attack was the U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens. Graham, a top critic of the administration's handling of the killings of four Americans in Benghazi, has accused the administration of telling the survivors not to talk about their experience. Of the several dozen surviving diplomatic and security officials who were in Benghazi the night of the attack, all but one has returned to work in ongoing assignments. The State Department has said repeatedly that any non-security official who wants to talk to Congress about the experience is free to do so, but has protested, along with the Justice Department, attempts by congressional Republicans to subpoena security officials on grounds that it could compromise any testimony they might give at any future prosecution of the perpetrators. Despite written administration appeals, Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee subpoenaed two Diplomatic Security officials — one who was in Benghazi and another who was in Tripoli, the Libyan capital — who provided closed-door depositions to the committee this month. Graham has previously threatened to block specific nominees while seeking information on Benghazi. A spokesman noted that Graham briefly blocked the nomination of John Brennan to serve as the next CIA director until the White House acknowledged that President Obama did not call anyone in Libya the night of the raid but spoke with the Libyan president the day after. Graham’s announcement comes on the same day that the Senate is scheduled to hold a vote to confirm Richard Griffin as the top lawyer at the National Labor Relations Board and as Senate Democrats are expected to hold votes soon on several nominees to federal judgeships, including picks to serve on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Holding up votes on any position at the NLRB would be notable, because the White House withdrew the names of several picks this summer as part of a bipartisan deal to move forward with a series of confirmation votes and maintain the current rules of the Senate. Update 12:36 p.m.: Here's Graham on Fox News talking about his strategy: Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.

– He's not shutting down the government, but Lindsey Graham plans to use another procedural method to get the administration to open up on Benghazi. The GOP senator tweets that he'll block "every appointment in the US Senate" until the survivors of the Libya attack "are made available to Congress." Graham has suggested the White House told those survivors to keep their mouths shut, the Washington Post reports. Today, the Senate is due to vote on the confirmation of Richard Griffin as the National Labor Relations Board's top lawyer; a number of votes on federal judgeships are also due, the Post notes. Graham made his stance clear on Fox & Friends this morning, Mediaite reports, calling on John Boehner to "form a joint committee to get away from this blame game and find out exactly what happened." He added: "We’re just beginning on Benghazi. And to the families: we’re not going to let this go."

Further studies needed before any dietary recommendations can be made, say researchers A high milk intake in women and men is not accompanied by a lower risk of fracture and instead may be associated with a higher rate of death, suggests observational research published in The BMJ this week. This may be explained by the high levels of lactose and galactose (types of sugar) in milk, that have been shown to increase oxidative stress and chronic inflammation in animal studies, say the researchers. However, they point out that their study can only show an association and cannot prove cause and effect. They say the results "should be interpreted cautiously" and further studies are needed before any firm conclusions or dietary recommendations can be made. A diet rich in milk products is promoted to reduce the likelihood of osteoporotic fractures, but previous research looking at the importance of milk for the prevention of fractures and the influence on mortality rates show conflicting results. So a research team in Sweden, led by Professor Karl Michaëlsson, set out to examine whether high milk intake may increase oxidative stress, which, in turn, affects the risk of mortality and fracture. Two large groups of 61,433 women (aged 39-74 years in 1987-1990) and 45,339 men (aged 45-79 years in 1997) in Sweden completed food frequency questionnaires for 96 common foods including milk, yoghurt and cheese. Lifestyle information, weight and height were collated and factors such as education level and marital status were also taken into account. National registers were used to track fracture and mortality rates. Women were tracked for an average of 20 years, during which time 15,541 died and 17,252 had a fracture, of whom 4,259 had a hip fracture. In women, no reduction in fracture risk with higher milk consumption was observed. Furthermore, women who drank more than three glasses of milk a day (average 680 ml) had a higher risk of death than women who drank less than one glass of milk a day (average 60 ml). Men were tracked for an average of 11 years, during which time 10,112 died and 5,066 had a fracture, with 1,166 hip fracture cases. Men also had a higher risk of death with higher milk consumption, although this was less pronounced than in women. Further analysis showed a positive association between milk intake and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation. In contrast, a high intake of fermented milk products with a low lactose content (including yoghurt and cheese) was associated with reduced rates of mortality and fracture, particularly in women. They conclude that a higher consumption of milk in women and men is not accompanied by a lower risk of fracture and instead may be associated with a higher rate of death. Consequently, there may be a link between the lactose and galactose content of milk and risk, although causality needs be tested. "Our results may question the validity of recommendations to consume high amounts of milk to prevent fragility fractures," they write. "The results should, however, be interpreted cautiously given the observational design of our study. The findings merit independent replication before they can be used for dietary recommendations." Michaëlsson and colleagues raise a fascinating possibility about the potential harms of milk, says Professor Mary Schooling at City University of New York in an accompanying editorial. However, she stresses that diet is difficult to assess precisely and she reinforces the message that these findings should be interpreted cautiously. "As milk consumption may rise globally with economic development and increasing consumption of animal source foods, the role of milk and mortality needs to be established definitively now," she concludes. ### ||||| Conclusions High milk intake was associated with higher mortality in one cohort of women and in another cohort of men, and with higher fracture incidence in women. Given the observational study designs with the inherent possibility of residual confounding and reverse causation phenomena, a cautious interpretation of the results is recommended. Results During a mean follow-up of 20.1 years, 15 541 women died and 17 252 had a fracture, of whom 4259 had a hip fracture. In the male cohort with a mean follow-up of 11.2 years, 10 112 men died and 5066 had a fracture, with 1166 hip fracture cases. In women the adjusted mortality hazard ratio for three or more glasses of milk a day compared with less than one glass a day was 1.93 (95% confidence interval 1.80 to 2.06). For every glass of milk, the adjusted hazard ratio of all cause mortality was 1.15 (1.13 to 1.17) in women and 1.03 (1.01 to 1.04) in men. For every glass of milk in women no reduction was observed in fracture risk with higher milk consumption for any fracture (1.02, 1.00 to 1.04) or for hip fracture (1.09, 1.05 to 1.13). The corresponding adjusted hazard ratios in men were 1.01 (0.99 to 1.03) and 1.03 (0.99 to 1.07). In subsamples of two additional cohorts, one in males and one in females, a positive association was seen between milk intake and both urine 8-iso-PGF2α (a biomarker of oxidative stress) and serum interleukin 6 (a main inflammatory biomarker). Because of the high content of lactose in milk, we hypothesised that high consumption of milk may increase oxidative stress, which in turn affects the risk of mortality and fracture. Meta-analyses of cohort studies for the association between dairy and milk intake in relation to mortality 11 and fractures 12 13 have displayed no clear pattern of risk, and evidence from randomised trials are lacking. Separating milk intake from the consumption of other dairy products may be of importance since a less pronounced induction of oxidative stress and inflammation in humans is expected with cheese and fermented dairy products (for example, soured milk and yogurt) because of their lower or non-existent lactose and galactose content, 14 15 possible probiotic antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, 16 17 18 and effects on gut microbiota. 19 20 21 Indeed, a high intake of fermented milk products has been associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases, 18 22 23 24 whereas a high milk intake is related to a tendency of an unfavourable risk profile for the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. 18 23 24 We therefore assessed the relation between high milk intake with risk of death and fractures in women and men. We also studied biological markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in relation to milk intake in humans. A high intake of milk might, however, have undesirable effects, because milk is the main dietary source of D-galactose. Experimental evidence in several animal species indicates that chronic exposure to D-galactose is deleterious to health and the addition of D-galactose by injections or in the diet is an established animal model of aging. 4 5 6 7 Even a low dose of D-galactose induces changes that resemble natural aging in animals, including shortened life span caused by oxidative stress damage, chronic inflammation, neurodegeneration, decreased immune response, and gene transcriptional changes. 5 7 A subcutaneous dose of 100 mg/kg D-galactose accelerates senescence in mice. 5 This is equivalent to 6-10 g in humans, corresponding to 1-2 glasses of milk. Based on a concentration of lactose in cow’s milk of approximately 5%, one glass of milk comprises about 5 g of D-galactose. The increase of oxidative stress with aging and chronic low grade inflammation is not only a pathogenetic mechanism of cardiovascular disease and cancer in humans 8 9 but also a mechanism of age related bone loss and sarcopenia. 9 10 The high amount of lactose and therefore D-galactose in milk with theoretical influences on processes such as oxidative stress and inflammation makes the recommendations to increase milk intake for prevention of fractures a conceivable contradiction. A diet rich in milk products is promoted to reduce the likelihood of osteoporotic fractures. Milk contains 18 of 22 essential nutrients, including calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D of especial importance for the skeleton. Intestinal uptake of these nutrients is enhanced by the enzymatic capacity to digest lactose into D-glucose and D-galactose by mutation in the lactase gene, a variant common in those with northern European ancestry. 1 2 An intake of dairy foods corresponding to three or four glasses of milk a day has been suggested to save at least 20% of healthcare costs related to osteoporosis. 3 Methods We used two community based cohorts, the Swedish Mammography Cohort25 26 and the Cohort of Swedish Men,27 to analyse the association of milk consumption and mortality and fracture rates. Figure 1⇓ shows the study sample. In 1987-90, all 90 303 women aged 39-74 years residing in two Swedish counties (Uppsala and Västmanland, both in central Sweden) received a postal invitation to a routine mammography screening. Enclosed with this invitation was a questionnaire covering both diet (food frequency questionnaire) and lifestyle, which was completed by 74% of the women. In 1997, a subsequent, expanded questionnaire was sent to those who were still living in the study area (response rate 70%). In the present study 61 433 women in the Swedish Mammography Cohort with baseline data from 1987-90 and 38 984 with updated information from 1997 were available for analysis. The Cohort of Swedish Men was created in the autumn of 1997. All men, aged 45-79 years, residing in Örebro and Västmanland counties in central Sweden were invited to participate in the study (n=100 303). Enclosed with this invitation was a questionnaire covering both diet (food frequency questionnaire) and lifestyle, which was completed by 48 850 men. Despite the response rate of 49%, the Cohort of Swedish Men is considered representative of Swedish men in this age range in terms of age distribution, educational level, and prevalence of being overweight.27 After exclusions, the final sample included 45 339 men (fig 1). Fig 1 Flow chart of study samples Food frequency questionnaires The participants reported their average frequency of consumption of up to 96 foods and beverages during the past year,25 27 28—that is, how many servings, a day or a week, they consumed of common foods, including milk, fermented milk, yogurt, and cheese. Instructions were given that one serving of milk corresponded to one glass of 200 mL. In the first questionnaire in the Swedish Mammography Cohort the categories were prespecified, but in the second questionnaire and the one used in the Cohort of Swedish Men, participants could fill in the exact number of servings of the dairy products (milk, fermented milk, yogurt, and cheese) they consumed a day or a week. Milk intake was specified according to fat content, and we summed intake into a single measure representing total milk intake on a continuous scale. We estimated nutrient intakes by multiplying the consumption frequency of each food item by the nutrient content of age specific portion sizes and reference data obtained from the Swedish National Food Agency database.29 The residual method was used to adjust all nutrient intakes for total energy intake.30 According to validation studies of milk intake, the correlation between the food frequency questionnaire and four, seven day food records every third month, a gold standard reference, has been approximately 0.7.31 Furthermore, in both sexes we have found a positive association between reported intake of milk and the fat tissue content of pentadecanoic acid, a biological marker reflecting average long term intake of milk fat—that is, present in both milk and fermented milk products.32 33 Outcomes We considered outcomes registered between study entry (date of mammography screening in 1987-90 for the Swedish Mammography Cohort and 1 January 1998 for the Cohort of Swedish Men) and 31 December 2010. Follow-up until death was through the Swedish cause of death registry. Complete linkage with the register is possible by the personal identity number provided to all Swedish residents. We used the underlying cause of death from the Swedish cause of death registry to define mortality from all causes, cardiovascular diseases (international classification of diseases, 10th revision; ICD-10 codes I00–I99), and cancer (ICD-10 C-codes). For 1987 to 1996, we used corresponding ICD-9 codes. Accuracy of classification of causes of death in the Swedish registry is high.34 We collated fracture events through linkage with the Swedish national patient registry. We defined any fracture event as a hospital admission or an outpatient visit with ICD-10 codes S12-S92. Hip fracture cases were defined by the codes S720-S722. Using a previously validated and accurate method, we separated admissions for incident fracture from readmissions for a previous fracture event.25 35 In analyses we used only the first fracture event. We retained cases of fractures due to suspected high impact trauma in the analysis since there are indications of comparable increases in the risks of low impact and high impact trauma fractures in association with decreasing bone density in elderly people (≥60 years).36 37 Pathologic fractures as a consequence of a tumour were not included as an outcome. Comorbidity and other additional information From the questionnaires we obtained information on lifestyle, weight, and height. For the Swedish Mammography Cohort the questionnaires also covered information on use of postmenopausal oestrogen therapy, menopausal status, and parity. In the 1997 questionnaires for both cohorts, information was collected on smoking status, ever use of cortisone, and leisure time physical activity during the past year, with five predefined categories ranging from one hour a week to more than five hours a week. This physical activity assessment is valid compared with activity records and accelerometer data.38 We divided educational level into four categories: <9 years, 10-12 years, >12 years, and other (such as vocational). Living alone was categorised based on marital status (yes: unmarried, divorced, widow/widower; no: married, cohabiting). To calculate Charlson’s comorbidity index we collated diagnosis codes from the national patient registry.39 40 Biomarkers D-galactose supplementation in animals has been shown to increase oxidative stress and inflammation.4 5 6 7 To assess the association between milk intake and biological markers of oxidative stress and inflammation (fig 1), we additionally analysed a clinical subcohort of the Swedish Mammography Cohort25 and the previously described Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men cohort.41 We assessed food intake by a third food frequency questionnaire in the Swedish Mammography Cohort Clinical (n=5022; mean age 70 years) and by recording diet for one week at age 71 years in the Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men (n=1138). In 892 women (mean age 70 years) and 633 men (urine collected at age 77) we analysed the urine oxidative stress marker 8-iso-PGF2α, a dominant F 2 -isoprostane and an ideal standard biomarker of oxidative stress in vivo.42 We used serum from the same age group in the Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men to analyse interleukin 6 (a main inflammatory biomarker, n=700). ||||| Drinking three or more glasses of milk per day may be harmful to women's health, a new study suggests. Women in the study who downed at least three glasses of milk a day were nearly twice as likely to die over the next 20 years compared with their peers who drank less than a glass daily, researchers in Sweden found. In addition, the study found that women's risk of bone fracture climbed steadily as their milk intake increased. The culprit could be galactose, a simple sugar found in milk, said Karl Michaelsson, a professor at Uppsala University in Sweden and one of the study's authors. "That compound might induce oxidative stress and low-grade inflammation, and that type of inflammation can affect mortality and fractures," Michaelsson told Live Science. "The funny thing is that if you provide galactose to experimental animals, they will die faster by induction of oxidative stress and inflammation." The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that adults get the equivalent of 3 cups of milk daily, based on the idea that dairy is good for the bones, and may reduce heart disease risk. But there's actually little scientific evidence to support these recommendations, the study authors said. Given the harmful effects of galactose in animals, Michaelsson and his team hypothesized that higher milk consumption in humans would be associated with more oxidative stress and, therefore, a greater risk of fractures and mortality over a period of time. [5 Wacky Things That Are Good for Your Health] Their study included 61,433 women who were ages 39 to 74 at the study's start, and 45,339 men ages 45 to 79. All of the study participants reported on their diet at the beginning of the study period. The women were followed for 20 years, on average. During that time, 15,541 died and 17,252 had fractures, including 4,259 hip fractures. After the researchers took into account factors like age, body mass index and alcohol consumption, they found that women who drank three or more glasses of milk daily were 1.93 times more likely to die during the follow-up period than those who drank less than a glass of milk daily. The risk of death during the 20-year period rose by 15 percent with each daily glass of milk consumed, the researchers also found. Perhaps unexpectedly, higher milk consumption was linked with an increased likelihood of fractures, including hip fractures, the researchers found. Although its not clear what mechanism may underlie this possible link, it could be that a greater intake of galactose increases the levels of oxidative stress and inflammation in the body, making fractures more likely, according to the researchers. Among the men, who were followed for an average of about 11 years, there was no association between mortality or fractures and milk consumption, according to the findings, which are published today (Oct. 28) in the journal The BMJ. But dairy lovers need not despair. The researchers found that fermented milk products, like cheese and yogurt — which contain little or no galactose — had the opposite effect: Women who ate or drank the most fermented milk products were less likely to die or sustain fractures during the study. Women's mortality and hip-fracture risk declined by 10 to 15 percent with each daily serving, the study found. The researchers also looked at markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in a subset of study participants. Both men and women who drank more milk had higher levels of a compound called 8-iso-PGF2a, which is a marker of oxidative stress in the body found in urine. Milk consumption was also positively associated with levels of interleukin 6, a marker of inflammation, in men, but not in women. However, a higher intake of fermented milk products (aside from cheese) was linked with lower levels of these markers. People shouldn't change their dietary habits based on the findings of a single study, Michaelsson said. But he admitted he quit drinking milk two years ago, and opts for yogurt instead. "I've been involved in this research area for several decades now," he said. "This last study really convinced me." In future research, Michaelsson said, he and his colleagues would like to see if the effect of milk on mortality is modified by antioxidant intake. In an editorial accompanying the new study in the journal, C. Mary Schooling, a professor at the City University of New York School of Public Health at Hunter College, wrote that the findings "raise a fascinating possibility about the potential harms of milk, with an interesting inner mechanism" involving galactose. The idea that galactose may be involved is consistent with evidence from other studies, wrote Schooling, who was not involved in the new research. However, she noted that the new findings "should be interpreted cautiously, though, because the authors rely on observational — not experimental — evidence, potentially reflecting correlation, not causation." Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

– Milk: It does a body good ... or does it? Though they say their findings should be interpreted cautiously, Swedish researchers have identified a correlation between heavier milk consumption and a higher mortality rate among women. Karl Michaelsson and his team tracked 61,433 women for an average of 20 years; they ranged in age from 39 to 74 at the start of the study. In looking at women who drank an average of 2.9 cups of milk a day compared to those who drank less than one (an average of about 2 ounces), researchers discovered there was no reduction in fracture risk—but the heavier milk-drinking group was 1.93 times more likely to die during the study, reports LiveScience. (The study, published in the British Medical Journal, also tracked a group of men; a much less significant increase in mortality risk was identified among those with a higher intake.) Michaelsson thinks a milk sugar called galactose may play a role. He suspects it can trigger oxidative stress and inflammation: "The funny thing is that if you provide galactose to experimental animals, they will die faster" due to those two things, he says. A press release explains the team's analysis uncovered a positive relation between milk intake and a biomarker of oxidative stress. However, consumption of fermented milk products (like yogurt) affected the biomarker oppositely. "Our results may question the validity of recommendations to consume high amounts of milk to prevent fragility fractures," they write, while noting the findings shouldn't yet be used to shape dietary recommendations. But Michaelsson, for his part, hasn't drunk milk in two years.

Photograph by Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images. I didn’t make a lot of friends in the retail and publishing industries last week when I suggested that independent bookstores were the spawn of Satan. I argued that by making it cheap and easy for people to buy a lot of books, Amazon has been a boon for the book industry and “literary culture” in a way that many bookstores can’t match. Many defenders of bookstores countered that by focusing on dollars and cents, I’d missed the whole point of these establishments. Bookstores, it turns out, don’t primarily exist to sell books—instead, they’re more like bars for readers. “Bookstores provide a space to meet friends, cruise for a date, and hide out when you have nothing to do on a Saturday night,” Will Doig wrote at Salon. I suspect that many bookstore lovers agree with Doig, which is exactly why many of these shops are going out of business. Bars can survive because alcohol is an extremely profitable good. Books aren’t—so if you think of your favorite bookstore as a comfortable spot to find well-read potential mates rather than as a place for commerce, you’re not helping its owner. If you want bookstores to stick around, you should root for them to improve the way they sell stuff. Booksellers won’t survive the Amazon onslaught by merely wagging their fingers at the retail giant. Their only hope is to match the commercial innovations Jeff Bezos has brought to shopping. Indeed, this applies to all retailers, not just bookstores. The Internet has revolutionized how we buy stuff, but the main beneficiaries of this revolution have been warehouse companies like Amazon rather than firms that maintain a physical presence in your neighborhood. But it doesn’t have to be this way. This month, Amazon offered customers a discount to purchase stuff online while they were shopping at local establishments. It’s time neighborhood retailers fought Kindle Fire with Kindle Fire. Indeed, tablets and smartphones could be store owners’ best weapons against Jeff Bezos—if only they’d embrace them. Advertisement Take reviews and recommendations. Pretty much everyone uses the Web to research products before they purchase them. Amazon has turned this fact into a competitive advantage; by collecting and curating reviews for more than a decade—and by creating an efficient recommendations engine based on millions of purchase decisions—the firm has become the first place many people look for product information. This database, which Bezos’ firm spent a huge amount of time and money to build, can just as easily be harvested by local retailers who invested nothing in its creation. If I ran a hardware store, I’d put up a sign encouraging in-store research: “Looking for a drill? People on Amazon love the Black & Decker 9099KC. We offer free Wi-Fi, so feel free to pull out your phone and browse online reviews!” Bookstores could do the same thing: “Confused about which baby sleep-training book is best? The No-Cry Sleep Solution gets nearly 5 stars on Amazon.” Of course, many stores are skittish about letting customers browse online. I often look up product reviews and prices when I’m shopping, and I’ve been busted several times by employees enforcing a strict no-barcode-scanning policy. I’m always offended by such policies—why shouldn’t I research the best gas grill before I purchase it?—but I can see the stores’ rationale. Prices online tend to be cheaper, so if I’m looking something up on my phone, there’s a good chance I’ll be attracted to the discount and walk out of the store empty-handed. Market research backs this up. One survey sponsored by Motorola found that in many retail categories—especially consumer electronics, sporting goods, and books—people use their phones primarily to compare prices; checking product reviews is usually a secondary use. But fighting the price checkers is a futile endeavor. People think of their phones as constant companions, so you’ll never convince them to keep them stuffed in their pockets. Plus, according to the same Motorola study, price isn’t always the primary reason that people decide to walk out without buying anything. Respondents said that the main reason they leave bookstores “without the item that you wanted” is that the store didn’t have the book they came looking for. That was true at toy stores, furniture shops, and drugstores, too. Other popular reasons for leaving a store without buying stuff? The customer couldn’t find the item, thought the lines were too long, or found the staff unable to answer questions. Smartphones could help stores address each of these problems. AisleBuyer, a startup based in Boston, has created a way for local stores to make their own smartphone apps. Among other features, these custom apps let customers make purchases from their phones—when you’re ready to buy that book, just press a button and walk out the door. AisleBuyer also collects and mines sales data from many of its clients, which means that over time, it will be able to build the sort of recommendations engine that powers Amazon. If your local record store uses an AisleBuyer app, then, it might suggest—based on your previous purchases—that you come in to get the new Adele album. Because the app tracks how often you’ve bought stuff, the store could even give you a discount for loyalty. Apple could also serve as a model for other retailers. Just before Thanksgiving, the company released an updated version of its retail app, which you can fire up when you enter an Apple Store. In addition to letting you buy products from your phone and pick up stuff you’ve purchased online, the app connects you to sales staff who can answer your questions. Say you go to an Apple Store to buy a laptop. You look at the various MacBooks, and you narrow your choice down to the 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air. Which should you buy? Just pull out your app and hit Get Help. This alerts an employee, who sees a map of the store on his iPod Touch; your location is highlighted on his map. So he walks over to make the sale. Anyone who’s ever tried to wrangle help in a busy electronics store—or a home improvement shop, a shoe store, a bookstore, anywhere—will recognize that this is a killer feature. ||||| Have you heard about nootropics? These brain enhancing medicines and supplements can improve your cognitive functions, memory, attention span, cognitive clarity and so many other brain functions. It is no wonder that because of all of these incredible effects, many people, such as professional gamers, athletes, and even ordinary people are beginning to use nootropics. And aside from their cognitive enhancing functions, they can also sometimes alleviate or even improve on existing mental illnesses. It is true, nootropics, as a class of drugs, have been proven to help people with mental illnesses, such as ADHD or anxiety. So if you want to alleviate your anxiety you can just get the best cognitive enhancers for social anxiety. Nootropics have been taken by a lot of people with varying degrees of mental problems. And these cognitive enhancers have been shown to have a positive impact on these people. Some people with ADHD have been prescribed medication, with the same natural substances that have been found in nootropics. These types of smart drugs can increase the level of concentration that people with the attention deficit disorder have, so if these people struggle from too little concentration, one way they can enhance that is through the use of nootropics. Smart drugs can also improve other people’s lives too, such as people with different kinds of anxieties. Nootropics can enhance brain functions through chemicals, which are often found in small amounts in food, such as L-Theanine and phenethylamine. These kinds of natural chemicals are found in chocolates and teas. And in small quantities, they do not do much. However, in concentrated and regular dosages, they will have a significant positive impact on your overall cognitive functions. These chemicals have been proven to increase people’s attention span, concentration and other types of brain functions. And not only can these smart drugs enhance brain functions, but they can also improve mood too. So for example, if you are someone suffering from social anxiety, you could gain a boost in your confidence and improve your mood by taking smart drugs. This is because these types of drugs can further enhance your brain chemistry, thus allowing it to function optimally. This will make your brain function and operate in a better order because your brain chemistry may be improved upon. And even if it does not affect your brain’s chemistry, you will be able to improve your mood, which can have a concrete impact on your anxiety. The best cognitive enhancers for social anxiety are also easy to get, because they are supplements, so you do not even need to have a prescription to get them. They are even easier to acquire because you can purchase them online. So if you want to alleviate your social anxiety, you should consider taking smart drugs. Not only will smart drugs make you feel more confident and improve your mood, but they could also greatly enhance your brain functions too. So there are very little downsides to taking nootropics, get them right now if you want to improve your life. Save Save

– After sparking a debate over the value independent bookstores, Farhad Manjoo is presenting a peace offering. Independent bookstores may be inefficient from a financial perspective, but that doesn't mean they're "doomed," he writes at Slate. If we want to keep such bookstores going, we can't just go and browse: We need to buy, and that means they need to sell better. It's time for them to start innovating the way Amazon has: "Tablets and smartphones could be store owners’ best weapons against Jeff Bezos—if only they’d embrace them." Many readers turn to the online retail giant for its well-crafted review system, which is free to use—why not co-opt it? Bookstores could highlight books that have gotten good reviews on Amazon, Manjoo suggests. And shops should try out AisleBuyer, which lets indie stores create their own apps. Customers can buy with their phones in-store; shops can track customer purchases to make recommendations. Apps could also help them connect staff to customers with matching interests. To store owners: "Amazon is stealing your customers. This is a way to fight back."

A Texas man got caught trying to leave his mark on history with a car key. Police say a tour guide at San Antonio’s Alamo spotted Julio Perez, 22, carving his name into a 250-year-old limestone wall inside the former Spanish mission’s church on Thursday afternoon, the San Antonio Express-News reported. Perez tried to get away, but Alamo Rangers captured him and turned him over to the San Antonio police, authorities said. The monks’ burial room of the church sustained $250,000 worth of damage and Perez faces second-degree felony criminal mischief charges, police told KENS-TV. Staff have closed the area and tapped preservation experts to get rid of the 3- by 1-inch etching of the name "Julio" in the wall. The act of vandalism marks at least the third time someone has defaced the revered site of an 1836 battle between forces from Texas and Mexico. UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee placed the Alamo and four other 18th century Franciscan missions on its World Heritage List in July. Police say Julio Perez, 22, used a car key to carve his name inside the monks burial room of the church at San Antonio's Alamo on Thursday afternoon. (Bexar County Sheriff's Office) “In Texas we take our history seriously and consider the Alamo to be sacred ground,” Alamo Rangers Chief Mark Adkins said in a statement. “Desecration of any part of these hallowed grounds, especially the walls of the Alamo Chapel, will not be tolerated and we will support prosecution to the furthest extent of the law.” British rocker Ozzy Osbourne urinated on a monument at the Alamo in 1982 but later donated $10,000 for its upkeep. A 23-year-old El Paso man also peed at the historic site in 2012 and pleaded guilty to felony criminal mischief two years later. “The message is, 'don't whiz on the Alamo,’ ” Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed said at the time. Mexican troops led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna took the Alamo on March 6, 1836, after frontiersman Davy Crockett and other defenders held out for 13 days, according to the Alamo’s official website. The Alamo dates to the 18th century, when Franciscan monks established it as a mission during the Spanish rule of Texas. The historic site has now been defaced at least three times in recent years. (Gary Miller/Getty Images) Texas won its independence the following month with soldiers rallying around the cry “Remember the Alamo.” Movies like the 1960 epic, “The Alamo,” starring John Wayne as Crockett, and 10 other films about the battle have added to its legend. "This is something that has a flavor of what this country was born on," a woman visiting the site told KENS. UNESCO also cited the missions of San Antonio as a meeting point for European and native cultures when they joined sites like Yellowstone National Park and the Statue of Liberty as the 23rd place in America on the World Heritage List earlier this year. The UN’s cultural body said the missions “illustrate the Spanish Crown’s efforts to colonize, evangelize and defend the northern frontier of New Spain.” Police say Perez was caught vandalizing a wall inside this room and tried to flee when a tour guide spotted him. (KENS) Follow on Twitter @tobysalkc ON A MOBILE DEVICE? WATCH THE VIDEO HERE. ||||| Julio Perez (Photo: BCSO) SAN ANTONIO - The shrine of Texas liberty became the target of a vandal this week. A man is accused of using a car key to carve his name inside the Alamo. On Thursday, San Antonio police said Julio Perez, 22, scratched his name inside the Monks' Burial Room, damaging the newly designated World Heritage Site. "Many Texans died here fighting for the independence of Texas. We don't take it lightly when someone comes and desecrates this area," Chief Mark Adkins with the Alamo Rangers said. The Alamo is more than 250 years old. The Monks' Burial Room is cordoned off for the investigation. The three inch by one inch carving left around $250,000 of damage, according to the police report. The Alamo was open when the wall was damaged, which is how investigators believe Perez got inside. According to the police report, a tour guide spotted Perez and alerted the Alamo Rangers, who are in charge of security. They held Perez until San Antonio Police arrested him. Perez is now facing charges of second degree felony criminal mischief. Preservation experts are working on a plan to fix the damage. Read or Share this story: http://on.kens5.com/1UxoPwN ||||| Photo: San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close Image 1 of 22 The Alamo is one of the top iconic destinations of the South, but of course it's much more than that. Here are 20 unique facts that often slip through the history books and guided tours. The Alamo is one of the top iconic destinations of the South, but of course it's much more than that. Here are 20 unique facts that often slip through the history books and guided tours. Photo: San Antonio Express-News Image 2 of 22 The Bexar County Appraisal District prices the Alamo at $200 million. The Bexar County Appraisal District prices the Alamo at $200 million. Photo: LISA KRANTZ, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 3 of 22 Former District Attorney Susan Reed once issued a press release titled “Don’t Whizz on the Alamo.” It’s made from limestone and urine is highly corrosive. Former District Attorney Susan Reed once issued a press release titled “Don’t Whizz on the Alamo.” It’s made from limestone and urine is highly corrosive. Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 4 of 22 Ozzy Osbourne did not actually urinate on the Alamo shrine. In 1982, city council banned the metal head from San Antonio for defiling the Alamo Cenotaph. Ozzy Osbourne did not actually urinate on the Alamo shrine. In 1982, city council banned the metal head from San Antonio for defiling the Alamo Cenotaph. Photo: LEFT: San Antonio Express-News File Photo, RIGHT: William Luther / San Antonio Express-News Image 5 of 22 Photo: Singer Phil Collins stands on the set of John Wayne's "The Alamo" in Brackettville. Phil Collins, the 1980s pop star and celebrated Alamo patron, first visited the Alamo in 1973 while on tour with Genesis. Forty-one years later, Collins donated a massive collection of Alamo artifacts to the Texas General Land Office. Plans for a Phil Collins museum are underway at the Alamo. Phil Collins, the 1980s pop star and celebrated Alamo patron, first visited the Alamo in 1973 while on tour with Genesis. Forty-one years later, Collins donated a massive collection of Alamo artifacts to the ... more Photo: Courtesy Photo / State House Press Image 6 of 22 The best view of the Alamo is from a suite atop San Antonio’s Hyatt Regency on the River Walk, according to a Texas Monthly interview with Phil Collins The best view of the Alamo is from a suite atop San Antonio’s Hyatt Regency on the River Walk, according to a Texas Monthly interview with Phil Collins Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT / JOHN DAVENPORT / San Antonio Express-News Image 7 of 22 Erected in 1724, the Alamo was the first of five missions in the area. It was originally named Misión San Antonio de Valero. (Remember that the next time you get gas.) Erected in 1724, the Alamo was the first of five missions in the area. It was originally named Misión San Antonio de Valero. (Remember that the next time you get gas.) Photo: BILLY CALZADA, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 8 of 22 After Spanish officials secularized the mission, they stationed a cavalry unit there in the early 1800s. Alamo is the Spanish word for “cottonwood,” and cavalry soldiers adopted the nickname in homage to their hometown: Alamo de Parras, Coahuila. After Spanish officials secularized the mission, they stationed a cavalry unit there in the early 1800s. Alamo is the Spanish word for “cottonwood,” and cavalry soldiers adopted the nickname in homage to ... more Photo: Danita Delimont, Getty Images Image 9 of 22 The Long Barrack, now the Alamo Museum, was the first recorded hospital in Spanish Texas. It was established in 1805 to care for soldiers fighting on the frontier. The Long Barrack, now the Alamo Museum, was the first recorded hospital in Spanish Texas. It was established in 1805 to care for soldiers fighting on the frontier. Photo: Brian Nutsch, Courtesy, General Land Office Image 10 of 22 A lock of Davy Crockett’s hair is encased in a glass locket on display in the Long Barrack Museum. A lock of Davy Crockett’s hair is encased in a glass locket on display in the Long Barrack Museum. Photo: GLORIA FERNIZ, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 11 of 22 Photo: The Texas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans re-enact the surrender of all Federal installations in Texas by Major General David Twiggs in February in 1861. Confederate forces used the Alamo during the Civil War. Photo: The Texas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans re-enact the surrender of all Federal installations in Texas by Major General David Twiggs ... more Confederate forces used the Alamo during the Civil War. Photo: ROBERT MCLEROY, San Antonio Express-News Image 12 of 22 The Alamo was used as a warehouse in the 1870s, and hog carcasses hung in the cool, dark stone church. At this time, a French merchant ran a general store in the Long Barrack. The Alamo was used as a warehouse in the 1870s, and hog carcasses hung in the cool, dark stone church. At this time, a French merchant ran a general store in the Long Barrack. Photo: Jowdy Photography, Courtesy, General Land Office Image 13 of 22 Photo: screengrab from the Virtual Tour at www.thealamo.org Small stones in the shape of Texas are discreetly embedded throughout the building. Photo: screengrab from the Virtual Tour at www.thealamo.org Small stones in the shape of Texas are discreetly embedded throughout the building. Photo: Texas General Land Office Image 14 of 22 Photo: screengrab from the Virtual Tour at www.thealamo.org Etchings dating back to the 1730s – 1750s can be found on a wall in the Alamo Church Sacristy. Photo: screengrab from the Virtual Tour at www.thealamo.org Etchings dating back to the 1730s – 1750s can be found on a wall in the Alamo Church Sacristy. Photo: Texas General Land Office Image 15 of 22 Photo: screengrab from the Virtual Tour at www.thealamo.org Broken glass from bottles and handles from beer mugs can be seen jutting through the walls here and there. When the U.S. Army reinforced the walls, they used dirt near a garbage dump. Photo: screengrab from ... more Broken glass from bottles and handles from beer mugs can be seen jutting through the walls here and there. When the U.S. Army reinforced the walls, they used dirt near a garbage dump. Photo: Texas General Land Office Image 16 of 22 "Viva Max," a 1969 comedy starring Peter Ustinov and Jonathan Winters, infuriated the Daughters of the Republic so much that they protested by covering the Alamo’s gate in black plastic during the filming. "Viva Max," a 1969 comedy starring Peter Ustinov and Jonathan Winters, infuriated the Daughters of the Republic so much that they protested by covering the Alamo’s gate in black plastic during the filming. Photo: Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images Image 17 of 22 Alamo horticulturalist Mark Nauschutz says this oak tree was planted on the Alamo grounds when it was 40 years old in 1912. Alamo horticulturalist Mark Nauschutz says this oak tree was planted on the Alamo grounds when it was 40 years old in 1912. Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, Jdavenport@express-news.net Image 18 of 22 Photo: screengrab from the Virtual Tour at www.thealamo.org The original walls around the Alamo are long gone. The stone walls and arches there today were built in the 1920s. Photo: screengrab from the Virtual Tour at www.thealamo.org The original walls around the Alamo are long gone. The stone walls and arches there today were built in the 1920s. Photo: Texas General Land Office Image 19 of 22 The shrine’s private police force is the Alamo Rangers. A former security chief of the Alamo Rangers has claimed to have seen ghosts at the shrine. The shrine’s private police force is the Alamo Rangers. A former security chief of the Alamo Rangers has claimed to have seen ghosts at the shrine. Photo: HELEN L. MONTOYA, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 20 of 22 Martin Leal is owner of Alamo City Paranormal and a local ghost hunter. There is a legend that spirits of mission friars, American Indians, Mexican soldiers and Alamo defenders haunt the area. Martin Leal is owner of Alamo City Paranormal and a local ghost hunter. There is a legend that spirits of mission friars, American Indians, Mexican soldiers and Alamo defenders haunt the area. Photo: HELEN L. MONTOYA, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 21 of 22 Photo: A video showing indigenous and mestizo people of Texas is projected on the Alamo shrine during "Luminaria: Arts Night in San Antonio," on Saturday, March 14, 2009. The video was part of an artistic piece entitled "Enlight Tent" by Vaago Weiland and Laura Varela. A city ordinance now prohibits demonstrations with digital projection screening on the Alamo Plaza. Photo: A video showing indigenous and mestizo people of Texas is projected on the Alamo shrine during ... more A city ordinance now prohibits demonstrations with digital projection screening on the Alamo Plaza. Photo: BILLY CALZADA, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

– Julio Perez will likely remember the Alamo for a long time to come, mainly because he's being accused of damaging it to the tune of $250,000, KENS 5 reports. Police say the 22-year-old Texas man tried to carve his name with a car key into a 250-year-old wall in the Monks' Burial Room, creating a 3-by-1-inch gash in the recently designated World Heritage site. Per the police report, a tour guide reportedly spotted Perez notching "Julio" into the limestone and told him to stop, and an Alamo security guard nabbed him and a female companion when they tried to escape, the San Antonio Express-News notes. "In Texas we take our history seriously and consider the Alamo to be sacred ground," the Alamo Rangers chief said in a statement, per the New York Daily News. "Desecration of any part of these hallowed grounds, especially the walls of the Alamo Chapel, will not be tolerated." Perez has been charged with second-degree felony criminal mischief, and the damaged room has been closed to the public as preservation experts try to figure out how to how to fix the carving. (Cops are still questioning girls named Destiny to see who defaced the Black Cliffs of Idaho.)

These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Thank you to Chairman Kim Jong Un for keeping your word & starting the process of sending home the remains of our great and beloved missing fallen! I am not at all surprised that you took this kind action. Also, thank you for your nice letter - l look forward to seeing you soon! ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump received a new letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (kim jawng oon) Wednesday following up on their Singapore summit. Trump tweeted early Thursday his thanks to Kim "for your nice letter — I look forward to seeing you soon!" White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders says the correspondence is "aimed at following up on their meeting in Singapore" and "advancing the commitments made" in the leaders' joint statement there. The White House is not addressing whether Trump and Kim may again meet. Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. military leaders in Hawaii on Wednesday received the remains of missing U.S. soldiers from the Korean War. The letter comes amid concerns over North Korea's ballistic missile program and commitment to denuclearization.

– President Trump teased an upcoming meeting with Kim Jong Un on Thursday as the White House confirmed the North Korean leader sent him a letter "aimed at following up on their meeting in Singapore." In a tweet, Trump thanked Kim for the "nice letter" and for keeping his promise of returning what's believed to be the remains of US soldiers who fought in the Korean War, which arrived in Hawaii on Wednesday, per the AP. "I look forward to seeing you soon!" he added. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders didn't comment on when the two leaders might meet again, but she said Kim's letter spoke of "advancing the commitments made" at their June summit, spoofed in a K-pop artist's latest music video, per CNN.

Would you break your own toe to win a Paralympic medal? Would you sit on a sharp object or strangulate your testicles? It's cheating, but a scientist who will be monitoring athletes at the Paralympic Games says a third of competitors with spinal injuries may be harming themselves to boost their performance. The practice, called "boosting", is designed to increase blood pressure and enhance performance. It's banned by the International Paralympics Committee (IPC), but some researchers say these are the desperate acts of athletes trying to compete on a level playing field. "There have been times where I would specifically give my leg or my toe a couple of really good electric shocks" says Brad Zdanivsky, a 36-year-old Canadian quadriplegic climber who has experimented with boosting in the gym. Common boosting techniques Overfilling the bladder, by clamping a catheter Sitting on a drawing pin Use of tight leg straps Twisting and/or sitting on the scrotum Cracking or breaking a bone "That would make my blood pressure jump up and I could do more weights and cycle harder - it is effective." One British journalist with years of experience covering the Paralympics says he has heard of athletes using small hammers to crack or break a toe. The point of these activities is to raise the athlete's blood pressure and heart rate. Isn't high blood pressure bad? High blood pressure causes millions of deaths each year around the world, so it may come as a surprise to hear of athletes deliberately "boosting" theirs. But a raised heart rate and blood pressure are advantages during exercise, as they help deliver more oxygen to hard-working muscles, enabling the athlete to keep going. For most people, heart rate and blood pressure rise naturally when physical activity increases. But this is not always the case after a spinal cord injury, meaning competitors could tire sooner. In the world of elite sports, "boosting" could make the difference between winning and losing. But it also boosts the chance of a heart attack or stroke. When able-bodied competitors engage in hard physical activities like running or swimming, blood pressure and heart rate increase automatically. Athletes with spinal injuries do not get that response. "Boosting" is a short cut to higher blood pressure and the improved performance that comes with it. In medical terms it's defined as the deliberate induction of a dangerous condition common to quadriplegics called autonomic dysreflexia (AD). Many everyday activities that cause discomfort, even something as trivial as sunburn, can set off the condition naturally. Zdanivsky turned to boosting when his spine was crushed in a car accident in 1994, because he didn't want the injury to curb his passion for mountain climbing. "I tried several different ways of doing it. You can allow your bladder to fill, basically don't go to the bathroom for a few hours and let that pain from your bladder do it. "Some people do that in sports by clipping off a catheter to let the bladder fill - that's the easiest and the most common - and you can quickly get rid of that pain stimulus by letting the urine drain out. "I took it a notch further by using an electrical stimulus on my leg, my toe and even my testicles." But boosting comes at a price. "You are getting a blood pressure spike that could quite easily blow a vessel behind your eye or cause a stroke in your brain," says Zdanivsky. Image caption Brad Zdanivsky is a passionate mountain climber "It can actually stop your heart. It's very unpleasant, but the results are hard to deny. The saying is that winners always want the ball, so it doesn't matter if it's unpleasant, it gets results." The IPC has been aware of the problem for many years. Boosting has has been banned since 1994. But remarkably little scientific research has been done to assess how many athletes are willing to take these extreme measures to improve their performance. A survey carried out by the IPC during the Beijing Paralympics indicated that around 17% of those who responded had used boosting. Some experts believe the real figure could be higher. Could it be as high as 30%, I asked Dr Andrei Krassioukov, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia and an experienced researcher into spinal injuries? "Correct. It is possible," he replied. "I will tell you right now as a physician people want to feel better, first of all - they feel better with their blood pressure higher. But a second thing driving it is the desire to win, to have a fair playing field with other Paralympic athletes who have higher blood pressure." While many athletes with spinal injuries will suffer from low blood pressure, there is considerable variation from one individual to the next. Athletes' confessions in Beijing survey Participants were specifically asked the question: "Have you ever intentionally induced autonomic dysreflexia to boost your performance in training or competition?" Of the 60 participants who responded, 10 (16.7%) responded affirmatively while 50 (83.3%) responded negatively. All the positive responses were obtained from the male participants, with the majority competing in wheelchair rugby (55.5%), followed by wheelchair marathon (22.2%) and long distance racing (22.2%) Beijing survey for World Anti-Doping Agency "There is still a disadvantage between paralympians who have normal blood pressure and those who don't and this puts a significant number of athletes at a disadvantage," Krassioukov says. "As a physician I totally understand why these Olympians are doing this, but as a scientist I am horrified with these events." He believes that changes to the system of classification would help - for example by changing the points system that aims to ensure that teams with a roughly equal level of overall disability compete against one another in wheelchair rugby and basketball. Currently, the system takes no account of blood pressure and heart rate. IPC Chief Medical Officer Peter Van de Vliet says he has no data that would support or disprove Krassioukov's estimate that up to 30% of paralympians with spinal injuries engage in boosting. It's an unacceptable practice, he says, and the IPC has no sympathy with the idea that it levels the field of play. Image caption Some wheelchair rugby players said they had tried boosting The IPC has no plans to add physiological characteristics into their classification systems, he adds. "Paralympic qualification for athletes with physical impairment is on the basis of a neuro-muscular-skeletal impairment rather than a physiological one," he says. IPC rules on boosting The IPC forbids athletes to compete in a hazardous dysreflexic state A hazardous dysreflexic state is considered to be present when the systolic blood pressure is 180mm Hg or above An examination may be undertaken by physicians or paramedical staff... at any time Any deliberate attempt to induce Autonomic Dysreflexia is forbidden... the athlete will be disqualified from the particular competition IPC position statement During the Beijing Games, the IPC carried out about 20 blood pressure checks on athletes before events. They didn't find any clear evidence of people boosting. The IPC says it will continue to monitor athletes closely before events at the London Games. Anyone they suspect is boosting - symptoms include sweating, skin blotchiness and goose bumps - will be subjected to blood pressure checks. If athletes are found to have a systolic blood pressure of 180mm of mercury or above, they will not be allowed to compete in "the particular competition in question". But they will not receive a long-term ban. Brad Zdanivsky argues that checks like this will not be effective in cutting out boosting. He says you would need to test an athlete's blood pressure regularly over a sustained period to be able to know for sure whether any given reading was natural or "boosted". "There is no real solution, it is an ugly can of worms that no-one wants to open it and talk about," says Zdanivsky. He believes that only a tragic event will bring the problem out into the open. "What's going to happen one day is that someone is going to have a stroke right on the court and then they are going to have to talk about it." Matt McGrath's documentary Cheating at the Paralympics will be broadcast at 1832GMT on 23 August 2012 on the BBC World Service ||||| Classification is a unique element of Paralympic sports, intended to ensure fair competition. As each sport at the Paralympic Games requires different skills and competencies, the impact of impairment on the performance of the athletes varies. That’s why each sport has its own unique classification rules.

– Top athletes will go to extremes to get a competitive edge, but a BBC look at Paralympians shows just how painful, and illegal, those extremes can be. It delves into "boosting," a practice in which these athletes, who have a physical disability, increase performance by upping their blood pressure. And the ways they go about doing so sound downright awful: breaking their own toes, twisting their scrotum, sitting on something sharp, delivering electric shocks to the legs, or closing a catheter to overfill the bladder. One scientist involved in monitoring the Paralympic Games' athletes estimates that a third of competitors with spinal injuries have boosted. Raising blood pressure boosts the amount of oxygen directed to one's muscles, explains the BBC, which prolongs endurance. It's a process that typically happens naturally as we work harder—but those with spinal cord injuries are often the exception and don't see an automatic blood pressure rise. But that's not the only thing boosting can rise: the chance of having a heart attack or stroke increase as well. The Paralympic Games run from Wednesday through Sept. 9.

Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Two campus monitors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have been barred from school property after it was reported one of them warned school staff members that Nikolas Cruz was acting suspicious as he entered the campus on Feb. 14. Andrew Medina and David Taylor, both sports coaches and unarmed campus monitors, "have received administrative reassignments ... until further notice," a Broward County Public Schools spokesperson told Fox News. UNARMED PARKLAND CAMPUS MONITOR ALERTED STAFF AS NIKOLAS CRUZ STORMED CAMPUS, DOCUMENTS REVEAL Medina told Coral Springs police in the aftermath of the massacre that unfolded on the Florida high school campus on Valentine's Day that he saw Cruz exit an Uber and enter the campus carrying a black bag, the Sun-Sentinel reported. The unarmed campus monitor reportedly said that when he saw the mass shooting suspect seemingly "beelining" for the 1200 building — the location where the shooting, which killed 17 people, unfolded — he warned other campus security guards. Taylor, who Medina said was another unarmed security monitor he contacted regarding his suspicions about Cruz, hid in a janitor's closet when he heard the gunfire go off, according to the Sun-Sentinel. Andrew Pollack, whose daughter, Meadow, was killed in the shooting, tweeted that after seeing Medina's comments in recent news reports, he "went up to the school and handled it. ... Andrew Medina I'm not done with you." Fred Guttenberg, father of Jaime, another student who died in the shooting, tweeted that he went with Pollack to the school "to lay out our concerns and to ask for [Medina's] removal. Glad that we got this done." Pollack added to the news outlet Medina didn't call a "Code Red" — which would've signaled a threat inside the school — when he saw Cruz. Medina reportedly told police his training taught him only to call a "Code Red" if he saw someone with a gun or saw the shooting himself, and therefore didn't issue the security warning. Fox News' Kathleen Reuschle contributed to this report. ||||| The latest installment in a series of occasional stories examining the factors that might have made a crucial difference in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. When a security watchman spotted a former student arriving on campus, head hung low, wearing a backpack and carrying a duffel bag, he couldn’t recall the kid’s name but he remembered he was trouble. “Crazy boy. That’s crazy boy.” The school day was about 20 minutes from dismissal as Andrew Medina, a baseball coach and unarmed campus monitor, noticed Nikolas Cruz while riding his golf cart around the Marjory Stoneman Douglas campus unlocking gates. What followed were more of the critical moments that might have made a difference between life and death for the 17 people killed on Valentine’s Day at the Parkland school. Medina never stopped Cruz or interrogated him, despite recognizing him as the “racist” kid who always wore black or camouflage and had swastikas on his backpack, according to a sworn statement obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He was the same kid who had been sent to the office for wearing a camo mask, hiding behind poles and jumping out to scare students. “I’m telling you I knew who the kid was,” Medina, 39, of Coral Springs, told investigators. “Because we had a meeting about him last year and we said, ‘If there’s gonna be anybody who’s gonna come to this school and shoot this school up, it’s gonna be that kid.’” Medina was the first to see Cruz step onto the Parkland campus on Feb. 14. He tuned into the 19-year-old getting out of a gold-colored Uber and striding purposefully toward the 1200 building. “He’s beelining. He’s got his head down. He’s on a mission, you know. He’s on a mission,” Medina later told investigators. An animation presented during a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission meeting shows the reported timeline of Nikolas Cruz's actions inside the school on February 14, 2018. Blue dots represent staff, and green dots are students. The dot turns yellow if the person was wounded, purple if the victim died. The black dot with a line is shooter Nikolas Cruz. An animation presented during a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission meeting shows the reported timeline of Nikolas Cruz's actions inside the school on February 14, 2018. Blue dots represent staff, and green dots are students. The dot turns yellow if the person was wounded, purple if the victim died. The black dot with a line is shooter Nikolas Cruz. SEE MORE VIDEOS Although Medina didn’t think Cruz was armed, something told him not to approach him. Instead, he said, he relied on his training: “Do what we’ve been taught. Report it.” “Because I was ready to go get him. Like, I was ready to go be the guy, just go get him.” Cruz broke into a run when he noticed Medina coming his way on a golf cart “kind of chasing him.” Cruz then slipped inside the building. In less than a minute, Medina heard “the first bang, like pow.” Medina had radioed ahead to David Taylor, 49, a coach and fellow campus monitor, warning him to “be careful” because a “suspicious kid” was coming. Taylor descended to the first floor, where he saw Cruz walk in on the opposite end of the building and go into a stairwell. There, he assembled and loaded his AR-15. “When [Taylor] was walking halfway down the hallway, he heard the shots and he ran right into a janitor’s closet that was right there,” Medina said. “Like, that’s what we’re — our training is go in, lock in, close all the doors.” At the first sound of gunfire, Medina considered reporting an emergency code, a warning that a shooter was on campus. But he hesitated. He’d been trained not to set off a massive law enforcement response unless he actually saw a gun or shots fired. “I don’t want to be the guy who calls that, you know.” As Medina picked up armed school deputy Scot Peterson with his golf cart, somebody on the radio yelled: “It sounds like fireworks.” Somebody responded: “Those ain’t fireworks.” Medina and Peterson made their way to the front of the 1200 building where they heard more shots. “That’s when the deputy was like, get out of here … and he told me just to go back to the front of the school.” Peterson, who has since resigned from the Broward Sheriff’s Office, has been vilified and called a coward for not rushing into the building and shooting Cruz. When the shooting stopped minutes later, everyone was trying to figure out where the gunman had gone. Cruz had abandoned his rifle and blended in with fleeing students. Police arrested him about an hour and 20 minutes later on a nearby residential street. When Medina was brought there to identify the suspect, Cruz hyperventilated and vomited clear fluid. Hours later, Medina second-guessed himself as he talked to detectives. “Now I really wish I would have stopped him before and we would have saved all this, but it really wasn’t nothing I could do about that. … I was just doing my job, what they train us to do, you know.” In the two weeks before the Valentine’s Day shooting, campus monitors had been training on how to handle a mass shooting, Medina said. He mentioned Sandy Hook and the lessons learned there about locking all doors inside the school. A campus monitor’s primary duty, according to a job description provided by the Broward School District, is to watch for outsiders and figure out why they’re on campus, keep a log of suspicious activities and patrol the grounds. Debbi Hixon, whose husband, Chris, athletic director, wrestling coach and a campus monitor, was murdered when he ran to confront Cruz, said she was shocked that no one actually got in Cruz’s face as he walked onto school property. ||||| CLOSE Interview footage from the Broward County State Attorney’s Office sheds light on security monitor Andrew Medina’s actions in the moments leading up to the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. USA TODAY In this Feb. 14, 2018 frame from surveillance video provided by the Broward Sheriff's Office, Andrew Medina, center, is interviewed by detectives following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Medina, a baseball coach and unarmed campus monitor, told detectives he watched Nikolas Cruz get out of an Uber and head straight to the building where 17 people would be killed moments later at the school. (Photo: Broward Sheriff's Office via AP) A Marjory Stoneman Douglas coach who saw Nikolas Cruz step onto campus before the Valentine's Day shooting and another coach who hid in a closet that day have been barred from the Parkland, Fla., school. The men served as unarmed security monitors for the school. Andrew Medina, a baseball coach, saw Cruz arrive on campus Feb. 14 wearing a backpack and carrying a duffel bag, South Florida Sun Sentinel reported last week. He told detectives he watched Cruz head to the building where 17 people would be killed moments later at the school. “I’m telling you I knew who the kid was,” Medina told investigators. “Because we had a meeting about him last year and we said, ‘If there’s gonna be anybody who’s gonna come to this school and shoot this school up, it’s gonna be that kid.’” More: Parkland’s Nikolas Cruz made chilling videos before shooting: ‘You’re all going to die’ Medina radioed another coach and security monitor, David Taylor, about Cruz, saying "keep your eyes open." When Taylor heard gunfire, he hid in a janitor's closet. Nadine Drew, spokesperson for Broward County Public Schools, told USA TODAY that Medina and Taylor "have received administrative reassignments away from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School until further notice," because of "information that has recently appeared in the media." Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed by Cruz, called The Associated Press on Wednesday to say Medina should be fired. "All he had to do was say 'Code Red.' He was trained to say those words and he didn't do it. That's the incompetency of the Broward School District," Pollack said. Medina said he didn't call for a Code Red, because he didn't see a gun. More: Parkland student activist David Hogg thanks NRA on Twitter. Here's why Follow Ashley May on Twitter: @AshleyMayTweets Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2Jpghdm

– Two coaches who served as unarmed security monitors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Fla., have been reassigned after controversial reports of their behavior on the day of the shooting, reports USA Today. Baseball coach Andrew Medina told investigators that before the Feb. 14 shooting that took 17 lives, he noticed the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, wearing a backpack and carrying a duffel bag while looking like he was "on a mission," and recognized him as someone staffers had discussed: "If there’s gonna be anybody who’s gonna come to this school and shoot this school up, it’s gonna be that kid," they had said during a meeting about him, Medina recalled, though he later disputed telling investigators that. When Medina approached him, Cruz ran away; soon after, Medina heard gunshots, but didn’t immediately send out an emergency warning of an active shooter. Medina had radioed ahead to fellow coach and monitor David Taylor and warned him that a “suspicious kid” was coming, the Sun Sentinel reports. When Taylor heard shots, he took cover in a janitor’s closet. At least two parents have talked to school officials about how the crisis was handled. "All [Medina] had to do was say 'Code Red,'” says Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed in the shooting. “He was trained to say those words and he didn't do it." Fred Guttenberg, the father of another shooting victim, tweeted that he went with Pollack to the school "to lay out our concerns and to ask for [Medina's] removal. Glad that we got this done,” per Fox. Medina said later that he was reluctant to call for a Code Red because he didn’t see the gun. Both he and Taylor have been barred from the grounds of the school. (Former school resource officer Scot Peterson has also been harshly criticized for his handling of the shooting.)

He is an old Etonian, a graduate of Cambridge, a former oil executive—and he’s just been tapped as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Could the man with high-level business skills be exactly what the fractious 80-million-strong Anglican Communion needs to keep itself together? Press Association via AP The Right Reverend Justin Welby has been named as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. It’s a familiar story of privilege in Britain: a well-connected man receives a top-notch, prestigious education before making his name in the high-paying business sector and is eventually selected to fill one of the most prominent roles in British society. But this version of the story has a twist: the man in question, Justin Welby, quit the life of a business executive in 1987 and became a village parish priest in the Church of England instead—and in remarkably short order has risen to be on the verge of being officially named the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of 80 million Anglicans around the world. After weeks of speculation from the British media and Anglicans around the world, Downing Street announced Friday on Twitter that a group of clergy and lay people known as the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) had chosen the 56-year-old to be the head of the Church of England. Beyond his background in business, Welby may seem like a surprising choice for the top job for other reasons. Although he was rumored to be a possibility for the leadership of the Church in September when the 16-member CNC met in a secret location to deliberate on their choices, many felt that he was too young and new to the Church. A bit “undercooked”, as Reverend George Pitcher put it when speaking to TIME before the selection was announced. A bishop for less than a year, Welby’s background seems more in line with that of a top political advisor or a flashy CEO rather than the spiritual guide to millions. (MORE: Parochial Pivot: St. Paul’s Cathedral Won’t Pursue Legal Action Against Occupy London) Born in London in 1956, Welby has always had well-heeled connections. His father, Gavin Welby, worked as a bootlegger in the United States in the 1920s, was friendly with the Kennedys and once dated the actress Vanessa Redgrave. His mother, Jane Portal Welby, once worked as a secretary for Winston Churchill. Welby was educated at Eton College, the same elite private boys school attended by Princes William and Harry, London Mayor Boris Johnson and 19 British Prime Ministers including the current incumbent David Cameron. He went on to study law and economic history at Cambridge University before starting a career in the oil industry, first on the international finance team for a French oil company in Paris and then as an executive for Enterprise Oil Plc in London. In 1979, he married his wife Caroline and they started a family. But Welby’s career path took a sharp pivot after the death of his baby daughter Johanna, who was killed in a car accident in France in 1983. Though devastated by the loss, Welby later said, “in a strange way it actually brought [my wife and I] closer to God.” A few years later, Welby quit his job and enrolled at St. John’s College at Durham University to study theology and become a priest. He quickly climbed the ranks of the Church and was appointed the Bishop of Durham—the fourth most senior bishop in the Church of England— in November 2012. His appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury marks another huge promotion—but it’s an elevation to a post that promises to be extremely challenging. Worldwide, the Anglican community is made up of dozens of different churches, each with their own autonomy. More than half of all Anglicans are members of conservative African churches. In the U.S., the Episcopal Church has only about two million members and an outlook markedly more liberal than their African co-religionists. On issues such as gay marriage, women bishops and even the economy, Anglican churches can seem as far apart from each other in their beliefs as they are geographically. The diverse network of churches is, however, unified through the Communion, which, for the last ten years, has been led by the liberal-minded Rowan Williams, who announced his resignation as Archbishop earlier this year after a decade of struggling to resolve clashes within his flock. (MORE: A Canon Quits As St. Paul’s Flip-Flops Over Occupy London) It will now be up to Welby to manage the Church’s conflicts, the most severe of which have sometimes threatened to cause schisms. Many in the Church fear that a move too far to the right or too far to the left by one faction of Anglicans could lead to another faction breaking away entirely. Conservative Anglican groups such as the Convention of Anglicans in North America (CANA) are adamantly opposed to views they feel are contrary to the teachings of the gospels—particularly gay marriage and ordaining women as bishops. Julian Dobbs, a Bishop of CANA, says that such conflicts over theology are “causing huge divisions in the Anglican Communion.” He adds that to prevent irreparable divides, Welby “will need to work hard to establish those historic faith principles that the communion was founded.” On the other side of the debate are Anglicans who believe that such a move toward codifying the Anglican faith would be at odds with what the Church fundamentally stands for. “Trying to force us into a common belief system is contrary to being an Anglican,” says Pitcher. Welby clearly has daunting task ahead, but many feel that if anyone is capable of uniting the liberal and conservative factions of the Communion, it’s him. Church insiders describe Welby as a people-person who’s skilled at seeing all sides of an issue and negotiating with both wings of the Church. He’s also traveled extensively in Africa and worked behind the scenes with many churches there, encouraging communication between them and more liberal churches in the West. That’s not to say he hasn’t taken stands on certain issues. Welby is on the record as being in favor of ordaining women as bishops and he’s just as outspokenly opposed to gay marriage. And yet he has largely managed to avoid being characterized as either of the right or the left in the Church’s political spectrum. In business and as a leader in the Church, Welby is perhaps most commonly described as a mediator. Vivian Gibney, a former colleague of Welby’s, told the BBC that “one of his main strengths is to find the way forward in negotiation.” Never mind the elite education and business-savvy; that’s the skill most likely to make Welby the Communion’s saving grace. (MORE: Anglicanism In Crisis) ||||| He is an old Etonian, a graduate of Cambridge, a former oil executive—and he’s just been tapped as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Could the man with high-level business skills be exactly what the fractious 80-million-strong Anglican Communion needs to keep itself together? Press Association via AP The Right Reverend Justin Welby has been named as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. It’s a familiar story of privilege in Britain: a well-connected man receives a top-notch, prestigious education before making his name in the high-paying business sector and is eventually selected to fill one of the most prominent roles in British society. But this version of the story has a twist: the man in question, Justin Welby, quit the life of a business executive in 1987 and became a village parish priest in the Church of England instead—and in remarkably short order has risen to be on the verge of being officially named the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of 80 million Anglicans around the world. After weeks of speculation from the British media and Anglicans around the world, Downing Street announced Friday on Twitter that a group of clergy and lay people known as the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) had chosen the 56-year-old to be the head of the Church of England. Beyond his background in business, Welby may seem like a surprising choice for the top job for other reasons. Although he was rumored to be a possibility for the leadership of the Church in September when the 16-member CNC met in a secret location to deliberate on their choices, many felt that he was too young and new to the Church. A bit “undercooked”, as Reverend George Pitcher put it when speaking to TIME before the selection was announced. A bishop for less than a year, Welby’s background seems more in line with that of a top political advisor or a flashy CEO rather than the spiritual guide to millions. (MORE: Parochial Pivot: St. Paul’s Cathedral Won’t Pursue Legal Action Against Occupy London) Born in London in 1956, Welby has always had well-heeled connections. His father, Gavin Welby, worked as a bootlegger in the United States in the 1920s, was friendly with the Kennedys and once dated the actress Vanessa Redgrave. His mother, Jane Portal Welby, once worked as a secretary for Winston Churchill. Welby was educated at Eton College, the same elite private boys school attended by Princes William and Harry, London Mayor Boris Johnson and 19 British Prime Ministers including the current incumbent David Cameron. He went on to study law and economic history at Cambridge University before starting a career in the oil industry, first on the international finance team for a French oil company in Paris and then as an executive for Enterprise Oil Plc in London. In 1979, he married his wife Caroline and they started a family. But Welby’s career path took a sharp pivot after the death of his baby daughter Johanna, who was killed in a car accident in France in 1983. Though devastated by the loss, Welby later said, “in a strange way it actually brought [my wife and I] closer to God.” A few years later, Welby quit his job and enrolled at St. John’s College at Durham University to study theology and become a priest. He quickly climbed the ranks of the Church and was appointed the Bishop of Durham—the fourth most senior bishop in the Church of England— in November 2012. His appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury marks another huge promotion—but it’s an elevation to a post that promises to be extremely challenging. Worldwide, the Anglican community is made up of dozens of different churches, each with their own autonomy. More than half of all Anglicans are members of conservative African churches. In the U.S., the Episcopal Church has only about two million members and an outlook markedly more liberal than their African co-religionists. On issues such as gay marriage, women bishops and even the economy, Anglican churches can seem as far apart from each other in their beliefs as they are geographically. The diverse network of churches is, however, unified through the Communion, which, for the last ten years, has been led by the liberal-minded Rowan Williams, who announced his resignation as Archbishop earlier this year after a decade of struggling to resolve clashes within his flock. (MORE: A Canon Quits As St. Paul’s Flip-Flops Over Occupy London) It will now be up to Welby to manage the Church’s conflicts, the most severe of which have sometimes threatened to cause schisms. Many in the Church fear that a move too far to the right or too far to the left by one faction of Anglicans could lead to another faction breaking away entirely. Conservative Anglican groups such as the Convention of Anglicans in North America (CANA) are adamantly opposed to views they feel are contrary to the teachings of the gospels—particularly gay marriage and ordaining women as bishops. Julian Dobbs, a Bishop of CANA, says that such conflicts over theology are “causing huge divisions in the Anglican Communion.” He adds that to prevent irreparable divides, Welby “will need to work hard to establish those historic faith principles that the communion was founded.” On the other side of the debate are Anglicans who believe that such a move toward codifying the Anglican faith would be at odds with what the Church fundamentally stands for. “Trying to force us into a common belief system is contrary to being an Anglican,” says Pitcher. Welby clearly has daunting task ahead, but many feel that if anyone is capable of uniting the liberal and conservative factions of the Communion, it’s him. Church insiders describe Welby as a people-person who’s skilled at seeing all sides of an issue and negotiating with both wings of the Church. He’s also traveled extensively in Africa and worked behind the scenes with many churches there, encouraging communication between them and more liberal churches in the West. That’s not to say he hasn’t taken stands on certain issues. Welby is on the record as being in favor of ordaining women as bishops and he’s just as outspokenly opposed to gay marriage. And yet he has largely managed to avoid being characterized as either of the right or the left in the Church’s political spectrum. In business and as a leader in the Church, Welby is perhaps most commonly described as a mediator. Vivian Gibney, a former colleague of Welby’s, told the BBC that “one of his main strengths is to find the way forward in negotiation.” Never mind the elite education and business-savvy; that’s the skill most likely to make Welby the Communion’s saving grace. (MORE: Anglicanism In Crisis) ||||| FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2011 file photo, the Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Justin Welby. The next archbishop of Canterbury will be officially introduced Friday, Nov. 9, 2012 with the expectation... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2011 file photo, the Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Justin Welby. The next archbishop of Canterbury will be officially introduced Friday, Nov. 9, 2012 with the expectation... (Associated Press) Bishop of Durham Justin Welby, a former oil executive with experience in conflict resolution, was named Friday as the next archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans. The government said Welby, 56, a fast-rising priest with only a year's experience as a bishop, has been chosen to succeed the retiring Rowan Williams. He is the 105th holder of the post. He said he felt privileged, and astonished, to be chosen to lead the church at "a time of spiritual hunger." "It's something I never expected," Welby said. Welby, who takes over a church divided over issues including gay marriage and female bishops, is known for his business expertise and work on conflict resolution in Africa.

– The new archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, may seem like a surprising choice: Justin Welby is a former oil executive known for his business expertise and experience dealing with conflict resolution in Africa; he has just one year's experience as a bishop, the AP reports. The fast-rising priest will succeed the retiring Rowan Williams, making him the 105th holder of the post. Welby said he felt privileged to lead the church at "a time of spiritual hunger," adding, "It's something I never expected." Welby, who takes over a divided church struggling with issues including gay marriage and female bishops, is opposed to the former but has expressed support for the latter, notes Time, which delves into his biography. Welby exited the business world and began life as a village parish priest in 1987, four years after his baby daughter died in a car accident that he said "in a strange way" brought his wife and him "closer to God." Click for more on his background.

Instead of being supportive, she said she was shocked to find that the employees directed her to a public toilet. The social worker, who has just had her first baby, went to reception during a break to ask hotel workers if there was somewhere she could go to pump for her newborn. Lynda Mazzalai Nguyen was taking part in a work seminar at the Embassy Suites at San Francisco airport when the incident occurred last Friday. A disgruntled mum decided to make a stand and pump breast milk in a busy hotel lobby after being refused a private space by hotel employees. Nguyen refused the offer on the grounds that she didn’t want to contaminate the milk (and that an adult wouldn’t be expected to eat their own lunch in the bathroom). When she enquired about using a spare hotel room for a brief period, she claims she was told that she was not a paying customer, despite having paid to attend the conference, and that there were no rooms available anyway. Nguyen said: “So you’re telling me in the whole entire building there isn’t a single space for me to plug in for 15 mins to pump for my baby? Office? Conference room? Anything?” She was then offered the wine cellar. Instead of conceding defeat, Nguyen decided to make a stand and sat in the hotel lobby right next to reception and pumped away. Despite admitting she never thought she’d be brave enough to do it in public, Nguyen felt so strongly that she had to act: “Do not piss off a mama who knows her rights and is a social worker to boot!” The post has been shared over 13,000 times and received lots of support from fellow mothers and breastfeeding who have also faced discrimination when they wanted to express in public. The general manager for the hotel has since apologised to Nguyen over the incident and explained there are policies in place to give mothers a space to breastfeed but training of the staff had been inadequate. ||||| dml5050/ Thinkstock Injustice is a source of great suffering, but when the victim gets the last laugh, it can also be a source of pleasure. Such is the case with Lynda Mazzalai Nguyen, who recently decided to pump in the lobby of a hotel after being denied reasonable accommodations from the management and then documented her act of protest on Facebook for the world to see. It’s a gutsy move made even bolder by the fact that she accompanies her post with an image of herself wearing a hands-free pumping bra as milk pools into the plastic bottles attached to her nipples. In the photo, her hands can be seen resting next to her legs on the neutrally upholstered hotel lobby armchair, free to receive the millions of high fives and I many and others would love to give her. As Nguyen explains on her Facebook post about the incident, which was published on August 13 and has now been shared more than 15,000 times, she recently attended a seminar at a hotel in San Francisco and requested a private and clean place to pump. Hotel management told her that the bathroom was the only option. Nguyen’s response: “FUCK YOU! NO! I told them they don’t eat lunch in the bathroom, so it’s gross to expect me to contaminate baby’s milk in there.” She was given a litany of bogus-seeming excuses as to why she couldn’t use a hotel room and was also told there was no office area where she could pump. After more back and forth, a hotel staffer told her that she could pump in the wine cellar, and Nguyen said she would do just that when it came time to pump. She didn’t. Advertisement “Based on principle, I decided to pump in the lobby next to reception. Fuck you, @embassysuites. I'm livid,” she writes. “I spoke to the GM and expressed their need to train their staff, and reiterated how appalling it was to be quickly dismissed without any attempts to accommodate my need and offered a bathroom because sir, you don’t eat where you shit, so why should my baby! He apologized profusely.” In an addendum to the post, Nguyen added that the general manager told her that they do have a policy: a hotel room if one’s available, an office if one’s not. Based on this and positive experiences at Embassy Suites others have shared with her, she believes her treatment was a “matter of inconsistency with their staff training.” While most states protect a woman’s right to breastfeed in public, there are few laws guaranteeing women the right to reasonable accommodations to pump when away from their homes and when not at work. (The Affordable Care Act increased protection of a pumping accommodations at work, though it is still not guaranteed for all women. According to one study, only 40 percent of women who should have been covered by the ACA were given access to both break time and a non-bathroom private space to pump at work.) “Accommodation of pumping by businesses and public spaces isn’t an area where states have done much legislating yet,” Emily Martin, general counsel and vice president for workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center, told me. There are a handful of piecemeal protections: California and Illinois require airports to provide space to pump. Puerto Rico requires shopping malls, airports, and government buildings to have a non-bathroom breastfeeding space, which Martin presumes could be used for pumping as well. Louisiana and Virginia require schools to provide students with space to pump, a policy that is not, unfortunately, the norm for students everywhere. And Mississippi requires licensed child care centers to provide clients space to pump. It’s progress, sure, but a long way away from comprehensive protections for pumping women. I suspect that the fact that the right to breastfeed in public was guaranteed before the right to reasonable accommodations for women to pump probably has something to do with our abiding discomfort with working moms. Breastfeeding is “natural,” and done when mother and child are together. Pumping is mechanical, and most often done when mother and child are apart, or so they can be apart at a later time. Also, the absence of legislation surrounding pumping likely has something to do with pumping being relatively new. The first non-hospital breast pump came on the market only 25 years ago, and the market for pumps was fairly limited before 2013. During that year, the Affordable Care Act mandated that insurance providers cover the cost of electric breast pumps, after which the demand for these devices increased by 50 percent. ||||| Notice You must log in to continue.

– When Lynda Nguyen asked employees at Embassy Suites in San Francisco for a place to pump breast milk while attending a work conference, she says she was offered a public bathroom. "I told them they don't eat lunch in the bathroom, so it's gross to expect me to contaminate baby's milk in there," the new mom wrote on Facebook, per the Huffington Post. After much back and forth—she says she was denied access to a hotel room because she hadn't paid for one, and told none were available though Expedia said otherwise—she was told to use the wine cellar. Instead, to showcase the challenges nursing moms face, a "livid" Nguyen sat down next to the reception desk, began pumping with a hands-free pumping bra, then posted defiantly about her experience online, reports Slate. "Do NOT piss off a mama who knows her rights and is a social worker to boot!" she wrote in the post, which is laced with more than one f-bomb and has been shared 19,000 times. It has some calling her a "hero," with many moms describing similar experiences. Others mention hotels "that provided accommodations without batting an eye," Nguyen says, so "there's hope that more places will eventually follow suit and get it right." Nguyen adds she eventually spoke with a general manager, who assured her that nursing moms are to be given access to a room or an office if needed, "so I believe it's a matter of inconsistency with their staff training." However, Slate points out that only a few states have laws on the issue. A rep for the National Women's Law Center notes "this sort of online activism can help a lot." (Embassy Suites could learn from Delta.)

Andy Fossum/Startraks Jeremy London's family can no longer remain silent.They've watched with increasing concern and frustration as the bizarre police case in Palm Springs, Calif., has unfolded – with claims the Party of Five star was allegedly kidnapped and forced to take drugs.They think there may be another explanation."We love Jeremy, we only have his best interests at heart," his twin brother Jason London, 37, also an actor, tells PEOPLE. "We feel he needs serious psychological help and drug treatment as soon as possible."After reaching stardom on the hit show, Jeremy has endured a series of struggles that he has not denied. He recently told PEOPLE about his fight to stay sober , his bitter custody battle with his ex-wife Melissa over son, Lyric, 3, and his widespread financial troubles.Now his family fears he's hit another low point."Jeremy's behavior right now is indicative of whenever he's back on drugs," brother Jason says. "The fact that he's lashing out against his own family and has shut us out is just one more sign of how sick he really is."Jeremy insists his story is true – and police so far believe him, arresting a 26-year-old man on kidnapping and other charges. In a video statement to RadarOnline, Jeremy vented his anger at his mother and brother for openly questioning the validity of his abduction and for spreading "outrageous lies" about him, and has legally threatened his family not to speak to the press.His family reacts with sadness and frustration."It's absolutely false that we're telling lies about Jeremy," Jason says. "We would never do anything to hurt him. But Jeremy and Melissa's story of the kidnapping just doesn't add up. None of it makes any sense. Mainly, why didn't Melissa call the police if Jeremy went missing with these strange men until 2 a.m.?"His brother adds: "For years we've been worried sick about getting a phone call telling us that Jeremy's been found dead. For months, Jeremy has cut off his whole family and he refuses to talk to us. We're desperate for anyone to get him help and that's why we're speaking out." ||||| Brandon Adams, the man accused of kidnapping actor Jeremy London and allegedly forcing him to smoke drugs, says he and London went on a consensual alcohol and drug induced “joyride for hours” on the night of June 10 in Palm Springs, California, and that London asked Adams to “score him pills”, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively. Adams, 26, is currently being held on $500,000 bail in connection with the incident. PHOTOS: Celebs Who Have Battled Drinking Problems In his first jailhouse interview, Adams spoke exclusively to RadarOnline.com through a glass partition, where he revealed what really happened in the hours London says he was taken hostage at gunpoint. “There was no gun. There was never a pipe,” Adams told RadarOnline.com. “We got drunk and I hooked him up with some Ecstasy and Xanax and we took a joyride and partied for hours.” EXCLUSIVE: Cops Called On Jeremy London After Domestic Disturbance; He Sleeps In Driveway London told Palm Springs Police that he was minding his own business on the afternoon of June 10, when three men, including Adams, offered to help him change a flat tire. Adams told RadarOnline.com that while he did help London and his wife Melissa with their flat, the rest of the troubled actor’s story is completely fabricated. EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Jeremy London’s First Interview – “I Thought I Was Going To Die” “Me and my uncle were sitting outside the 7-Eleven trying to get someone to buy us a couple beers,” Adams said. “I didn’t know Jeremy was an actor. He and his wife were hanging outside the 7-Eleven acting really strange. He was pacing and sweating and he looked tweaked out. His wife was acting paranoid too.” Adams told RadarOnline.com that he asked London’s wife Melissa for a cigarette and when she gave him one, Adams caught Jeremy’s eye. PHOTOS: Celebrity Twins At that moment, Adams says a police car drove up to the 7-Eleven causing London and Melissa to get skittish. “When they saw the cops, they ran into the store,” Adam told RadarOnline.com. “After the cops left, they came back out and got into their car. I noticed they had a flat and I thought it was strange that they would drive away like that.” Eventually, Adams says he and his uncle left the 7-Eleven and started heading towards the bus stop. That’s when Adams says he saw Jeremy and Melissa parked near an alley way in their rented black Ford Focus. PHOTOS: Sexy Stars Who Have Been Arrested “My uncle and I and another guy went up and asked them if they needed help with the flat,” Adams said. “We helped them change it and asked if they could give us a ride home. And Jeremy said yes.” Adams continues, “As soon as we got in the car, Jeremy asked us if we could get him five xanax and five oxycontin. Melissa was asking for xanax too. I told him I could hook him up but that I wanted a couple of beers. He agreed.” EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENT: Read The Legal Letter Jeremy London Sent To His Brother’s Girlfriend! London’s wife Melissa told RadarOnline.com that she had ‘a gut feeling’ that something was wrong shortly after meeting Adams and his crew and that she asked Jeremy to take her home. After London dropped Melissa off, he and Adams went on what Adams calls a “joyride that lasted hours.” “Jeremy wanted to drink, so we bought beer and some hard alcohol and we got f****d up,” Adams said. “Jeremy was just drinking beer but we were wasted. We went driving around my neighborhood, handing out beer to my friends and random people on the street. We were having a good time.” EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Jeremy London’s Neighbor Says Actor Was Broke And Begged Him After a while, Adams says London’s mood suddenly changed and the actor became erratic and irritated. Adams says London started telling him to get him pills. “I hadn’t been able to get any xanax or oxycontins up to that point, but I was finally able to get him three ecstasy and three xanax pills. He took all six pills at once. He was out of his mind high,” Adams told RadarOnline.com. As the night wore on, London and Adams ended up back at Adams ‘ apartment where they hung out with Adams’ wife and six children. EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Jeremy London’s Beat-Up Land Rover Key To His Troubles Melissa London told RadarOnline.com that her husband was able to escape after one of the suspects took pity on him and brought him to his sister’s house, ultimately helping him escape. “That’s so far from the truth,” Adams said. ” I brought him to my home and he met my wife and kids. Then I drove him back to his neighborhood and I dropped him off on the street. He ended up checking into a hotel at 2am and staying there.” EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS Of Jeremy London And His Wife Adams’ confession blows a gaping hole in London’s kidnapping story. He has adamantly stuck to it, even telling RadarOnline.com in an exclusive video interview that he feared he was going to die at the hands of Adams and the two other suspects when they made him smoke illicit drugs. As RadarOnline.com was first to report, both London and Melissa have been to rehab for pill addictions and have lost custody of their 3-year-old son Lyrik as a result. They both must undergo random drug testing as part of their custody battle. EXCLUSIVE NEW DETAILS: Smoke This Or I’ll Kill You, Jeremy London Says Kidnapper Told Him Despite his claims that he was sober at the time of his alleged kidnapping, RadarOnline.com has independently confirmed that the former Party of Five actor has, not only a penchant for xanax, but was witnessed acting “high” on the powerful anti-anxiety medication last Saturday night when cops were called to the Viceroy Hotel where he and Melissa were staying. A source told RadarOnline.com that London freaked out when his credit card was denied at the front desk and that the actor-who does not have a valid prescription for xanax-proceeded to take a “bottleful” and was drinking alcohol at the hotel bar, to the point where he was “stumbling around, even after the bartender cut him off.” PHOTOS: Hollywood’s Most Scandalous Women “He said he was really stressed out and needed a drink,” the witness told RadarOnline.com. RadarOnline.com also confirmed that police were called to the rental house where Jeremy and Melissa were staying a few days later on Tuesday, after the on-again, off-again couple got into a nasty brawl, causing London to spend the night in the car. “I have six kids, a wife, and another kid on the way,” Adams, who could face life in prison, told RadarOnline.com at the jail. “I have a lot to lose. He’s not telling the truth about what happened.” Regarding allegations of London’s drug use, a rep for the actor sent this statement to RadarOnline.com, “Jeremy London has consistently passed all random drug testing administered by the State of California. Enough said!” ||||| Police responded to a call involving Jeremy London and his wife Melissa after witnesses complained they heard screaming and shouting coming from inside the couple’s house Monday night and London was found sleeping in his car in the driveway, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned. A source close to the situation tells RadarOnline.com that cops were called early Tuesday morning following an all-night argument. EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Jeremy London’s Neighbor Says Actor Was Broke And Begged Him “At least three or four cops showed up,” the source told RadarOnline.com. “Jeremy told them that he and Melissa were sleeping when she woke him up at 3 am and started kicking and hitting him. They started fighting and it scared the other tenants who were in the house.” As RadarOnline.com reported, Melissa is one of three people renting rooms in the house in Palm Springs, California. London has been staying there against the wishes of the owner and is not paying rent. PHOTOS: Sexy Stars Who Have Been Arrested According to the source, London and the owner got into an argument after the owner saw him sleeping in the driveway Tuesday morning. London reportedly told him that he and Melissa had been fighting so he came out to the car to sleep. “Police didn’t arrest anyone but I heard them say that they were going to arrest Jeremy for trespassing if he’s caught staying at the house again,” the source told RadarOnline.com. PHOTOS: Celebs Who Have Battled Drinking Problems Tuesday’s incident is just the latest in what has become a web of bizarre episodes involving London, highlighted by his claim that he was kidnapped at gunpoint and forced to smoke drugs. As RadarOnline.com reported Wednesday, police executed search warrants Tuesday at the homes of suspects connected to the alleged kidnapping. Only one man is currently in custody. Two more suspects are being investigated. PHOTOS: Celebrity Twins The search warrant served at the homes of potential suspects on Tuesday allowed police to seize cell phones, a source close to the investigation told RadarOnline.com exclusively. “Several phones were taken by police,” the source said. “Police are not saying exactly what they are looking for.” EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Jeremy London’s First Interview – “I Thought I Was Going To Die” Both London and his wife have repeatedly insisted he was giving the three suspects a ride home when they robbed him at gunpoint and made him smoke drugs. London denies that he did drugs with the suspects. RadarOnline.com was first to report London is being regularly drug tested in a custody matter involving his three-year-old son.

– Jeremy London’s family has stopped beating around the bush: His crazy kidnapping story “just doesn't add up,” says his twin brother, and “we feel he needs serious psychological help.” Jason London tells People, “Jeremy’s behavior right now is indicative of whenever he's back on drugs,” and adds that Jeremy’s claim that his family is lying about the situation is “absolutely false.” The man accused of kidnapping Jeremy says London asked for drugs and they "partied for hours"—Radar has his side of the story. “We would never do anything to hurt him,” Jason continues, but “none of it makes any sense. Mainly, why didn't Melissa call the police if Jeremy went missing with these strange men until 2am?” Meanwhile, more drama: Police responded to a domestic dispute call early Tuesday and found Jeremy—allegedly following a screaming match during which wife Melissa started kicking him—asleep in his car, Radar reports.

Students protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria, on Thursday. European UN Security Council members softened a draft resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on antigovernment protests but Russia suggested Thursday that it still might not support the new text. • A daily summary of global reports on security issues. A string of defections from the Syrian Army has given protesters armed forces of their own who clashed with government forces Friday in the town of Rastan, signaling the end of the protesters' insistence that the uprising remain totally unarmed. According to BBC, at least 1,000 army deserters and other armed men clashed with government forces in Rastan, a little more than 100 miles north of Damascus, in the last few days. Reuters reports that, according to the Syrian Revolution General Commission, the last few days of clashes – which included tank fire from government forces – killed 41 people in Rastan. The Syrian Revolution General Commission, an umbrella for several activist groups, said that the figure was an estimate, with communications cut with the besieged town. While clashes continued in Rastan, the US Ambassador to Syria came under attack in Damascus for the second time since protests began in March. Regime supporters hurled tomatoes and rocks at Ambassador Robert Ford, who has been a vocal critic of the Syrian regime. Shortly after the incident, which prompted angry demands from the US that Damascus fulfill its international obligation to protest Mr. Ford while in the country, the Syrian foreign ministry released a statement in which it accused the US of "encouraging armed groups to practice violence against the Syrian Arab Army," Reuters reports. Ford has been an unconventional diplomat. He has fostered ties with the Syrian opposition, visited protest sites in support of the demonstrators, and two weeks ago, attended the wake of a prominent antigovernment activist. President Barack Obama gave Ford the Damascus assignment – unfilled since 2005 – shortly after taking office in hopes of drawing Syria away from Iran and regional militant groups. But since protests began in March, Ford has become a thorn in the regime's side for his unabashed support for demonstrators and opposition groups. The Associated Press reports that the Obama administration blamed the Syrian government for the attack, which it said was "part of an ongoing, orchestrated campaign to intimidate American diplomats in the country." Such incidents are usually not spontaneous in Syria, and Thursday's attack came amid high tension between the two nations, as well as accusations by Damascus that Washington is inciting violence in the country. … "This inexcusable assault is clearly part of ongoing campaign of intimidation aimed at diplomats ... who are raising questions about what is going on inside Syria," [Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton said. "It reflects an intolerance on the part of the regime and its supporters." Amid escalating accusations between Washington and Damascus, the UN Security Council is struggling to reconcile Russian and Chinese positions on Syria with those of the rest of the permanent members. The council met Thursday to discuss a UN resolution condemning the Syrian government's crackdown and calling for political talks, but were unable to reach an agreement because of Russia's opposition to mentioning the possibility of sanctions on Bashar al-Assad's government, the AP reports. In a piece yesterday by The Christian Science Monitor, a top British official explains why intervention similar to the one approved for Libya is highly unlikely, making sanctions one of the strongest steps that can be taken against the Assad regime. ||||| Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Syria tightened security around Damascus and other cities in anticipation of rallies that have taken place every Friday since an uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad began in March. Security forces set up checkpoints and conducted searches at the entrances of the Damascus suburbs of Harasta, Douma and Kisweh, Mahmoud Merhi, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, said by phone today. Thousands of people have regularly staged protests after Friday prayers. Government forces killed at least 14 protesters yesterday in the central towns of Rastan and Talbiseh near the governorate of Homs and the northern province of Idlib, Merhi said. There are reports of clashes between security forces and Syrians who defected from the army to the opposition in Rastan, he said. The Syrian protests are part of the wave of unrest across the Middle East and North Africa that unseated governments in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Assad’s crackdown has left more than 3,600 civilians dead since the protests began in March, according to Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. About 30,000 people have been detained and 13,000 are still being held, Qurabi and Merhi said. About 700 members of the state security forces have been killed in the uprising. European nations on the United Nations Security Council gave the panel a third version of their draft resolution this week calling for members to “consider” sanctions 30 days after adoption of the measure if Syria doesn’t halt the violence. It also urges restraint on “all sides” and greater involvement of the Arab League in a political solution to the crisis. Opposition to Sanctions Russia is opposed to any mention of sanctions, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters yesterday. “I am pessimistic now” about the text, he said. “We believe on both sides there were things that were deeply disconcerting.” Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, who has been a critic of Assad, escaped a violent mob of government supporters yesterday while visiting opposition lawyer Hasan Abdul-Azim at his office in Damascus. “A crowd of demonstrators tried to assault Ambassador Ford and embassy colleagues” as they met with “a well-known Syrian political figure,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said yesterday. Toner said the mob tried to attack U.S. officials who were inside vehicles, seriously damaging the cars in the process. Ambassador’s Car “Syrian security officers finally assisted in securing a path” for the ambassador and his aides to return to the embassy, Toner said. Ford’s car was pelted with rocks, eggs, tomatoes and sticks, a person familiar with the situation said. The four- wheel-drive vehicle had dents and some of its windows were cracked or shattered, the person said. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday condemned the attack on Ford in the “strongest terms.” “This attempt to intimidate our diplomats through violence is wholly unjustified,” Clinton said in remarks to reporters in Washington. The U.S. is “demanding” that Syria “take every possible step to protect our diplomats according to their obligations under international law,” she said. --With assistance from Nicole Gaouette and Indira A.R. Lakshmanan in Washington, Flavia Krause-Jackson and Bill Varner at the United Nations. Editors: Karl Maier, Jennifer M. Freedman To contact the reporters on this story: Massoud A. Derhally in Beirut, Lebanon at mderhally@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net ||||| Two days of clashes between Syrian troops and forces opposed to President Bashar Assad in a rebellious central town have killed seven soldiers and policemen, a Syrian military official said Friday. The official said 32 Syrian troops were also wounded in the fighting as government forces conducted a "qualitative" operation on Thursday and Friday in the town of Rastan in the central Homs province in an effort to crush "gunmen" holed up inside the town. The official said the gunmen had terrorized citizens, blocked roads and set up barriers and explosives, and were responsible for the deaths of the seven troops. The comments by the unidentified official were carried by state-run news agency SANA on Friday. Rastan has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting in the six-month uprising against Assad, pitting the military against hundreds of army defectors, according to activists. The town, from which the Syrian army draws many of its Sunni Muslim recruits, has seen some of the largest numbers of defections to date. A prominent human rights activist estimated there were around 2,000 defectors fighting in Rastan and nearby Talbiseh as well as in the Jabal al-Zawiyah region in the northern Idlib province. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. The defectors, as well as reports that once-peaceful Syrian protesters are increasingly taking up arms to fight the six-month old government crackdown, have raised concerns of the risk of civil war in Syria. Syria has a volatile sectarian divide, making civil unrest one of the most dire scenarios. The Assad regime is dominated by the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, but the country is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim. The U.N. says some 2,700 people have already died in the government crackdown. The report carried by SANA Friday was an acknowledgment of the stiff resistance and ongoing clashes in Rastan, although the agency, echoing the official government line, describes the fighters as "terrorist armed groups," not defectors. The military official said the confrontation resulted in the killing and detention of many of the gunmen. He said Syrian troops were still pursuing members of the terrorist groups in an effort to restore security to Rastan.

– Clashes with opposition forces have resulted in the deaths of seven soldiers and policemen in the central Syrian town of Rastan, a military official says; yesterday, 14 protesters were killed in the fighting, a human rights activist tells Bloomberg. Some 32 soldiers were wounded as they tried to stop “gunmen” who, the official says, were terrorizing the town. At least 41 have died in recent days in Rastan, and with an estimated 3,600 civilians and 700 security force members dead under a six-month government clampdown, fears of civil war are growing. Rastan is a center for army defectors, with some 2,000 in the area, another activist tells the AP; they’ve become a fighting force of sorts for protesters, says the Christian Science Monitor. European countries have presented the UN Security Council with the latest version of a resolution seeking possible sanctions if violence continues. Meanwhile, rallies that have been occurring every Friday since March have prompted heightened security in Damascus—and pro-government protesters have taken their toll on the US ambassador.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigators have arrested three former Diamond Bar elementary school PTA members in connection with an alleged ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 40 people out $1 million. Maricela Barajas, 41, and Juliana Menefee, 50, both of Diamond Bar were arrested Tuesday at their homes. Also arrested in the case was Eva Perez, 51, who serving an 11-year state prison sentence after pleading guilty in San Bernardino County court last year to multiple felony counts of grand theft in connection with the same scheme. Barajas, Menefee and Perez each face at least 20 counts of grand theft and securities fraud. If convicted on all counts, each faces up to 20 years in state prison, authorities said. As members of the the Armstrong Elementary School PTA, the women were able to gain the trust of many of their victims during school events and at social functions, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker. The victims believed they were investing in the AltaDena Dairy company, a firm the women said would get high rates of return because they had exclusive rights to distribute those products at Disneyland, Disney Hotels and to small retailers, Parker said. ||||| MARICELA BARAJAS JULIANA MENEFEE EVA PEREZ DIAMOND BAR - Three former members of a local PTA were arrested for allegedly running an investment scam that defrauded more than 40 people out of millions. Investigators said the suspects earned the trust of their victims as members of the Neil A. Armstrong Elementary School PTA in Diamond Bar. Two of the suspects, 41-year-old Maricela Barajas and 50-year-old Juliana Menefee, were arrested Tuesday at their Diamond Bar homes. The third suspect, 51-year-old Eva Perez, is already serving an 11-year sentence in prison for a fraud case in San Bernardino County. She is facing additional charges from this case. Deputies said she has residences in Chino and Diamond Bar. The arrests came after a six month investigation by the sheriff's Commercial Crimes Bureau. The suspects allegedly claimed to have the exclusive rights to sell AltaDena Dairy products at Disneyland, Disney Hotels and to small retailers and promised investors returns of up to 100 percent. About $14 million was collected during the scheme from 2008 to 2010. Of that an estimated $10 million was returned to investors to keep new money coming in while the suspects allegedly kept about $4 million, according to investigators. Detectives think the suspects used the money on lavish vacations, expensive hotels, new cars, and at casinos in California and Nevada. None of the money has been recovered. The alleged scheme started to unravel when the investors pressed for Advertisement payment. Detective said the suspects organized meetings and attempted to pacify investors by explaining the delays in payment were a result of an internal audit of the business. By then one of the victims reported the scheme to the sheriff's Walnut/Diamond Bar station. Sheriff's officials said many of the investors took out second mortgages on their homes, maxed out their credit cards and invested their life savings. All transactions were done in cash and the losses ranged from $5,000 to $208,000. The victims came from all over the Southland: Chino, Diamond Bar, Gardena, Granada Hills, Lawndale, Los Angeles, North Hollywood, Norwalk, Pacoima, Pico Rivera, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, Redondo Beach, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Fe Springs, South Gate, Torrance, Whittier, Wilmington, and Salt Lake City, Utah. Barajas and Menefee were being held at the sheriff's San Dimas station in lieu of $500,000 bail. Both are scheduled for a Wednesday arraignment at Pomona Superior Court. — From staff and wire reports

– Look out, Bernie Madoff: A trio of mothers in a well-to-do suburb of Los Angeles have been charged with scamming other parents out of millions. Police say the women, all members of an elementary school PTA, ran a $14 million Ponzi scheme by simply winning the trust of victims at school events and social functions, the Pasadena Star-News reports. Prosecutors say the suspects, who promised investors very high rates of return, paid out $10 million to keep new investors coming in and kept around $4 million for themselves. "Like all ponzi or pyramid schemes, they ran out of people to provide an infusion of cash to keep things going and they collapse(d)," an LA County Sheriff's spokesman tells the LA Times. Investigators say many of the 40-plus victims lost their life savings. The moms have been charged with multiple counts of grand theft and securities fraud and face up to 20 years each in prison if convicted.

Image copyright University of Haifa Image caption The fragments of Dead Sea Scroll took a year to piece together One of the last remaining obscure parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been deciphered by researchers in Israel. Sixty tiny fragments were pieced together over a period of a year, identifying the name of a festival marking the changes between seasons. It also revealed a second scribe corrected mistakes made by the author. The 900 scrolls, written by an ancient Jewish sect, have been a source of fascination since they were first discovered in a cave in Qumran in 1947. The collection is considered the oldest copy of the Hebrew Bible ever found, dating to at least the 4th Century BC. It is not known who wrote the scrolls, although some scholars have credited an ascetic desert sect called the Essenes. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The collection of scrolls were found in caves near the Dead Sea The sections of the scrolls were pieced together by Dr Eshbal Ratson and Prof Jonathan Ben-Dov of Haifa University. They were written in code and some of the fragments were smaller than 1 sq cm (0.155 sq inches). They detailed special occasions celebrated by the ancient Jewish sect, which observed a unique 364-day calendar. These included festivals of New Wheat, New Wine and New Oil, which were related to the Jewish festival of Shavuot. The researchers also discovered the name used by the sect for a festival observed four times a year that marked the transition between the seasons - Tekufah. The same word in modern-day Hebrew means "period". They said they were assisted in deciphering the code by annotations discovered in the margins by a scribe correcting omissions made by the author. "What's nice is that these comments were hints that helped me figure out the puzzle - they showed me how to assemble the scroll," Dr Ratzon told the Haaretz newspaper. The priceless Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves in Qumran on the western shore of the Dead Sea between 1947 and 1956. They were reportedly first discovered by a young Bedouin shepherd searching for lost sheep. ||||| Scientists at Haifa University have reconstructed the contents of one of the last two undeciphered Dead Sea Scrolls, revealing a unique calendar used by a Jewish sect that lived in the Judean Desert during the... ||||| Utilizing 60 minuscule fragments of mysterious ancient code from the second-to-last unpublished Dead Sea Scrolls, researchers at the University of Haifa have decoded a unique 364-day calendar once used by the enigmatic Qumran Sect in the Judean Desert. The 900 Dead Sea Scrolls (also known as the “Qumran Scrolls”) dating to the Second Temple Period were discovered in the 1940s and 1950s in the Qumran Caves near the Dead Sea. The Qumran Sect referred to itself as the Yahad (“Together Community”) and was a fanatical group that lived a hermitic lifestyle in the desert, facing persecution by the dominant establishment of the time.They wrote numerous scrolls, a small number of them in code – including the 60 relics on parchment that Dr. Eshbal Ratson and Prof. Jonathan Ben-Dov of Haifa University’s Department of Bible Studies were able to translate.The researchers spent a year painstakingly studying the tiny fragments from the second-to-last scroll, some which measured smaller than one square centimeter.“The reward for their hard work is fresh insight into the unique 364-day calendar used by the members of the Judean Desert sect, including the discovery for the first time of the name given by the sect to the special days marking the transitions between the four seasons,” the university said in a statement on Sunday.Although an earlier researcher who examined the 60 pieces postulated that they came from several different scrolls, Ratson and Ben-Dov proved in an article recently published in the Journal of Biblical Literature that the fragments actually constitute a single scroll.According to the researchers, the calendar was involved in one of the fiercest debates between different sects during the late Second Temple period.“An important peculiarity of the present discovery is the fact that the [Qumran] sect followed a 364-day calendar,” the university said.“The lunar calendar, which Judaism follows to this day, requires a large number of human decisions. People must look at the stars and moon and report on their observations, and someone must be empowered to decide on the new month and the application of leap years.”By contrast, the researchers described the 364-day calendar as “perfect.”“Because this number can be divided into four and seven, special occasions always fall on the same day,” they said in a joint statement.“This avoids the need to decide, for example, what happens when a particular occasion falls on the Sabbath, as often happens in the lunar calendar. The Qumran calendar is unchanging, and it appears to have embodied the beliefs of the members of this community regarding perfection and holiness.”MOREOVER, RATSON and Ben-Dov said the scroll describes two special occasions not mentioned in the Bible, but which are already known from the Temple Scroll of Qumran: The festivals of New Wine and New Oil.“These dates constituted an extension of the festival of Shavuot as we know it today, which celebrates the New Wheat,” they said.“According to this calendar, the festival of New Wheat falls 50 days after the first Sabbath following Passover; the festival of New Wine comes 50 days later; and after a further interval of 50 days, the festival of New Oil is celebrated.”The scroll also provided some other enlightening finds.The researchers were aware from the previous scrolls that the members of the sect celebrated the transition between the seasons by adding a special day for each of the four changes of season.Until now, however, the name of these special days remained unknown.The present scroll reveals that these days were referred to by the word tekufah, which translates from Hebrew to “period.”“This term is familiar from the later rabbinical literature and from mosaics dating to the Talmudic period, and we could have assumed that it would also be used with this meaning in the scrolls,” Ratson and Ben-Dov explained.“But, this is the first time it has been revealed.”The present scroll also provides additional information about the customs of its authors.“It emerges that the person who wrote the scroll – probably one of the leaders of the sect familiar with the secret code – forgot to mention several special days marked by the community,” they noted.As a result, another scribe was forced to correct the errors, adding the missing dates in the margins between the columns of text.“The scroll is written in code, but its actual content is simple and well-known and there was no reason to conceal it,” they said. “This practice is also found in many places outside the Land of Israel, where leaders write in secret code even when discussing universally-known matters, as a reflection of their status.”The custom, the researchers explained, was intended to show that the author was familiar with the code, while others were not.“However, this present scroll shows that the author made a number of mistakes,” they noted.“This scroll includes numerous words and expressions that we find later in the Mishna [“review” - the first major written redaction of the Jewish Oral Law]. This shows once again that many of the subjects discussed by the scribes several centuries later had origins that predated the Second Temple period,” they concluded. ||||| .- The Dead Sea Scrolls, which are among the oldest extant biblical manuscripts, have been a topic of interest since they were discovered in the Qumran Caves in the West Bank beginning in 1946. More recently, Israeli scholars have pieced together some of the last fragments of the ancient documents, revealing new information about the scrolls. Dr. Eshbal Ratson and Professor Jonathan Ben-Dov of Haifa University decoded 60 previously unread fragments over the course of a year to discover a festival marking each changing season which was celebrated by the Jews. The researchers also found the name for the festival: the Hebrew word “tekufah,” meaning “period.” These fragments, some of which were smaller than a centimeter, identified the seasonal celebrations, which included the festivals of New Wheat, New Wine, and New Oil, which are linked to the Jewish festival of Shavuot. These celebrations were based on the 364-day Jewish calendar. Additionally, the researchers found that a second scribe made additional notes on the scroll, correcting some mistakes and omissions made by the original author. According to Ratzon, these notes made it easier for them to decode the ancient scrolls. “What’s nice is that these comments were hints that helped me figure out the puzzle – they showed me how to assemble the scroll,” said Ratzon, according to the BBC. While it is not known who penned the ancient texts, some have attributed them to the Essenes – a Jewish sect who lived in the desert. The scrolls, around 900 in number, contain Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic writing, and are thought to date to between 300 BC and AD 100. According to The Telegraph, a statement from Haifa University said that both Ratson and Ben-Dov have moved on to decoding the last remaining scroll.

– Israeli researchers say they have deciphered one of the last remaining puzzles of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It turns out the ancient authors of this particular section were writing about the changing of the seasons and the calendar they used to mark and celebrate such occasions, reports the Catholic News Agency. Two professors from Haifa University spent a year piecing together about 60 tiny fragments that had been written in code thousands of years ago, reports the BBC. The researchers concluded that the authors, possibly members of a desert sect known as the Essenes, were writing about a festival held four times a year to mark the new seasons, and they further determined that the name for this festival was "Tekufah," which means "period" in today's Hebrew. One interesting tidbit: It seems that an ancient editor went over the manuscript after it was originally written and made corrections in the margins. "What's nice is that these comments were hints that helped me figure out the puzzle—they showed me how to assemble the scroll," Haifa's Eshbal Ratson tells Haaretz. The researchers also were able to conclude that the sect used a 364-day calendar to mark the year, reports the Jerusalem Post. “Because this number can be divided into four and seven, special occasions always fall on the same day,” say the researchers. The professors found this to be "perfect." (Last year, researchers discovered what they believe to be another Dead Sea Scrolls cave, but looters beat them to it.)

Travel News Travel Incidents The Lion Air passenger jet at Gorontalo airport on northern Sulawesi island after it crashed into a cow and skidded off the runway as it came into land. Photo: AFP An Indonesian passenger jet crashed into a cow and skidded off the runway as it came into land at an airport in the centre of the archipelago, officials said Wednesday. No one was killed or seriously injured when the Lion Air plane carrying 110 passengers collided with one of three cows wandering on the runway as it arrived late Tuesday in Gorontalo, on Sulawesi island. The cow, however, was crushed to death under one of the Boeing 737-900's middle wheels, head of Jalaluddin airport Agus Pramuka said. The pilot, Iwan Permadi, told state-run Antara news agency he could smell "burning meat" as the jet ran over the animal. Advertisement He said he thought there were dogs in front of the plane as it came into land, "but it turned out there were three cows wandering in the middle of the runway". Pictures showed the dead cow under the aircraft's wheel in a field. The plane, which suffered minor damage, had skidded into the field next to the runway, with its tail still on the runway. All the passengers managed to disembark safely, transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said. The plane had started its journey in Jakarta and also had a stopover in Makassar, on Sulawesi, according to local media. The airport was closed following the incident, disrupting travel plans for people heading home for the Eid al-Fitr holiday in Muslim-majority Indonesia. One small jet managed to take off Wednesday, but the Lion Air plane was still at the edge of the runway, Pramuka said. Indonesia, which relies heavily on air transport to connect its more than 17,000 islands, has one of Asia's worst aviation safety records. In April, a Lion Air passenger jet carrying 108 people crashed into the sea after missing the runway as it came into land on the resort island of Bali. No one died but dozens were injured. Lion Air, Indonesia's biggest private carrier, has placed orders for more than $US45 billion ($A50 billion) with Airbus and Boeing in the past two years and has the world's biggest order backlog for 559 narrow-body aircraft. It aims to have 1000 planes in 10 years. AFP/Bloomberg ||||| A Lion Air jet carrying 117 people hit a cow while landing and skidded off a runway in eastern Indonesia, an official said. No injuries were reported, but the incident forced the cancellation of flights, stranding hundreds of passengers travelling for the Eid holiday. The incident occurred on Tuesday night as the Boeing 737-800 plane was landing at Jalaluddin airport in Gorontalo, on Sulawesi island, with 110 passengers and seven crew members on board, transportation ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said. There were three cows on the runway, Ervan said, and the plane hit at least one of them and careened off the runway before coming to a stop. The condition of the cows was unclear. Several flights were cancelled on Tuesday, but lanes resumed landing on Wednesday. The incident is under investigation. This is not the first near-miss suffered by a Lion Air jet this year. In April, a plane belly-flopped into the ocean just short of the runway off the resort island of Bali. All 108 people aboard survived.

– No black box data needed for this plane accident: Blame the cow. An Indonesian passenger jet with more than 100 people aboard skidded off the runway after hitting a cow upon landing, reports the Guardian. Luckily, all the humans were fine. The cow didn't make it, however, reports the Age, which includes an unfortunate quote from the pilot about smelling "burning meat" as the plane touched down on the island of Sulawesi. Indonesia has a lousy aviation safety record, notes the Aussie paper. The last big mishap came in April when a jet from the same airline skidded into the sea. Dozens were injured.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two men suspected of starting a wildfire last year that scorched 40 square miles of Oregon forestland could soon get a bill for at least $37 million. Jeff Bonebrake with the Oregon Department of Forestry says they're still finalizing firefighting costs for the 2015 Stouts Creek fire that burned east of Canyonville. The agency will send a bill once that's done. The Oregonian/Oregon Live reports (http://goo.gl/x6yKma ) that fire investigators believe 70-year-old Dominic Decarlo, of Days Creek, and 64-year-old Cloyd Deardorff, of Yuma, Arizona, used their lawnmowers during hours prohibited by fire restrictions when the blaze started July 30, 2015. Kyle Reed with the Douglas Forest Protective Association says the men were cited for unlawful use of fire. Decarlo paid $110 in fines and Deardorff paid $440. But Oregon also holds individuals financially responsible for fire suppression costs. The men could not be reached for comment. Bonebrake says people can challenge the costs or their responsibility in the fire. ___ Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com ||||| Last summer, the Stouts Creek fire burned for more than a month, scorching more than 26,000 acres. Now the men blamed for starting it are expected to reimburse the government the estimated $37 million it cost to put it out. The wildfire sparked July 30, 2015, forced evacuations and destroyed timber, said Kyle Reed, a fire prevention specialist at the Douglas Forest Protective Association. Investigators spent months trying to pinpoint the cause, and their research ultimately pointed to the same men: Dominic Decarlo, 70, of Days Creek, and Cloyd Deardorff, 64, of Yuma, Arizona. The cause? Their lawnmowers. At the time, fire restrictions barred any mowing between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. The Stouts Creek fire started in the afternoon. Both men were cited for unlawful use of fire, Reed said. Deardorff also was cited for unlawful entry into a restricted forestland area, court records show. Decarlo paid $110 in fines and Deardorff paid $440. But Oregon also holds individuals financially responsible for fire suppression costs, which in this case comes to at least $37 million. The Oregonian/OregonLive was unable to reach either man for comment. The tally includes the cost of firefighting crews, the helicopters and bulldozers they use, even the food for the firefighters. Jeff Bonebrake, the fire investigation and cost recovery coordinator for the state department of forestry, said he cannot say when exactly the bill will be ready to send, as the agency is still calculating the final costs. "We could get finalization in the next several weeks or a few more months," Bonebrake said. But once the costs are finalized, the agency will send the two men a demand letter, an invoice with a summary of the costs. "People always have option to challenge the cost or question their responsibility (in the incident)," he said. Generally, with a significant fire like this one, the bill either goes to an insurance company or an attorney, and the two parties negotiate a settlement. Or if they can't come to an agreement, it can lead to a lawsuit. "Initially we treat it as if we are going to (receive the full amount) ... but you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip," Bonebrake said. Reed recommends the public to be aware of what the fire restrictions are, and to not get complacent even when temperatures are more mild. "I don't want people to let their guard down," he said. Bonebrake hopes the case serves as a cautionary tale. "We're trying to make people aware that they have some responsibility ... so people know there are consequences when you start (a wildfire)," Bonebrake said. "If we can prevent one, that saves everyone a lot grief." -- Francesca Fontana ffontana@oregonian.com 503-294-4009 @francescamarief

– Two men suspected of starting a wildfire last year that scorched 40 square miles of Oregon forestland could soon get a bill for at least $37 million, reports AP. Jeff Bonebrake with the Oregon Department of Forestry says they're still finalizing firefighting costs for the 2015 Stouts Creek fire that burned east of Canyonville. The agency will send a bill once that's done. The Oregonian reports that fire investigators believe 70-year-old Dominic Decarlo and 64-year-old Cloyd Deardorff used their lawnmowers during hours prohibited by fire restrictions when the blaze started July 30, 2015. Kyle Reed with the Douglas Forest Protective Association says the men were cited for unlawful use of fire. Decarlo paid $110 in fines and Deardorff paid $440. But Oregon also holds individuals financially responsible for fire suppression costs. The men could not be reached for comment. Bonebrake says people can challenge the costs or their responsibility in the fire.

A post has just gone up on Diaspora’s blog revealing what the project actually looks like for the first time. While it’s not yet ready to be released to the public, the open-source social networking project is giving the world a glimpse of what it looks like today and also releasing the project code, as promised. At first glance, this preview version of Diaspora looks sparse, but clean. Oddly enough, with its big pictures and stream, it doesn’t look unlike Apple’s new Ping music social network mixed with yes, Facebook. A few features they note: Share status messages and photos privately and in near real time with your friends through “aspects”. Friend people across the Internet no matter where Diaspora seed is located. Manage friends using “aspects” Upload of photos and albums All traffic is signed and encrypted (except photos, for now). But no matter what Diaspora looks like now, the point is to have many different versions hosted all over the place. Some will look different than others — so it make sense to have a simple, clean base to build off of. The team notes that the public alpha of the project is still on course for October, and will include Facebook integration off the bat, as well as data portability. “Getting the source into the hands of developers is our first experiment in making a simple and functional tool for contextual sharing. Diaspora is in its infancy, but our initial ideas are there,” the team writes today. “Much of our focus this summer was centered around publishing content to groups of your friends, wherever their seed may live. It is by no means bug free or feature complete, but it an important step for putting us, the users, in control,” they continue. Diaspora is a particularly interesting project because it was first unveiled at a time when Facebook was facing a lot of user backlash due to privacy issues and changes being made. This helped the project raise over $200,000 in crowd-sourced funding via Kickstarter. Of course, Facebook continues to grow and is now well past 500 million users, as much of the controversy that existed a few months ago has died down — as expected. The project also faces the hurdle of trying to popularize an open source project — these projects often sound great on paper, but doesn’t work too well in practice. That said, Diaspora is still interesting, and we’re rooting for these guys to pull it off. Developers, get building — you can find the code on github here. But note their warning: ||||| Image caption The screenshots reveal a familiar look Developers have been given their first glimpse of a community-funded and open alternative to Facebook. Diaspora describes itself as a "privacy-aware, personally-controlled" social network. It was conceived earlier this year by four US students during a period when Facebook came under fire for its privacy settings. The open-source project has now released its first code to developers and also published screenshots. "This is now a community project and development is open to anyone with the technical expertise who shares the vision of a social network that puts users in control," the team said in a blog. Many of the features shown on the site will be familiar to people already on social networks such as Facebook, including the ability to share messages, photos and status updates. The team said they are currently working to integrate the site with Facebook and to make it easy for people to take control of and move their personal data. They aim to launch the first public product in October. Privacy win Their idea of building Diaspora started earlier this year during a period of intense criticism of Facebook, the world's largest social network. The site, which boast 500 million members, was criticised for having overly complex and confusing privacy settings. It was eventually forced to roll out simplified controls. "We want to put users back in control of what they share," Max Salzberg, one of the founders of Diaspora, told BBC News at the time. If Facebook genuinely see this as a threat or see that people really like it as an idea, it may influence what they do for privacy Nate Elliott, Analyst, Forrester The team turned to the fundraising site Kickstarter to raise funds to build the network, eventually raising $200,642 from nearly 6,500 people. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, reportedly donated to the project. The launch of the first code marks a milestone for the project. However, the team warned that there were still problems to iron out. "It is by no means bug-free or feature-complete, but it [is] an important step for putting us, the users, in control," they wrote. However, bugs may not be the only challenge the network faces, said Nate Elliott, principal analyst at research firm Forrester. "It seems they are simply copying Facebook with a different architecture," he told BBC News. "If the only differentiation is around privacy, I can't image they will persuade enough people to move away from Facebook and the network effect it has." He said the site was a "great concept" but ideas like "data portability" were difficult to implement. However, he said, it may influence Facebook in other ways. "Facebook has been very good at recognising what is good about their competitors and pulling in those best features." He said the site had successfully incorporated features from Twitter and location service FourSquare. "If Facebook genuinely see this as a threat or see that people really like it as an idea, it may influence what they do for privacy," he said. "That would be a win for the [Diaspora] team." Others have questioned whether there is too much expectation on the service. "While it's possible for four talented computer scientists, in a summer, to make a piece of software that's so compelling and attention-grabbing, not just in theory but in actual use - it's also far from likely," wrote Dave Winer, a US software developer, before the code was released.

– Developers have been given a preview of a site that aims to be a privacy-conscious rival to Facebook. The team behind open-source social networking project Diaspora have released the project's source code. "This is now a community project and development is open to anyone with the technical expertise who shares the vision of a social network that puts users in control," the Diaspora team wrote. The team, which plans to have the project up and running by next month, says it is working on Facebook integration and ways to ensure users stay in control of their data, the BBC reports. The preview version looks a lot like Facebook, "but no matter what Diaspora looks like now, the point is to have many different versions hosted all over the place," MG Siegler notes at TechCrunch. "Some will look different than others—so it make sense to have a simple, clean base to build off of." For earlier Facebook stories, click here.

Splash News Online Pierce Brosnan is returning to work following the death of his daughter , Charlotte, from ovarian cancer.The actor was seen on set Tuesday shooting action scenes in Belgrade, Serbia, for the upcoming film November Man, a spy thriller based on the novels by Bill Granger.According to a press release, the movie follows an ex-CIA operative who is brought back in on a dangerous mission, pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving CIA and Russian officials.Brosnan, 60, reportedly left the set to be with his daughter during her final days. Charlotte, who was 41, passed away in London on June 28."Charlotte fought her cancer with grace and humanity, courage and dignity," Brosnan, who lost his wife and Charlotte's mother to the same disease in 1991, said in a statement. "Our hearts are heavy with the loss of our beautiful dear girl. We pray for her and that the cure for this wretched disease will be close at hand soon," the actor continues. "We thank everyone for their heartfelt condolences."

– A bit of joyful news in the wake of Pierce Brosnan's daughter's death: She quietly married her boyfriend two weeks beforehand. Brosnan walked Charlotte, 42, down the aisle; her daughter Isabella, 15, was a bridesmaid. "It wasn’t a day to be sad," an attendee tells the Sun. "Alex [Smith, the groom] and Pierce were smiling broadly." Pierce Brosnan is already back to work, People reports. He was spotted in Serbia yesterday shooting scenes for spy thriller November Man.

Rob Rich/Wenn Kim Kardashian may go from breaking the internet to breaking Valentine’s Day reservation lines. The reality star and her husband Kanye West are the subject of a Valentine’s Day themed dinner at Brooklyn restaurant Brucie. Last year, the eatery devoted its most-romantic menu to Beyonce with cleverly named a la carte offerings such as “I Am Pasta Fierce.” And chef and owner Zahra Tangorra is at it again. Customers can choose from two prix fixe ($100 per person) menu options: Kim and Kanye. Mrs. West’s five course special includes dishes such as Stuffed Kalimari (with kauliflower, pistachio, raisin, salsa verde), Khicken Fried Rump Roast (with kabbage, pickled pear, buttermilk ranch) and Karrot Kake (with Goldschlagger, salted caramel). Standouts for Kayne include “Bound 2” Pork Roulade Bourguinon (with celeriac puree, artichoke, parsley salad) and “Imma Let You Finish” (pernod Yeezecake, chantilly cream). And for lovebirds who crave a romantic meal made for two, there’s “The North West” (pacific northwest salmon en croute, bacon braised greens). For the complete — er, komplete? — menu, keep scrolling. KIM AMUSE BOUCHE STACKED 24 KARROT TERRINE Dill Kreme Fraiche, Midori Shot COURSE ONE STUFFED KALIMARI Kauliflower, Pistachio, Raisin, Salsa Verde COURSE TWO STICKY RICE BALLS Kim-chi, Honey Mascarpone Glaze, Sesame COURSE THREE MAK N KHEESE Elbows, Scharfe Maxxx, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, White Truffle COURSE FOUR KHICKEN FRIED RUMP ROAST Kabbage, Pickled Pear, Buttermilk Ranch COURSE FIVE KARROT KAKE Goldschlagger, Salted Karamel KANYE AMUSE BOUCHE “GOOD LIFE” Smoked Oyster, Caviar, Brioche, Lillet Blanc COURSE ONE “GOLD DIGGER” Beets, Gold Leaf, Saffron Aioli, Hazelnut Dirt COURSE TWO “ALL FOIE’S DOWN” Foie Gras Pate, Crepe, Cognac, Smoked Cherry Sauce, Quail Egg COURSE THREE “MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY” Squid Ink Tagliatelle, Duck Confit, Coconut, Microgreens COURSE FOUR “BOUND 2” PORK ROULADE BOURGUINON Celeriac Puree, Artichoke, Parsley Salad COURSE FIVE “IMMA LET YOU FINISH” Pernod Yeezecake, Chantilly Cream ENTREES FOR TWO TO SHARE THE NORTH WEST Pacific Northwest Salmon En Croute, Bacon Braised Greens “NO CHURCH IN THE WILD” MUSHROOM POLENTA Pumpkin Seed Pistu, Chiriboga Blue –Michelle Ward ||||| While the couple has reportedly been trying for baby number two,revealed in a recent interview with E! that it’s been harder to conceive the second time around. ||||| Welcome to Brucie’s – New York’s trusted and beloved Italian restaurant. At Brucie NYC, we make sure that the food we serve are sourced with tender loving care. Yes, that is our secret ingredient to ensure that you experience fine Italian cuisine and ultimate satisfaction for your appetite and senses. This is our official website where you can see for yourself the menu that we offer. We serve Italian food for dinner and brunch. However, our menu offerings vary every night so it is best to check out our page for our daily menu. This is one of the charms of Brucie NYC. You are always in for a surprise. You do not know what Italian food we are going to serve you each day. That is why our patrons keep coming back to experience our special menu for the day lovingly prepared from appetizer, main entrees, and dessert. Brunch and dinner have different set of menus too so you would want to experience both that only Brucie offers to its patrons. Brucie NYC supports organic and local farming to ensure that you get the freshest and most nutritious ingredients for the food that we serve you. We buy our ingredients daily and our head chef himself oversees the marketing and food preparation. What Italian goodness can we cook with arugula, olives, green tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, string beans, cabbage, squash, and eggplant fresh from the farm? How about House Burrata, Mezzi Paccheri, Tagliatelle, Kabocha Squash, and our famous lasagna? Of course each menu will not be complete without a variety of dessert offerings for a sweet cap off to your dining experience. Brunch is a different story altogether. We make sure to prepare something light and heavy depending on your level of appetite. We have sandwiches, brunch plates, side dishes, and sweets to start off your day on a positive note. Brucie also offers fancy cocktails, beers, and a wide variety of wines. We support organic and biodynamic winemaking so that makes our wines even more inviting. You can choose from our long list of bubbly wines, white wines, and red wines. It does not get more Italian than that. Due to insistent demand and cravings for our famous lasagna, Brucie offers lasagna party packages that you can order from our restaurant. It is perfect for your special occasions, parties, or a sumptuous dinner with family and friends. And because you cannot get enough of Brucie NYC, we have catering services so that we can be with you wherever you are in New York. And if you want to know how to cook authentic Italian dishes, we also have cooking classes. We will teach you right inside our kitchen. So, come and visit us to experience Italian cuisine at its finest. We invite you to go out of your garage door opener in Tampa FL and hit the road towards Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, New York. If you need help finding us, just take the F or G train going to Bergen and that would lead you close to our restaurant. We promise you a dining experience like no other because only Brucie NYC can satisfy your hunger with its blend of Italian cuisine and tender loving care.

– If you can think of nothing more romantic on Valentine's Day than eating a Kim Kardashian- or Kanye West-themed meal, head to Brucie in Brooklyn. The restaurant is offering two $100 prix fixe menus that night, one called "Kim" and one called "Kanye," People reports. The Kim menu features lots of items in which the letter K is used inappropriately: Stuffed Kalimari with Kauliflower, for example, or Khicken Fried Rump Roast with Kabbage. There's also a dish called "Sticky Rice Balls," which seems to have been included solely because it includes a side of Kim-chi. The Kanye menu riffs on the rapper's titles: "Gold Digger" involves beets, gold leaf, and "hazelnut dirt," whatever that is; "Imma Let You Finish" is something called a Pernod Yeezecake with chantilly cream; and "All Foie's Down" is, as you may have guessed, a foie gras dish. The restaurant is also offering "The North West," an entree of Pacific Northwest salmon for two to share. (Click to see photos of Kanye with North that are, even we have to admit, pretty adorable.)

UPPER WEST SIDE — A nanny working for a prominent television executive stabbed two of his young children to death in their luxury West 75th Street apartment Thursday evening and then turned the knife on herself in a nightmare scene that left neighbors stunned, officials said. Marina Krim, the doting mom of little Lucia Krim, 6, and Leo Krim, 2, made the horrifying discovery just after 5:30 p.m. in the second floor apartment at 57 W. 75th St., just off Central Park West, after returning home from a swim lesson with her daughter, Nessie Krim, 3. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters Marina Krim, who is married to CNBC digital media senior vice president Kevin Krim, found her apartment dark and seemingly empty and went to ask the doorman if her two other children and the nanny, identified as Yoselyn Ortega, 50, had left, Kelly said. When she returned to the apartment, she found her young children in the bathtub with multiple stab wounds and ran out of the apartment screaming, said Lucianne Minihan, whose husband, Michael, is the superintendent at 57 W. 75th St. "The whole building heard it," Lucianne Minihan said. "She was screaming at the top of her lungs. She was screaming, 'Help me! Help me!'" Hearing the screams, the superintendent raced upstairs, went into the apartment and saw blood everywhere, Minihan said. He heard a strange grunting noise, looked through a bedroom doorway, and saw the nanny stabbing herself, according to Minihan. The super ran out of the apartment, closed the front door and yelled at his neighbors to call the police. He held the door closed until police came, Minihan said. Ortega was taken to New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical but stable condition with self-inflicted wounds to her throat, police said. Charges have not yet been filed. The horrific crime sent shockwaves through a neighborhood where many parents rely on nannies to help raise their children. "It brings to the surface the fears every parent has when leaving their children with anyone but family," wrote an Upper West Side mom on her blog. "We can do all the background checks in the world, and we know that most caregivers are amazing and loving, but it's the random, horrific incidents like this that stay in our heads as we walk out the door and leave our children." The children were pronounced dead at St. Luke's Hospital and their mother was taken there for trauma, according to NYPD spokesman Paul Browne. Cops found a kitchen knife on the bathroom floor, police said. Marina Krim's love for her young children was detailed in an online diary, which was loaded with smiling photos of a thriving, happy-looking family. Pictures show the Krim children, who moved to New York about two and a half years ago from San Francisco, embracing their lives in New York, with Lulu munching on a hotdog and Nessie stopping at pay phones on Broadway to make pretend phone calls. Lulu Krim attended the dual-language Spanish program at the highly-regarded neighborhood school P.S. 87, according to the diary. "One of the best parts of my day is after I drop both girls off at school and have 3 precious hours with little Lito all to myself," Marina Krim wrote. "Ok, I'm near getting cheesy I adore this boy so much!!!" Leo had just celebrated his second birthday last month. Marina Krim's latest entry was made just hours before her grisly discovery. "Leo speaks in the most adorable way possible," Krim wrote. "Firstly, he speaks super clearly, so you can understand every word is he is saying." The family had employed Ortega, nicknamed "Josie," for two and a half years, family member said. Earlier this year, the Krims visited Josie's "amazing familia" in the Dominican Republic, where the nanny's relatives nicknamed Nessie “Rapida y Furiosa" (Fast and Furious) and several posts show the childrens' hair styled by Ortega. Neighbors at Ortega's Harlem apartment building were shocked by her alleged crime. Ortega has lived in the neighborhood for at least 20 years, neighbors said, and has a son in his 20s. Four sisters of Ortega's also live in the building, neighbors said. "She's a nice polite woman, calm, never aggressive, a good person, never violent behavior, nothing ever extreme," said neighbor Andre Valdez, 39. "I'm surprised, it's absurd. I don't even believe she would do something like this." Detectives left the apartment building about 11 p.m. Thursday with several of Ortega's family members, who covered their faces with jackets. ||||| “It’s family-oriented, this neighborhood,” said Pauline Sklar, a real estate investor who lives a block from the building where the children were stabbed. “Parents are working. They have to depend on people. My niece hires people. She researches them.” Ms. Sklar paused, then added, “Or tries to.” Nannies are there for meal times, for bedtime, for birthdays and holidays, and go on vacations. Indeed, on her blog, Ms. Krim described how she and her family had spent several days visiting Ms. Ortega’s family in the Dominican Republic, speaking to just how close her relationship had been with the family. “We spent the past 9 days in the Dominican Republic. We spent half the time at our nanny, Josie’s sisters home in Santiago,” she wrote. “We met Josie’s amazing familia!!! And the Dominican Republic is a wonderful country!! More pics to come!!” Photo Commissioner Kelly said that given the horror Ms. Krim had just witnessed, it was difficult for her to communicate. Mr. Krim was told of the situation hours later, when he landed after a flight back to the city. He was met at the airport by the police, who told him what happened and took him to see his wife at St. Luke’s Hospital, where the couple remained on Thursday night, along with Ms. Krim’s sister. There were no immediate explanations for what drove the nanny’s actions. Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman, said he did not know if she left a note behind, and he could not immediately say how long she had worked for the family. The Krims moved to New York from California in recent years, neighbors said. A Harvard graduate, according to his LinkedIn profile, Mr. Krim is an executive at CNBC and had previously worked at Bloomberg and Yahoo. Ms. Krim had worked in California for a wholesaler of powders made from exotic fruits, like acai berries and pomegranates, according to her LinkedIn profile. Advertisement Continue reading the main story A neighbor said that in New York, Ms. Krim largely devoted her time to her children. This past year she taught a weekly early-childhood art class at the Hippo Playground Parkhouse on 91st Street. Photo “Marina likes strolls in Central Park, doing art projects with the kids and delicious food,” according to a Web site set up for the wedding of one of Ms. Krim’s siblings. In one post on her blog, Ms. Krim talked about how she cherished her time with her youngest, Leo, nicknamed Lito. “One of the best parts of my day is after I drop both girls off at school and have 3 precious hours with little Lito all to myself. Ok, I’m near getting cheesy I adore this boy so much!!! He’s obsessed with collecting acorns he finds ‘on the floor,’ he loves riding ‘the school bus’ and he happily plays by himself for long periods of time. Here he has set up his kitchen in the living room and is ‘making bacon’ (not sure where he learned the word ‘bacon’).” Ms. Ortega lives a few miles away, on Riverside Drive in Harlem. Marcelina Lovera, a neighbor of Ms. Ortega, said she had moved to New York from the Dominican Republic. She had not been officially charged as of Thursday night. “I’m still shocked,” Ms. Lovera said. “She seems like a normal person. I wouldn’t expect that from her.” Photo Outside Ms. Ortega’s apartment, a woman could be heard through the closed door wailing, “Por qué dios mio, por qué?” Neighbors said she lived with her three sisters and had an adolescent son. They described her as industrious and unremarkable. All expressed disbelief that she could commit a crime so heinous. Advertisement Continue reading the main story On the Upper West Side, neighbors described seeing Ms. Krim, a towel over her head, clinging to her one surviving child, being escorted by the police to a waiting ambulance. Ms. Starr said that when she saw Ms. Krim in the building’s lobby, she was in a state of shock. “She was screaming in a psychotic state,” she said. “She was not lucid.” Ms. Starr said she did not know her neighbor well but described a young, loving couple, often seen on neighborhood streets with a big, friendly greyhound named Babar. She had seen Ms. Ortega in the building, she said, but never got the sense of anything being out of the ordinary. “I rode in the elevator with the nanny just the day before yesterday,” Ms. Starr said. “I was making small talk. She was sort of unfriendly, didn’t want to interact. But I didn’t notice anything strange or weird.” ||||| Hordes of cops stormed the building after the mother's neighbor heard her screams and dialed 911. Marina Krim, who neighbors said may have worked as a pediatrician, was seen afterward being escorted into an ambulance, tightly clutching her surviving daughter Nessie. "She was mumbling words, incoherent," said Stephanie Herman, 58. "I can't imagine experiencing something like this. "This is a very family-oriented area. You see moms and their strollers a lot. Many people hire nannies here. This is everyone's worst nightmare." Sources said blood was found in the kitchen, suggesting that's where the attack may have started or where Ortega might have first tried to take her own life. It was unclear how long Ortega had worked for the family or what might have set her off, cops said. The police would not say how many times the children had been stabbed. The prewar, 81-unit La Rochelle — boasting white-gloved doormen and a lobby bathed in marble — is less than a block from Central Park. Three-bedroom apartments rent for nearly $11,000 a month. The barbaric crime in one of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods left neighbors horrified. "It's awful. It makes me sick to my stomach," said Jill Pace, 27, who lives in the area. "I can't even look at the building. You have to wonder what goes through someone's mind to do such a horrible thing." Segundo Mores, 48, said the murders will likely make parents more vigilant when screening nannies. "Obviously, parents need to do criminal and even psychological background checks," Mores said. "These are your kids. Your most precious possession. Oftentimes, people hire nannies from word of mouth. That is not going to be enough anymore." With Joe Kemp, Denis Slattery and Rocco Parascandola

– New York City cops are trying to piece together a horrific double-murder today: Police say a mother returned to her Upper West Side apartment to discover that two of her young children had been fatally stabbed in the bathtub by their nanny, report DNA Info and the Daily News. Most reports have the victims as a 2-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl. When the mother discovered the scene and ran screaming from the apartment, the nanny then apparently turned the knife on herself and is not expected to survive, reports the New York Times. "She was screaming at the top of her lungs," a resident says of the mother. "She was screaming, 'Help me! Help me!'"

Firefighters were left "seriously unimpressed" after spending an hour freeing a YouTuber whose head had been "cemented" into a microwave. Jay Swingler, 22, became stuck after filling the oven with Polyfilla and then sticking his head in it, which was wrapped in a plastic bag. The unplugged microwave was being used as a mould in the stunt, but the mixture soon set and friends became concerned as Swingler struggled breathe through the plastic tube he was using for air. The group had already spent an hour and a half trying to free the YouTuber when five firefighters from the West Midlands Fire Service arrived at the address in Fordhouses, Wolverhampton, on Wednesday. ||||| Image copyright West Midlands Fire Service Image caption Crews took an hour to free the man An internet "prankster" had to be freed by firefighters after cementing his head inside a microwave oven. West Midlands Fire Service said it took an hour to free the man after they were called to a house in Fordhouses, Wolverhampton. Friends had managed to feed an air tube into the 22-year-old's mouth to help him breathe, the service said. Watch Commander Shaun Dakin said the man "could quite easily have suffocated or have been seriously injured". Image copyright West Midlands Fire Service Image caption The fire service said the mixture had been poured around the man's head, which was protected by a plastic bag Mr Dakin said: "He and a group of friends had mixed seven bags of Polyfilla which they then poured around his head, which was protected by a plastic bag inside the microwave. "The oven was being used as a mould and wasn't plugged in. The mixture quickly set hard and, by the time we were called, they'd already been trying to free him for an hour and a half." Crews from the technical rescue team helped with taking the microwave apart, he added. "It took us nearly an hour to free him," added Mr Dakin. "All of the group involved were very apologetic, but this was clearly a call-out which might have prevented us from helping someone else in genuine, accidental need."

– There's stupid, there's extremely stupid, and then there's "cementing your head inside a microwave" stupid. Firefighters in Wolverhampton, England, say they were "seriously unimpressed" after five of them had to spend an hour dealing with a case of the latter Thursday, the BBC reports. The West Midlands Fire Service says a 22-year-old man it describes as a "YouTube prankster" and his friends poured several bags of a fast-hardening product into an unplugged microwave oven they were using as a mold around the man's head, which was protected by a plastic bag. Firefighters say that by the time they were called, the man's friends had been trying to free him for 90 minutes and had given him an air tube to help him breathe. Firefighters had to call a technical rescue team for help freeing the man, which involved taking apart the microwave and very carefully removing the cement, using a screwdriver. "As funny as this sounds, this young man could quite easily have suffocated or have been seriously injured," says Watch Commander Shaun Dakin, per the Telegraph. "All of the group involved were very apologetic, but this was clearly a call-out which might have prevented us from helping someone else in genuine, accidental need."

LOS ANGELES – The charges are shocking, but the choice of victims comes as little surprise. The horrors alleged at Miramonte Elementary School echo previous cases of sexual abuse: vulnerable children, plied with attention and gifts and groomed to trust adult predators. The abuses claimed here may be different — children blindfolded, gagged and fed a substance investigators say was semen. But the setting follows a pattern alleged at Penn State University, where former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is accused of using a charity he founded to target vulnerable boys from single-parent homes or troubled families, people unlikely to speak out. At Miramonte, the victims could hardly have been more disadvantaged: The 1,400 students are virtually all from poor Latino homes, a majority from immigrant families where English isn't spoken at home, and some with parents lacking legal immigrant status. It's a voiceless community where fear is ingrained — fear of authority, fear of the police, fear of immigration enforcement, fear of retribution. The hard-pressed barrio school is just the kind of place where an adult with bad intentions could take advantage of a child, knowing there was little chance a victimized family would report the acts. Or if they did, little chance they would be believed. "You have lots of the very poor who don't even know what their rights are," says Martha Escutia, a former state senator who once represented the south Los Angeles neighborhood. "You have the undercurrent of immigration, undercurrent of poverty. Miramonte is not Malibu. It's not a sophisticated community. "It's a perfect recipe for a predator." It's a recipe that's been followed here before. A former teacher's aide, Ricardo Guevara, is serving a 15-year sentence in state prison after being convicted in 2004 of sexually abusing three kindergarten girls at Miramonte. The Los Angeles school system was ordered to pay $1.6 million to his three victims' families. "There are striking similarities," says Beverly Hills lawyer Keith Davidson, who represented those girls. "It's amazing that you'd have lightning strike twice and then three times in the same school." Davidson now represents four children, three boys and one girl, ages 9 to 13, who were students of accused teacher Mark Berndt, the man at the center of the scandal. Berndt, 61, who was removed from his third-grade class a year ago, was charged last month with 23 counts of committing lewd acts on children ages 6 to 10 from 2005 through 2010. Investigators say they have found 600 photographs Berndt took of the children, many performing what he told them was a game. In some, the children are eating cookies with a substance the district attorney's office alleges was Berndt's semen. While investigating claims against Berndt, the Los Angeles sheriff's department brought charges against another Miramonte teacher. Martin Springer, 49, pleaded not guilty this week to charges he fondled a second-grade girl. Springer taught at Miramonte for 26 years. Berndt taught there 32 years, a span that saw the neighborhood transform from a heavily African-American population to almost uniformly Latino. Berndt had been the subject of complaints before. The sheriff's department investigated a September 1993 incident at the school, but prosecutors decided they didn't have enough evidence to charge him, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for District Attorney Steve Cooley. The school's principal, Martin Sandoval, did not respond to a request for comment. In a separate incident, school system officials said they fired a female teacher's aide at the school in 2009, after a mother reported finding love letters the aide wrote to her 11-year-old son. The Los Angles Times on Friday reported that the Los Angeles Unified School District paid Berndt $40,000 to drop a challenge to his dismissal last year. The firing took Berndt off the district payroll. But he fought to keep his job through an appeal process that lasted until he settled with the school system and resigned in June. The payout consisted of four months of back salary plus reimbursement for the cost of health benefits, according to the newspaper. The settlement with Berndt came in the face of a dilemma, said L.A. Unified general counsel David Holmquist. A hearing on the dismissal was pending and the district didn't have evidence to justify the firing because the Sheriff's Department investigation was ongoing. "We were told we could not do any investigation" to avoid interfering with a law enforcement probe, Holmquist told the Times. "We didn't have any evidence, and we couldn't put on any witnesses. We didn't have anything to successfully defend a challenge." A father's dilemma One father complains that he did not learn his 10-year-old daughter was a victim until after Berndt's recent arrest. Raymundo, 39, who spoke only on condition his last name not be used because he immigrated illegally, says that when Berndt was removed from teaching early in 2010, parents were not told why. "For a year, we didn't know anything about this," he says in Spanish. "The school was trying to keep this under wraps. … This is very bad. The school is almost 100% Latino. It's because of that they discriminate against us. We are poor people." He says the school has not responded to his requests for information. So far, he's spoken about the case only with someone from the sheriff's office. His is one of eight families represented by a lawyer, Jessica Dominguez, who filed three lawsuits against the L.A. school system Tuesday. Raymundo says when he first heard about Berndt's arrest, he didn't want to do anything about it. He didn't want to call attention to his family because he has been living in the country illegally for six years. He says the allegations have been so traumatic, he went to the emergency room twice for anxiety attacks and migraines. Still, he didn't want to come forward until Dominguez and his sister convinced him that he would not be deported. In fact, the family may qualify for a special visa providing legal status to crime victims who cooperate with prosecutors, Dominguez and other lawyers say. "I was scared," Raymundo said. "Whenever the police are involved, no one who is here illegally will come forward, even if he's been robbed … But if we don't speak out, then there will be no justice for our children." Gregory Owen, a lawyer working with Dominguez, says sheriff's investigators have counted 23 alleged victims of Berndt, but he represents four more children whose families have not been questioned and who have not come forward because of fear of deportation. Some of those families have photos of Berndt with their children at family functions to which they invited him. Owen says some parents framed the photos Berndt gave them and proudly displayed them on shelves, thinking their children had received special attention from a beloved teacher. That the children thought it was all a game is "actually worse than when the child knows its happening," Owen says. "When they are told, they say to themselves, 'Why didn't I realize that? Why didn't I stop it?' They feel even more guilty." Dominguez says the parents have taken the children to doctors to test for AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. "These mothers can't sleep at night," she says. The school will have counselors in the school for the rest of the year. Ricardo Antonio Pérez, a lawyer representing several other Miramonte families, says: "The outrage in this community really is with the LAUSD's (Los Angeles Unified School District) habitual failure to protect children." Many parents of Miramonte students say they now feel victimized a second time by the school system's reaction to the scandal. Superintendent John Deasy ordered the unprecedented reassignment of the entire faculty and staff of the school. When it reopened Thursday after a two-day closing, new teachers and staff were in their place. Official: Removals are a try for 'fresh start' Parents protested all week: first, because they were upset that they had not been told before about the sex abuse allegations, and then because the district replaced the entire staff. On Thursday, parents protesting the teachers' removal brought their children to school but did not bring them inside. A group of girls played the guitar and sang songs they made up about their teachers leaving. Police patrolled the front of the school as some parents took their children inside. During a news conference outside the school, teachers union President Warren Fletcher called the district's move to replace the teachers "nothing more than a cheap media stunt intended to deflect attention from the fact that a tragedy occurred at the school that had no supervision." For children already struggling to understand the arrests of two of their teachers, losing the rest is traumatic, says Maria Guadalupe Garcia, 40, who has two children at Miramonte. She has been a single parent to three children since her husband was deported three years ago. She says Miramonte teachers have helped her survive. They took up collections to help her pay her electric bill when she was short, and they counseled her on how to help her children through the deportation. "We don't have a lot, so I'm so grateful to those teachers," she says in Spanish. "That's why we are despondent over these drastic changes. "It would be as if they took a child away from a parent and put him in foster care," she says. "And the district is not listening to us. Many of us don't speak English. We are poor and ignorant — at least that's how they treat us." Raymundo's family also is upset by the loss of untainted teachers. "They shouldn't all have to pay for the wrongdoing of a few," he says. "There have to be good teachers there." He says his family's situation reminds him of a Spanish-language song about illegal immigrants: "The song says being undocumented is living in hell. Now, I know what (the singer) means." School officials acknowledge the controversy over throwing out the good with the bad. Tom Waldman, spokesman for the school system, says administrators felt it was "the best thing to do" because of the trauma of the allegations and the disruption that investigations may pose for teachers and students who are still to be questioned. He called it an attempt "to approximate a fresh start.'' Investigators are considering whether a "culture of silence," as Deasy put it, may have existed among adults at the school. Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, says he's never heard of a mass staff replacement at a school. "To pull the plug on an entire school — that's dramatic," Domenech says. He says Deasy may have more information that he can't disclose. Ellen Greenwald, a University of Texas-Dallas psychologist, says kids who are victims of sex abuse often fear that going to adults will get them in more trouble and that no one will believe them, or that adults will blame them. "That's what really creates the silence that continues," she says. Lisa Aronson Fontes, a psychology professor at the University of Massachusetts who wrote Child Abuse and Culture: Working with Diverse Families, says, "There's a culture of silence at most schools … and a culture of disbelief and denial." "Families who feel disempowered in a variety of ways are going to have trouble challenging authorities like a teacher," she says. "If they're first-generation immigrants, if their English skills are limited, if they're low-income, they're going to have an even harder time challenging authority." She notes that other predators, from a Delaware dentist to mass murderer Jeffrey Dahmer, targeted immigrants. "Immigrant children are particularly disempowered," she says. At more well-to-do schools, parental involvement could be a check on inappropriate behavior, Escutia says. In the Miramonte neighborhood, parents are often working or simply too shy and unskilled to volunteer at their schools. "It would never happen in Malibu," says Escutia, referring to the wealthy beachfront strip of land that is more familiar than inner-city ghettos for most visitors to Southern California. "The moms in Malibu have time to be active in kids' lives at school." ||||| FILE - This image provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shows Martin B. Springer, 49, who was arrested Feb. 3, 2012 in Los Angeles. Prosecutors have filed a lewd-acts complaint against... (Associated Press) A teacher charged in a sex abuse scandal that has rocked a Los Angeles elementary school is free on bail. The Los Angeles County sheriff's department says Martin Springer was released early Friday. He had been held on $300,000 bail. The sheriff's office says he was fitted with an electronic ankle monitor. The 49-year-old has pleaded not guilty to committing three lewd acts on one girl in class in 2009. He was arrested last week after two girls said he fondled them, but one has since recanted her allegation. Springer's arrest came shortly after another former teacher was charged with 23 counts of lewd acts upon children. Mark Berndt is accused of feeding his semen to some students during "tasting games" in his classroom from 2005 to 2010. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. Some students wrote farewell letters to their former teachers. Even though it was the middle of the school year to them, it was the first day for the new staff of an elementary school where every worker was replaced following the arrests of two longtime teachers on lewdness charges. "You had to go because of somebody evil," one first-grader wrote, according to counselor Gina Adelman. Others wrote "you were a good teacher" and "I will miss you." Miramonte Elementary School students returned to class for the first time Thursday since the entire 120-member staff was replaced in an unprecedented move by the Los Angeles Unified School District. The day got off to a rough start with the teachers union president assailing the reassignment of teachers as a stunt and about 100 parents and students blasting the move. United Teachers Los Angeles President Warren Fletcher said teachers were being "tarred and stigmatized for no reason" and that grievances would be filed against the district on behalf of some 85 reassigned teachers. "It is crystal clear that LAUSD doesn't have a plan," Fletcher said. "They're making this up as they go along, and students at the school are paying the price." Superintendent John Deasy said the makeover was needed to clear the school from a cloud of distrust and suspicion stemming from the arrest of former third-grade teacher Mark Berndt. The 61-year-old has been charged with 23 counts of lewd acts upon children, ages 6 to 10, accused of feeding his semen to some students during "tasting games" in his classroom from 2005 to 2010. A second teacher, Martin Springer, 49, was arrested last week after two girls said he had fondled them in class in 2009. Springer pleaded not guilty after he was charged with committing three lewd acts on one girl in 2009. The other girl has since recanted her allegation. About 100 parents and children protested with signs saying "Give us our teachers back" and chanting "no new teachers" as TV cameras rolled. Parents attended a meeting with the new principal, but many emerged dissatisfied, saying the district went overboard. "My son liked his teacher," said Jose Vargas, shaking his head. Deasy said replacing the staff, from janitors to principal, was necessary to restore trust among parents in the largely poor, Latino neighborhood of unincorporated Los Angeles County. Whether any of the previous staff will return to Miramonte will be determined after the district completes its investigation into how Berndt's alleged activities went undetected for so long, he said. The teachers were told via a notice of administrative transfer that on Monday they will report to a nearby unfinished high school, where they will be interviewed while the investigation is ongoing. In the classrooms they left behind, children and teachers were adjusting. In Martha Cedeno's first-grade class, pupils told her where to find the gym schedule and explained they were to play volleyball, according to a pool report. Parents were offered the option of transferring their children to another school. District employees were on hand to give parents information about other schools in a two-mile radius and charter schools. Parents said children were confused since they were just getting to know their teachers. "It's kind of hard," said Lorena Soriano, whose sixth-grader attends Miramonte. "You barely know your teacher, and they're gone. The kids don't know what's going on." The new hires, which include a retired principal, 81 teachers and dozens of support staff, will cost the cash-strapped district $5.7 million, said district spokesman Thomas Waldman. The new staffers were recently laid off and were on a rehiring list. The district also faces potentially millions of dollars in legal costs as lawsuits are filed. Three lawsuits were filed on Tuesday, and claim notices have been filed for at least four other lawsuits. A number of parents have opted to file lawsuits instead of going to sheriff's detectives because they are illegal immigrants and are afraid they'll be deported. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano said he will reintroduce a bill this month that will protect children and domestic violence victims from deportation. "What does it say about our society if parents won't speak to the police when their children are in danger?" Ammiano asked. "Enough is enough. Every parent regardless of immigration status deserves access to the police and to know that their children are being protected." The lawsuits allege the district and Principal Martin Sandoval failed to adequately safeguard the students against Berndt and Springer. The school's reopening follows revelations that 200 more inappropriate photos of children were discovered, and that one teacher sent birthday cards and presents to students who participated in his games. Many of the photos involve children already identified by authorities, but there may be other victims, authorities said. Like the pictures that first alerted authorities to Berndt, the photos show children ages 6 to 10 blindfolded and being fed a milky, white liquid that authorities believe was semen on spoons or cookies. Berndt taught for 32 years at the South Los Angeles school. He remains jailed on $23 million bail and could face life in prison if convicted. The furor over his arrest led two parents to come forward last week to complain about Springer, who had worked at the school for 26 years. Detectives said there is no evidence that the two men acted in concert.

– As Martin Springer, one of the teachers charged in a Los Angeles school sex abuse scandal, was released on bail today, USA Today takes a look at Miramonte Elementary and why it may have been the perfect place for an abuser to prey on vulnerable, disadvantaged children. The school's 1,400 students come mainly from impoverished Latino homes, and some of their parents are illegal immigrants—meaning they are hesitant to approach authorities for fear of being deported. And because many of the parents don't speak English, they are unlikely to be involved with their children's school. "You have lots of the very poor who don't even know what their rights are," says a former state senator who once represented the area. "You have the undercurrent of immigration, undercurrent of poverty. Miramonte is not Malibu. It's a perfect recipe for a predator." Indeed, a former teacher's aide from the school was imprisoned in 2004 for sexually abusing three kindergartners. Says the father of one alleged victim, "The school is almost 100% Latino. It's because of that they discriminate against us. We are poor people." Now, investigators are looking into a possible "culture of silence" among adults at the school, the superintendent has said, and experts agree that could be the case.

In a dramatic reveal on stage at WWDC 2013, Phil Schiller brought forth a new Mac Pro saying to the assembled faithful: “Can’t innovate anymore, my ass.” This new Intel Xeon machine with up to 12 core configs has a central thermal core and superfast memory support. It is double the performance of the previous Mac Pro generations. The new Mac Pro also supports 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2 ports and includes two GPU graphics cards with 4K display support. In short, it is a powerhouse. The machine is far smaller than the original Mac Pro, packing all of the hardware into a device that is 1/8th the size of the old Mac Pro. It also supports gigabit Ethernet and HDMI Out as well as USB 3.0. It will arrive later this year and will be assembled in the U.S. Pricing and launch timing is still unavailable. ||||| GIF The new iOS 7 is here. Jony Ive's first iOS—minimalist, elegant, devoid of the infantile artifice that infected its recent incarnations. It's pretty impressive. And here's everything you need to know about it. Here's a video that summarizes it: Flat design, grid, 3D layers and gestures The iOS interface has been completely revamped. That means everything, from the typefaces to the built-in applications to the color schemes to the icons. There's nothing left from the old iOS. This is one of the cornerstones of iOS 7, according to Ive himself: The interface is purposely unobtrusive. Conspicuous ornamentation has been stripped away. Unnecessary bars and buttons have been removed. And in taking away design elements that don’t add value, suddenly there’s greater focus on what matters most: your content. Indeed, the overall effect is that: there's no wasted ink here, as Edward Tufte would say. It's all data and indispensable interface elements. The use of color is a tool on its own, only appearing when it's useful, to highlight data or give user experience clues. But, more importantly, iOS now has focus, with a standard grid that runs across the springboard to the applications. The overall result seems simple and quite beautiful. For the first time, iOS looks like part of the devices, rather than an outdated add-on. Parallax Effect Ive has organized iOS 7 in layers, using the motion sensors in the device to give a real sense of 3D depth. As you move the phone, the layers move in 3D space—you can appreciate the parallax effect, which gives an impressive sense of depth. The OS uses translucency to further enhance the effect, putting things that are not in use behind what the user needs to focus on; when a dialog pops, it does so on its own layer on top of what you were previously looking at. The previous layer recedes back, establishing a clear relationship between the elements being displayed on the screen. Control Center At last. There's now a Control Center available from everywhere: just swipe up from the bottom of your device and it will appear. From there you can toggle airplane mode, control your music, access your camer, your calculator, put it in sleep mode, toggle Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Multitasking It's now available to all applications. You can browse through open apps live, by sweeping your finger over the screen. They appear like cards (a la Palm's webOS). To dimiss an app, just throw it up. A move that reminds me of Windows Phone 8, but in reverse. The iOS learns the users' habits. It knows what your favorite stuff is, and prepares apps so they are ready before you open it, so they open really fast. I don't know how this works, but it probably uses magic extracted from Phil Schiller firm buttocks' sweat. Notification Center Its layout is better, with three different views: today, all and missed. The today view gives you a snapshot of all that's cooking in your current day, including your calendar and the weather. Much better than the previous mess. The notifications will be synched across all your iOS 7 devices, so you don't have to dismiss them several times. Siri In addition to its obligatory redesign—showing a pretty sound wave—Siri got new voices, including a male one, in different languages. They have made it smarter too. You can say increase the brightness or play my last voicemail and it will understand. Advertisement They have integrated services like Twitter, Wikipedia and even Bing, Microsoft's search service. Car integration Siri—and iOS—can now connect to the screen of your car too. iOS will display a special interface in your car's screen. Siri will take orders, read and dictates messages and emails, and do all that Siri does while showing the results on screen. The car integration in iOS 7 will be supported starting with 2014 models of car manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes, Chevy, Nissan, Honda, and more. New Music app The Music app has been redesigned like everything else. It seems quite more simple and it includes a new feature: iTunes Radio. It works like Pandora, and is free (although ad-supported). There's no ad-free subscription option as yet. Photo and Camera Apps A new simple layout that doesn't reduce every photo to a tiny icon. The app will automatically organize your photos by Collections, Moments and Years. You will be able to see the photos you took last week or at one specific locations, making some photos bigger than others. Advertisement The camera comes with different support format, including square, which I guess is now officially a thing thanks to Instagram. Of course, it also has filters. New AirDrop Like its desktop counterpart, AirDrop will let you share anything in your phone very easily with other phones or desktop computers, over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. According to Apple, it's encrypted so nobody except the NSA can look at it. AirDrop seems to be integrated into a new Share panel (on the left) and availability as a recipient can be enabled or disabled by the user. Safari Apple's built-in browser got the same treatment as the rest of the OS. It eliminates all scrolling bars and buttons when you are looking at content, only showing them when you click. The new tab view looks neat but the most useful feature seems to be the shared links bookmark list, which collects all the URLs posted by people or yourself in your Twitter timeline. New iCloud-based keychain This new feature will store all your passwords, credit card numbers and anything you want in the cloud using 256-bit AES encryption. Unless the NSA requests access, I guess. It will also generate random passwords for you, which will be stored in the cloud. This works like the popular 1Password, but with full Safari integration and using Apple's own cloud service rather than DropBox. Other features Voice-only FaceTime: You can call your friends over Wi-Fi without all that embarrassing video whatnot. You can call your friends over Wi-Fi without all that embarrassing video whatnot. Activation lock: If thieves tries to wipe a stolen device, they will not be able to activate it. Availability Developers can get the iPhone beta starting today. The iPad beta will come in a few weeks. The rest of the world will be able to get the final version this fall, when the new iPhone 6 (or whatever it's called) comes out.

– Rumors of the Mac Pro's death have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, at its developer conference today, Apple unveiled a dramatic new redesign of its fastest workstation as an eye-catching black cylinder with twice the performance of the last generation of Mac Pro. The computer will also be entirely assembled in the US. "Can’t innovate anymore, my ass," said Apple exec Phil Schiller as he showed off the company's shiny new toy, reports TechCrunch. As anticipated, mobile operating system iOS is also getting a makeover. iOS 7 was also unveiled at the conference, with new features including: an overhauled interface with a flatter and simpler design, better multitasking, the ability to connect to car navigation screens, and the Pandora-esque iTunes Radio, reports Gizmodo.

BOSTON (CBS) – The names of the two people brutally murdered Friday in South Boston have been released. The victims are identified as 49-year-old Dr. Richard Field and 38-year-old Dr. Lina Bolanos. Dr. Field served in a pain management practice in Beverly and Dr. Bolanos was a pediatric anesthesiologist at the Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary. The two doctors were engaged to be married. Their bodies were found in a luxury penthouse in South Boston with their hands tied and their throats cut. The Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary said in a statement that the couple’s deaths are a tragedy. “The entire Mass. Eye and Ear community is deeply saddened by the deaths of Dr. Lina Bolanos and her fiancé. Dr. Bolanos was an outstanding pediatric anesthesiologist and a wonderful colleague in the prime of both her career and life. We will do all we can to support their families and our staff members who are processing this senseless tragedy and grieving an enormous loss,” the statement said. Building residents are also trying to process what happened. “They just seemed like decent folks. It’s not what you’d expect,” resident Jack Fu said. Resident Marisa Richards says she was surprised because of the building’s security. “It’s a very safe area. It’s a very secure building. The security is really safe. It’s very hard to get into the building, so I was shocked,” Richards said. Residents are shocked. And say this is a tight knot community. The couple well liked #wbz pic.twitter.com/uKY7YJFsfm — Paul Burton (@PaulWBZ) May 6, 2017 Officers responded to the penthouse on Dorchester Ave. around 8:45 p.m. Friday. Boston Police Commissioner William Evans says when officers responded to the call, they saw the suspect in the apartment. “They opened up the door and shots were fired at them,” Evans said. “I mean, you have a guy here who just killed two people and he had nothing to lose.” Police arrested 30-year-old Bampumim Teixeira of Chelsea, who was wounded at the scene and taken to Tufts Medical Center. He is expected to survive. Teixeira had a criminal record which consisted mostly of thefts according to a statement by the Suffolk County DA. A motive for the alleged gruesome murders is not known, but Evans believes the couple must have known the suspect. “If someone would come here and go up to the 11th floor of a penthouse, we gotta believe there was some type of knowledge of each other,” Evans said. One reason police believe the suspect must have known the victims is the building’s security. A special access key is needed to get into the door and to use the elevator. BPD Evans says motive unclear but the couple was definitely targeted. Killings took place in penthouse #wbz pic.twitter.com/VRClbzcf6q — Paul Burton (@PaulWBZ) May 6, 2017 Evans said the officers were uninjured, but shaken up after what he described as “a gun battle.” Residents were trying to go about their daily routines Saturday and express relief that the suspect is in custody. “I’m glad they caught the person and they know who the suspect is,” Police are still on the scene and the investigation is continuing. Teixeira is under close observation at Tufts Medical Center and he faces multiple charges including two counts of murder. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh sent his trauma team to the building to speak with residents who are experiencing stress over the incident. WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Karyn Regal reports ||||| Drs. Richard Field (left) and Lina Bolanos were killed last week in their South Boston home. In his final, terrifying moments, Dr. Richard Field managed to send a last text message from his luxury apartment in South Boston on Friday night: a plea to a friend for help. But by the time Boston police arrived on the 11th floor of 141 Dorchester Ave., around 8:45 p.m., it was too late. Field and his fiancée, Dr. Lina Bolanos, were dead, with their throats slit, according to two officials with knowledge of the investigation. And when police officers opened the door, said Boston Police Commissioner William Evans, 30-year-old Bampumim Teixeira — described by his ex-girlfriend as a former security guard who had just finished a nine-month sentence for robbing two banks — opened fire on them. Advertisement “This individual had just killed two people,” said Evans on Saturday. “He had nothing to lose.” Get Fast Forward in your inbox: Forget yesterday's news. Get what you need today in this early-morning email. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here Police fired back, striking but not killing Teixeira, who was taken to Tufts Medical Center for treatment; charges against him were still being compiled Saturday. No officers were hit. When the SWAT team arrived to sweep the apartment and make sure there were no other shooters, they found a horrific scene. The bodies were bound at the hands and there was blood on the walls, said the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. One of the officials said the killer had also written a message of retribution on the wall. Photos of the two doctors had been cut up, the officials said. Teixeira’s ex-girlfriend, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her privacy, said Teixeira had texted and called her out of the blue on April 22. Advertisement He told her she would never see him again, she said, and that he didn’t plan on living for long. He told her he would never hurt anyone, she said bitterly. “Lies.” South Boston double murder suspect held without bail Investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the slaying. Officials have said that Teixeira and the two doctors were known to each other, but have not said how. The two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said Field had texted a friend for help. “It’s very troubling,” said Evans on Saturday. “These are two well-respected people killed in their penthouse apartment.” Bolanos’s godfather, Michael Gibbs, described the couple as “good, kind, gentle people.” Advertisement “Hopefully, this guy that they caught will be able to say who he is and why this was done,” said Gibbs. “That’s all we’re hoping, is to get some kind of information. Why did this happen?” Field, 49, was a doctor at North Shore Pain Management, certified in interventional pain management and anesthesiology, according to a biography on the company’s website. He had completed a fellowship in pain management at Massachusetts General Hospital, served as an instructor at Harvard Medical School, and worked as an attending pain physician and director of anesthesia for plastic surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the biography said. “Dr. Field was a guiding vision at North Shore Pain Management and was instrumental in the creation of this practice,” read a statement posted by his practice. “His tragic and sudden passing leaves an inescapable void in all of us.” Bolanos, 38, was a pediatric anesthesiologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an anesthesia instructor at Harvard Medical School. “Dr. Bolanos was an outstanding pediatric anesthesiologist and a wonderful colleague, in the prime of both her career and life,” said John Fernandez, president & CEO of Mass Eye and Ear, in a statement. “We will do all we can to support their families and our staff members who are processing this senseless tragedy and grieving an enormous loss.” Teixeira had just been released from a house of correction in April, according to his ex-girlfriend and prosecutors. He had pleaded guilty last year to two counts of larceny for twice passing notes demanding money at the same bank, once in 2014 and once in 2016, according to Jake Wark, spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley. He was sentenced to 364 days in a house of correction with nine months to serve and the balance suspended. At the time of his arrest, an official with knowledge said, he listed himself as a security guard, and his ex-girlfriend also said he worked as a security guard. The vice president of the company Teixeira said employed him said he could not confirm whether Teixeira worked for him, but said his company did not provide security for the building at 141 Dorchester Ave. On Saturday afternoon, Teixeira’s ex-girlfriend described him as a “charming” “gentleman” who was good with her 9-year-old son and never displayed a hint of violence. She never saw Teixeira drink, smoke, or use drugs, and he was always well-dressed, she said. She trusted him with the keys to her apartment. “Slacks with shoes, a button-up shirt, jacket with a tie,” she said. “I don’t think he owns a pair of sneakers.” Teixeira told her he was born in Guinea-Bissau and raised in Cape Verde by an aunt, with whom he moved to the Boston area when he was in his 20s, she said. After a falling out with the aunt, he lived in shelters, he had told her. He was living in Cambridge during their relationship, according to his ex-girlfriend. He seemed isolated, she said. He wasn’t on social media at the time and she hadn’t met his friends or family. His ex-girlfriend said they dated for about six months before he suddenly broke up with her in February 2016, offering no explanation — except to say that he was “not a good person.” Later that summer, she was floored to see on social media that he was wanted in connection with a bank robbery. And she was surprised again when he texted her two weeks ago, apologizing for causing her pain and congratulating her on getting engaged. “I spent the last 10 months in jail I got out 2 weeks ago,” Teixeira wrote in text messages, dated April 22, and shared with the Globe. They spoke for more than an hour on the phone that day. He told her again, “I’m not a good person,” she said. “I said, ‘I didn’t believe you when you said that the first time, but after you became a bank robber, I believe you!’ ” she said. “And we started laughing.” She asked him why, if he was a thief, he never stole from her. “He said, “No, I don’t steal from people. I rob banks,” she said. “I said, ‘OK — but you don’t hurt people, right?’ He said, ‘No, no, no, I wouldn’t do something like that.’ ” She was confused about why he had suddenly reached out. He told her he didn’t plan to live long, she said, but when she asked if he was suicidal, he laughed. “No, no, no, no, nothing like that,” he told her, she said. She told him she would pray for him, and said he responded, “Yeah, I need prayer.” The ex-girlfriend didn’t know what to make of the phone call. And she was shocked at his alleged involvement in the double-murder. On Saturday afternoon, she wept as she spoke about it. “Why would he do this?” she asked. Cristela Guerra of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Evan Allen can be reached at evan.allen@globe.com . Follow her on Twitter @EvanMAllen . Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com . Follow her on Twitter @GlobeMCramer . Nicole Fleming can be reached at nicole.fleming@globe.com . Felicia Gans can be reached at felicia.gans@globe.com . Follow her on Twitter @FeliciaGans

– A gruesome crime has claimed the lives of two doctors who were planning to spend the rest of their lives together. Dr. Richard Field and fiancée Dr. Lina Bolanos were found slain in their South Boston penthouse Friday. Fox News reports police found the couple with their throats slit and hands bound after responding to a report of a man with a gun. Police say that man opened fire as officers entered the apartment. "This individual had just killed two people," said Boston Police Commissioner William Evans. "He had nothing to lose." Police returned fire, shooting Bampumin Teixeira, 30, several times; he is in custody. Details are scarce but an unnamed official says what the Boston Globe describes as a "message of retribution" was written on the wall. The paper reports Field's last text was a plea for help sent to a friend. According to an ex-girlfriend, Teixeira last year pleaded guilty to larceny for two separate bank robberies in 2014 and 2016 and finished serving his sentence last month. Though no motive has been given, Teixeira is thought to have known the victims: CBS Boston points out an access code is needed to activate the elevators, and Evans said, "If someone would come here and go up to the 11th floor ... penthouse, we gotta believe there was some type of knowledge of each other." Teixeira's ex says he contacted her two weeks prior to apologize for causing her pain, and said he "didn’t plan to live long," but assured her he wasn't suicidal and wouldn’t hurt others. Field, 49, was a doctor at North Shore Pain Management. Bolanos, 38, served as a pediatric anesthesiologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear while also teaching at Harvard Medical School.

Minnesota Historical SocietyArchive-It Partner Since: Feb, 2006Organization Type: State Archives & LibrariesOrganization URL: http://www.mnhs.org The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849. The Minnesota Historical Society uses Archive-It to capture and preserve Minnesota news and journalism on the web for future generations. This project was funded in FY10, FY11, and FY12 by a grant from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund. ||||| MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Referencing rulings to restrict capital punishment and changing sentiment within the Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia said Tuesday he wouldn't be surprised if the nation's highest court invalidates the death penalty. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia speaks at the University of Minnesota as part of the law school's Stein Lecture series, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) (Associated Press) U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia waits during an introduction before speaking at the University of Minnesota as part of the law school's Stein Lecture series, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, in Minneapolis.... (Associated Press) U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia speaks at the University of Minnesota as part of the law school's Stein Lecture series, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) (Associated Press) Scalia addressed capital punishment during a University of Minnesota Law School appearance in which he also made clear retirement isn't in his near-term plans. The death penalty came up as Scalia described his judicial view that the Constitution is an "enduring" document that shouldn't be open to broad interpretation — while sharing frustration that his colleagues too readily find flexibility in it. Scalia said death penalty decisions from the court have made it "practically impossible to impose it but we have not formally held it to be unconstitutional." Earlier in his remarks, Scalia said "it wouldn't surprise me if it did" fall, a comment that drew scattered applause in the mostly full, 2,700-seat auditorium. He said the high court has increasingly made it difficult impose the death penalty. He said rulings have added mitigating circumstances that must be considered or made it impermissible to automatically sentence people to death for certain crimes, such as killing a police officer. The Supreme Court this month began its latest term and has already heard one death penalty challenge out of Kansas. While that case is limited in scope it was the first high court hearing on death penalty cases since a bitter clash over lethal injection procedures exposed deep divisions among the justices last term. The court intends to consider a case from Florida that questions whether judges, rather than juries, can impose a death sentence, especially when the jury is not unanimous in recommending death. In his 30th year on the Supreme Court, Scalia is the longest-tenured current justice. The 79-year-old said he's in no hurry to leave when asked by an audience member if justices should be forced to leave after a certain number of years rather than hold indefinite appointments. "As soon as I think I'm getting lazier and I just can't do the job as well, I'm going to get off there. I want to preserve whatever reputation I have," Scalia said, adding, "If you've lost your smarts, yeah you should get off. But that hasn't been the case." Until then, Scalia indicated he'll forcefully hold to views that make him a stalwart on the court's conservative wing. He said he has no ambition to be a swing vote — "I'd rather be right," he said. His often-colorful opinions have drawn him wide attention and sheer time has put him toward the top of all-time dissenters. "I have never aspired to have the most dissents in the court's history," Scalia said. "I'm in third place now. I hope I'm never in first place." ||||| In a blistering dissent, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wielded an insult on Thursday that has caught the Internet’s attention. Arguing against his colleagues’ reasoning in their decision to allow health care subsidies nationwide, Scalia accused them of “interpretive jiggery-pokery.” If you’re not familiar with the term, Jiggery-pokery dates back to at least the late 1800s, a rhythmic English phrase describing dishonest manipulation or nonsense, akin to hocus pocus, humbug, bambosh, baloney, berley (among the Australians), bunkum, hogwash (also known as eyewash), flapdoodle, flim-flam, flumadiddle, rubbish, galbanum (coming from a French word for empty representations), hooey, hot air, motormouthing, poppycock or malarkey, as Joe Biden is wont to say. Editors at the Oxford English Dictionary traced this particular phrase back to the Scottish word jouk, which means to skillfully twist one’s body to avoid a blow—to manipulate oneself like an acrobat. Scalia, in this case, insinuates that his colleagues bend themselves and dissemble in order to work around the truth by misinterpreting words of the law. Among the Scots, the word jouk led to the notion of joukery or jookery to describe underhanded dealing or trickery. Pawky is another Scottish word, meaning artfully shrewd. A pawk, on its own, is a trick. And by 1686, some inventive Scottish speakers had combined the words in the phrase joukery-pawkery, which they used to refer to clever trickery or slight of hand. One might declare, as Sir Walter Scott did in his 19th century tale The Black Dwarf, that “There has been some jookery-paukery of Satan’s in a’ this!” From there, it was not a long linguistic path to becoming the jiggery-pokery that sent America running to their dictionaries this week. Katherine Martin, the head of U.S. dictionaries at Oxford, recalls that Scalia pulled a similar trick in 2013, when he used the “colorful reduplicative colloquialism” argle-bargle. Both she notes, are uncommon in American English, while jiggery-pokery is more commonly used among the Brits than argle-bargle, which describes a disputable bandying of words, a bit like bafflegab. Just as when Sen. Ted Cruz used the word “squish” to insult his rivals, Scalia’s dissent is a reminder that a life in government needn’t be lived while only using serious sounding words. Politicians can, after all, be fairly called snollygosters and quockerwodgers who flip-flop and kick tires—or, as Scalia might say, flapdoodlers who deceive themselves and others with their jibber-jabber. Write to Katy Steinmetz at katy.steinmetz@time.com.

– The death penalty is not long for this Earth, or at least for the US, if Antonin Scalia's predictions are to be believed. The conservative Supreme Court justice spoke Tuesday at the University of Minnesota Law School, and capital punishment was brought up after Scalia started expounding on his views of how the Constitution is an inflexible, "enduring" document that shouldn't be widely interpreted. "It wouldn't surprise me if [the death penalty] did fall," Scalia said, which the AP reports drew "scattered applause" in the nearly full 2,700-seat auditorium. He went on to say that the court's rulings on the death penalty—complete with mitigating-circumstances mandates and new rules like not making capital punishment automatic for crimes including cop killing—had made it "practically impossible to impose it but we have not formally held it to be unconstitutional." Which leads us back to that allegedly unmalleable Constitution: Scalia noted it shouldn't be adjusted to match "more enlightened views of the 21st century," MinnPost.com notes. He added that if it were up to him, all justices would have a rubber stamp that reads "Stupid but Constitutional" for cases that broach subjects that may seem outdated but are nevertheless legal. He also calls jiggery-pokery on citizens who cherry-pick the parts of the Constitution they like but then say "'The things I don't like … were adopted by dead white males.' You gotta be consistent. If you believe what you say, you should lead a revolution." Per the AP, Scalia also touched upon his own retirement plans, or lack thereof, saying, "As soon as I think I'm getting lazier and I just can't do the job as well, I'm going to get off there. I want to preserve whatever reputation I have." He also said he has no urge to claim the title of Dissent King—he says he ranks third in dissents among the current justices and doesn't want to rise any further. (Get your very own customized Antonin Scalia insult.)

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Air China is one of the country's main carriers A co-pilot smoking an e-cigarette on an Air China flight caused the plane to start a rapid emergency descent, investigators have said. They say he tried to hide the fact that he was smoking but accidentally shut off the air-conditioning, causing oxygen levels to fall. The crew on Tuesday's flight from Hong Kong to the city of Dalian released oxygen masks and brought the plane more than 6,500m (21,000ft) lower. It later returned to cruising altitude. An initial probe by China's Civil Aviation Administration in China has shown that the co-pilot tried to turn off a fan to stop smoke reaching the passenger cabin without telling the captain, but turned off the air-conditioning unit instead. Passengers say they were told to fasten their seat belts as the plane had to descend. Image copyright Weibo Image caption People posted images online of the dropped oxygen masks on the flight The regulator's safety officer Qiao Yibin said the crew had to perform emergency measures, dropping oxygen masks until they could figure out the problem. If a plane loses cabin pressure, the pilot has to bring the aircraft to a lower altitude to keep crew and passengers safe. Once they saw that the air conditioning had been turned off, they reactivated it and brought the flight back to its normal altitude. Authorities are reportedly investigating the cause "in greater detail", examining both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder to determine precisely what caused the incident. You may also be interested in: The airline promised a "zero-tolerance" approach to crew misbehaviour on Chinese social media site Weibo. Chinese flight regulations prohibit all flight crew from smoking, and banned passengers from using e-cigarettes on board in 2006. But there have been accusations of pilots smoking on board other Chinese flights, including in 2015 when the state-run radio spoke to passengers on a Hong Kong-Beijing flight who claimed to smell strong smoke coming from the cockpit. ||||| THE pilots of a flight that dropped 21,000 feet in 10 minutes are being investigated over claims they were smoking in the cockpit at the time, sparking the incident. The oxygen masks on Air China flight CA106 from Hong Kong to Dalian, China, were deployed approximately half an hour into the Tuesday night trip when it began to lose altitude. Data from flight tracking site FlightAware shows the plane falling from 35,000 feet to 14,000 feet before levelling off. Passengers shared images from on-board the plane onto local blogging site Weibo, showing what appears to be a relatively calm cabin. One flyer said of the incident: “The announcement from the cockpit said the ability to increase oxygen in the cabin malfunctioned so the plane lost pressure.” The plane landed without incident. According to local reports, there are suspicions the crew caused the incident by smoking in the cockpit, resulting in the plane losing pressure and, as a result, altitude. The airline has vowed for “zero tolerance” if crew members are found guilty of wrongdoing. It has cancelled some scheduled flights following the incident. Passengers Evacuated From Southwest Plane at Atlanta Airport Over 'Fear of Fire' 0:36 A Southwest Airlines plane bound for Fort Myers, Florida, was evacuated at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport over fears of a fire on Tuesday, July 3. Passengers were forced to leave flight 1847 after the pilot turned back to Atlanta shortly after takeoff when an “atypical odor” was smelled in the cockpit, a Southwest Airlines spokesman told Storyful. They were delayed for about three hours before a new aircraft took them to their destination, he said. In a statement, the spokesman said that passengers were safely evacuated from the plane. “After a by-the-book landing, the pilots turned off their active runway and taxied to an area where airport responders could inspect the full exterior of the aircraft, per protocol,” the spokesman said. “To minimize their wait in the summer heat, the airport provided buses and air stairs so we could get the 141 customers and the crew into the concourse to be reunited with their bags and move onto a new aircraft and get down to Southwest Florida ultimately, about three hours behind schedule.” “We apologized to them for the inconvenience created by the return to Atlanta to ensure the safest operation of the flight,” he said. This video of fire crews on the runway at the airport was captured by a passenger, Jimmy Link. Storyful has contacted Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for comment. Credit: Jimmy Link via Storyful ||||| Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| Beijing (CNN) A co-pilot smoking an electronic cigarette in the cockpit of an Air China flight caused the plane to suddenly drop 6,000 meters (19,600 feet) when he mistakenly turned off its air conditioning system. A senior official from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) told reporters Friday that, without notifying the pilot, the unnamed co-pilot was trying to turn off air recycling fans to prevent the vapor from spreading into the passenger cabin. Instead, he toggled the wrong switches, which were close to his intended target, leading to a drop in oxygen levels that triggered altitude warnings. Qiao Yibin, the CAAC official, promised to hand down "severe punishment in accordance with laws and regulations," if the regulator's final conclusion on the incident matches its initial finding. Air China fired the entire flight deck crew and suggested CAAC revoke their pilot's licenses upon completing its investigation, the country's flag carrier said Friday night in a statement. Read More

– An Air China co-pilot apparently forced his plane to descend about 20,000 feet when he flicked the wrong switch to hide his vaping from passengers, CNN reports. Chinese aviation officials say the co-pilot, who remains unnamed, tried to shut off air recycling fans to prevent smoke from spreading to the passenger cabin on the Tuesday run from Hong Kong to Dalian, China, but flicked off the air conditioning by mistake. That lowered oxygen levels and set off altitude warnings, forcing pilots to descend immediately. Oxygen masks were also deployed during the emergency descent—photos of which later popped up on Chinese social media and can be seen at Australia's News Network. (Or see this passenger video on YouTube.) After descending 19,600 feet in under nine minutes, pilots realized the mistake, re-activated air conditioning, and brought the flight to its regular altitude—but oxygen levels remained subpar for the rest of the flight, the BBC reports. Air China fired the whole flight deck crew and suggested the Civil Aviation Administration of China strip their licenses. For its part, the CAAC is investigating. On the upside, a passenger on flight CA106 says all 153 passengers appeared calm throughout: "I didn't think too much of it at the time—we didn't know what was going on, nor did the flight attendants it seemed," Hoby Sun tells CNN. "I'm not physically hurt, but the psychological impact lingers. When I close my eyes, I see the oxygen masks dangling in front of me."

The O'Reilly Factor A daily summary of segments aired on The O'Reilly Factor. A preview of the evening's rundown is posted before the show airs each weeknight. The Factor Rundown Guest Host Dana Perino Top Story Impact Segment Impact Segment Personal Story Factor Followup Personal Story What the Heck Just Happened? Want KILLING REAGAN Free? Get the book free when you become a Premium Member. Comments Top Story Shooting Spree in Fresno Dana began with Tuesday's murderous shooting spree in Fresno, California, where Kori Ali Muhammad killed three random people, then shouted "Allahu Akbar." Fox News correspondent Jonathan Hunt provided an update. "This all happened in one terrifying minute in downtown Fresno," he reported. "The three victims, all white men, where shot in quick succession. Cops were able to tie him to a previous murder of a white man at a Motel 6 last week. This man has a criminal record involving drug charges, weapons charges, and more, but the FBI is not yet calling this a terrorism incident." But security analyst Jim Hanson insisted that the act was unadulterated terrorism. "Of course it's terrorism, the only question is which particularly strain. In this case we have two - Islamic terrorism and Black Nationalism, which are often combined in prison, where this guy spent a considerable amount of time. He was looking to create a black state, he was looking to kill white people, and he was doing it in the name of Allah. He was obsessed with 'Black Lives Matter' and other radical grievance groups." Impact Segment Georgia Special Election Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Democrats and Republicans alike focused on Georgia Tuesday, where a special election was held to fill the House seat vacated by Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price. FNC's Jonathan Serrie reported from the headquarters of Democratic hopeful Jon Ossoff, who received millions of dollars and high-profile endorsements from party leaders and celebrities. "There is a sense of cautious optimism here," Serrie began, "and there is hope that Ossoff will be an outright winner. If not, they hope he will be among the two contenders in a runoff election that would be held in June. Democrats really rallied behind Ossoff, who raised more than $8-million." Pollster Frank Luntz examined the implications of the special election. "This is a tough district for Donald Trump, it's a wealthier and more educated suburban district where Trump did not do as well as Mitt Romney. So much money is flowing into this district that this almost feels like a presidential race, and I do think it's a legitimate bellwether for what may happen in 2018. If the Democrats can't win here, then where are they going to win?" Impact Segment Keeping the Country Safe Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com In a major policy speech, Homeland Security boss John Kelly warned that any future terror attacks will likely be carried out by people who entered the country via the southern border. Dana analyzed that warning with Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe and radio talk show host Ethan Bearman. "This does not keep me up at night," Bearman said. "We already have 700 miles of walls and fencing and we need to implement technology, not build a $20-billion wall that won't work. Here in California, the cartels use boats and land on our shores up the coast, so sealing our borders is not the key thing." Boothe, in contrast, endorsed General Kelly's policies and warnings. "All the administration is doing is following the laws on the books. Regarding Ethan's point, Secretary Kelly was in charge of the Southern Command and he is intimately familiar with the threats along the southern border. I trust his judgment on this." Personal Story Clinton Campaign Tell-All Book A new book called 'Shattered' provides a behind-the-scenes account of the disastrous Hillary Clinton campaign. Fox News correspondent Ed Henry gave the book and its revelations a mixed review. "There is a lot in this book that we already knew," he said, "largely because of WikiLeaks that showed that the campaign was fighting. But there is some new information, particularly about election night when President Obama called and asked if she would concede. What's fascinating is that President Obama called a second time and told Hillary Clinton that it was over. Her reaction was to apologize to him for not carrying on his legacy. This was coming at them as a big shock and it was Bill Clinton who had been saying that the campaign should talk to white working-class workers. He was ahead of the curve." Factor Followup Containing North Korea Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Dana welcomed foreign policy specialists Ric Grenell and Gillian Turner, who examined the ongoing tension between North Korea and the USA. "North Korea is facing 175,000 Chinese troops on their border," Grenell said, "so they have gotten the message loud and clear that something has changed. I think the meeting between President Trump and President Xi at Mar-a-Lago was a game changer. We saw President Xi go back to China and put those troops right on the border; we haven't seen diplomacy work that fast in a long time." Turner contended that the Trump administration is merely continuing policies that had already been in place. "We have reached a rhetorical apex on this issue in recent days, but tension between the U.S. and North Korea are not new. This has been boiling and simmering for years, and President Obama is the one who started this cyber-warfare program targeting North Korean missiles." Personal Story Religious Freedom & The Supreme Court The Supreme Court, with newly-confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch on the bench, is about to hear arguments in a case that is central to religious freedom. Fox News anchor Shannon Bream, who covers the Supreme Court, elaborated on the case. "Supporters of Justice Gorsuch wanted him to be on the court for this case," she said, "because he's been favorable to claims about religious liberty. This case is from Missouri, which gives state grants to make playgrounds safer. But you can't get the grants if you are a religious school and there is a pre-school that can't get money to resurface the playground. Lower courts have ruled against the pre-school." Bream added that Justice Gorsuch has hardly been a shrinking violet, saying, "On day one he asked 22 questions in oral arguments, which is a lot for a rookie justice." What the Heck Just Happened? Violent Protests in Berkeley, CA Finally, Dana ventured into the center ring with Greg Gutfeld and Bernard McGuirk, who opined on the violence in Berkeley, where pro-Trump and anti-Trump forces bloodied one another last weekend. "This is a history lesson for everyone," said Gutfeld, himself Berkeley alum. "Violent rioters mug and beat up those who seek to romanticize them. Naïve leftists always glorify revolutionaries, who only want your wallet ... and maybe your daughter." McGuirk blasted left-wing Democrats for being conspicuously silent. "There are no leaders on the left speaking about this, just as they did not say anything when this traveling band of miscreants showed up at Trump rallies and did the same thing. You don't hear Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren condemning them and telling them to stop." ||||| 1 of 4. UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi (C) leaves an 'Occupy UCD' rally on campus in Davis, California November 21, 2011. More than 1,000 demonstrators rallied on Monday at the University of California at Davis to protest the pepper-praying of student protesters by police, a clash captured in video footage circulated widely on television and the Internet. DAVIS, Calif (Reuters) - A University of California chancellor apologized to jeering students on Monday for police use of pepper spray against campus protesters in a standoff captured by video and widely replayed on television and the Internet. The pepper-spraying last week led to suspensions of the campus police chief and two officers, and thrust the normally quiet, conservative and mostly apolitical UC Davis campus to the forefront of anti-Wall Street "Occupy" protests nationwide. Faculty and student critics of Friday's confrontation, some of whom demanded the chancellor's resignation, said it had damaged the school's image and the climate for free expression at the university. UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi has come under sharp criticism for the school's handling of the protests, with some critics blaming her for what they viewed as excessive force employed by campus police. An hours-long rally on Monday, attended by more than 1,000 students, faculty members and even parents, was capped by demonstrators pitching at least a dozen tents in the center of the campus, again defying rules forbidding such encampments. Taking the stage following a parade of speakers who railed against her, Katehi told the crowd: "I'm here to apologize. I really feel horrible for what happened on Friday." Many in the audience answered with boos and catcalls. "You may not believe anything I say today. It's my responsibility to earn your trust," she said, adding, "I don't want to be the chancellor of the university we had on Friday." The crowd roared back with cries of "Resign!" She left the stage after about a minute, looking shaken, and was hustled by security personnel to a waiting car, followed by a throng of media and a cluster of students yelling: "Don't come back!" As on other campuses around the country, protests at UC Davis, a school of 31,000 students known for its agriculture, wine-making and veterinary programs, started out focused on issues of economic inequality and tuition hikes. But Monday's rally was spurred by last week's pepper-spray dousing of protesting students and an earlier confrontation at UC Berkeley in which police jabbed students with night sticks. There was no visible police presence at Monday's gathering, which remained peaceful. "Before, students didn't see how (the Occupy movement) affected them, but I think watching the video ... they see how it affects them," said Cole Sawyer, 19, from Long Beach, California, one of the students pepper-sprayed last week. HOT SPOT Hours earlier in Oakland, a hot spot of anti-Wall Street activism in recent weeks, police in the largely working-class city on the east bank of San Francisco Bay swept away, at least temporarily, the last of the town's protest camps. Police moved in shortly after midnight and removed 20 to 30 tents from Snow Park, the only Oakland camp still standing after another park and a vacant lot were cleared on Sunday. Later, organizers said they had occupied a home in the process of foreclosure in what they described as a "home defense". Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said the tents at Snow Park were dismantled without incident or arrests. Oakland has been a flash point of the anti-Wall Street movement, helping rally support nationwide for demonstrations launched in New York in September to protest excesses of the financial system, bank bailouts and high unemployment. Attention over the weekend shifted to UC Davis, near the state capital, Sacramento, where a widely circulated video clip showed a police officer walking back and forth in front of protesters huddled on the ground, repeatedly spraying them in the face. Other police kept onlookers at bay with batons. UC President Mark Yudof placed two campus police officers on paid administrative leave on Sunday and launched a review of police procedures university-wide. He told all 10 UC campus chancellors in a teleconference on Monday: "We cannot let this happen again," according to a university statement. Katehi said on Monday that the campus chief of police had also been suspended. In addition, she asked the Yolo County District Attorney's office to investigate the use of force by campus police and said she would create a task force to conduct a campus review and report recommendations in 30 days. But the executive council of the Academic Senate at UC Davis, which represents some 1,800 faculty at the campus, voted on Sunday to form its own inquiry and a "representative assembly" of all 100 department representatives next week. "The agenda will be to have a discussion with the chancellor," council chair Linda Bisson, a viticulture professor, told Reuters. She added that one possible outcome could be a call for a vote of no-confidence. "Most people I've spoken to say, 'We want the facts in the case, and then we'll decide.' Others say, 'It doesn't matter what the facts are. The incident was so atrocious, the chancellor has to go.'" No date for the meeting has been set. UC Davis spokeswoman Claudia Morain denied that Katehi had instructed police to use force in removing tents last week. "There was a concern that letting them remain and letting the number grow could be a health hazard. The whole idea was to end it peaceably," she said. (Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Peter Bohan)

– You know that pepper spray that makes eyeballs feel like they're being fried in hot oil? Relax, it's just a "food product," or so says Fox analyst Megyn Kelly. "First of all, pepper spray, that just burns your eyes, right?" Bill O'Reilly asks Kelly yesterday. "Right. I mean it's, like, a derivative of actual pepper," she responds. "It's a food product, essentially." She wonders if the spray shot directly into the faces of students at a UC Davis sit-in last week was possibly diluted because they didn't seem to be writhing in agony quite like they should. OK, so some students ended up in the hospital, she acknowledges, admitting: "It was something abrasive and intrusive." But sitting-in "is a crime," she adds. "Ten of them were charged with unlawful assembly and failure to disperse because they were posing a, you know, sit-in, a student protest. I mean, you can do that. It's very American, but it may also happen to break the law. Look, I know the tape looks bad, but I don't know if from a legal standpoint the cops did anything wrong." Someone who is finally admitting the cops maybe did something wrong is the UC Davis chancellor. She finally apologized for the situation yesterday. "I'm here to apologize. I really feel horrible for what happened," Linda Katehi told a gathering of students, faculty, and parents. The apology was met with catcalls and shouts that she resign, reports Reuters.

See more of Angela Jeffers on Facebook ||||| A discovery in a car about to be scrapped, inspires an all out search for parents missing something unbelievably precious. "This is something that shouldn't have gone to trash," said Katie Wallace. It was a little gold box, almost overlooked at a scrap yard. "We were processing cars, writing VIN numbers down and I happened to notice it sitting on the dash," said Seth Hutchison. "I just couldn't believe it, I was shocked something, I never wanted to find." A little girl's name, Jeanette Byrd, etched on the front and two dates, her birth and her death. Seth Hutchison knew her ashes were inside. He also found pictures and mementos scattered throughout the car. "I couldn't crush it, there's no way," said Hutchison. A father himself, Hutchison knew someone was missing something precious. "I posted the story, the picture, that we had found this baby's urn," explained Wallace. That post by Hutchison's fiance, reached Angela Jeffers. "Something in my stomach told me I have to find this baby's parents," said Jeffers. And she did. "It was a serious blessing, I thought I had lost my daughter forever," said Sanford Byrd. His daughter died from SIDS at five months old. "It's been a real rough journey, we take it everywhere we go." The urn was in his girlfriend's car when she got in an accident. "At the time, she didn't have her license, so they impounded the car," said Byrd. "They wouldn't allow her to get the baby, said that was property of the car." Hutchison and Wallace felt the same way. "I sat on my couch and I prayed and I cried with that baby to help me find her parents," said Wallace. "This is the way to start off 2015, it's a blessing," said Byrd. "I'm full of joy, I'm so happy that it hurts."

– A man who thought he'd lost the boxed ashes of his deceased infant daughter has them back thanks to the efforts of several strangers in central Ohio. WBNS-TV in Columbus reports a man processing cars bound for a scrap yard spotted the gold box sitting on a vehicle's dashboard. It was etched with the name Jeanette Byrd, along with her birth and death dates. Seth Hutchison realized what was inside: "I couldn't crush it, there's no way," he tells the station. His fiancee posted about the discovery online, inspiring Angela Jeffers to track down the girl's parents. On Wednesday, she took to Facebook to explain that she "spent hours looking for records of this child to find a death certificate with a father's name. After finding a man with the same name on Fb I debated to message him." Message him she did, ultimately reconnecting Sanford Byrd with his girl's remains. Byrd says he thought the ashes were lost for good because the box was in his girlfriend's car when it was involved in an accident. "At the time, she didn't have her license, so they impounded the car," says Byrd. "They wouldn't allow her to get the baby, said that was property of the car." And so he lost something that he had taken "everywhere we go"; Jeanette died from SIDS at five months, and it was a "real rough journey since," he says. Writes Jeffers, "To the Byrd family I hope 2015 is much better than 2014 was for you all." That seems likely: Getting back his child's remains makes him "so happy that it hurts," says Byrd.

Key Democrats on Saturday expressed openness to President Donald Trump's proposed wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, a dramatic turnaround for the party as it seeks to extend protections for people who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said early Saturday morning that, in a Friday meeting with the president, he offered to put the wall "on the table" in a potential deal to avoid a government shutdown. Later Saturday, Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a longtime opponent of Trump's wall, told reporters that he would back off his opposition to the president's plan for the barrier, in order to protect recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. "It's not about a wall. We'll build him a wall. Tell us how high you want it. But free the Dreamers," the lawmaker said, according to journalists on Twitter. Earlier this week, Gutierrez told the New York Times that Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, told the House Hispanic Caucus that "a 50-foot wall from sea to shining sea isn't what we're going to build." Trump later insisted that he had not changed his mind about the wall. During the 2016 election, a wall along the American border with Mexico was a cornerstone of Trump's populist, nationalist pitch to voters, and the idea remains a point of contention in the president's relationship with Congress. Yet Democrats have largely resisted Trump's calls for billions of dollars to build the barrier, and any indication they are willing to budge is likely to anger their liberal base. Schumer revealed his offer to Trump in remarks on the floor of the Senate minutes after the chamber failed to pass legislation that would have averted a shutdown. On Friday, Schumer had a 90-minute meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. Only Kelly and Schumer's chief of staff, Michael Lynch, were in the room with the senator and the president. Afterward, Schumer had a positive take on the meeting, although he did not say a deal was struck. Still, the New York Democrat said Trump had walked away from the proposition. The White House has said that it would prefer addressing immigration issues separately from a measure to fund the government. Saturday afternoon, White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, in an impromptu press briefing, said Schumer's offer to fund the wall fell well short of the money Trump has been seeking. Mulvaney, citing Kelly, said that Schumer told Trump he would agree to "all the money for the wall," which Trump took to mean the full $20 billion that building a partial border wall is expected to cost. But what Schumer was actually talking about was the $1.6 billion the White House had already sought in an annual appropriations bill. Mulvaney said this misunderstanding reflected Schumer's duplicitous negotiating tactics. "That is not 'all of the money for the wall,' nor was it ever intended to be all the money for the wall," said the budget director, who had a reputation in Congress for being a fiscal conservative. Trump has repeatedly claimed, on the campaign trail and during his presidency, that Mexico would pay for the wall. Matt House, a spokesman for Schumer, disputed Mulvaney's account. Schumer's remarks early Saturday morning followed those of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who blamed Democrats for the Senate's failure to approve a bill passed by the Republican-controlled House on Thursday. Schumer, however, rejected that characterization and pointed out that four Republican senators – Mike Lee of Utah, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky – voted in earnest against the continuing resolution. The New York Democrat then turned his ire on the president himself. "The blame should crash entirely on President Trump's shoulders," Schumer said. "This will be called the Trump shutdown because there is no one who deserves the blame ... more than President Trump." -CNBC's Christina Wilkie contributed to this report. ||||| Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said that in an immigration deal he would like to limit "chain migration" to the nuclear family and build “some form of wall." | Michael Reynolds/Pool/Getty Images Rand Paul proposes guaranteed immigration vote to end shutdown Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday proposed a compromise to reopen the government: a promise to Democrats of a week of votes on immigration at the end of which there's some resolution for the so-called Dreamers brought to the U.S. as children. The Kentucky Republican said he believes the impasse that shut down the government Saturday could end if Republicans were willing to offer a series of votes on immigration, including amendments, in both chambers. Story Continued Below “It's gamesmanship and partisanship. I gave them the answer how you solve this today: Promise, guarantee in writing to the Democrats that there will be one week's debate on immigration and a vote on an immigration bill sometime in the next month in the House and the Senate,” Paul said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Now, when I presented this to those in the Senate ... they were like, 'Oh, no, we want guaranteed passage on a must-pass bill.' Nobody gets a guaranteed passage.” President Donald Trump ordered an end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program last year, giving Congress six months to work out a deal to re-authorize the program, which was established by an executive order of President Barack Obama. The most reliable politics newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. The program gives those who either arrived or stayed in the U.S. illegally as children a chance to stay in the country and an opportunity to get a work permit. Without congressional action, the program will expire March 5. Asked what he would support in an immigration deal, Paul said limiting "chain migration" to the nuclear family and building “some form of wall,” though he called the $20 billion price tag on the proposed wall “outrageous.”

– The government may be stuck in a shutdown, with politicians on both sides of the aisle blaming their colleagues, but at least one Republican senator thinks he has a way to end the stalemate. On Sunday, Rand Paul told CNN's State of the Union that he had presented a compromise plan to his Republican colleagues in the Senate to reopen the government: "I gave them the answer how you solve this today," he said, per Politico. "Promise, guarantee in writing to the Democrats that there will be one week's debate on immigration and a vote on an immigration bill some time in the next month in the House and the Senate,” he said, referring to Democratic demands for some kind of resolution to the issue of young immigrants known as "dreamers." So far, however, Paul said his proposal hasn't been accepted. “Now when I presented this to those in the Senate ... they were, like, 'Oh no, we want guaranteed passage on a must-pass bill.' Nobody gets a guaranteed passage.” Paul also said he would vote to build "some form of wall" but that the current $20 billion price tag for President Trump's proposed wall is "outrageous." Those comments come as some Democrats have appeared to soften on the issue of building a border wall. Right after the government shut down, Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he had offered to put the wall "on the table" in negotiations with President Trump, CNBC reports. But White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney slammed Schumer's offer, saying it would only include $1.6 billion in an annual appropriations bill.

Way back in 1950 he encouraged Senior Chief Nsefu - Paramount Chief of the Kunda people in the Luangwa Valley - to set aside a portion of tribal land as a Game Reserve and built the first game viewing camp open to the public in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). His dream was to secure the future of this unique wilderness by ensuring that the local population would benefit through conservation of the wildlife and habitat of the Luangwa Valley. This led to the birth of Zambia's first safari company. We are very proud of our history and Norman's legacy lives on in our people and the camps we operate across the South Luangwa. We have named our circuit of seasonal camps 'Norman's Camps' in his honour. ||||| Who says elephants don’t have thick skin? After straying from his mother, a 1-year-old elephant survived a vicious attack by 14 lions at the Norman Carr Safaris Chinzombo Camp in Zambia. Clearly outnumbered, the baby elephant managed to get away unscathed despite having three of the lionesses on his back at one point. The dramatic incident was captured on video when journalist Jesse Nash, Long Island University Art Professor Dan Christoffel, Naturalist Steve Baker and Australian TV personality Nina Karnikowski embarked on a game drive through the safari, stumbling upon the site. “In the 30-plus years I have been a safari guide in Zambia at the Luangwe Park, never have I seen anything like this,” said Innocent, a top safari guide who works with Norman Carr Safaris and drove the group to the site. “We were all so worried the baby elephant would be killed right before us.” The baby elephant has since reunited with his herd and now bears a heroic new nickname. “We’ve named the little fella Hercules. What a fighter.”

– A 1-year-old elephant wandered off from his mother at the Norman Carr Safaris Chinzombo Camp in Zambia, and 14 lions attacked him—but, somehow, this story avoids an unhappy ending. The lions were unable to take the elephant down, even as they clung to his back, and he was able to get away, the New York Post reports. The whole thing was caught on video by a group on a game drive through the safari, and Norman Carr Safaris has more dramatic pictures on its website, including one in which the elephant is nearly taken down by three of the lionesses. He ultimately escaped by going into water nearby. "In the 30-plus years I have been a safari guide in Zambia at the [Luangwa] Park, never have I seen anything like this," says the guide who drove the group to the site. "We were all so worried the baby elephant would be killed right before us." Instead, he ended up reuniting with his herd, and the guide notes that his new nickname is "Hercules." (In California, a 6-year-old boy recently survived a mountain lion attack.)

On Thursday, while North Korea warned through its official news agency of further military retaliation if provoked by South Korea, Mr. Lee said only, “We should not drop our guard in preparation for the possibility of another provocation by North Korea,” according to his chief spokesman, Hong Sang-pyo. “A provocation like this can recur any time.” The changes in the rules of engagement were similarly restrained. South Korean defenses on five coastal islands in the Yellow Sea had been set up primarily to guard against possible amphibious landings by North Korean troops. Critics said Thursday that the military had not anticipated the possibility of an attack by North Korean artillery batteries, which are reportedly in caves along the North’s coastline. “Now, an artillery battle has become the new threat, so we’re reassessing the need to strengthen defenses,” Mr. Lee told lawmakers. The new measures he outlined included doubling the number of howitzers and upgrading other weaponry. The new rules of engagement will be based on whether military or civilian sites are the targets, said Mr. Hong, the presidential spokesman, adding that the move was made to “change the paradigm of responding to North Korea’s provocations.” Previously, South Korean forces were allowed to respond only in kind — if the North fired artillery, the South could answer only with artillery — to contain any dispute. Now, officials said, the military would be allowed to use greater force. Mr. Lee’s response to this week’s artillery attack is not the first time he has been criticized for sitting on his hands in the face of a deadly provocation by the North. Two years ago, when a South Korean tourist was shot by a sentry at a North Korean mountain resort, his government’s response amounted to a slap on the wrist: suspending tours to the resort and banning South Korean civic groups from visiting the North. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. But the clearest case was Mr. Lee’s response in March to the sinking of a South Korean warship, the Cheonan. Mr. Lee at first seemed to stall by waiting for the results of an international investigation, which took two months to conclude that the ship had been sunk by a North Korean torpedo. When he responded, it was with relatively mild measures like reducing the South’s already minuscule trade with the North, resuming the South’s cold-war-era propaganda speakers along the demilitarized zone and demanding an apology. But the speakers have yet to be turned on after North Korea threatened to shoot at them, and Mr. Lee dropped the apology demand as a condition for talks. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Mr. Lee was widely blamed in South Korea for having provoked the Cheonan episode by ending unconditional aid to the North at the start of his presidency. “Before, the public saw him as too hard, and now they see him as too soft,” said Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor of North Korean studies at Korea University in Seoul. Despite public pressure to do more, Mr. Lee does not have many options for less lethal forms of pressure on the North, diplomatic or economic. North Korea has weathered years of economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation. In fact, the tough economic conditions appear only to give the North motivation to continue its brinkmanship, to extract aid as it faces a winter of food and fuel shortages. Some analysts say the North is also using the provocations to burnish the military credentials of Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of the North’s leader, Kim Jong-il, and his heir apparent. Analysts say making sanctions effective would require greater support from China, North Korea’s traditional protector, which has so far been reluctant to tighten the screws on the North. In recent days, Mr. Lee and President Obama have agreed to make new appeals to Chinese leaders to put more pressure on the North, but analysts say they are not optimistic that the Chinese will comply. Still, South Korean officials said they would urge China to act more responsibly by pressing the North to refrain from further attacks. They also said they would ask Beijing to more closely monitor trade with North Korea by Chinese merchants, which they said has been a way for the North to bypass international economic sanctions. Mr. Lee and his advisers appear to have concluded that a less confrontational stance is the only way to persuade North Korea to end its provocations. A few analysts speculated that Mr. Lee might eventually end up not far from his liberal predecessors like former President Roh Moo-hyun, who used economic aid to appease the North and reduce tensions on the peninsula. “Anyone would conclude that the peaceful approach is best to reverse the situation,” said Moon Jung-in, a former adviser in the Roh administration. “A hard-line approach is not a real option.” ||||| SEOUL—South Korea's president moved to choose a new defense minister Friday, to lead a full-scale review of the nation's defense following criticism of the government's response to a deadly artillery barrage by North Korea. View Full Image Xinhua/Zuma Press Defense Minister Kim Tae-young on Thursday left a mourning ceremony for soldiers killed in Tuesday's clash. South Korean media reported that President Lee Myung-bak had named Lee Hee-won, a former military officer who is one of his senior security advisers, as his defense minister designate. But the president's office later said that several candidates are still being considered. President Lee is looking to select a new minister to succeed Kim Tae-young, who resigned Thursday. It wasn't clear whether Gen. Kim, who had served in the post since September 2009, stepped down of his own choice or was asked to resign. He couldn't be reached for comment. Cabinet ministers turn over frequently in South Korea, particularly in moments of crisis or public failure. As relatives and friends grieve for the marines and civilians killed by North Korean artillery, the South Korean parliament called on Pyongyang to apologize. Video courtesy of Reuters. Video courtesy of Reuters. Furious protesters take to the streets of Seoul as cleanup efforts begin following North Korea's Tuesday artillery attack that left at least four dead. Video courtesy of Reuters. John Bussey, Alan Murray & Dennis Berman discuss whether a planned change in the North Korean leadership is the real cause of yesterday's attack on South Korea. Plus, stocks soar and a new film pushes the envelope for romantic comedies. South Korea Under Attack View Slideshow Associated Press A train-station TV screen in Seoul shows smoke pouring from Yeonpyeong island Tuesday. A History of Korean Tensions A detailed timeline of the recent skirmishes between North and South Korea. View Interactive U.S. Aircraft Carrier Headed to Korean Peninsula 1:36 The USS George Washington made its scheduled voyage to South Korea for previously planned war games, despite the threat of North Korean attacks looming. Video courtesy of Fox News. Gen. Kim presided as minister during two North Korean assaults: Tuesday's shelling of the remote island that resulted in the deaths of four people, including two civilians, and the March sinking of the South Korean patrol ship Cheonan, in which 46 sailors died. South Korea continues to reel from Tuesday's surprise shelling by North Korea on Yeonpyeong Island. In addition to the four killed, 18 were injured by the artillery barrage that lasted for more than an hour. In the two days since the North Korean attack, President Lee and Gen. Kim have come under sharp criticism for what some say was the military's slow response to the attack. Troops on the island didn't fire back for 13 minutes, the military said Wednesday, a delay attributed to uncertainty over the rules of engagement. "What did our military do for an hour after the North's attack? The game is all over and what stern countermeasures are we talking about?" one ruling-party lawmaker, Song Kwang-ho, said in a parliamentary meeting Wednesday. Hours before Mr. Kim's resignation was disclosed, the president's office said South Korea will change those rules to make it easier for its troops to fire back. It will also boost the number of troops on front-line islands like the one that was attacked. "We are re-examining our defense posture and our security coordination with allies and like-minded countries," a high-level government official said. "The focus is to prevent any further provocation from North Korea." South Korea will also seek changes in its agreement with United Nations forces that are charged with maintaining the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War. Among the potential changes, Seoul wants the U.S.-led U.N. command to reconsider limits on South Korea's use of jet fighters, the official said. The defense shake-up underlines the difficult position South Korea is in. The country, the world's 15th-largest economy, has much to lose if North Korea wages a broader attack. But critics who favor a tougher stance against the North say the South's cautious attitude has come at the expense of military readiness and the need to send a tougher message to Pyongyang. North Korea has long disputed the inter-Korean maritime border off the west coast and has engaged in several deadly naval skirmishes with the South in those waters since 1999. But Tuesday's attack was the first assault on South Korean land since the Korean War. Some of the 1,000 residents who were evacuated from the island Tuesday night and Wednesday returned to it on Thursday. A ferry service arranged for extra ships to take military troops, rescue workers and residents to the island, where about 1,200 people normally live. Several dozen buildings were damaged in the artillery assault, but many were intact, and some residents said they planned to restart their lives there. Meanwhile, North Korea issued a statement Thursday repeating its earlier claim that it fired at the island because South Korea engaged in a military exercise that infringed on the North's territorial waters. North Korea also lashed out at the U.S. for "thoughtlessly shielding the South Korean puppet forces who dared" shoot at the North. It said the U.S. shares blame for the tension over the disputed inter-Korean maritime border, which was drawn up by the U.N. in the 1953 armistice document. North Korea says the border forces its fishing boats to make long detours to reach open water. South Korea's military was engaged in a large-scale exercise at the time of Tuesday's assault, though it didn't take place near the island and didn't involve live fire. Army units on the island and several others nearby conducted a monthly test of artillery earlier in the week. The tests as usual involved firing rounds into open water south of the islands, not north toward North Korea, officials at the defense ministry and presidential office said. "This monthly exercise started several decades ago," a defense ministry spokesman said. "That they claim we started this is meaningless." In response to the attack, South Korea has halted travel of South Koreans into the North and cut off humanitarian aid. South Korea and the U.S. on Wednesday announced they will this weekend conduct a joint naval drill they say they have been considering for weeks, involving a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Yellow Sea. The location is significant because China strongly protested when the two countries were considering such an exercise in the same location in July. But the high-level South Korean official said Seoul is not planning to close an industrial park just inside North Korea where South Korean companies employ about 40,000 North Korean factory workers, generating needed revenue for the cash-strapped North. The official declined to talk about psychological warfare measures the country is considering, though he said they're not considering blasting of propaganda messages from loudspeakers at the inter-Korean border. —Jaeyeon Woo in Seoul contributed to this article. Write to Evan Ramstad at evan.ramstad@wsj.com ||||| South Korea's defense minister resigned Thursday, two days after an artillery attack by North Korea killed four people on small island near their disputed frontier. South Korean Marines load an unexploded shell fired from North Korea into a truck on Yeonpyeong island, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed Thursday to boost... (Associated Press) A South Korean Marine looks at destroyed houses on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010. South Korea's president vowed Thursday to boost troops on the island targeted by a North Korean... (Associated Press) South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, center, looks at the destroyed houses on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010. South Korea's president vowed Thursday to boost troops on... (Associated Press) Residents of South Korea's western Yeonpyeong Island form a long queue to board a ferry to return their homes at a at passenger terminal in Incheon, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010. Ferries linking... (Associated Press) A South Korean woman who is on the way out of the island, brings her bicycle and her belongings near the destroyed houses on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010. South Korea's president... (Associated Press) A South Korean man tries to repair his destroyed house on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010. South Korea's president vowed Thursday to boost troops on an island targeted by a North... (Associated Press) The move came as President Lee Myung-bak vowed to send more troops to the island and as residents tried to salvage belongings from its blackened wreckage. Pyongyang warned of additional attacks if provoked. Yim Tae-hee, presidential chief of staff, said Lee accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Tae-young and said a new chief was to be announced Friday. The outgoing minister will keep his job until his replacement is announced, he said. In May, the outgoing minister offered to resign following the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on North Korea. Yim said the president delayed accepting Kim's resignation offer until Thursday. He said Lee decided to accept the resignation because of recent military incidents and to improve the military's atmosphere. The North's bombardment of the tiny South Korean island of Yeonpyeong on Tuesday was the first such attack on a civilian area, raising fears of an escalation leading to a new war on the Korean peninsula. Seoul and Washington ratcheted up pressure on China to rein in its ally North Korea, and China urged both sides to show restraint. The South Korean president also replaced his aide in charge of defense affairs, Yim said. The defense minister's resignation came after fierce criticism of the government's response to the North Korean shelling. Yonhap news agency reported that lawmakers in the ruling and opposition parties demanded his dismissal as well as those of military leaders and some presidential aides. Reporters allowed for the first time onto Yeonpyeong Island saw streets strewn with charred debris and wrinkled metal. Blackened drink bottles lay besides remains of a supermarket as coast guard officers patrolled in pairs past deserted offices and schools used by relief workers for meetings and meals. Many residents had fled, but restaurant owner Lee In-ku, 46, joined a handful of villagers collecting belongings from houses that were not fully destroyed. "It was a sea of fire," Lee said of Tuesday's attack. "Many houses were burning and many people were just running around in confusion. It was real chaos." The president said during an emergency meeting of top officials in Seoul that the country "should not let our guard down," presidential spokesman Hong Sang-pyo said. "I think a similar North Korean provocation could come at any time," he quoted Lee as saying. Hong said that South Korea will increase ground troops on Yeonpyeong and four other islands in western waters in response to this week's attack, reversing a 2006 decision calling for an eventual decrease. He declined to discuss specifics for the increase, but said troops there currently amount to about 4,000. South Korean troops had returned fire and scrambled fighter jets in response to Tuesday's attack. In addition to the two marines and two civilians killed in the exchange, at least 18 people _ most of them troops _ were wounded on Yeonpyeong, which is home to military bases as well as a fishing community of 1,300 residents. It lies about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from South Korea's western port of Incheon, and just 7 miles (11 kilometers) from North Korean shores.

– South Korea promised today to boost defenses on the island North Korea attacked, as the country’s defense minister resigned and China offered an official response to the incident. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak held a security meeting today to draft new defense strategies and rules of engagement including increasing and upgrading weapons and sending more troops. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young resigned, but will retain his post until a new chief is announced tomorrow, the AP reports. Seoul and Washington are also pressuring China to take a stand on North Korea, and a South Korea government official tells the New York Times his nation will “pull out all the stops and make every diplomatic effort with China.” Premier Wen Jiabao offered China’s first high-level reaction, stating that Beijing opposes “any provocative military behavior” on the Korean peninsula but not directly mentioning North Korea, the Wall Street Journal reports. Meanwhile, residents began returning to their homes on the island. Click here for more coverage.

The University Archives preserves the institutional memory of Columbia University from its founding in 1754 to the present-day. The Archives aims to identify, appraise, collect, describe, preserve and, where appropriate, make available to administrators, researchers, and the general public University records which document the evolution of the University in all its variety including its contributions to teaching and research; the development of schools, academic departments and programs, institutes, and administrative units; campus life; public service; and the University’s role in the history of the metropolitan, national, and international communities. As part of our mission, this Archive-It collection preserves a record of Columbia's web presence since 2010. ||||| MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A 32-year-old man has died after an officer-involved shooting Wednesday night in Falcon Heights. Philando Castile’s mother, Valerie Castile, says he died at Hennepin County Medical Center just before 9:40 p.m. St. Anthony Police said in a press release that officers pulled over a vehicle at Larpenteur Avenue and Fry Street at about 9 p.m. They said “shots were fired” during the traffic stop, and a handgun was recovered at the scene. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating. WARNING: Video Contains Disturbing Images And Audio Castile’s family says his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her 4-year-old daughter were in the car at the time. Reynolds was taken into custody Wednesday night. The video above, filmed by Reynolds under the Facebook account for Lavish Reynolds, began circulating on Facebook shortly after the shooting, but was pulled from the site before midnight. Reynolds, who was in the front passenger seat, says in the video that they were pulled over for a broken tail light. She says police asked Castile, who was driving, for his license and registration. She says as Castile was reaching for his wallet, he informed officers that he had a firearm in his possession, and a conceal-and-carry permit. Reynolds says in the video that an officer then shot her boyfriend four times. The officer in the video at one point screams, “I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand out …” Reynolds tells the officer, “You told him to get his I.D., sir, his driver’s license.” She pans the cellphone camera over Castile, who is covered in blood. “Oh my God, please don’t tell me he’s dead. Please don’t tell me my boyfriend just went like that,” Reynolds said. The officer, whose gun is drawn the entire time, tells Reynolds to, “Keep your hands where they are.” “Yes I will, sir, I’ll keep my hands where they are,” she said. Reynolds is then told to get out of the car. Her cellphone shows several officers with guns drawn, and one officer holding her daughter, who was in the back seat of the car when Castile was shot. Valerie Castile told WCCO that her son was a cafeteria supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori School in St. Paul. He would have turned 33 on July 16. Sgt. Jon Mangseth, St. Anthony Police’s interim chief, told reporters late Wednesday night that he was aware of the Facebook video, but not of its content. “[We haven’t had an] officer-involved shooting in, you know, 30 years or more. I’d have to go back in the history books, to tell you the truth,” Mangseth said. He later stated in a brief press conference early Thursday morning that the officer who shot Castile has been placed on standard paid administrative leave. The St. Anthony Police Department provides police services for the neighboring cities of Falcon Heights and Lauderdale. Castile’s family and friends gathered at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis late Wednesday night, and were later joined by Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds and other community activists. An estimated 200 people were gathered at the shooting site in Falcon Heights at 1:30 a.m. Police started towing cars soon after, and most people left by 2:30 a.m. Protesters then began to gather at the Governor’s Mansion in St. Paul after 2 a.m. ——- Below is a transcript of Reynolds’ Facebook video. ——- Reynolds: Stay with me. We got pulled over for a busted tail light in the back and he’s covered … they killed my boyfriend. He’s licensed to carry. He was trying to get out his ID and his wallet out his pocket and he let the officer know that he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet and the officer just shot him in his arm. Officer: Ma’am, keep your hands where they are. Reynolds: I am sir, no worries. Officer: [Yells expletive.] Reynolds: He just got his arm shot off. We got pulled over on Larpenteur. Officer: I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his head up! Reynolds: He had, you told him to get his ID, sir, his driver’s license. Please don’t tell me he’s dead. Officer: [Expletive.] Reynolds: Please don’t tell me my boyfriend just went like that. Officer: Keep your hands where they are. Reynolds: Yes I will, sir. I will keep my hands where they are. Please don’t tell me that he’s gone. Please don’t tell me that he’s gone. Please officer, don’t tell me that you just did this to him. You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir. [Silence] Other Officer: Get the female passenger out of the car. Reynolds: Where’s my daughter? You have my daughter?” [Five Minutes Later] Reynolds: I got … the Roseville Police got me handcuffed, my phone is about to die. I’m on Larpenteur and Fry and the Roseville Police Department just shot my boyfriend. They shot him four times. He has a license to carry. We had a busted tail light. And we had some weed in the car that’s about it. Related Stories Lawyer: Officer Who Shot Castile Reacted To Gun, Not Race Philando Castile Had Been Stopped 52 Times By Police Officer Who Shot Philando Castile ‘Incredibly Sad’ For His Family Rev. Jesse Jackson Meets With Dayton, Castile’s Girlfriend In St. Paul Ramsey Co. Attorney Undecided On Using Grand Jury In Falcon Heights Shooting Falcon Heights Officials Meet With Civil Rights Leaders, Protest Planned Gov. Dayton Urges Nonviolence, Patience During Falcon Hts. Shooting Investigation Rep. Zerwas: Dayton ‘Made Things Worse’ With Comments On OIS Ramsey Co. Prosecutor Has Not Met With Castile Family Shooting Victim’s Girlfriend Speaks Out On Dallas BLM Supporters Condemn Violence During Dallas Protest Jay-Z Releases Protest Song Following Police Shootings Neighbors Support Demonstrations At Governor’s Mansion ||||| A St. Paul man died Wednesday night after being shot by police in Falcon Heights, the immediate aftermath of which was shown in a video recorded by the man's girlfriend as she sat next to him and which was widely shared on Facebook. The girlfriend started the live-stream video with the man in the driver’s seat slumped next to her, his white T-shirt soaked with blood on the left side. In the video, taken with her phone, she says they were pulled over at Larpenteur Avenue and Fry Street for a broken taillight. The “police shot him for no apparent reason, no reason at all,” she says. Friends at the scene identified the man as Philando Castile, 32, cafeteria supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori School in St. Paul. Castile’s cousin said on her Facebook page that he was dead. Castile’s uncle, Clarence Castile, who was at Hennepin County Medical Center with other family members, said Philando died at 9:37 p.m., a few minutes after arriving at the hospital. The video was posted on a Facebook page belonging to Lavish Reynolds, but it’s not clear if it is the girlfriend’s page or whether she sent the video to someone else to post. Reynolds’ page was not available for a time, but by then copies of the video had been shared many times. Video (01:38): VIDEO: Protesters march to Governor's mansion after Falcon Heights shooting Video (01:38): VIDEO: Protesters march to Governor's mansion after Falcon Heights shooting A Facebook spokesperson said the video was temporarily down due to a technical glitch and was restored to the Lavish Reynolds page as soon as Facebook was able to investigate. "We're very sorry that the video was temporarily inaccessible," the spokesperson said via email. The girlfriend said on the video that the officer “asked him for license and registration. He told him that it was in his wallet, but he had a pistol on him because he’s licensed to carry. The officer said don’t move. As he was putting his hands back up, the officer shot him in the arm four or five times.” The video shows a uniformed police officer holding a pistol on the couple from outside the car. The officer can be heard to say, “I told him not to reach for it. I told him to get his hand out.” The girlfriend says in the video that her boyfriend was shot by a Roseville police officer. St. Anthony police Sgt. Jon Mangseth, who is the interim police chief, told reporters at the scene that the primary officer who initiated the traffic stop and the backup officer who responded were St. Anthony police officers. Castile was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. The woman and a child in the car with him were taken to another police agency and were being interviewed, Mangseth said. St. Anthony police issued a news release after midnight, confirming that a man was shot by one of its officers about 9 p.m. and had later died. “A handgun was recovered from the scene,” the news release said. It said little else except that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will lead the investigation. Clarence Castile, Philando’s uncle, said his nephew had worked in the J.J. Hill school cafeteria for 12 to 15 years, “cooking for the little kids.” He said his nephew was “a good kid” who grew up in St. Paul and also lived in Minneapolis for a time. He said Philando’s mother, Valerie Castile, 60, was inside the hospital and had “broken down” over the death of her only son. He said Philando had left his home about two hours before the shooting occurred. “My nephew was killed by the police” without doing anything wrong, he said. About 12:35 a.m. Thursday, Valerie Castile and her daughter emerged from the HCMC emergency room to the waiting arms of friends and family members. “They killed my son,” Valerie Castile said, sobbing. “They took a good man, a hard-working man; he worked since he was 18 years old.” Philando’s sister, who was also crying, said, “They killed my brother. They held a gun on him while he was hurting, and did nothing to help him.” Philando’s cousin, Antonio Johnson, 31, was also at HCMC. Johnson said Philando graduated with honors from St. Paul Central High School, where he was a straight-A student. He was “a black individual driving in Falcon Heights who was immediately criminally profiled and he lost his life over it tonight,” Johnson said. He said Philando was “very nonconfrontational,” “a real upstanding citizen,” and “by the book.” A car is towed away from the scene after Philando Castile was fatally shot in Falcon Heights. Minnesota court records show only misdemeanors and petty misdemeanors on Philando Castile’s record. Valerie Castile told CNN Thursday that she had instructed her son to always "comply" if he was ever stopped by law enforcement. She said her son didn't deserve "to be shot down like this." He was just "black in the wrong place" and was a victim of "a silent war against African American people," she said. About 2 a.m., Castile's relatives and friends held a prayer circle outside Hennepin County Medical Center. Several family members, including Valerie Castile. then walked to the Hennepin County medical examiner's office in an attempt to see Philando's body. Staffers there would not let them, said Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis NAACP chapter, who accompanied them. Valerie Castile told CNN she's angry that officials wouldn't let her identify her son's body and that she will have to wait until after the autopsy to see him. "The family has a number of concerns about what happened in this case,” Levy-Pounds said. “They do not believe that the shooting was warranted in this case. Philando Castile was an upstanding citizen, according to all the reports that we’ve heard.” The medical examiner's office will conduct an autopsy later Thursday. Levy-Pounds said an independent body should be appointed to investigate the shooting, citing skepticism with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which would normally conduct such a probe. She expressed similar concerns about the objectivity of a federal investigation but said her organization will ask for one. “We’re demanding justice; we’re demanding accountability,” Levy-Pounds said. “We’re demanding a change to our laws and policies that allow these types of things to happen. Too often officers are taught to shoot first and ask questions last, and that’s completely unacceptable.” Philando Castile was fatally shot by police July 6 during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights. ‘Knew something was wrong’ Katherine Bleth, who lives across the street from the shooting scene, said she was driving home with a friend when she saw the crime scene “right in front of me.” “Cop cars were rushing past us; we knew something was wrong,” she said. She saw and videotaped an officer performing CPR on a man lying just outside the driver’s side door of the car, then saw paramedics put the man on a stretcher and load him into an ambulance. “What I see is all my neighbors standing outside, videotaping and very upset,” she said. She said there were 12 to 15 squad cars, including some Roseville officers. Falcon Heights, MN: Cop pulled over & shot black man. Brought to hospital. Upsetting footage. Across from my apt. pic.twitter.com/fgRczvxEMK — skeletal trash lord (@skeletontrash) July 7, 2016 A 28-year-old nursing student who declined to be named said she was sitting in the parking lot of a nearby apartment building and saw the scene unfold. It was around 9 p.m., she said, when the car was pulled over. A scene from the video posted by a woman in which she described her boyfriend's shooting by police Wednesday night in Falcon Heights. "I just heard the officer say, 'Put your hands up,' and before he finished saying that there were four shots," the woman said. The 10-minute video shows the girlfriend being ordered from her car by several officers, one of whom is holding a child, presumed to be the girlfriend’s 7-year-old daughter. The woman was put in the back of a squad car in handcuffs. “Please don’t tell me my boyfriend’s gone,” the girlfriend pleads in the video. “He don’t deserve this, please. He works for St. Paul Public Schools. He’s never been in jail, anything. He’s not a gang member, anything.” Mangseth said the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has been called in to investigate. “This is an ongoing investigation,” he said. “As this unfolds, we will release the information as we learn it and we will address concerns as we are made aware of them. I don’t have a lot of details right now.” Mangseth said there hasn’t been an officer-involved shooting in the St. Anthony Police Department’s coverage area “for 30 years.” “It’s shocking,” he said. “It’s not something that occurs here in our area.” By 12:30 a.m. Thursday, dozens of people — peaceful but visibly angry — had gathered at the scene in Falcon Heights. Some were chanting anti-police slogans. Later, people protesting the fatal shooting arrived at the governor's residence in St. Paul. According to a livestream by the independent news website Unicorn Riot, dozens of protesters gathered on Summit Avenue at 2 a.m. They chanted "No Justice, No Peace," while car horns sounded. The group, estimated to be about 100 people, also yelled, "Shut it down!" along with the names of Castile and Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man who was killed in November in a struggle with Minneapolis police. Shouts of "Wake up!" also were heard, along with demands that Gov. Mark Dayton come out and speak with them. Minnesota DFL Chair Ken Martin issued a statement calling the shooting "senseless violence that is all too common to a select group of our country." "We’re not going to stand apart and allow this violence to continue because it happened in Baton Rouge or somewhere else. We’re going to make the changes that need to be made and finally put a stop to this," he said. Staff writers Libor Jany and Andy Mannix contributed to this report.

– A black driver pulled over for a broken tail light was fatally shot by police "for no apparent reason, for no reason at all," his distraught girlfriend says in a graphic video showing the aftermath of the shooting. In the video, Diamond Reynolds says Philando Castile, who can be seen slumped in his seat covered in blood, was shot by police during the traffic stop in Falcon Heights in suburban St. Paul, Minn., WCCO reports. She says that as Castile reached for his license, he told a police officer that he had a firearm, which he had a permit for, but the officer shot him four times in the arm anyway. In the video, the officer can be seen still pointing his weapon into the vehicle. "I told him not to reach for it," the officer says. "I told him to get his hand off it." Relatives say Castile, 32, died within minutes of being taken to Hennepin County Medical Center on Wednesday night. "Please don't tell me my boyfriend's gone," Reynolds pleads in the video, in which she is ordered from the vehicle and ends up in a squad car with her 4-year-old daughter. "He don’t deserve this, please. He works for St. Paul Public Schools. He's never been in jail, anything. He's not a gang member, anything." At the hospital, grieving family members described Castile, a cafeteria supervisor at JJ Hill Montessori School in St. Paul, as a "hard-working man" and an "upstanding citizen" who was "very nonconfrontational," the Star Tribune reports. He was "a black individual driving in Falcon Heights who was immediately criminally profiled and he lost his life over it tonight," cousin Antonio Johnson says. Police say the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has been called in to investigate. (The shooting came just a day after a police shooting in Baton Rouge was caught on video.)

Photo Advertisement Continue reading the main story WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders were forced on Tuesday night to delay a vote scheduled on their plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, as conservative lawmakers expressed skepticism and Congressional budget officials said the plan did not deliver the promised savings. The pushback on the bill was the latest chaotic twist in the fiscal fracas on Capitol Hill, as the clock ticked closer to Aug. 2, when the Obama administration has warned that the nation risks defaulting on its bills. The scramble to come up with a plan that could be put to a vote, now moved from Wednesday to Thursday, represents a test of Speaker John A. Boehner’s ability to lead his restive caucus. The expected showdown over the legislation is the culmination of months of efforts by Tea Party-allied freshmen and fellow conservatives to demand a fundamentally smaller government in exchange for raising the federal borrowing limit. Mr. Boehner rolled out a two-stage plan on Monday that would allow the $14.3 trillion federal debt limit to rise immediately by about $1 trillion in exchange for $1.2 trillion in spending cuts. The plan tied a second increase early next year to the ability of a new bipartisan Congressional committee to produce more reductions. Photo The plan was met with skepticism — and in many cases outright rejection — by several conservative House members who said its savings did not go far enough. President Obama and most Congressional Democrats also have rejected the proposal, saying it is only a short-term solution and could lead to market uncertainty and instability. Mr. Boehner’s troubles piled up late Tuesday afternoon when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said his plan would cut spending by $850 billion during the next decade — about $150 billion less than the $1 trillion increase proposed for the debt ceiling. Mr. Boehner was forced to quickly retreat from the bill. Republican leaders said they would probably rework it in a way that would reflect the decreased savings by raising the debt limit by less than $850 billion. Such a change would mean that the Obama administration would need to make another request for an increase in a matter of months, making the deal even less palatable to Democrats. “As we speak, Congressional staff are looking at options to adjust the legislation to meet our pledge,” Mr. Boehner said late Tuesday night in a prepared statement. “This is what can happen when you have an actual plan and submit it for independent review — which the Democrats who run Washington have refused to do.” Almost as soon as Mr. Boehner introduced his plan, Republican party leaders faced a barrage of criticism that the cuts were not nearly deep enough. Representative Eric Cantor, Republican of Virginia and the House majority leader, tried to spur his members to support their leaders. Mr. Cantor told Republicans in a Tuesday morning meeting to “stop grumbling and whining and to come together as conservatives and rally behind” Mr. Boehner’s plan. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Advertisement Continue reading the main story But others argued the opposite case. Four Republican senators with Tea Party links wrote a letter to their House colleagues on Tuesday urging them to vote against the measure. The Club for Growth, which scores members on their fiscally conservative votes, came out against the plan, as did other conservative groups including the Heritage Foundation and a coalition of Tea Party groups around the country. Some House members said they had already concluded that the bill was flawed. “The burden of persuasion is pretty high,” said Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, a Republican who does not support the bill. Photo The scramble for votes came on a day when the phone lines of lawmakers jammed with calls and lawmakers’ Web sites frequently shut down after President Obama’s plea on Monday night for Americans to call members of Congress and push for a compromise. Dan Weiser, a spokesman for the House’s chief administrative officer, said the calls spiked at midday when members’ offices received about 40,000 phone calls — roughly double a normal hour’s call volume. “I have had phone calls from constituents all across the Third District suggesting we raise taxes,” said Representative Steve Womack, Republican of Arkansas. “But this economy is too fragile.” Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, waiting to see how Mr. Boehner’s measure fares, has not brought his own debt legislation to the floor. Mr. Reid’s proposal would raise the debt ceiling through 2012 and cut $1.2 trillion from federal agency budgets and recurring programs like agriculture subsidies. Like some earlier Republican plans, the plan also counts about $1 trillion in savings from winding down combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Speaker Boehner’s plan is not a compromise,” Mr. Reid said, after meeting with Senate Democrats, referring to the earlier version of the bill. “It was written for the Tea Party and not the American people. Democrats will not vote for it. Democrats will not vote for it. It’s dead on arrival in the Senate, if they get it out of the House.” Before Mr. Boehner postponed the vote on his measure, the White House had sent a two-sentence message to Congress, saying that if the Boehner bill landed on Mr. Obama’s desk, “the president’s senior advisors would recommend that he veto this bill.” Although Wall Street analysts and some Republicans expressed doubt that time would really run out on Aug. 2, leading to a possible default, the White House said that Treasury’s estimate of the deadline was not a charade. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner “has exercised all the wiggle room available to him,” said Jay Carney, the White House spokesman. Moody’s Investor Service warned mutual fund clients that the impasse was threatening money market mutual funds. “Direct risks include the potential for a missed interest or principal payment on government bonds for a short period of time, as well as incremental weakening of the overall credit quality of money-market fund portfolios that have U.S. government exposure,” the ratings company, based in New York, said in a statement. ||||| House Republicans delayed a vote on their bill to lift the debt ceiling as they scrambled Tuesday night to rewrite the measure to ensure that accompanying spending cuts were large enough, according to three senior GOP aides. The vote, originally scheduled for Wednesday, could now happen Thursday. House members have just seven days to raise the debt ceiling before next Tuesday’s deadline, and the latest move came after budget analysts said the plan endorsed by Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) would only create $850 billion in government savings, rather than the sought-after $1.2 trillion. Boehner had spent much of Tuesday furiously rallying support for his two-step plan to avert a potential default, even though Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid declared the proposal “dead on arrival” in his chamber and the White House issued a veto threat. Senior lawmakers and aides continued negotiations aimed at finding a compromise between competing plans from Boehner and Reid (D-Nev.). But the two sides were still split over whether to hold multiple votes over the next eight months to lift the government’s debt limit or to have just one vote in the next few days that would extend the Treasury’s borrowing authority into 2013. Boehner’s plan calls for linking increases in the debt ceiling in two stages to about $3 trillion in spending cuts. The White House expressed strong opposition to Boehner’s proposal Tuesday afternoon and threatened a veto, and Boehner also faced misgivings in his own party. About 10 House Republicans publicly declared opposition to his plan as too timid in its restraints on spending, and about nine more suggested they were leaning against the plan. Few, if any, Democrats were expected to support his plan, so the speaker could afford to lose only about two dozen of his 240 House Republicans. Nevertheless, Reid made plans to kill off Boehner’s proposal in the event it landed in the Senate. “It’s dead on arrival if they get it out of the House,” Reid told reporters Tuesday after his own closed-door meeting of Senate Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), appearing immediately after Reid, denounced Reid’s plan to save $2.7 trillion in exchange for a commensurate elevation in the debt ceiling as “not a serious effort,” citing the Nevada Democrat’s accounting for $1 trillion in savings over the next decade through the drawdown of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Republicans said those were not real savings because they were already anticipated by the administration and lawmakers, even if government budget analysts officially score current budgets over 10-year periods. This raised the stakes for the ongoing talks between Boehner and Reid as they negotiated a potentially decisive new path to a deal by an Aug. 2 deadline. The two men spoke Tuesday morning. With a debt-limit deadline now a week away, the International Monetary Fund weighed in forcefully, warning of “serious spillovers” worldwide if the U.S. debt ceiling is not raised. Responding to Obama’s appeal in a speech Monday night for Americans to contact their members of Congress to urge them to adopt his “balanced approach” to deficit reduction, callers flooded Capitol telephone circuits Tuesday morning, and several lawmakers’ Web sites — including Boehner’s — reportedly crashed Monday night as huge numbers of people tried to send them messages. According to a new poll , 68 percent of Americans — including majorities across the political spectrum — now say lawmakers should compromise to strike a deal on the debt, up from 55 percent in a poll taken in April. In his televised address, Obama called for a compromise that reduces the deficit through both spending cuts and increased revenue, while raising the debt ceiling in one step into 2013. Speaking minutes afterward, Boehner (R-Ohio) argued for a plan that would extend the debt ceiling initially for about six months and require another vote to lift it further in 2012. Obama has vowed to veto any such short-term extension, which ratings agencies have said might not be sufficient to avert a downgrading of the United States’ AAA credit rating. Shrugging off Obama’s efforts to appeal directly to the public, Boehner pushed not only for a House vote Wednesday on his two-stage plan, but scheduled a second vote Thursday on an amendment to the Constitution requiring a balanced budget. A balanced-budget amendment is part of a GOP plan that was approved by the House last week but voted down in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Obama had pledged to veto any such plan that reached his desk. The House GOP leadership team, often described as fractious, showed complete unity behind closed doors and in public Tuesday. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told Republicans he was “150 percent” behind Boehner and his plan, according to Republicans who attended Tuesday morning’s closed-door meeting. He told Republicans to “stop grumbling and whining and to come together as conservatives” to support the Boehner proposal. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the party’s vote counter, began his talk by showing a clip from the movie, “The Town”, trying to forge a sense of unity among the independent-minded caucus. One character asks his friend: “I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is. You can never ask me about it later.” “Whose car are we gonna take,” the character says. After showing the clip, Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), one of the most outspoken critics of leadership among the 87 freshmen, stood up to speak, according to GOP aides. “I’m ready to drive the car,” West replied, surprising many Republicans by giving his full -throated support for the plan. However, a leading conservative lawmaker, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), said enough Republicans appear to oppose Boehner’s plan that it would not be able to pass the House on GOP support alone. In a speech in New York before the Council on Foreign Relations, meanwhile, Christine Lagarde, the new managing director of the IMF, urged American officials to demonstrate the kind of “political courage” she said was shown by European leaders last week in a summit that agreed on new financing for Greece and gave greater powers to a regional bailout fund. “On the debt ceiling, the clock is ticking, and clearly the issue needs to be resolved immediately,” Lagarde said. “Indeed, an adverse fiscal shock in the United States could have serious spillovers on the rest of the world.” She said a default or downgrading of U.S. debt “would be a very, very, very serious event, not just for the United States but for the global economy at large.” Lagarde also urged caution in adopting large deficit-reduction measures, saying that “the impact is likely to be negative” in the short term. “Our research has found that a 1 percentage point cut in the deficit could lower growth by about one-half percentage point over two years,” she said. “This is why measures that are legislated now — but only reduce deficits in the future, when the recovery is more robust — would be particularly helpful.” Staff writers Jon Cohen and Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report. ||||| Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidUFOs were not the only thing that the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification program was studying Warren to propose 'wealth tax' on those with more than M in assets Overnight Health Care: Trump calls for crackdown on surprise medical bills | Trump officials give religious exemption to foster care program | Uninsured rate at highest level since 2014 | Juul hires former Harry Reid chief of staff MORE (D-Nev.) on Tuesday said Democrats would defeat the latest proposal from House Speaker John Boehner John Andrew BoehnerMomentum for earmarks grows with Dem majority Cannabis company says CBS refused to run its Super Bowl ad advocating for medical marijuana Breaking the impasse on shutdown, border security MORE (R-Ohio) to raise the debt ceiling. He accused Boehner John Andrew BoehnerMomentum for earmarks grows with Dem majority Cannabis company says CBS refused to run its Super Bowl ad advocating for medical marijuana Breaking the impasse on shutdown, border security MORE of being beholden to Tea Party conservatives in his caucus, and questioned the Speaker’s commitment to avoiding a default. ADVERTISEMENT “Speaker Boehner's plan is not a compromise. It was written for the Tea Party, not the American people. Democrats will not vote for it. Democrats will not vote for it. Democrats will not vote for it,” Reid said. “It's dead on arrival in the Senate, if they get it out of the House,” he added. Reid reiterated that it is the firm position of Senate Democrats that a short-term increase in the debt limit is not acceptable. “We're not going to have a short-term extension, so there's no discussions regarding that. We will not do that. The president won't agree to that and my caucus will not agree to it,” Reid said. Boehner’s plan would raise the debt ceiling by about $1 trillion, requiring Congress to act again next year to extend borrowing authority beyond the 2012 election. The White House announced Tuesday that senior administration officials would recommend President Obama veto Boehner’s proposal. “The administration strongly opposes House passage of the amendment in the nature of a substitute to S. 627. If 627 is presented to the president, the president’s senior advisors would recommend that he veto this bill,” read the statement of administration policy. Watch Reid below. This story was updated at 4:20 p.m. ||||| Markets slid Tuesday after a White House veto threat and embarrassed House Republicans had to pull back their debt ceiling bill after new cost estimates showed the measure fell well short of its promised savings. Speaker John Boehner hopes to rebound still with a floor vote Thursday, but his strong ally, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, warned that it is time for leaders of both parties to “get back together” and be prepared to accept a solution to the debt crisis that’s “less than perfect, because perfect is not achievable.” Text Size - + reset Van Hollen: Dems have 'bent over backwards' POLITICO 44 Wall Street clearly is beginning to pay more attention to Washington’s turmoil as evidenced by the reaction to the veto threat, just days away from the risk of default. But the bigger worry for Boehner is his old tormentor, the Congressional Budget Office, which gave his bill a low enough score Tuesday that he will have to now go back and rewrite portions to better conform with his deficit-reduction goals. The speaker’s standard has been that any increase in Treasury’s borrowing authority should be matched by savings at least as large. And in this case, his bill provides for a $900 billion debt ceiling increase that would be paired with 10-year caps on annual appropriations bills. Leadership staff had been confident that caps would produce more than $1 trillion in savings, but a CBO report late Tuesday shows that the 10-year deficit impact is closer to $850 billion when measured against the agency's most current projections. At one level, Boehner is a victim of his own success, since the CBO baseline is lower now by about $122 billion over 10 years because of the very same cuts the speaker won in April during a standoff with Obama over the 2011 budget. Indeed, the CBO’s numbers suggest that all those months of struggle — during which the government was forced to operate on ever lower stopgap spending bills before a deal was reached — contributed another $57 billion in long-term savings on top of the $122 billion. White House Budget Director Jack Lew even jumped in with a sympathetic blog posting — albeit adding that he still opposes the Boehner bill. Boehner’s tea party conservatives, who were never satisfied with the April deal either, will be less kind. Already Tuesday night, the tables were the fodder for conservative ridicule. On a year-by-year basis, the amount of projected outlay savings from the discretionary caps is as little as $5 billion in 2012, and when other costs are counted, the net deficit reduction is just $1 billion. McConnell has worked closely with Boehner in drafting and pressing for action on the House bill. But his comments Tuesday suggest he already recognizes the stalemate ahead, given that the House measure almost guarantees more conflict in six months and is so strongly opposed by the White House and Senate Democrats. The administration is predicting that the Boehner bill will never reach the president’s desk, and if it is now at risk of not passing the House, that only adds to McConnell’s worries. And he appears to be casting about for new alliances to cope with the crisis. “We’re going to have to get back together and get a solution here. We cannot get a perfect solution, from my point of view, controlling only the House of Representatives,” McConnell told reporters after his party’s weekly luncheon. “So I’m prepared to accept something less than perfect, because perfect is not achievable. ||||| The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the impact on the deficit of the Budget Control Act of 2011, as posted on the Web site of the Committee on Rules on July 25, 2011. The legislation would: Establish caps on discretionary spending through 2021, Allow for certain amounts of additional spending for "program integrity" initiatives aimed at reducing the amount of improper benefit payments, Make changes to the Pell Grant and student loan programs, Establish procedures for Congressional consideration of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, Establish procedures to increase the debt limit by up to $2.5 trillion, Reinstate and modify certain budget process rules, and Create a joint Congressional committee to propose further deficit reduction. In total, if appropriations in the next 10 years are equal to the caps on discretionary spending and the maximum amount of funding is provided for the program integrity initiatives, CBO estimates that the legislation would reduce budget deficits by about $850 billion between 2012 and 2021 relative to CBO's March 2011 baseline adjusted for subsequent appropriation action. As requested, CBO has also calculated the net budgetary impact if discretionary savings are measured relative to its January baseline projections. Relative to that baseline, CBO estimates that the legislation would reduce budget deficits by about $1.1 trillion between 2012 and 2021.

– John Boehner's debt ceiling plan has had a lousy day: In the latest setback, the Congressional Budget Office says it doesn't cut as much as Boehner thought—the CBO puts the figure at $850 billion over a decade, instead of the $1.2 trillion promised by the House speaker, reports the Washington Post. (Read the CBO letter here.) As a result, Boehner and his aides were scrambling to rework the measure. A House vote scheduled for tomorrow has been delayed and now might take place Thursday. Whenever it arrives, however, there's no guarantee it will pass. Conservatives in the House hate Boehner's two-step plan, and he can ill afford to lose any if he wants to secure 217 votes. Eric Cantor told fellow Republicans today that he agreed the "debt limit vote sucks" but that they should “stop grumbling and whining and to come together as conservatives and rally behind” Boehner, notes the New York Times. Even if they do, Harry Reid said the plan would be "dead on arrival" in the Senate, reports the Hill. And even if it's not, the White House has threatened a veto. What next then? Mitch McConnell says congressional leaders have to get back together and be ready to accept a solution that is “less than perfect, because perfect is not achievable," notes Politico.

Between 1989 and 2010, U.S. attorneys seized an estimated $12.6 billion in asset forfeiture cases. The growth rate during that time averaged +19.4% annually. In 2010 alone, the value of assets seized grew by +52.8% from 2009 and was six times greater than the total for 1989. Then by 2014, that number had ballooned to roughly $4.5 billion for the year, making this 35% of the entire number of assets collected from 1989 to 2010 in a single year. According to the FBI, the total amount of goods stolen by criminals in 2014 burglary offenses suffered an estimated $3.9 billion in property losses. This means that the police are now taking more assets than the criminals. The police have been violating the laws to confiscate assets all over the country. A scathing report on California warns of pervasive abuse by police to rob the people without proving that any crime occurred. Even Eric Holder came out in January suggesting reform because of the widespread abuse of the civil asset forfeiture laws by police. Bloomberg News has reported now that Stop-and-Seize authority is turning the Police Into Self-Funding Gangs. They are simply confiscating money all under the abuse of this civil asset forfeiture where they do not have to prove you did anything. Prosecutors are now instructing police on how to confiscate money within the grey area of the law. A class action lawsuit was filed against Washington DC where police were robbing people for as little as having $100 in their pocket. This is getting really out of hand and it has indeed converted police into legal criminals or “gangs” as Bloomberg News calls them. ||||| Don’t have time to read the Washington Post or New York Times? Then get The Morning Bell, an early morning edition of the day’s most important political news, conservative commentary and original reporting from a team committed to following the truth no matter where it leads. Email address ||||| Burglary Download Printable Document The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program defines burglary as the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft. To classify an offense as a burglary, the use of force to gain entry need not have occurred. The UCR Program has three subclassifications for burglary: forcible entry, unlawful entry where no force is used, and attempted forcible entry. The UCR definition of “structure” includes an apartment, barn, house trailer or houseboat when used as a permanent dwelling, office, railroad car (but not automobile), stable, and vessel (i.e., ship). Overview In 2014, there were an estimated 1,729,806 burglaries, a decrease of 10.5 percent when compared with 2013 data. The number of burglaries decreased 20.2 percent when compared with 2010 and was down 19.7 percent when compared with the 2005 estimate. (See Table 1 1A The estimated number of burglaries accounted for 20.9 percent of the estimated number of property crimes. (Based on Table 1 1A By subcategory, 58.3 percent of burglaries involved forcible entry, 35.2 percent were unlawful entries, and 6.5 percent were attempted forcible entry.(See Table 19) Victims of burglary offenses suffered an estimated $3.9 billion in property losses in 2014. Overall, when the average value was applied to the estimated number of burglaries, the average dollar loss per burglary offense was $2,251. (Based on Tables 1 and 23) Burglaries of residential properties accounted for 73.2 percent of all burglary offenses. (See Table 23) Expanded data Expanded offense data are the details of the various offenses that the UCR Program collects beyond the count of how many crimes law enforcement agencies report. These details may include the type of weapon used in a crime, the type or value of items stolen, and so forth. In addition, expanded data include trends (for example, 2-year comparisons) and rates per 100,000 inhabitants. Expanded information regarding burglary is available in the following tables: Trends (2-year): Tables 12, 13, 14, and 15 Rates (per 100,000 inhabitants): Tables 16, 17, 18, and 19

– When it comes to taking property that isn’t theirs, burglars are facing some stiff competition: law enforcement officers. In 2014, the Washington Post reports, the federal Treasury and Justice departments accumulated more than $5 billion via civil asset forfeiture—the controversial practice of law enforcement seizing cash and property from people, even if those people haven’t been convicted (or charged, for that matter) with a crime. During that same period, losses attributed to burglary came in at just under $4 billion, the FBI reports. The comparison (the first time civil asset forfeiture has come in ahead of burglary in these statistics) was first reported on the Armstrong Economics blog. There are, however, some caveats. The Post points out that the sum of property lost to all types of theft—not just burglary—in 2014 was about $12.3 billion. Also, a large portion of the total income from civil asset forfeiture may be from a handful of high-dollar cases in 2014, such as the $1.7 billion Bernie Madoff judgment—and some money, in cases like those, goes back to victims. But, even when looking at a more stable indicator to account for things like payments to victims, the forfeiture number hit $4.5 billion last year. State and local police also use civil asset forfeiture, and according to the Institute for Justice, the 14 states for which there were reliable data collected $250 million in 2013. Figures like these have fueled critics' calls to do away with the practice—originally a tool for the war on drugs—altogether. Several states have either passed or are discussing civil asset forfeiture reforms, the Daily Signal notes.

Religious doctrines typically urge the faithful to treat others with compassion and to put the greater good before selfish interests. But when it comes to generosity, nonreligious kids seem to be more giving, according to a new study of 1170 children from around the world. Children from religious homes—particularly Muslims—also showed a greater inclination to judge someone’s misdeeds as wrong and punish the perpetrators. The study, the first large-scale analysis of its kind, suggests that religion and moral behavior don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand for children. “Our findings support the notion that the secularization of moral discourse does not reduce human kindness. In fact it does just the opposite,” says Jean Decety, a developmental neuroscientist at the University of Chicago, in Illinois, and the study’s lead author. Past research has already called into doubt the common stereotype that religious people are more moral than their nonreligious brethren. In surveys, religious people report higher levels of charitable activity. But it’s not clear whether this is accurate or an exaggeration. It’s also unclear whether the altruistic spirit is mostly confined to other members of their religion. In actual tests of generosity, there are also mixed results. One study found both religious and nonreligious people shared more money with a stranger after reading sentences containing religious words such as “spirit” and “God.” But people were also more generous after reading words associated with secular authorities such as “police.” Another study found that more religious people were just as likely as less religious people to bypass a stranger in distress. The new research, done with children in six countries (Canada, China, Jordan, Turkey, South Africa, and the United States), included 510 Muslim, 280 Christian, and 323 nonreligious children. The study, the first to take such a large-scale look at how religion and moral behavior intersect in children from across the globe, focused on one facet of moral behavior: altruism, or the willingness to give someone else a benefit that also comes with a personal cost. The test revolved around that ubiquitous childhood currency, stickers. Children ages 5 to 12 met individually with adults who let them choose 10 of their favorite stickers. The children were then told that the adults didn’t have time to distribute the rest of their stickers to other kids in a fictive class. But each child was told they could put some of their 10 stickers in an envelope to be shared with other kids, who were described as being from the same school and ethnic group. The scientists used the number of stickers left in the envelope as a measure of altruism. The children from nonreligious households left 4.1 stickers on average, a statistically significant difference from Christian children (3.3) and Muslim ones (3.2). Also, the more religious the household, based on a survey of parents, the less altruistic the child. The child’s age, socioeconomic status, and country of origin also played a role, but not enough to override the effect of religious differences, according to the study. In older children, the split was most stark, with religious youth increasingly unlikely to share. Kids in the study also watched short videos in which one child did something bad to another, such as shoving. The children then ranked how mean they thought the incident was, and how severely they wanted the instigator punished. Nonreligious children tended to rank the incidents as less mean. Muslim children on average gave the highest rankings and sought harsher punishments than either their Christian or secular counterparts. Decety says he is unsure why this is the case. Decety, whose work focuses on the emergence of morality in children, says the pattern of religious children being less generous may be tied to a phenomenon called “moral licensing.” That’s when a person feels permitted—even unconsciously—to do something wrong, because they see themselves as a morally correct person. With so many children from different cultures, the new study offers vital insights, said Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, a psychologist at the University of Haifa in Israel and an expert in the psychology of religion. He suspects the results are connected to the importance many religions place on an external authority and threats of divine punishment. Whereas children in religious households learn to act out of obedience to a watchful higher power, children raised in secular homes could be taught to follow moral rules just because it’s “the right thing to do,” he says. Then, “when no one is watching, the kids from nonreligious families behave better.” The study is already prompting head scratching over how it squares with similar studies of adults. Azim Shariff, a psychologist at the University of Oregon in Eugene, says it contrasts with his analysis that, taken as a whole, previous research found no overall effect of religion on adults faced with these kind of moral tests. “It doesn’t fit in easily with what’s been out there so far. So I’ve got to do some thinking—other people have got to do some thinking—with how it does fit,” says Shariff, who praised the scale and depth of the study. He suggested the new findings could reflect a developmental stage for children, producing different results than for adults. He also noted that such controlled tests might not fully capture how people behave in daily life. Decety has expanded his research to examine the effects of religion on children’s behavior in 14 countries, and is also exploring whether religion influences how children decide to distribute goods among different people in a group. “My guess is that I will find the same result as I did in this study,” he says. ||||| Morality is often associated with religion, but new research reveals that children from religious households are actually less generous than kids from a secular background. This conclusion comes from a study of over 1000 children from around the world, published in the journal Current Biology. The project was led by Professor Jean Decety, a neuroscientist from the University of Chicago, who didn't originally aim to compare moral behavior. "I was more interested in whether I would find differences in empathy or sharing depending on the culture," he says. While previous research has examined generosity in adults, Decety's work shows that upbringing shapes morality early in life. This includes altruism – actions that benefit a recipient at a cost to the donor. Children learn religious values and beliefs from their family and community, through rituals like going to church. If religion promotes morality, kids from religious households should have stronger altruistic tendencies. Generosity and punishment Decety's team of psychologists assessed altruism using 'the dictator game': each child was given 30 stickers and told to choose how many to share with an anonymous child from the same school and similar ethnic group. This task reflects choices in ecology – allocating limited resources – and the results were used to calculate a 'generosity score'. The researchers looked at 1170 children aged 5-12 years old, from six countries (USA, Canada, China, Jordan, Turkey and South Africa). Most kids came from households that identified as Christian (24%), Muslim (43%) or not religious (28%). (Small numbers from Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and agnostic homes weren't compared.) The results revealed that secular children shared more stickers. Muslim children appear to be less generous than Christian kids, but this is not statistically significant (labelled 'ns' in the bar chart below). All three groups became less altruistic with age, though religious kids had lower generosity, suggesting that longer exposure to religion leads to less altruism. The psychologists also assessed views on justice through a moral sensitivity task: after children were shown videos of mild interpersonal harm – such as pushing or bumping – they were asked for a judgment of meanness and a rating for the level of punishment the perpetrator deserved. Compared to the other two groups, Muslims thought harmful actions were meaner and believed in harsher punishment. Christians judged the harm to be meaner than secular kids, though there was no difference in their punitive ratings. This is consistent with fundamentalism, when actions are seen as either right or wrong, with no gradient in morality between two extremes. Overall, religious children are less tolerant of harmful actions and favored harsh penalties. Parents were also asked to score their children according to a sense of empathy and sensitivity to injustice. This subjective self-reporting showed that religious adults think their children have strong moral tendencies, contradicting objective assessments of altruism (generosity and moral sensitivity). Why are religious people less moral? One factor is a psychological phenomenon known as 'moral licensing': a person will justify doing something bad or immoral – like being racist – because they've already done something 'good', such as praying. "It's an unconscious bias," Decety explains. "They don't even see that's not compatible with what they've been learning in church." Attitudes and assumptions History backs-up the scientific evidence that secular people are more moral, as reviewed by Israeli psychologist Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi. Most white supporters of the US Civil Rights Movement were non-religious, for example, while the apartheid regime in South Africa was led by devout Christians and opposed by atheists. But the view that non-religious individuals are morally dubious is deeply embedded in American society. Atheists and agnostics are considered less trustworthy, even immoral, which explains why people who don't believe in God are unlikely to be elected to high political office, such as President of the United States. "If you look at the campaign in the US, everyone who wants to go on TV and talk about being a candidate – from Hilary Clinton to Donald Trump – has to say that they love the Bible," says Decety. "They have to say that to make sure that people will vote for them, which is not the case in Europe." It's sometimes claimed that secular families are dysfunctional and rudderless because they lack the security of religion. But sociologist Vern Bengston, who has run California's Longitudinal Study of Generations since 1971, says this isn't true: "Many nonreligious parents were more coherent and passionate about their ethical principles than some of the 'religious' parents ... The vast majority appeared to live goal-filled lives characterised by moral direction and sense of life having a purpose." So we learn good moral behavior from family life and education, not religious teachings. This raises another question: Why does morality exist in the first place?

– Religion makes people more generous and empathetic toward their neighbor, right? Wrong, according to a study published Thursday in Current Biology. Forbes reports researchers found children from religious backgrounds are actually less altruistic than children from secular households. Researchers tested more than 1,100 Christian, Muslim, and nonreligious children between the ages of 5 and 12 from around the world. They gave the kids stickers and had them choose how many to share with another anonymous child. It turns out secular children shared more of their stickers. "Our findings support the notion that the secularization of moral discourse does not reduce human kindness," lead researcher Jean Decety tells Science. "In fact it does just the opposite." But the relationship between religion and altruism in children was even more pronounced than that. Science reports the more religious a child's household—based on interviews with parents—the less generous the child. And while all kids shared fewer stickers as they got older, the difference was even more pronounced in kids from religious households, according to Forbes. Decety says the differences may be because of something called "moral licensing," in which an individual—unconsciously or not—feels like they can behave badly because they see themselves as a morally right person, Science reports. "These results reveal…how religion negatively influences children’s altruism, challenging the view that religiosity facilitates prosocial behavior," researchers conclude in the study.

See more of Sarah Palin on Facebook ||||| "She loves to drive and really admires those hardcore lady RVers who maneuver their rigs and even haul trailers behind, but Sarah humbly admits there must be a better way than her white-knuckling on the highways behind the wheel of our Lexa. A smaller rig may do the trick for her," her husband said, in a Facebook post announcing the sale.

– It's got a washer and dryer, two HD televisions, radiant floor heat, 29,683 miles, and two famous owners: Todd and Sarah Palin. Yes, the Palins are selling the bus they used to tool around the country as part of Sarah's One Nation tour in 2011, reports the Daily News. The asking price for the 2004 Country Coach Lexa is a mere $279,000. In a Facebook post, Todd explains that they're "downsizing." His wife "loves to drive and really admires those hardcore lady RVers who maneuver their rigs and even haul trailers behind, but Sarah humbly admits there must be a better way than her white-knuckling on the highways behind the wheel of our Lexa," he writes. "A smaller rig may do the trick for her." The listing and photos are here.

A stunt driver died on the Canadian set of "Deadpool 2" after attempting to do a stunt on a motorcycle, according to a tweet today from the Vancouver Police Department. No other details about the accident were immediately available, including the identity of the driver. “We are deeply saddened by the accident that occurred on the set of 'Deadpool 2' this morning," a spokesman for distributor 20th Century Fox told ABC News in a statement. "Our hearts and prayers are with the family, friends and colleagues of our crew member during this difficult time.” Added star Ryan Reynolds: "We're heartbroken, shocked and devastated... but recognize nothing can come close to the grief and inexplicable pain her family and loved ones must feel in this moment. My heart pours out to them -- along with each and every person she touched in this world." "Deadpool" star Ryan Reynolds confirmed in late-June that "Deadpool 2," which co-stars Josh Brolin, had begun production. Reynolds last week thanked the police department and people of Vancouver "for putting up with road closures and traffic delays" as a result of filming. "Deadpool 2" is slated for a 2018 release. ||||| 'Deadpool 2' Stunt Person Killed On Set Stunt Person Killed On 'Deadpool 2' Set in Motorcycle Crash EXCLUSIVE 11:59 PM PT -- A spokesperson for 20th Century Fox tells us, "We are deeply saddened by the accident that occurred on the set of Deadpool 2 this morning. Our hearts and prayers are with the family, friends and colleagues of our crew member during this difficult time." A stunt person was killed on the set of "Deadpool 2" when a motorcycle stunt went terribly wrong. The rider, who was female, went airborne in Vancouver Monday morning during filming for the movie. Her bike crashed through the glass of a ground-floor studio inside Shaw Tower near Jack Poole Plaza. Witnesses say she never applied the brakes. Ryan Reynolds tweeted about the tragedy. The rider -- whose identity is being withheld -- was pulled from the crash site and taken to the hospital by ambulance. Police taped off the area, and an investigation is underway. It's the second major mishap involving stunts in as many days. Tom Cruise was badly injured during a failed stunt on the set of "Mission: Impossible 6." Story developing ...

– A stuntperson has been killed on the set of Deadpool 2, a spokesperson for distributor 20th Century Fox confirms to ABC News. Details, including the identity of the stunt driver involved in the Vancouver accident, were not immediately available, but sources tell TMZ the Monday morning accident involved a female motorcycle rider who went airborne somehow while filming a scene for the movie. The sources say she never applied the brakes, and her bike ultimately crashed through the glass of a studio inside Shaw Tower. (A stuntman recently died on the set of The Walking Dead).

Justin Bieber’s super jealous after seeing sexy pics of Selena Gomez and Orlando Bloom together, but not for long. HollywoodLife.com has EXCLUSIVELY learned that Chris Brown is helping JB cope with this shocking news. Justin Bieber, 22, is livid after seeing racy pics of Selena Gomez, 23, packing on the PDA with Orlando Bloom, 39. But help for the Biebs in on the way. His buddy Chris Brown, 27, hit him up and told him just how to handle this scandalous situation, HollywoodLife.com has EXCLUSIVELY reported. If there’s anyone who knows how to keep a woman coming back, it’s Breezy! The “Grass Ain’t Greener” rapper dropped knowledge on Justin and told him how to address this Selando scandal. “Basically, Chris told JB not to trip on Selena and Orlando. He explained to Biebs that Selena’s only trying to make him jealous because she’s truly in love with him and wants his attention 24-7,” a source close to Chris told HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “He told Justin not to say anything about the pics on social media and under no circumstances is he to call Selena. The first one who calls loses. Justin was really upset about the pics and jealous, but Breezy got him together quickly and told him not to show his cards and to take his advice and ignore the situation.” Join Amazon Prime For Free – Thousands of Movies & Shows Anytime Stream music, completely unlimited and ad-free, RIGHT HERE As HollywoodLife.com previously reported, the internet went ablaze when a set of hot and steamy photographs surfaced of Selando. The two looked like they were having a blast. The images, which were obtained by TMZ, show the two in FORMATION as they were all over one another, hugging and perhaps even kissing. Just take a look at the pics for yourself, HollywoodLifers. They’re pretty explosive and it appears the two are very much into one another. Buy and listen to Selena’s Revival album here on iTunes! HollywoodLifers, should Justin take Chris’ advise? ||||| Orlando Bloom & Selena Gomez All Over Each Other in Vegas Orlando Bloom and Selena Gomez All Over Each Other in Las Vegas EXCLUSIVE Orlando Bloom and Selena Gomez found love in the club -- for at least one night -- when things got VERY physical in Las Vegas, and TMZ got pics of the hookup. It went down Friday night at Light in Mandalay Bay -- Selena had the after-party for her Vegas concert there, and sources in the club tell us Orlando was a surprise, late addition to the party ... and made a major impression when he got there. We're told things got very "touchy feely" quickly before 23-year-old Selena and 39-year-old Orlando started neck-nuzzling and embracing in a booth. However, we're told Selena absolutely went back to her room alone. Sooo ... about Katy Perry. Far as we knew, she and Orlando were still together -- they were spotted together at a Met Gala after-party last week. For what it's worth, Katy was at a Renaissance Festival Saturday in Cali. This has kinda been 2 years in the making -- Selena and Orlando denied anything was going on when we saw them at a 2014 concert -- shortly after his breakup with Miranda Kerr, and one of her splits from Justin Bieber. And remember, Bieber was rumored to have hooked up with Miranda. Final plot twist -- Miranda was also in Vegas Friday night ... at Selena's concert. ||||| He earned our respect and admiration as the scourge of Justin Bieber, connecting on the young pop star’s jaw with a tasty right hook in an Ibiza restaurant in the summer of 2014. On that occasion, there was an outpouring of global kudos for Orlando Bloom, the non-Belieber, especially when it emerged that Bieber had provoked Bloom by gloating, “Miranda told me, ‘I want to make a man out of you.’” For those of you not up to speed on your supermarket tabloid gossip, here’s the backstory: the “Miranda” to whom Bieber was referring was Victoria’s Secret model Miranda Kerr, with whom Bloom was in the midst of a tricky breakup after a reasonably serious relationship—one that, strangely enough, involved getting looted by The Bling Ring. Bieber’s taunt, making out like he was having a fling with Kerr, may or may not have been grounded in truth. But, here’s the catch: Bieber was seeing Selena Gomez at the time, and thus in a reasonably serious relationship himself. Bieber’s sympathizers have long argued that the real reason Bieber launched his verbal attack on Bloom was because he thought Bloom and Gomez might have been having a fling behind his back (they were photographed months earlier loitering outside an L.A. club together). And now, shocking new pictures of Bloom, who is currently dating pop princess Katy Perry (do keep up at the back there) and Gomez getting what can only be described as hot and heavy in a California club have emerged, proving that Bieber may actually have been right all along. Bloom and Gomez found themselves cheek to cheek in the VIP area of the Light club at the Mandalay Bay, after Gomez held an after-party for her Las Vegas concert there. Sources in the club tell TMZ, “Orlando was a surprise, late addition to the party... and made a major impression when he got there,” although, “Selena absolutely went back to her room alone.” It might be a struggle for Bloom come up smelling of roses this time. According to Hollywood Life, Bieber is most upset by the images but never fear—he has been getting some grown-up romantic advice from rapper Chris Brown, who “explained to Biebs that Selena’s only trying to make him jealous because she’s truly in love with him… He told Justin not to say anything about the pics on social media and under no circumstances is he to call Selena. The first one who calls loses.” Then again, given Brown’s heinous dating track record, perhaps not the best choice of confidant.

– Orlando Bloom and Justin Bieber do not get along, and this is probably not going to help: TMZ says Bloom hooked up with Bieber's ex, Selena Gomez, at a Las Vegas nightclub Friday. Bloom, who has been dating Katy Perry, was photographed getting quite intimate with Gomez at an after-party for her Vegas concert, though sources say she ultimately returned to her hotel room solo. Bloom and Bieber actually came to blows back in 2014 over rumors that Bieber was hooking up with Bloom's then-recent-ex-wife, Miranda Kerr, but the Daily Beast notes that there have also been rumors Bieber may have been upset that Bloom was supposedly hooking up with his girlfriend at the time—Gomez. Making all of this even more complicated: Kerr was actually at Selena's Friday night concert as well. Making all of this even more gross: Hollywood Life says Chris Brown is helping Bieber through the heartbreak of seeing Gomez and Bloom together.

See more of Justice For Gynnya McMillen on Facebook ||||| Something's not right. Earlier this month, Gynnya McMillen, a 16-year-old girl described by others as a “quiet, beautiful person” was found unresponsive in a juvenile detention center cell in Elizabethtown, Ky., about 45 minutes south of Louisville. As the demand for answers grows louder, the deafening silence from the Lincoln Valley Regional Juvenile Detention Center rings hollow. The local coroner has stated it will likely be weeks before an autopsy is released, but that McMillen did not appear to have any visual bruising and that it was doubtful that she had any heart ailments. Color me skeptical. According to Stacy Floden, a spokeswoman for Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice, the last young person to die at such a facility in Kentucky was all the way back in 1999. Several aspects of this story raise my suspicion. KING: COPS SHOW NO REMORSE TO VICTIMS OF THEIR BRUTALITY Who determined McMillen was dead? Jailers? Was an ambulance dispatched? Why was she not rushed to the nearest hospital? Speaking anonymously to the Daily News, a former employee of the juvenile justice center stated that McMillen had just entered the facility less than 24 hours before she died. A local police spokesperson confirmed this. The former employee stated that if McMillen died in a holding cell, something would be seriously wrong. Holding cells all have cameras and the children being held in them, according to the former employee, are supposed to be looked at in 15-minute increments to guarantee their well-being. Furthermore, it is not normal for children to be held in holding cells overnight. Lastly, if McMillen was being checked on every 15 minutes, it’s highly unlikely she went from being alive and well to being so dead she didn't need to go to the hospital in that short period of time. The 16-year-old was found unresponsive in a juvenile detention center cell earlier this month. (Gynnya McMillen via Facebook) To be frank, we are all justified in being skeptical about the circumstances of in-custody deaths. If any type of foul play or negligence lead to the death of Gynnya McMillen, it is highly doubtful that those who were negligent or even criminal in their actions are going to voluntarily be forthcoming about it. An enormous amount of trust, over the years, has been given to law enforcement, such that the practice of believing their first version of events became rather standard. KING: PRESIDENT OBAMA FAILS TO ADDRESS PREVELANCE OF POLICE BRUTALITY The past two years, though, have brought a renewed scrutiny to law enforcement and we've found that the first version of events that they give often does not match up with the recorded reality of what happened. The officer who arrested Sandra Bland was recently indicted for lying under oath about his arrest of her. The University of Cincinnati officer who shot and killed Sam Dubose lied and said Dubose tried to run over him. Officer Michael Slaeger lied to his superiors about why he killed Walter Scott before a video was released of it. If any of us expect a law enforcement officer to come out and admit their own wrongdoing, we're fooling ourselves. This case is no different. ||||| Justice for Gynnya McMillen Facebook page Jan. 22 update: “New Details Emerge in Gynnya McMillen’s Death” As family and friends gathered earlier this week in Louisville for the funeral of a teenage girl who died in state custody, memories of her life competed for attention with an unanswered question circulating through Kentucky and beyond: What caused the death of Gynnya Hope McMillen? “We are simply trying to find out what happened,” her aunt, Felicia Garr, told WFPL’s Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting prior to Tuesday’s funeral at the Fifth Street Baptist Church. “Why did Gynnya die? What caused her death? We are trusting that our family attorney will find the answers. Any further questions we will direct to our attorney. Today is a day of family grief, pain and sorrow.” Garr declined to talk further or release the attorney’s name. Other family members were unavailable for comment. The 16-year-old girl died Jan. 11 in a state-run juvenile-detention center in Hardin County. News and the ensuing mystery surrounding her death have rocketed across the Internet and social media. Citing their ongoing investigations, the Kentucky State Police and the state Department of Juvenile Justice have said little publicly about Gynnya’s death. Investigators routinely do not disclose preliminary or incomplete findings in death inquiries, and instead wait until all information from interviews and the results of laboratory testing has been gathered. Here’s what we know: The Incident Gynnya was taken into custody following a physical altercation at a Shelby County residence shortly before 2 a.m. on Jan. 10, according to Kelly Cable, spokesman for the Shelbyville Police Department. Cable said Gynnya was the “perpetrator,” and that she was charged with misdemeanor assault after the alleged victim incurred what Cable described as “minor injuries.” Gynnya was transported to the Lincoln Village Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Hardin County. Her Death Gynnya was dead less than 24 hours after being detained. Dr. William Lee, the Hardin County coroner, said he pronounced her dead on the morning of Jan. 11 at Lincoln Village after emergency medical services personnel were called to the scene and determined there was no possibility of resuscitating her. The teen was in a cell by herself at Lincoln Village, according to Lee, who said he knew of no report or medical evidence of a physical altercation there. The Investigation An autopsy was performed the following day. Lee, who was present, told KyCIR that there were no “outward signs of injury” that might explain Gynnya’s death. Lee said her neck was not broken, there was no head trauma, and there were no severe wounds on her arms or legs. Lee also said there were no visible indications of a drug overdose, such as remnants of chewed-up pills in Gynnya’s esophagus or stomach. “It’s a complete mystery right now,” Lee said of the cause of death. A toxicology report could take weeks. The Authorities Trooper Jeff Gregory, spokesman for Kentucky State Police Post 4 in Elizabethtown, said “no foul play” is suspected. Gregory declined further comment pending receipt of the autopsy results. The Department of Juvenile Justice also declined comment beyond two brief statements it issued in the hours immediately following Gynnya’s death. The agency said additional information is forthcoming. The Detention Center The Lincoln Village Regional Juvenile Detention Center sits near Interstate 65 just south of Elizabethtown. It opened in 2005, can house up to 44 youths and is one of eight state-operated “secure” juvenile-detention centers in Kentucky. These facilities provide programs such as education, counseling, medical and mental health care, behavior management and more, according to the state. The last in-custody death at a Department of Juvenile Justice facility occurred in 1999. The Fallout A photo on Facebook page called “Justice for Gynnya McMillen” and purportedly created by her sister, LaChe’ Simms, bore the headline, “I died under your supervision and you can’t tell my family why.” Another post states: “We deserve to know what happened to her! And if there’s nothing to hide, there’s no reason why our questions should be unanswered.” Inquiries to the page’s owner have not been returned. The page notes that supporters are raising money to “not only bring Gynnya’s case to justice but to also raise awareness” of what takes place in juvenile-detention centers. According to the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe, $325 of a $2,500 target amount had been raised as of Wednesday night. Reporter R.G. Dunlop can be reached at rdunlop@kycir.org or (502) 814.6533. ||||| NEW YORK -- It's been nine days since 16-year-old Gynnya McMillen died in a juvenile detention cell, where police say she spent the night alone. Her family and friends mourned her at a funeral in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, despite having no answers to one fundamental question: What happened? Police say McMillen was found the morning of Jan. 11 by an employee at the Lincoln Village Juvenile Detention Center. But few details have been released about the hours, less than 24, which the girl spent there. On Jan. 10, police in Shelbyville, Ky., were called for what they describe as a "domestic incident" at McMillen's home. Police say they called a court-designated worker -- a Kentucky official who makes legal decisions related to juveniles. That worker contacted a judge and requested that McMillen be detained, according to police. By 10 a.m. on Jan. 11, McMillen, described in interviews with 48 Hours' Crimesider as a "quiet, beautiful person," had died. It is not clear why McMillen was alone in a cell, and officials have not said how often she was checked on during the night and morning she was at the Lincoln Village Juvenile Detention Center. The Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice has not responded to requests for comment. Family members have also had similar experiences trying to get information about McMillen's time in detention. Kentucky state trooper Jeff Gregory, a spokesperson for the trooper post called to investigate McMillen's death, said in an interview Tuesday that investigators do not believe McMillen was the victim of a homicide or suicide. "On face value, our detectives didn't suspect that foul play was involved," Gregory said. "They interviewed anybody that had any contact with her." A coroner said she had no visual bruising and it is unlikely she had a heart condition. Gregory said McMillen had died by the time police arrived. It's not clear if investigators asked detention center staffers about how frequently she was checked on, or why exactly she was in a cell by herself, instead of with a roommate. For those who knew McMillen, the question of how an apparently healthy teenager comes to spend her final minutes alone in a cell are haunting. Her sister made a Facebook page, "Justice for Gynnya McMillen," which has been shared thousands of times, and as word has spread, officials say they've received an increasing flood of calls about the case. Still, they say there will be few updates until a full autopsy is completed weeks from now. Nara Goode said she knew McMillen as a small child, and has been thinking of the girl playing ball with other kids on the sidewalk. "I hope they get to the bottom of it," Goode said. "It won't bring her back. But her family deserves to know." ||||| Facebook was unable to fetch your friends. Please try again.

– The morning after 16-year-old Gynnya McMillen was brought to the Lincoln Village Juvenile Detention Center in Louisville, Ky., she was found alone in her cell, dead. It's been almost two weeks, but neither local nor state officials are going public with any information regarding how she died, reports CBS News. Not only is it unclear why she had no roommate in the cell or how often she was checked on, the teenager was apparently healthy, with the Hardin County coroner saying there were no physical signs of foul play and expressing doubts that she had a heart condition. "It's a complete mystery right now," says Dr. William Lee, who notes it could take weeks to get toxicology results. The last person to die in custody at a Department of Juvenile Justice facility was in 1999, the year of Gynnya's birth. What we do know, according to the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, is that Gynnya was taken into custody just before 2am on Jan. 10 following an alleged altercation in a private residence. A police department rep calls Gynnya the "perpetrator"; minor injuries were observed on the victim, and Gynnya was charged with misdemeanor assault. She was found dead Jan. 11. Her sister has started a Facebook page calling for justice, and more than 20 people have contributed to a GoFundMe campaign to "not only bring Gynnya's case to justice but to also raise awareness of the things that go on in these facilities." The New York Daily News, meanwhile, spoke to an unnamed former employee of the detention center who said that juveniles kept in holding cells are to be checked at 15-minute intervals, though it's unclear if that's the type of cell Gynnya was in. (A report last year slammed the juvenile justice system for failing our girls.)

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A 16-year-old student faces arraignment on murder charges in the stabbing death of a classmate at their high school on the day of the junior prom. (Peter Casolino-New Haven Register) Friends and family including many students from Jonathan Law High School attend a memorial service at the First United Church of Christ in Milford, Conn., for Maren... (Associated Press) Students hug and spray paint a rock purple outside Jonathan Law High School in Milford, Conn., Friday, April 25, 2014, in memory of 16-year-old stabbing victim Maren Sanchez. Sanchez was stabbed to death... (Associated Press) Students spray paint a rock purple outside Jonathan Law High School in Milford, Conn., Friday, April 25, 2014, in memory of 16-year-old stabbing victim Maren Sanchez. Sanchez was stabbed to death earlier... (Associated Press) A rock spray-painted by students sits in memory of 16-year-old stabbing victim Maren Sanchez on Friday, April 25, 2014, sits outside Jonathan Law High School in Milford, Conn. Sanchez was stabbed to death... (Associated Press) Police haven't released the suspect's name, but people who saw him taken into custody identified him as Chris Plaskon, a friend of the victim, 16-year-old Maren Sanchez. Plaskon's attorney, Richard Meehan, says his client is being held in a hospital under psychiatric evaluation and will not appear at his arraignment, scheduled for Monday in New Haven. Plaskon is charged as a juvenile but Meehan has said he expects him to eventually be charged as an adult. The stabbing occurred Friday morning at Jonathan Law High School in Milford, hours before the school's prom, and authorities are investigating whether Sanchez was stabbed after turning down the boy's invitation to the dance. Connecticut's chief medical examiner said Sunday that Sanchez died of wounds to her torso and neck. Milford Alderwoman Greta Stanford said the school would remain closed Monday. A memorial service is scheduled for 7 p.m. on the school's football field. Organizers are seeking donations so the junior class can buy a memorial bench in Sanchez's honor. Mark Robinson, a technical education teacher who saw the suspect being taken out of the school in handcuffs, said Plaskon is the third of five brothers and has a good sense of humor. His family has deep roots in the community, Robinson said. "There's no reason to suspect he would have done this. I think that's what makes it harder," Robinson said. Classmate Imani Langston, who saw Plaskon being read his rights and taken away in a police car, said Sanchez and the boy were just friends and had never dated. Sanchez, a member of the National Honor Society who was active in drama and other school activities, had been focused on prom in the days before her death. She had posted a photograph on Facebook of her blue prom dress and was looking forward to attending with a new boyfriend. People who know Plaskon said he is an athlete and described him as genial and respectful. "His family is devastated not only for him, but the youngster who was killed," Meehan said." It's a terrible situation all the way around." ||||| A 16-year-old high school student could be arraigned as soon as Monday in a Connecticut courtroom after being accused of stabbing a fellow classmate, Maren Sanchez, to death after Sanchez turned down his invitation to the prom. She died of wounds to her neck and torso sustained Friday morning, hours before she was supposed to go to the dance, reports CBS News correspondent Don Dahler. The junior prom at Jonathan Law High School was postponed, but Maren Sanchez's friends put on their gowns and tuxes anyway. At a nearby beach, they released balloons, held up her prom dress, and crowned the slain 16-year-old as their prom queen. "She was always happy, and it took a lot to get her down, and she was always there for you if you were her friend," said Evelyn Castro, Sanchez's friend. Sanchez was found stabbed early Friday morning inside her school. She died of her injuries at a local hospital about half an hour later. The teenage suspect, whom CBS News is not identifying, was taken into custody. According to his attorney, he is undergoing a medical evaluation. Students were surprised the suspect was one of their own. "He seemed like a nice guy. I didn't really get into any in-depth conversations with him, but just 'Hi,'" said student Brittany Welkes. "He didn't seem like anything to be worried about." Friends say Sanchez was looking forward to going to her prom with her boyfriend, which is why she had turned the suspect down. "Maren should be celebrating at her prom this evening with her friends and classmates. Instead we are mourning her death and we are trying, as a community, to understand this senseless loss of life," said Edward Kovak, the victim's cousin. Sanchez was popular. She was an honor student, class president and active in sports and theater. "She loved getting involved in stuff and being head of things, and she was good at it," Castro said. Sanchez's name has been painted on a rock at the high school, which remains closed this morning. A memorial service is planned for tonight on the school's football field. Sanchez was supposed to take part in a school production of "Little Shop of Horrors" at the end of the week. The show will go on in her honor. As for the suspect, his lawyers expect he will eventually be charged as an adult.

– Maren Sanchez was allegedly killed for refusing to go to prom with her attacker—but her friends ensured that the slain Connecticut 16-year-old was still a part of the dance. Though Friday's prom was postponed, her friends wore tuxes and dresses to the beach, where they brought Maren's dress and named her prom queen, CBS News reports. As for the 16-year-old suspect, who's set to be arraigned today: "He seemed like a nice guy. I didn't really get into any in-depth conversations with him, but just, 'Hi,'" a student says. The boy was a likeable athlete with a sense of humor and strong family ties to the community, others say. Another student tells the AP that the suspect and Sanchez were friends.

Photo: USGS Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Image 1 of 19 A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. Photo: USGS Image 2 of 19 San Ramon was hit by five earthquakes larger than 2.5 in the last day. A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. San Ramon was hit by five earthquakes larger than 2.5 in the last day. A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. Photo: USGS Image 3 of 19 A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. Photo: USGS Image 4 of 19 A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. Photo: USGS Image 5 of 19 A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. Photo: USGS Image 6 of 19 A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. Photo: USGS Image 7 of 19 A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. Photo: USGS Image 8 of 19 A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. Photo: USGS Image 9 of 19 A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. Photo: USGS Image 10 of 19 A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. Check out some of the top quake apps by clicking through the gallery. A swarm of earthquakes have continued to rock San Ramon in the East Bay for the past week. Check out some of the top quake apps by clicking through the gallery. Photo: USGS Image 11 of 19 MyQuake The UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory's app provides an easy to use, informative overview of earthquakes over the years. It defaults to show you recent earthquakes in your area. For example, there was a magnitude 2.7 quake in Crockett this week. If you look at past earthquakes, you can see their location, magnitude, photographs and newspaper front pages. There are also bullet-pointed stats on how the quake affected local communities. MyQuake is available for iPhone. It is free. The UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory's app provides an easy to use, informative overview of earthquakes over the years. It defaults to show you recent earthquakes in your area. For example, there was a magnitude 2.7 quake in Crockett this week. If you look at past earthquakes, you can see their location, magnitude, photographs and newspaper front pages. There are also bullet-pointed stats on how the quake affected local communities. MyQuake is available for iPhone. It is free. less MyQuake The UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory's app provides an easy to use, informative overview of earthquakes over the years. It defaults to show you recent earthquakes in your area. For example, there The UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory's app provides an easy to use, informative overview of earthquakes over the years. It defaults to show you recent earthquakes in your area. For example, there ... more Photo: UC Berkeley Image 12 of 19 QuakeFeed This is another tool to review the earthquakes happening around the world. You can view them on a map or in list mode, which you can sort by date, magnitude, distance and depth. You can filter by magnitude, so you only see quakes of a certain strength. QuakeFeed also has a News Feed so you can read recent reports about earthquakes. QuakeFeed is available for iPhone. It is free. This is another tool to review the earthquakes happening around the world. You can view them on a map or in list mode, which you can sort by date, magnitude, distance and depth. You can filter by magnitude, so you only see quakes of a certain strength. QuakeFeed also has a News Feed so you can read recent reports about earthquakes. QuakeFeed is available for iPhone. It is free. less QuakeFeed This is another tool to review the earthquakes happening around the world. You can view them on a map or in list mode, which you can sort by date, magnitude, distance and depth. You can filter by This is another tool to review the earthquakes happening around the world. You can view them on a map or in list mode, which you can sort by date, magnitude, distance and depth. You can filter by ... more Photo: Artisan Global Image 13 of 19 Earthquake Alert! This app shows magnitude 1.0 and larger earthquakes from the U.S. and 4.5 and larger earthquakes from around the world. It sends alerts and push notifications. If the quake was in your area, you can use the app to tell USGS that you felt it. Earthquake Alert! is available for Android. It is free. This app shows magnitude 1.0 and larger earthquakes from the U.S. and 4.5 and larger earthquakes from around the world. It sends alerts and push notifications. If the quake was in your area, you can use the app to tell USGS that you felt it. Earthquake Alert! is available for Android. It is free. less Earthquake Alert! This app shows magnitude 1.0 and larger earthquakes from the U.S. and 4.5 and larger earthquakes from around the world. It sends alerts and push notifications. If the quake was in your area, This app shows magnitude 1.0 and larger earthquakes from the U.S. and 4.5 and larger earthquakes from around the world. It sends alerts and push notifications. If the quake was in your area, ... more Photo: Josh Clemm Image 14 of 19 Your Plan Do you enjoy ticking things off your checklist? This might be the earthquake prep app for you. There's a checklist for fortifying heavy objects, securing small ones and evacuating. There's also a go bag/emergency kit checklist that includes the usual food, water and clothing as well as paper items like birth and marriage certificates, passports, insurance policies and prescriptions. You can also view emergency alerts in your area. Your Plan is available for iPhone. It is free. Do you enjoy ticking things off your checklist? This might be the earthquake prep app for you. There's a checklist for fortifying heavy objects, securing small ones and evacuating. There's also a go bag/emergency kit checklist that includes the usual food, water and clothing as well as paper items like birth and marriage certificates, passports, insurance policies and prescriptions. You can also view emergency alerts in your area. Your Plan is available for iPhone. It is free. less Your Plan Do you enjoy ticking things off your checklist? This might be the earthquake prep app for you. There's a checklist for fortifying heavy objects, securing small ones and evacuating. There's also a go Do you enjoy ticking things off your checklist? This might be the earthquake prep app for you. There's a checklist for fortifying heavy objects, securing small ones and evacuating. There's also a go ... more Photo: Insurance Information Institute Image 15 of 19 Earthquake This is a good app for people who want to know about every earthquake that's happening in the world as they happen. The main screen is a timeline of recent quakes. You can filter by country or set it to only show quakes with magnitudes 2+ or 4+ . There's also a map, which can be used to show latest events or past events. Earthquake is available for iPhone and iPad. It is free. This is a good app for people who want to know about every earthquake that's happening in the world as they happen. The main screen is a timeline of recent quakes. You can filter by country or set it to only show quakes with magnitudes 2+ or 4+ . There's also a map, which can be used to show latest events or past events. Earthquake is available for iPhone and iPad. It is free. less Earthquake This is a good app for people who want to know about every earthquake that's happening in the world as they happen. The main screen is a timeline of recent quakes. You can filter by country or set it This is a good app for people who want to know about every earthquake that's happening in the world as they happen. The main screen is a timeline of recent quakes. You can filter by country or set it ... more Photo: Nico Tranquilli Image 16 of 19 Life360 Life360 answers the question "where are you?" for you. Users set up "circles" of family members or friends. Then the app uses GPS technology to share each circle member's location on a map and send notifications when they arrive at home, school or work. While it seems a bit creepy in everyday context, the app can help keep track of people during an emergency. Life360 is available for iPhone, Android and Windows devices. Life360 answers the question "where are you?" for you. Users set up "circles" of family members or friends. Then the app uses GPS technology to share each circle member's location on a map and send notifications when they arrive at home, school or work. While it seems a bit creepy in everyday context, the app can help keep track of people during an emergency. Life360 is available for iPhone, Android and Windows devices. less Life360 Life360 answers the question "where are you?" for you. Users set up "circles" of family members or friends. Then the app uses GPS technology to share each circle member's location on a map and send Life360 answers the question "where are you?" for you. Users set up "circles" of family members or friends. Then the app uses GPS technology to share each circle member's location on a map and send ... more Photo: Life360 Image 17 of 19 FEMA app FEMA's app sends severe weather alerts and information on how to stay safe. It has maps of and directions to open shelters and disaster recovery centers. There are also custom lists for emergency kits and safety tips for 20 types of hazards. This app works with or without cell service. FEMA app is available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices. It is free. FEMA's app sends severe weather alerts and information on how to stay safe. It has maps of and directions to open shelters and disaster recovery centers. There are also custom lists for emergency kits and safety tips for 20 types of hazards. This app works with or without cell service. FEMA app is available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices. It is free. less FEMA app FEMA's app sends severe weather alerts and information on how to stay safe. It has maps of and directions to open shelters and disaster recovery centers. There are also custom lists for emergency kits FEMA's app sends severe weather alerts and information on how to stay safe. It has maps of and directions to open shelters and disaster recovery centers. There are also custom lists for emergency kits ... more Photo: FEMA News Photo Image 18 of 19 Earthquake App by American Red Cross Red Cross has a series of disaster preparedness apps. This is the earthquake edition. People with this app will receive alerts from USGS. It has tips of packing an emergency kit, securing fixtures in your home and planning for a power outage. There are quizzes to test your earthquake knowledge. A map shows earthquakes from the past 30 days. Earthquake App is available for iPhone and Android. It is free. Red Cross has a series of disaster preparedness apps. This is the earthquake edition. People with this app will receive alerts from USGS. It has tips of packing an emergency kit, securing fixtures in your home and planning for a power outage. There are quizzes to test your earthquake knowledge. A map shows earthquakes from the past 30 days. Earthquake App is available for iPhone and Android. It is free. less Earthquake App by American Red Cross Red Cross has a series of disaster preparedness apps. This is the earthquake edition. People with this app will receive alerts from USGS. It has tips of packing an emergency Red Cross has a series of disaster preparedness apps. This is the earthquake edition. People with this app will receive alerts from USGS. It has tips of packing an emergency ... more Photo: American Red Cross ||||| A map of some of the earthquakes that hit the town of San Ramon. Large earthquakes can be incredibly serious, like the one that struck Afghanistan on Monday. But not all earthquakes are devastating, earth-shattering monsters. Sometimes, they're just...there. Over the past two weeks, over 408 earthquakes have rattled the town of San Ramon, California. That's a little over an earthquake every hour, and sets a record for the area, beating out a 2003 swarm which lasted for a month and had 120 earthquakes. It's an impressive accomplishment, but San Ramon has a long way to go if it wants to beat seismic heavyweights like Yellowstone National Park, which recorded 3,000 earthquakes over 3 months in 1985. The largest earthquake in the swarm was a magnitude 3.6 on October 19. Magnitude is a measure of how large an earthquake is. A 3.6 magnitude earthquake is a fairly moderate-size earthquake that is unlikely to cause damage. Many of the other earthquakes in the swarm were so small that they weren't felt by residents. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) says that the swarm could last for "several more weeks". But that isn't a reason to panic. As unsettling as the shaking is, the USGS says that the chance of these smaller earthquakes presaging a larger earthquake is very small, and the chance of a damaging earthquake (larger than a magnitude 6.7) happening along the fault causing the shaking is only about 8 percent. ||||| Photo: USGS Image 1 of / 16 Caption Close Image 1 of 16 A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. Photo: USGS Image 2 of 16 More than 200 earthquakes have struck near San Ramon in a swarm in recent quakes. More than 200 earthquakes have struck near San Ramon in a swarm in recent quakes. Photo: USGS Image 3 of 16 A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. Photo: USGS Image 4 of 16 A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. Photo: USGS Image 5 of 16 A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. Photo: USGS Image 6 of 16 A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. Photo: USGS Image 7 of 16 A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. A series of earthquake struck near San Ramon early Tuesday morning. Photo: USGS Image 8 of 16 MyQuake The UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory's app provides an easy to use, informative overview of earthquakes over the years. It defaults to show you recent earthquakes in your area. For example, there was a magnitude 2.7 quake in Crockett this week. If you look at past earthquakes, you can see their location, magnitude, photographs and newspaper front pages. There are also bullet-pointed stats on how the quake affected local communities. MyQuake is available for iPhone. It is free. MyQuake The UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory's app provides an easy to use, informative overview of earthquakes over the years. It defaults to show you recent earthquakes in your area. For example, there The UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory's app provides an easy to use, informative overview of earthquakes over the years. It defaults to show you recent earthquakes in your area. For example, there ... more Photo: UC Berkeley Image 9 of 16 QuakeFeed This is another tool to review the earthquakes happening around the world. You can view them on a map or in list mode, which you can sort by date, magnitude, distance and depth. You can filter by magnitude, so you only see quakes of a certain strength. QuakeFeed also has a News Feed so you can read recent reports about earthquakes. QuakeFeed is available for iPhone. It is free. QuakeFeed This is another tool to review the earthquakes happening around the world. You can view them on a map or in list mode, which you can sort by date, magnitude, distance and depth. You can filter by This is another tool to review the earthquakes happening around the world. You can view them on a map or in list mode, which you can sort by date, magnitude, distance and depth. You can filter by ... more Photo: Artisan Global Image 10 of 16 Earthquake Alert! This app shows magnitude 1.0 and larger earthquakes from the U.S. and 4.5 and larger earthquakes from around the world. It sends alerts and push notifications. If the quake was in your area, you can use the app to tell USGS that you felt it. Earthquake Alert! is available for Android. It is free. Earthquake Alert! This app shows magnitude 1.0 and larger earthquakes from the U.S. and 4.5 and larger earthquakes from around the world. It sends alerts and push notifications. If the quake was in your area, This app shows magnitude 1.0 and larger earthquakes from the U.S. and 4.5 and larger earthquakes from around the world. It sends alerts and push notifications. If the quake was in your area, ... more Photo: Josh Clemm Image 11 of 16 Your Plan Do you enjoy ticking things off your checklist? This might be the earthquake prep app for you. There's a checklist for fortifying heavy objects, securing small ones and evacuating. There's also a go bag/emergency kit checklist that includes the usual food, water and clothing as well as paper items like birth and marriage certificates, passports, insurance policies and prescriptions. You can also view emergency alerts in your area. Your Plan is available for iPhone. It is free. Your Plan Do you enjoy ticking things off your checklist? This might be the earthquake prep app for you. There's a checklist for fortifying heavy objects, securing small ones and evacuating. There's also a go Do you enjoy ticking things off your checklist? This might be the earthquake prep app for you. There's a checklist for fortifying heavy objects, securing small ones and evacuating. There's also a go ... more Photo: Insurance Information Institute Image 12 of 16 Earthquake This is a good app for people who want to know about every earthquake that's happening in the world as they happen. The main screen is a timeline of recent quakes. You can filter by country or set it to only show quakes with magnitudes 2+ or 4+ . There's also a map, which can be used to show latest events or past events. Earthquake is available for iPhone and iPad. It is free. Earthquake This is a good app for people who want to know about every earthquake that's happening in the world as they happen. The main screen is a timeline of recent quakes. You can filter by country or set it This is a good app for people who want to know about every earthquake that's happening in the world as they happen. The main screen is a timeline of recent quakes. You can filter by country or set it ... more Photo: Nico Tranquilli Image 13 of 16 Life360 Life360 answers the question "where are you?" for you. Users set up "circles" of family members or friends. Then the app uses GPS technology to share each circle member's location on a map and send notifications when they arrive at home, school or work. While it seems a bit creepy in everyday context, the app can help keep track of people during an emergency. Life360 is available for iPhone, Android and Windows devices. Life360 Life360 answers the question "where are you?" for you. Users set up "circles" of family members or friends. Then the app uses GPS technology to share each circle member's location on a map and send Life360 answers the question "where are you?" for you. Users set up "circles" of family members or friends. Then the app uses GPS technology to share each circle member's location on a map and send ... more Photo: Life360 Image 14 of 16 FEMA app FEMA's app sends severe weather alerts and information on how to stay safe. It has maps of and directions to open shelters and disaster recovery centers. There are also custom lists for emergency kits and safety tips for 20 types of hazards. This app works with or without cell service. FEMA app is available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices. It is free. FEMA app FEMA's app sends severe weather alerts and information on how to stay safe. It has maps of and directions to open shelters and disaster recovery centers. There are also custom lists for emergency kits FEMA's app sends severe weather alerts and information on how to stay safe. It has maps of and directions to open shelters and disaster recovery centers. There are also custom lists for emergency kits ... more Photo: FEMA News Photo Image 15 of 16 Earthquake App by American Red Cross Red Cross has a series of disaster preparedness apps. This is the earthquake edition. People with this app will receive alerts from USGS. It has tips of packing an emergency kit, securing fixtures in your home and planning for a power outage. There are quizzes to test your earthquake knowledge. A map shows earthquakes from the past 30 days. Earthquake App is available for iPhone and Android. It is free. Earthquake App by American Red Cross Red Cross has a series of disaster preparedness apps. This is the earthquake edition. People with this app will receive alerts from USGS. It has tips of packing an emergency Red Cross has a series of disaster preparedness apps. This is the earthquake edition. People with this app will receive alerts from USGS. It has tips of packing an emergency ... more Photo: American Red Cross ||||| San Ramon, California, appears to have broken a new earthquake record over the last two weeks: A total of 408 small quakes have shaken the East Bay city, almost four times the record set in 2003 in half the amount of time. Stephanie Chuang reports. (Published Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015) NBC Bay Area's quake map shows all earthquakes recorded near the San Francisco Bay Area over the past 24 hours. San Ramon, California, appears to have broken a new earthquake record over the last two weeks: A total of 408 small quakes have shaken the East Bay city, almost four times the record set in 2003 in half the amount of time. "I've not felt so many tremors in decades," Mark Stone said outside a San Ramon Starbucks on Tuesday morning. "My dog, Gimmel, she's the first one to know a couple of seconds before." And his dog has been extra alert lately. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that as of Oct. 13, the Northern California Seismic Network had detected 408 earthquakes and counting. At least a dozen temblors since 10 p.m. on Monday, with other quakes spilling into the early hours of Tuesday. The USGS on Tuesday also reported a magnitude-3.2 quake striking the area at 5:07 p.m. Most quakes have clocked in with magnitudes ranging from 2.0 to 3.0. San Ramon is about 45 miles east of San Francisco. In an Oct. 14 interview, Senior U.S. Geological Survey research geologist David Schwartz said the swarm is not all that unusual, noting that San Ramon Valley is at the "center of earthquake swarm activity" in the Bay Area. He recalled a 2003 swarm of 120 earthquakes over 31 days in San Ramon, with the largest clocking in at a magnitude of 4.2. The biggest swarm on record in the same general area, Schwartz noted, was in 1990 in neighboring Alamo, about 30 miles east of San Francisco. That's when 351 earthquakes struck over 42 days, with the largest recorded at a magnitude of 4.4. The current swarm of 408 - and counting - tops both those numbers. Most of the earthquakes are occurring at a depth of about five miles underground and are too small to be felt, the USGS explained. One of the largest earthquakes in the current swarm activity was a 3.6-magnitude quake on Oct. 19. San Ramon, Danville and Alamo all have a history of earthquake swarms, as they sit on the Calaveras Fault. Based on other swarms, the USGS predicts this swarm may continue for several more weeks and is unlikely to be a foreshock to a larger quake. The northern Calaveras Fault has not ruptured with a significant earthquake since the 1860s, the USGS reported, and the likelihood of a large earthquake of 6.7-magnitude or larger is just 8 percent. As for why the swarms occur? "We just don't understand the structural geology of the swarms, why they turn on and shut off quickly," Schwartz said in a previous interview. "We just don't understand." ||||| A swarm of more than 200 earthquakes have rumbled through San Ramon in the Bay Area in recent days, including a 3.5 temblor Monday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The biggest quake in the area in the past 24 hours was a magnitude 3.6 that struck about 4:20 p.m. Monday about one mile northeast of San Ramon. Shaking was felt as far as 14 miles away in Walnut Creek, the USGS reported. Nearly 60 earthquakes, most of them so small they can’t be felt, have rumbled beneath San Ramon since Monday morning. But looking further back, the town has seen 238 earthquakes since Oct. 13, some of them coming just minutes apart. Besides Monday afternoon’s temblor, two others quakes were above magnitude 3.0. Still, the swarm of quakes is not necessarily anything unusual. Susan Garcia, a spokeswoman for the USGS’s Earthquake Science Center in Menlo Park, told the San Francisco Chronicle it’s a positive sign that all the quakes were under magnitude 4.0. Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >> Earthquake swarms aren’t unusual for the area, and they could continue for days or weeks, she said. Swarm are more common in other parts of California, including Mammoth Lakes and the Imperial Valley. For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna. ALSO High school sweethearts killed in Hacienda Heights crash Flash floods trap visitors, rangers in Death Valley National Park Facing hostile Black Lives Matter protesters, Garcetti's South L.A. forum ends abruptly ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.

– If California's San Ramon had to pick a theme song, it might be AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long." That's because over the past two weeks, the Bay Area town has endured more than 400 earthquakes—408, to be exact, which averages out to more than one quake an hour, Popular Science reports. Since Monday alone, there have been 60 quake recordings, per the Los Angeles Times, though most have been so small that no one noticed (they're taking place about 5 or 6 miles underground, per the US Geological Survey). The largest one recorded was a 3.6-magnitude shaker on Oct. 19. These earthquake "swarms" aren't unusual in the Golden State, though they're more prevalent in other areas, including the regions near Mammoth Lakes and Imperial Valley, per the Times. "The good news is that most of these earthquakes stay under magnitude 4," a USGS Earthquake Science Center spokeswoman tells the San Francisco Chronicle. The USGS also notes that these tiny tremors don't necessarily mean a havoc-wreaking seismic event is around the corner—experts say there's only a 7% chance of there being a quake of 6.7 magnitude or higher over the next three decades, the Chronicle notes—and that the current swarm could continue for a few more weeks before finally dying down. "I've not felt so many tremors in decades," a local tells NBC Bay Area. "My dog … [is] the first one to know a couple of seconds before." (A controversial NASA study warns that the LA area will be hit within a few years with a major quake.)

Published on Jun 29, 2018 Chapters: 00:00 Intro / Drive from central London to EMI Elstree Studios (Borehamwood) [no audio] 04:14 Arrival at EMI Elstree Studios [no audio] 05:41 EMI Elstree Studios lobby [audio starts here] 07:07 Meeting with Julian Senior (Warner Brothers) 12:16 Tour of studio sound stages with Julian Senior, details of production 18:30 Back to the production offices - details of scenes shot there 23:00 Meeting with Vivian Kubrick, discussing her Shining documentary 27:20 Vivian Kubrick shows Jun'ichi Yaoi "the Kubrick equipment room" 31:50 Stanley Kubrick's equipment the 'famous' Zeiss f/0.7 NASA lens. 34:00 Stanley Kubrick working archive 36:15 '2001: A Space Odyssey' related material (back projection slides) 38:04 Stanley Kubrick's office 41:40 Vivian Kubrick interview at edit table 45:24 Telephone interview with Stanley Kubrick 55:45 Interview with Vivian Kubrick 1:15:26 EMI Elstree studios exteriors [no audio] 1:16:35 Outtro / drive back to London, central London and Soho [no audio] 1:22:57 ABC Cinema Shaftesbury Avenue (The Shining posters & marquee) [audio] Background : Towards the end of post-production on The Shining Jun'ichi Yaoi visited Stanley Kubrick's offices at EMI Elstree Studios to investigate reports of paranormal activity on the set there were several accidents and a major fire during production which were prominently reported by the media at the time. This raw footage was likely shot for an unreleased/unaired Japanese paranormal TV documentary - Jun'ichi Yaoi ( 矢追 純一 ) b.1935 is a director/producer, TV personality and writer well known in Japan for his explorations of the paranormal, he worked for Nippon Television Network in the '60s, '70s and '80s producing many shows for them on the topic. He is widely credited with popularising UFOs in Japan. The unedited footage came from original production master VHS tapes in the personal collection of famed ufologist Wendelle C. Stevens, who was apparently involved in this production. (The footage was originally shot to Sony KCS20 U-matic Cartridges and then mastered to VHS) The video opens with the journey from London to EMI Elstree Studios, including arrival at studio reception. Junichi Yaoi is given a tour of EMI Elstree Studios by Julian Senior (Vice President of Advertising & Publicity for Warner Brothers/ Europe), they discuss production on the Shining, Kubrick's innovative TV teaser spots. This is followed by a meeting with Vivian Kubrick who discusses her documentary, anecdotes of production on The Shining and her father, further tours of the post-production offices. A tour is given by Vivian of "the Kubrick equipment room" including discussing and handling Stanley Kubricks Zeiss Planar f/0.7 converted NASA lens from Barry Lyndon, Shelley Duvall's costumes, props and equipment from previous films. This seems to be Kubrick's working archive, after this we also see Stanley Kubrick's personal office. Jun'ichi Yaoi conducts a telephone interview with Stanley Kubrick - Kubrick is allegedly away from the office overseeing foreign language prints of the film (it has been said by those present that day that he did not want to appear on camera and was actually in another office at Elstree). This is followed by an in-depth interview with Vivian Kubrick. We get final glimpses of exteriors at EMI Elstree, then the journey back to central London and final views of the ABC Cinema Shaftesbury Avenue (now the Odeon Covent Garden) with a Shining marquee. ||||| Kubrick explains the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey in rare video clip A rare 1980 clip of Stanley Kubrick talking on the phone about the ending of 2001 has surfaced by way of a Reddit thread. A piece on the Esquire website explains: ...In a bizarre video, which has appeared on Reddit this week, the director seems to provide a very simple and clear explanation of the 2001: A Space Odyssey ending. It comes from a Japanese paranormal documentary from TV personality Jun'ichi Yaio made during the filming of The Shining. The documentary was never released, but footage was sold on eBay in 2016 and conveniently appeared online this week timed with the movie's 50th anniversary. Here is the transcript of Kubrick's comments: I’ve tried to avoid doing this ever since the picture came out. When you just say the ideas they sound foolish, whereas if they’re dramatized one feels it, but I’ll try. The idea was supposed to be that he is taken in by god-like entities, creatures of pure energy and intelligence with no shape or form. They put him in what I suppose you could describe as a human zoo to study him, and his whole life passes from that point on in that room. And he has no sense of time. It just seems to happen as it does in the film. They choose this room, which is a very inaccurate replica of French architecture (deliberately so, inaccurate) because one was suggesting that they had some idea of something that he might think was pretty, but wasn’t quite sure. Just as we’re not quite sure what do in zoos with animals to try to give them what we think is their natural environment. Anyway, when they get finished with him, as happens in so many myths of all cultures in the world, he is transformed into some kind of super being and sent back to Earth, transformed and made into some sort of superman. We have to only guess what happens when he goes back. It is the pattern of a great deal of mythology, and that is what we were trying to suggest. You can see the entire Japanese Shining documentary here. And read the Reddit thread here. One funny tidbit here is that Kubrick and Yaio are both at London's EMI Studios where the documentary was being filmed. Kubrick didn't want to appear on-screen so he is simply calling from the other room.

– Ever wondered what Stanley Kubrick's classic sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey is all about? Well, keep wondering, but an excerpt from an unreleased Japanese documentary has Kubrick explaining the film's mysterious ending, BoingBoing reports. "I've tried to avoid doing this ever since the picture came out. When you just say the ideas they sound foolish, whereas if they’re dramatized one feels it, but I'll try," the famed director of Dr. Strangelove and The Shining tells TV personality Jun'ichi Yaio in a phone call. "The idea was supposed to be that [the astronaut played by actor Keir Dullea] is taken in by god-like entities, creatures of pure energy and intelligence with no shape or form. They put him in what I suppose you could describe as a human zoo to study him, and his whole life passes from that point on in that room. And he has no sense of time." After discussing the "deliberately" inaccurate French architecture of the room in the closing scene, Kubrick says that "when they get finished with him, as happens in so many myths of all cultures in the world, he is transformed into some kind of super being and sent back to Earth, transformed and made into some sort of superman. We have to only guess what happens when he goes back. It is the pattern of a great deal of mythology, and that is what we were trying to suggest." The footage, posted online late last month, was bought on eBay in 2016 and appeared in time for the film's 50th anniversary, Esquire reports. (See the newly released 70mm trailer of the film here or the full documentary, mostly about making The Shining, here.)

02:00 Cal Fire Chief: Fires Becoming More and More Destructive California’s top firefighter says it might be time to rethink wildfire strategy in the wake of some of the worst wildfires in state history. At a Glance The town of Paradise was destroyed by the fire and 29 people have lost their lives. The Camp Fire is now the most destructive and deadliest fire in California history. Authorities confirmed several injuries and at least 6,700 structures destroyed in Butte County. At least 29 people have died as a result of the Camp Fire, a fast-moving Northern California wildfire that has become the state's most destructive on record, officials say. The remains of 14 additional people were found on Saturday and 6 more on Sunday, including 16 in Paradise and 4 in Concow, authorities announced. Nine previous victims were found in Paradise, a town of 27,000 that was evacuated as a result of the fire. “It looked like the gates of hell opened up, I swear,” evacuee James Brown told the Record Searchlight. The Camp Fire is now tied as the deadliest fire in California's history. It surpassed the death toll in last year’s Tubbs Fire, which killed 22 people , according to CalFire. The 1933 Griffith Park fire, which also killed 29 people, is the other deadliest fire in California. On Sunday, at least five search teams were working in Paradise and surrounding communities. The Associated Press reported that authorities had called in a mobile DNA lab and two teams of anthropologists to help identify victims. The Camp Fire, which started early Thursday morning, had grown in size to 173 square miles by Sunday evening and was 25 percent contained. But Cal Fire spokesman Bill Murphy warned that gusty winds predicted into Monday morning could spark "explosive fire behavior." "We're at a pivotal point now," said another Cal Fire official, David Clark. Also on Sunday, the world’s largest air tanker joined the fight against the Camp Fire. The Global SuperTanker, a converted 747-400, can safely fly with more than 19,000 gallons of fire retardant or water, according to CBS News. That's roughly twice as much as the next largest tanker. An estimated 6,453 homes and 260 commercial structures have already been destroyed by the fire, according to CalFire. This number did not increase on Saturday. Another 15,000 remained threatened in the area. An estimated 80 to 90 percent of Paradise was wiped out by flames Thursday night, the town mayor told the Sacremento Bee . The sheriff says they have taken 228 reports of people that are unaccounted for, but some of these people may be in shelters or have not reached out to loved ones. Three firefighters have been injured, CalFire said Friday. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said in a one-paragraph summary filed Thursday with state utility regulators that it had experienced a problem on an electrical transmission line near the Camp Fire site 15 minutes before the blaze broke out, the Associated Press reported. The company said it later observed damage to a transmission tower on the line near the town of Paradise. (MORE: How the Camp Fire Grew So Fast ) Capt. Scott McLean of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said crews basically gave up attacking the flames and instead helped people get out alive. “There was really no firefight involved,” he said. By Friday morning, the fire was encroaching on the nearby city of Chico, a city of more than 90,000 residents, prompting new evacuations. The small communities of Stirling City and Inskip, north of Paradise, were also evacuated on Friday. (MORE: Why California's Wildfires Are So Dangerous in Fall ) Officials told the Associated Press that some Paradise residents who attempted to escape the fire in their vehicles Thursday were forced to flee on foot – some holding pets and even babies in their grasp – as the flames drew closer. With few options out of Paradise, roads quickly became gridlocked, and abandoned cars left in the middle of the road only made problems worse. "It is pure chaos up here ," CHP public information officer Ryan Lambert told the Los Angeles Times. Other towns evacuated included Centerville and Butte Creek, northwest of Paradise. Evacuations were also ordered in the nearby hamlets of Pulga and Concow. "It’s bad ," Honea told the Chico Enterprise-Record. "We’re trying to get as many people out as quickly as possible and save as many lives as we can." In Concow, some residents, like Colton Percifield, were forced to drive through the flames and thick smoke just to survive. "The hardest part was there was no visibility ... it was pitch black," he told The Weather Channel in a phone interview Thursday night. He also said many of the homes in his neighborhood were destroyed by the fire, but he was able to safely escape. Authorities say they conducted numerous rescues Friday as they fought the flames, including using helicopters to rescue five people in the nearby community of Magalia. Feather River Hospital, a retirement home and Ponderosa Elementary School in Paradise were evacuated, the Enterprise-Record also said, and Butte College was closed. Patients in the Feather River Hospital were rescued Thursday afternoon as the roof of the emergency room went ablaze. The rapid growth of the fire took many residents by surprise. Shary Bernacett said she and her husband "knocked on doors, yelled and screamed" to alert as many of the residents of the mobile home park they manage in Paradise just minutes before the fire arrived, she told the AP. "My husband tried his best to get everybody out. The whole hill's on fire. God help us!" Bernacett, in tears, told the AP. The Bernacetts managed to escape the fire with their dog but had to drive through 12-foot-high flames before reaching safety on Highway 99. (MORE: The Science Behind Santa Ana Winds ) At least 24,000 homes and businesses, or about half of all customers, remained without power Sunday in Butte County, according to PowerOutage.us. Those who have safely fled the wildfire were asked to register on the American Red Cross's Safe and Well page to let friends and family know they successfully evacuated. Acting Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Butte County, which will make more resources available for emergency responders. A pair of blazes also raging in Ventura and Los Angeles counties in Southern California have forced the evacuation of thousands, including the entire city of Malibu. Statewide, more than 300,000 have been forced to evacuate because of wildfires, the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services said Friday. (MORE: Firefighters Slam President Trump's Tweets about California Wildfires ) President Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration providing federal funds for Butte, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, but in a Saturday morning tweet, the president threatened to withhold federal payments to California, saying the state's forest management is "so poor," but later changed his tone and said “Our hearts are with those fighting the fires." On Sunday, Gov. Jerry Brown requested a "major disaster declaration" from Trump. According to the Associated Press, Brown's office said the declaration would bolster ongoing emergency assistance and help residents recover from the fires. If granted, the declaration would make individuals eligible for crisis counseling, housing and unemployment help, and legal aid. (MORE: Latest on the Southern California Wildfires ) Much of the Golden State had been warned about extreme fire danger because of the return of Santa Ana winds, but in Butte County, months of dry weather combined with the windy conditions created a recipe for disaster. "Basically, we haven't had rain since last May or before that," Read told the AP. "Everything is a very receptive fuel bed. It's a rapid rate of spread." – Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. ||||| (CNN) The death toll in the Camp Fire in Northern California has risen to 23 with the discovery Saturday of 14 more sets of remains, Butte County Sheriff and Coroner Kory Honea told reporters. Honea said 10 of the victims were recovered from the fire-ravaged town of Paradise. He said seven people were found in homes, and three were outside. Of the remaining four, two were in cars and two were in houses in an area known as Concow. Saturday brought a break in the fierce winds that have whipped the three major wildfires in California that have destroyed a record number of buildings and displaced more than 300,000 people. But officials know the gusts will be back Sunday and most evacuation orders remain in place. "Mother Nature has given us a short reprieve ... but we know tomorrow Mother Nature's gonna turn her fan back on and the winds are going to start blowing," Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen told reporters. He said he cautioned his firefighters and the public not to be lulled by the better weather Saturday. "Stay vigilant," he said. Fire has killed nine people in Northern California and possibly two in Southern California. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Chief John Benedict said the charred remains of two people were found in a car in Malibu, but homicide investigators were still working the case. Winds could gust as high as 30 to 50 mph, depending on elevation, on Sunday, officials said. Much of the state hasn't seen rain in more than a month, according to CNN meteorologists, and the dry vegetation has only served to fuel the fires. Latest developments • Burning and growing: The Camp Fire is the largest of the three major fires, swelling to 105,000 acres by Saturday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. It is the most destructive blaze in the state's modern history. The Woolsey Fire doubled in size overnight, growing to 70,000 acres. The Hill Fire was at 4,500 acres. Trump tweets: President Donald Trump : President Donald Trump blamed the wildfires on the "gross mismanagement of the forests" in a tweet early Saturday. "Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!" he said. In another tweet sent Saturday he wrote: "Our hearts are with those fighting the fires, the 52,000 who have evacuated, and the families of the 11 who have died. The destruction is catastrophic. God bless them all." • Massive evacuations: Fire officials estimate the number of people forced from their homes statewide is more than 300,000; in Los Angeles County it is 170,000. • Containment: Firefighters are struggling to put down the flames. The Camp Fire is 20% contained, while the Woolsey Fire is just 5% contained. The Hill Fire was 25% contained. • Destruction: In Northern California, nearly 7,000 structures have been destroyed, including 80% to 90% of the homes in Paradise, north of Sacramento, according to officials. In Los Angeles and Ventura counties, a significant number of homes were destroyed or damaged, fire officials said. Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Jacob Saylors, 11, walks through the burned remains of his home in Paradise, California, on Sunday, November 18. His family lost a home in the same spot to a fire 10 years earlier. Hide Caption 1 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Lidia Steineman, who lost her home in the Camp Fire, prays during a vigil for fire victims on November 18 in Chico, California. More than 50 people gathered at the memorial service. Hide Caption 2 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California From left, California Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, California Gov. Jerry Brown, President Donald Trump, Paradise Mayor Jody Jones and FEMA Administrator Brock Long survey damage left by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, on Saturday, November 17. The death toll from the Camp Fire has risen to 76 and more than 1,200 people remain unaccounted for. Hide Caption 3 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A child wears a smoke mask while watching President Trump''s motorcade in Chico on November 17. Hide Caption 4 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Fire evacuees sift through donated items in a Chico parking lot November 17. Hide Caption 5 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A group of children hold an American flag as the motorcade of President Donald Trump drives through Chico, California, on November 17. Hide Caption 6 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A firefighter searches for human remains on Friday, November 16, in a Paradise trailer park destroyed in the Camp Fire. Hide Caption 7 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California President Donald Trump visits a neighborhood impacted by the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, California, on November 17. Hide Caption 8 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Dakota Keltner, right, rests on Havyn Cargill-Morris on November 16 in a truck at a makeshift encampment outside a Walmart store in Chico, California. The camp became a temporary respite for people displaced by the Camp Fire. Hide Caption 9 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A burned neighborhood is seen on Thursday, November 15, in Paradise, California. Hide Caption 10 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Rescue workers sift through rubble in search of human remains on Wednesday, November 14, at a burned property in Paradise. Hide Caption 11 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters work to control the Camp Fire on November 14 north of Oroville, California. Hide Caption 12 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Evacuee Denise Chester hugs her son, Antonio Batres, as she volunteers her time sorting clothes on November 14 at a makeshift shelter in Chico. Chester, who didn't want to know yet whether her home survived, said: "I want to help. I don't want to shut down." Hide Caption 13 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Tape outlines the location where sheriff's deputies on November 14 recovered the body of a Camp Fire victim. Hide Caption 14 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Magalia resident Luis Badres and his family left his home because of the Camp Fire. They were living in a tent on Tuesday, November 13, in the parking lot of a Chico Walmart. Hide Caption 15 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A long line of residents seeking to return to Malibu wait at a checkpoint on November 13 on Pacific Coast Highway after Woolsey Fire evacuation orders were lifted for the eastern portion of the city. Hide Caption 16 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A helicopter flies near the Woolsey Fire burning in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Hide Caption 17 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Roger Kelton wipes away tears on November 13 while searching through the remains of his mother-in-law's home in Agoura Hills. It was destroyed by the Woolsey Fire. Hide Caption 18 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A melted fence runs along a hillside as firefighters battle the Woolsey Fire in Agoura Hills on November 13. Hide Caption 19 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters search through the remains of a Paradise house on November 13. Hide Caption 20 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Smoke fills the horizon on November 13 as an airplane flies near a flare-up of the Woolsey Fire near Lake Sherwood. Hide Caption 21 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A fire truck drives through part of Paradise on November 13. Hide Caption 22 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California An air tanker drops water on a fire along the Ronald Reagan Freeway in Simi Valley on Monday, November 12. Hide Caption 23 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Samantha Esau and Emily Garcia take in stray cats from an evacuated Paradise home on November 12. Hide Caption 24 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters put out hot spots in Paradise on November 12. Hide Caption 25 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Joseph Grado and his wife, Susan, embrace at a shelter in Chico on November 12. The Camp Fire destroyed their home. Hide Caption 26 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A firefighter battles a fire in Simi Valley on November 12. Hide Caption 27 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A plane drops fire retardant on the Woolsey Fire near Malibu on November 12. Hide Caption 28 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Betsy Ann Cowley walks through Pulga, near where investigators were trying to determine the cause of the Camp Fire. Hide Caption 29 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A resident sprays down a roof as firefighters battle the Peak Fire in Simi Valley. Hide Caption 30 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Shawn Slack carries a chainsaw on November 12 after trees burned in Paradise. Hide Caption 31 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Chris and Nancy Brown embrace while looking over the remains of their home on November 12. Hide Caption 32 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters put out hot spots in Thousand Oaks on November 12. Hide Caption 33 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters battle a fire in Simi Valley on November 12. Hide Caption 34 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A ferry makes its way toward Alcatraz Island on November 12 as the San Francisco skyline is obscured by smoke that drifted over from the Camp Fire. Hide Caption 35 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A vehicle drives through smoke near Pulga on Sunday, November 11. Hide Caption 36 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters battle the Woolsey Fire in Malibu on November 11. Hide Caption 37 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A helicopter drops water while battling the Camp Fire near Pulga on November 11. Hide Caption 38 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters work at the Salvation Army Camp in Malibu on Saturday, November 10. Hide Caption 39 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A bag containing human remains lies on the ground on November 11 as officials continue to search for victims at a burned-out home in Paradise. Hide Caption 40 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Cathy Fallon, who stayed behind in Paradise to tend to her horses during the Camp Fire, embraces Shawna De Long, left, and April Smith, right, who brought supplies for the horses. Hide Caption 41 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters douse embers off a canyon road that cuts across the mountains to Malibu. Hide Caption 42 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A plane drops fire retardant on a burning hillside in Malibu on November 11. Hide Caption 43 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Evacuee Brian Etter and his dog Tone, who escaped the Camp Fire on foot, rest in the parking lot of a Chico church on November 11. Hide Caption 44 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Culver City firefighters watch the Woolsey Fire from a burned home in Los Angeles. Hide Caption 45 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California The remains of a Los Angeles home destroyed by the Woolsey Fire are seen on November 11. Hide Caption 46 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California The sun rises over the Pacific Ocean on November 11 as the Woolsey Fire burns in Malibu. Hide Caption 47 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters battle a blaze in Malibu on Saturday, November 10. Hide Caption 48 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A woman runs in Calabasas as firefighters work to control a flare-up from the Woolsey Fire on November 10. Hide Caption 49 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California The Camp Fire burns November 10 in the hills near Big Bend. Hide Caption 50 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Sheriff's deputies carry a body bag with a Camp Fire victim on November 10. Hide Caption 51 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Scorched hillsides and damaged power lines are seen on November 10 along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Hide Caption 52 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Araya Cipollini cries November 10 near the remains of her family's home in Paradise. Hide Caption 53 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Los Angeles County firefighters work in Malibu Creek State Park on November 10. Hide Caption 54 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A deer looks on from a burned residence in Paradise on November 10. Hide Caption 55 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A fire truck is seen on the Pacific Coast Highway as the Woolsey Fire burns in Malibu on November 10. Hide Caption 56 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Eric England searches through a friend's vehicle in Paradise on November 10. Hide Caption 57 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Sheriff's deputies walk November 10 through a neighborhood destroyed by the Camp Fire. Hide Caption 58 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A satellite image from November 10 shows vegetation that was burned as a result of the Woolsey Fire. Hide Caption 59 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters meet in Paradise on November 10. Hide Caption 60 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Roger Bloxberg and his wife, Anne, hug on Friday, November 9, as they watch a wildfire on a Los Angeles hilltop. Hide Caption 61 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Malibu Mayor Rick Mullen, who is also a firefighter, surveys a house engulfed in flames on Friday, November 9. Hide Caption 62 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A massive smoke plume, powered by strong winds, rises above the Woolsey Fire in Malibu on November 9. Hide Caption 63 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Cathy Fallon stands near the charred remains of her Paradise home on November 9. The Camp Fire has wiped out much of the town north of Sacramento. Hide Caption 64 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A firefighter sprays down palm trees as the Woolsey Fire burns in Malibu on November 9. Hide Caption 65 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Llamas are tied to a lifeguard stand on a Malibu beach on November 9. Hide Caption 66 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Smoke is seen over the Pacific in this photo taken from a helicopter over Malibu on November 9. Hide Caption 67 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A woman in Malibu reacts to devastation on November 9. Hide Caption 68 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A row of palm trees stands as the Woolsey Fire continues to burn in Malibu on November 9. Hide Caption 69 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California From left, firefighters Cory Darrigo, Omar Velasquez and Sam Quan rest in a Westlake Village backyard after battling the Woolsey Fire all night. Hide Caption 70 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Gabi and Jonah Frank walk on the Pacific Coast Highway as the Woolsey Fire threatens their Malibu home on November 9. Hide Caption 71 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A satellite image taken by NASA's Operational Land Imager shows the Camp Fire in Northern California. Hide Caption 72 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A firefighter keeps watch as the Woolsey Fire burns a home near Malibu Lake on November 9. Hide Caption 73 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California The Woolsey Fire burns in Malibu on November 9. The community is known for celebrity beachside homes. Hide Caption 74 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Doug Thomas and his dog Hanna rest November 9 while they await word if they can return to their Malibu Lake home. Hide Caption 75 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Cars destroyed by the Camp Fire sit in a used-car lot in Paradise on November 9. Hide Caption 76 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters battle flames in Thousand Oaks early on November 9. Hide Caption 77 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Evacuees rest on cots supplied by the Red Cross at a Los Angeles high-school gym on November 9. Hide Caption 78 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Fire Capt. Steve Millosovich, battling the Camp Fire in Big Bend, carries a cage of cats that fell from an evacuee's pickup. Hide Caption 79 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Smoke billows above Malibu trees in this photo posted to Instagram by Julie Ellerton. Hide Caption 80 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters push a vehicle from a garage as the Woolsey Fire burns a home in Malibu on November 9. Hide Caption 81 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Patients are evacuated from Paradise's Feather River Hospital as it burns on Thursday, November 8. Hide Caption 82 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Juanita and Wayne McLish sit on a curb November 8 after losing their house to the Camp Fire in Paradise. Hide Caption 83 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California The Hill Fire burns in Thousand Oaks on November 8. Hide Caption 84 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California The Woolsey Fire burns in Ventura County, where Jason Bauer told CNN his parents had just been evacuated from their home. Hide Caption 85 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California People embrace in the parking lot of a Paradise hospital as the Camp Fire engulfed it on November 8. Hide Caption 86 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California The Paradise Inn burns on November 8. Hide Caption 87 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A firefighter works to extinguish a spot fire at a home in Paradise. Hide Caption 88 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Vehicles and homes burn as the Camp Fire rips through Paradise on November 8. Hide Caption 89 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Dogs roam a burned-out neighborhood in Paradise. Hide Caption 90 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Hospital staff and first responders evacuate the Feather River Hospital in Paradise on November 8. Hide Caption 91 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A fire emergency crew works to protect the Paradise Town Hall from the encroaching Camp Fire on November 8. Hide Caption 92 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A home burns as the Camp Fire rages through Paradise. Hide Caption 93 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A vintage car rests among debris in Paradise. Hide Caption 94 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Medical personnel move patients as the Feather River Hospital is evacuated in Paradise on November 8. Hide Caption 95 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Smoke fills the sky over Paradise on November 8. Paradise, located about 85 miles north of Sacramento, has 26,000 residents. Hide Caption 96 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California The remains of a building are seen after being consumed by the Camp Fire. Hide Caption 97 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A firefighter monitors a burning home on November 8. Hide Caption 98 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California California Highway Patrol officers attempt to transfer a potbelly pig they rescued in Butte County on November 8. Hide Caption 99 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California A Paradise home is engulfed in flames on November 8. Hide Caption 100 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Firefighters monitor a back fire while attempting to save homes in Paradise on November 8. Hide Caption 101 of 102 Photos: In pictures: Wildfires tear across California Flames burn inside a van as the Camp Fire tears through Paradise on November 8. Hide Caption 102 of 102 Camp Fire The Camp Fire has killed at least nine people in Paradise and destroyed 6,453 structures. The bodies of five people were found in or near a vehicle, and the other four were in or outside a home. It took just a few hours for the fire to explode in size after breaking out early Thursday morning. Among the communities hit was Paradise, a town about 80 miles north of Sacramento. Families raced to escape the blaze as it consumed much of the town. Footage captured by evacuees showed flames along roads, scorching trees and devouring houses. "The flames were whipping and spreading so fast," Whitney Vaughan said after fleeing her home in Paradise . "It began to jump the road. There wasn't anywhere to go." The town was mostly empty, and the main road littered with downed trees and power lines. Burnt out cars line blackened roadsides, abandoned in the panic and chaos of the evacuations. "We do intend to rebuild," Paradise Mayor Jody Jones said. "It's going to be a process -- a lot of hard work, a lot of coming together. "We want to see Paradise be Paradise again." An estimated 52,000 people evacuated in Butte County, where Paradise is located. Fire officials said three firefighters and some civilians were hurt, but details about their injuries were unknown. About 35 people have been reported missing, authorities said. Woolsey Fire More than 200,000 people have fled in Ventura County and in Malibu in Los Angeles County due to the Woolsey Fire, officials said. Firefighters worked to protect thousands of students and staff sheltering in place Saturday at Pepperdine University as flames started reaching the campus overnight, school officials said. Los Angeles County firefighters are battling the Woolsey fire near Malibu. The fire crossed US 101 a few miles east of Thousand Oaks -- the site of Wednesday night's bar shooting -- and was headed south to the Pacific coast in the direction of Malibu Creek State Park and the city of Malibu, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. In Malibu, mandatory evacuations were ordered for the entire city of about 12,000 people that's known for its celebrity beachside homes. Two people were arrested in looting incidents Friday during the evacuations, according to Ventura County sheriff's Sgt. Eric Buschow. The howling Santa Ana winds fueled the Woolsey Fire. These are strong, dry winds that high-pressure systems push from east to west, from the mountains and desert areas down into the Los Angeles area. Fire officials said the winds had temporarily died down Saturday, giving them a brief opportunity to make progress. "This is just a lull," Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said, "so we're going to take advantage of that and try to get as much line perimeter in as we can with the expectation that we will get more winds tomorrow." Another round of Santa Ana winds is forecast to whip the area Sunday through Tuesday, though it may be weaker than Friday's. Hill Fire "It's been a brutal, hellish three days for the city of Thousand Oaks," City Councilwoman Claudia Bill-de la Peña said at a news conference on Saturday. A bridge paved with asphalt near Agoura Hills, California, was also heavily damaged. The fire started Thursday and initially spread quickly, torching 10,000 acres in six hours. But firefighters have made some progress. Part of the fast-moving blaze was burning into the footprint of a 2013 wildfire, which could slow its spread, chief Lorenzen said. No houses or businesses have been lost, but a number of RVs and outbuildings have been burned, and a firefighter suffered a minor injury, authorities said. ||||| There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments! ||||| President Donald Trump said “gross mismanagement of the forests” is to blame for the fast-moving wildfires that have torn through parts of California and killed at least nine people. In a tweet from Paris early Saturday, Trump said, “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor.” Trump also threatened: “Remedy now, or no more Fed payments.” There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018 He offered no condolences to those killed in the blazes and did not explain how he believed the forests were being mismanaged by state authorities. It’s also unclear exactly what federal funding he was threatening to pull. Almost 250,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes as the Camp Fire struck areas north of Sacramento, the Hill Fire spread near Thousand Oaks and the Woolsey Fire burned near the Los Angeles-Ventura County line. ||||| Trump speaking at Suresnes American Cemetery. Trump speaking at Suresnes American Cemetery. US President Donald Trump paid his respects to the thousands of American soldiers who died in World War I, saying, "It is our duty to preserve the civilization they defended and secure the peace they so nobly gave their lives for one century ago." Speaking at Suresnes American Cemetery, just outside Paris, Trump called out to six US veterans from World War II who were in the crowd, and a 13-year-old American boy who had saved his money to attend the event. "On this day in the year 1918, church bells rang out and celebrations ensued," Trump told the crowd. "But victory had come at a terrible cost," he added. "Countless would come home bearing the grisly scars of trench warfare." Paying tribute to the French and American soldiers who fought side-by-side, Trump said: "You cannot fight better than we fought together." ||||| President Donald Trump woke up in Paris on Saturday in the mood to make threats toward California as it deals with deadly wildfires in Northern California and hundreds of smoldering homes in Southern California. In an angry tweet, the president threatened to pull federal funding for the state if nothing is done to "remedy" the situation. Interested in ? Add as an interest to stay up to date on the latest news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018 Trump was in Paris to take part in a commemoration for the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. But his mind was still on the disaster unfolding out west in the U.S. Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images On Sunday, California Gov. Jerry Brown's office fired back, calling the president's tweet "inane and uninformed." "Our focus is on the Californians impacted by these fires and the first responders and firefighters working around the clock to save lives and property — not on the president’s inane and uninformed tweets," Evan Westrup, the governor's press secretary, told ABC News. At least 25 people have been killed this week as flames from the wildfires engulfed their vehicles, homes and neighborhoods in Northern California, authorities said. There were more than 100 people missing in the region but by Saturday officials added that at least 70 people who were reported missing were located and are now safe. Brown requested a presidential major disaster declaration to "bolster the ongoing emergency response and help residents recover from devastating fires burning in Butte, Los Angeles and Ventura counties," his office announced on Sunday. The president approved an emergency declaration for the state on Friday — but warned he may not do the same in the future. Emergency declarations provide municipalities with air support, relief supplies and evacuation transport. Fire officials said Trump's statements, and remedies, were incorrect. One leading California fire official on Saturday called Trump's comments "a shameful attack on California." "The president’s assertion that California’s forest management policies are to blame for catastrophic wildfire is dangerously wrong," California Professional Firefighters President Brian K. Rice said in a statement on Saturday. "Wildfires are sparked and spread not only in forested areas but in populated areas and open fields fueled by parched vegetation, high winds, low humidity and geography," he continued in the statement. "Moreover, nearly 60 percent of California forests are under federal management, and another two-thirds under private control. It is the federal government that has chosen to divert resources away from forest management, not California." "Natural disasters are not “red” or “blue” – they destroy regardless of party," Rice concluded. "Right now, families are in mourning, thousands have lost homes, and a quarter-million Americans have been forced to flee. At this desperate time, we would encourage the president to offer support in word and deed, instead of recrimination and blame." On Saturday evening, Trump changed course, tweeting support for the firefighters, the homeowners and the tragic victims of the west coast wildfires. "God bless them all," the president tweeted. More than 4,000 are fighting the Camp and Woolsey Fires in California that have burned over 170,000 acres. Our hearts are with those fighting the fires, the 52,000 who have evacuated, and the families of the 11 who have died. The destruction is catastrophic. God Bless them all. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018 These California fires are expanding very, very quickly (in some cases 80-100 acres a minute). If people don’t evacuate quickly, they risk being overtaken by the fire. Please listen to evacuation orders from State and local officials! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018 But on Sunday he tweeted about mismanagement again, writing, "With proper Forest Management, we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California. Get Smart!" With proper Forest Management, we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California. Get Smart! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2018 Trump has made similar false claims about fire science and government resource allocation in the past, and fire officials have pushed back. In August he tweeted, "California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Must also tree clear to stop fire from spreading!" "We have plenty of water to fight these fires," Deputy Cal Fire Chief Scott McLean said in a statement in August. Nevertheless, the Trump administration announced it would override the Endangered Species Act to provide extra water -- not needed by the fire crews. He also criticized California's handling of forest fires at an Oct. 17 Cabinet meeting. During an exchange with Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Trump called California "a mess" and "disgraceful." "I say to the governor, or whoever is going to be the governor, of California: You better get your act together," Trump said. "Because California, we're just not going to continue to pay the kind of money that we're paying because of fires that should never be to the extent [they are]." NASA via AP Trump has long feuded with Brown, a Democrat, who is set to be replaced by fellow Trump antagonist Gavin Newsom. The Democrat was elected to the office last week. Newsom was previously married to former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, who now dates Donald Trump Jr. "It's costing our country hundreds of billions of dollars because of incompetence in California," Trump said in that Cabinet meeting. It's unclear where Trump was getting the figure of "hundreds of billions of dollars." Cal Fire's operating budget for 2018-19 is $2.3 billion. Fire Management Assistance Grants, authorized through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), refund as much as 75 percent of firefighting costs for departments. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also provided $212 million to the state of California in 2017. Trump's tweet ironically comes while he is in Paris, the namesake of the Paris Climate Agreement, under which nearly 200 countries agreed to curb greenhouse gas emissions in order to combat climate change. The agreement was signed by the U.S. during Barack Obama's administration, but Trump pulled the country out of the agreement in June 2017. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images Michael Mann, an atmospheric science professor at Penn State University, told PBS' "NewsHour" in August that he believes climate change is contributing to the increased seriousness of wildfires. "We're not saying that climate change is literally causing the events to occur," he said. "What we can conclude with a great deal of confidence now is that climate change is making these events more extreme." ABC News' Stephanie Ebbs contributed to this report. ||||| U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters prior to departing for Paris, France, from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 9, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY (Reuters) - President Donald Trump early on Saturday said “gross mismanagement of forests” is to blame for two unchecked wildfires burning in California, where nine people have been killed and hundreds of thousands forced to evacuate. “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” he wrote in a Twitter post. “Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!,” he added.

– As the wildfires ravaging California continue to wreak havoc, President Trump has weighed in from across the world—and he's blaming California, per Reuters. In an early Saturday post from Paris, where he's attending events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, Trump tweeted: "There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!" HuffPost's observation: "He offered no condolences to those killed in the blazes and did not further explain exactly how he believed the forests were being mismanaged." The site notes that nearly 250,000 people have been forced to evacuate; CNN reports at least nine people have died so far across the state, some in or near homes and others in their cars. ABC News notes that in August, Trump made similar claims blasting California, accusing the state of diverting water to fight fires into the Pacific Ocean; fire officials says his claims were wrong. (An entire community was "wiped out" by what's now being called the "most destructive fire in California history.")

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Authorities say a woman who drove off California cliff last month in an SUV carrying her wife and children was drunk. California Patrol Capt. Bruce Carpenter said Friday that toxicology tests found Jennifer Hart had an alcohol level of .102. California drivers are considered drunk with a level of 0.08 or higher. Carpenter says toxicology tests also found that her wife Sarah Hart and two of their adopted children had "a significant amount" of an ingredient commonly found in the allergy drug Benadryl, which can make people sleepy. The Harts and three of their children were found dead after the car plunged into the Pacific Ocean on March 26 Two more are missing and another body has been found but not identified. ||||| This March 20, 2016 photo shows Hart family of Woodland, Wash., at a Bernie Sanders rally in Vancouver, Wash. Authorities in Northern California say they believe all six children from a family were in a vehicle that plunged off a coastal cliff. Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allmon told reporters Wednesday, March 28, 2018, that only three bodies of the children have been recovered. Their parents also died Monday. (Tristan Fortsch/KATU News via AP) MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. (KOMO) - Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies say Jennifer Hart's blood alcohol content at the time of a deadly crash in which her entire family perished was .102, which is above the .08 legal limit. Jennifer Hart, along with her partner Sarah and three of their adopted children were killed when their SUV crashed off a cliff in Mendocino County, Calif. on Monday, March 26. Three other adopted children have been reported missing, and police believe they were likely in the car at the time of the crash. California Patrol Capt. Bruce Carpenter says toxicology tests also found that Sarah Hart and two of their adopted children had "a significant amount" of an ingredient commonly found in the allergy drug Benadryl, which can make people sleepy. "Facts in the case are coming at a rapid pace," the Mendocino County Sheriff said in a news conference Friday. They've also confirmed the Hart family's SUV was about 70 feet from the cliff's edge, when Jennifer accelerated somewhere between 20 to 30 mph and went over the cliff. Authorities believe the crash was intentional, but have released no other details. Previous allegations of abuse, neglect KATU has reported on several other incidents involving Jennifer and Sarah Hart. In 2017, one of the Hart children jumped out of a second-story window and begged her neighbors for help. She said her parents were racist, abusive and whipped her. In the weeks leading up to the crash, Devonte Hart went to his neighbor's house several times asking for food, adding his parents were punishing him and not allowing him to eat. In 2013, a family friend said she "witnessed what I felt to be controlling emotional abuse and cruel punishment" toward the six children. Alexandra Argyropoulos said she was told the children had been interviewed by officials but there was nothing more the Oregon Department of Human Services could do because there was not enough evidence to make a case. After reporting her concerns in 2013, Argyropoulos said, she was told the Hart children had been interviewed by officials from the Oregon department; it was apparent that each child had been coached by their mothers on what to say; and nothing more could be done. Court records show Sarah Hart pleaded guilty to a domestic assault charge in Douglas County, Minnesota in 2011. Her plea also led to the dismissal of a charge of malicious punishment of a child. One of her daughters, who was 6 years old at the time, showed her teacher she had bruising all over her back and torso. And in 2008, a report obtained by KATU says one of their daughters claimed Jennifer beat her using a belt. When confronted by officials, Jennifer and Sarah Hart said the little girl was misbehaving, and added she likely got her bruises from falling down the stairs.

– The woman who drove an SUV off a California cliff last month with her family inside was legally drunk at the time, say authorities in Mendocino County. Jennifer Hart had a blood-alcohol level of .102, over the state limit of .08, reports KOMO. Hart was killed along with her wife, Sarah Hart, and three of their adopted children. Toxicology tests also revealed that Sarah Hart and at least two of the kids in the vehicle had "a significant amount" of a drug ingredient commonly found in Benadryl, which can make people sleepy, per the AP. The Harts had three other adopted children, and their whereabouts are unknown. However, authorities have since found a still-unidentified body that could be one of those three. Police still haven't pieced together all the circumstances of the deadly plunge, except to say they don't think it was accidental. On Friday, the sheriff's office confirmed that the SUV had been about 70 feet from the edge of the cliff before Jennifer Hart accelerated to between 20mph and 30mph.

Jody Herring, charged with killing DCF worker Lara Sobel, is seen at her court arraignment last week with Washington County Sheriff Sam Hill. (Photo: Toby Talbot/Times Argus via AP, Pool) BARRE – Murder suspect Jody Herring developed a "hit list" and moved methodically through a Berlin farmhouse where she fatally shot three relatives before driving to Barre to kill a state social worker, new court papers show. Herring, 40, of South Barre used the same rifle, stolen from her former boyfriend, to kill all four victims in a dispute about child custody, according to a sworn statement outlining three more murder charges the suspect now faces. Court papers say Herring's "hit list" included the names of several of the victims, the former boyfriend told investigators. Killed were Lara Sobel, 48, of East Montpelier, a veteran Department for Children and Families social worker, and three of Herring's relatives: Regina Herring, 43, Rhonda Herring, 48, and Julie Ann Falzarano, 73. The bodies of Herring's relatives were found Aug. 8, the day after Sobel was slain outside her office in Barre. Prosecutors concluded Jody Herring arrived at the farmhouse Aug. 7 with the intent of killing her relatives. "The scene suggests Rhonda Herring, Regina Herring and Julie Falzarano were murdered in a deliberate and purposeful fashion," reads an affidavit written by Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Todd Baxter. "It is reasonable to believe ... that Jody progressed room to room within the residence located at 3168 Airport Rd. Berlin, Vt., murdering Rhonda, Regina and Julie individually within a short period of time," Baxter wrote in the 12-page document, made public Friday. Baxter's sworn account of what transpired was filed in court to support three charges of aggravated murder — the most serious murder charges under Vermont law. Conviction is punishable by a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Court papers show a judge found probable cause for the charges. Aggravated murder in this case means committing more than one killing as part of the same crime. Herring intends to plead not guilty when she is arraigned Tuesday in Vermont Superior Court in Barre, defense lawyer David Sleigh told the Burlington Free Press. Sleigh said the state filed the charges late Thursday afternoon. The Attorney General's Office, which is leading the prosecution, provided him a copy of the charging documents at about 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sleigh added. He had yet to review the paperwork with Herring. "Based on what I've been told, I certainly expected these charges would be filed," Sleigh said. "We'll enter a plea of not guilty on Tuesday and let the process take care of itself." Bystanders disarmed Herring and restrained her after Sobel, a mother of two, was ambushed Aug. 7 as she left her Barre office building for the weekend. Court papers described Herring as calm and laughing while officers processed her at the Barre police station. Baxter wrote in his affidavit that Herring became agitated when police attempted to question her and hinted at the undiscovered carnage at the Berlin farmhouse six miles away. "Did you find the other three yet?" Herring, laughing, said to a pair of detectives who were questioning her. Not until morning would police discover the killings of Herring's three relatives. The only charge related to the killings that had been filed against Herring before Thursday was a single count of first-degree murder related to the slaying of Sobel, who was shot twice. Buy Photo Lara Sobel, 48, of East Montpelier is seen in this family photo shared on Facebook by the Vermont State Employees Association. Sobel, a Department for Children and Families social worker, was shot and killed Aug. 7 as she left her office in Barre. Police say she was ambushed by a mother who was angry about losing custody of her daughter. (Photo: ADAM SILVERMAN/FREE PRESS) The authorities say Herring was angry at losing custody of her 9-year-old daughter in July, a case in which Sobel had been involved. Herring pleaded not guilty at arraignment Aug. 10 at Vermont Superior Court in Barre and is jailed without bail. The authorities had named Herring as the only suspect in the other three killings and said consistently that more charges were possible. Regina and Rhonda Herring were sisters, and Falzarano was their mother. The younger women were cousins of Jody Herring. Falzarano was her aunt. Police trace rifle The affidavit that outlines the new charges discusses how Herring came into possession of the Remington Model 700 rifle police say was used in the killings. According to court papers, Vermont State Police investigators determined Herring stole the rifle from her former boyfriend, Henry Premont. The 51-year-old Premont told police he ended his relationship with Herring a day or two before the killings. He said he came home from work Aug. 7 to discover the rifle missing from his Williamstown apartment. Premont confirmed to police, the affidavit states, that the serial number on the rifle seized at the scene of Sobel's slaying in Barre matched the serial number for his Remington. Firearms technicians concluded shell casings recovered by police at the Berlin and Barre crime scenes came from the same gun. The investigation also determined Herring earlier this year attempted to purchase a gun from two firearms dealers: R+L Archery in Barre City and Mid State Sports in Randolph. Both dealers denied Herring after conducting a mandatory background check. Henry Premont, 51, of Williamstown talks with attorney Maggie Vincent in a Washington County courtroom Thursday. Premont pleaded not guilty to charges of reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. (Photo: MORGAN TRUE/VT Digger, pool) According to court papers, Herring's previous criminal convictions bar her from owning or possessing a firearm under the federal Brady Act. Police interviews with Premont also shed more light on why Herring might have targeted Sobel. Court papers state that Premont told police Herring mentioned Sobel's name in conversation "on several occasions." Premont told police he had seen a "hit list" that Herring had written months before the killings. The list contained, according to Premont, the names of Regina Herring and Rhonda Herring; Jody's mother, Jenella; Janella's husband, Ken; and possibly Dwayne Herring, Jody's brother. Premont is facing unrelated charges after authorities say he engaged in an armed standoff with police Aug. 12 in Barre. He pleaded not guilty. Law-enforcement authorities say Premont was acting as though he wanted police to shoot him and demanded to see Herring. He was taken into custody unharmed. Shooting time line Buy Photo Jody Herring is led into Vermont Superior Court in Barre on Monday, Aug. 10, 2015, for arraignment on a murder charge relating to the killing of state social worker Lara Sobel. Herring now faces three more murder charges arising from the shootings of three relatives. (Photo: GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS FILE) The affidavit discloses a more complete time line of when law enforcement believes the slayings occurred. Sobel was killed outside the Barre City Place office building at about 4:45 p.m. Aug. 7. Herring was arrested immediately afterward. The killings at the Berlin farmhouse took place some time earlier that day. Dwayne Herring, Jody Herring's brother, told police Jody called him four times between 4:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., according to the affidavit. He did not answer and said his sister left voice mails in which she stated: "If you think anything of your sister, you'll get a hold of me now." Tiffany Herring, 23, the daughter of Rhonda Herring, previously told the Burlington Free Press that her mother received a phone call at the farmhouse from Jody Herring around 8 a.m. Aug. 7. Jody Herring made comments about the Department for Children and Families and threatened Rhonda Herring, Tiffany Herring told the Free Press. Court papers state Tiffany Herring, who lived at the home with her mother and grandmother, left the farmhouse around noon Aug. 7. Fern Moore, a friend of Rhonda and Regina Herring, told police the sisters failed to meet her to go shopping at 1 p.m. as they had planned. Moore called Rhonda Herring's phone multiple times from 1:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., but the calls went unanswered, the affidavit states. Court papers state Dwayne Herring said he received another voice message from Jody Herring at 3 p.m. in which she said: "Watch the news; you'll wish you got a hold of me earlier." The affidavit states Christopher Herring, a cousin of Jody Herring, told police he saw Herring's vehicle outside the home of her mother, Jenella, at about 3:30 p.m. Buy Photo Police tape surrounds a house on Airport Road in Berlin where three family members were found shot to death on Saturday, August 8, 2015. (Photo: GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS FILE) Another cousin, Keith Herring, told police he saw Herring driving near Barre City Place between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tiffany Herring told the Burlington Free Press on Aug. 8 that she discovered the fatal shooting at the farmhouse. She said she stopped with a friend at the family home at 3168 Airport Rd. in Berlin at about 8 a.m. and found both doors were wide open. "I walked into the living room, and that's where I saw my mom dead," Tiffany Herring said several hours after discovering the bodies. She said Falzarano appeared to have been shot to death in bed, while Rhonda Herring had put up a fight. Vermont Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Steven Shapiro later said autopsies determined all three women at the Berlin home died within seconds from gunshot wounds. Regina Herring was struck twice in the torso. Rhonda Herring and Falzarano each were struck once in the "upper extremity/torso," Shapiro stated. The filing of charges was first reported Friday by WCAX-TV. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: This story was first posted online on Aug. 21, 2015. Contact Zach Despart at 651-4826 or zdespart@burlingtonfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ZachDespart. Read or Share this story: http://bfpne.ws/1Lp5bTU ||||| BARRE, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont woman accused of killing a social worker because she was upset about losing custody of her 9-year-old daughter has been charged with gunning down three relatives hours before. Jody Herring's ex-boyfriend told police that she kept a handwritten "hit list," and prosecutors on Thursday charged her with killing three of the people on it: two cousins and an aunt. The former boyfriend also told police that Herring had made comments about how "people are going to pay" and "there's going to be an Armageddon" regarding visitation rights to see her daughter. Herring has pleaded not guilty to shooting Department for Children and Families employee Lara Sobel as she exited a state office building in Barre on Aug. 7. Her lawyer David Sleigh said she will plead not guilty when she is arraigned Tuesday on the three new murder counts. Herring had tried to buy guns at stores in Barre and Randolph in March but was denied because she couldn't pass a background check, authorities said. The murder weapon was a hunting rifle that Herring stole from the estranged boyfriend, Henry Premont, police said in court documents. Premont told police that Herring had lived with him in Williamstown from March until they broke up on Aug. 5. He told investigators that her hit list included the names of the three slain relatives, her mother, her mother's boyfriend and possibly her brother. He also told police that she would often make threats about the visitation rights to see her daughter, including the "Armageddon" comment. He told police that Herring wanted to shoot someone in the head and "see brain matter." Herring's older daughter told police that Herring had accused the three slain relatives — 43-year-old cousin Regina Herring, 48-year-old cousin Rhonda Herring and 73-year-old aunt Julie Falzarano — of calling child welfare officials, according to court documents. She also told police that her mother had even claimed to have paid $25,000 to have a motorcycle gang kill several relatives. After Sobel was shot, police say bystanders subdued Herring and got the rifle away from her. Officers say Herring was "calm and laughing" when they arrived on the scene minutes later. When police interviewed her about Sobel, Herring laughed and asked "did you find the other three yet?" according to a police affidavit.

– The Vermont woman charged with killing a social worker after losing custody of her 9-year-old daughter had a "hit list" that included her mother, stepfather, and possibly brother, according to documents made public yesterday. The Burlington Free Press reports Jody Herring's ex-boyfriend told police he saw the hit list months before Herring allegedly killed three of her relatives and social worker Lara Sobel. According to the documents, Herring shot and killed her aunt and two cousins at their farmhouse Aug. 7 in a "deliberate and purposeful fashion" before killing Sobel as she left her office. She had promised "Armageddon," says her ex-boyfriend, reports AP. Herring allegedly stole the rifle used in all four killings from the ex, who was arrested days later in an armed standoff with police. Herring has now been charged with the three additional murders and is facing life in prison. The court papers also reveal that when detectives were interviewing Herring after the Sobel killing, she laughed and said, "Did you find the other three yet?" Her relative's bodies were discovered the following day.

× Timeline: Updates in the Aurora movie theater shooting The following information is updated as details become available: UPDATES: Monday, July 23, 2012 3:09 PM: Court set up a web page for documents related to the People of the State of Colorado v. James Holmes. 2:45 PM: Booking photo of the suspect, James Holmes, is released. 2:00 PM: Lawyer for suspect’s family holds news conference in San Diego to clarify mother’s “You have the right person comment.” She was referring to herself, and not her son. 10:17 AM: We now have an 18-second video showing James Holmes’ dazed demeanor at his court appearance this morning. If you want to watch the entire video from Holmes’ court appearance, it’s still on loop on our live stream at KWGN.com. For some analysis of Holmes’ appearance, watch Everyday, which is streaming live on KDVR.com. 10:09 AM: The district attorney’s press conference has concluded. Carol Chambers, Arapahoe County district attorney, on Monday urged anybody who still has information that may be pertinent in the case to contact the police or the district attorney’s office. Asked by a reporter if any medication or sedatives had been provided by the jail to Holmes, Chambers said she had no information about it. 10:00 AM: “It’s still a very active and ongoing investigation,” Carol Chambers, Arapahoe County district attorney, said Monday. Domestic terrorism charges would not be something state prosecutors would consider in the case, Carol Chambers, Arapahoe County district attorney, said Monday. Victims’ families will be consulted before a decision is made on seeking the death penalty for Holmes, Carol Chambers, Arapahoe County district attorney, said. That decision is months away, she said. Carol Chambers, Arapahoe County district attorney, said “there is no such thing as a slam dunk case” and prosecutors would be working hard to prove the charges against James Holmes. 9:45 AM: Holmes’ hair was dyed a bright orange during his court appearance Monday. Holmes’ expression has changed little during the court hearing. He has mostly been staring off into space. 9:34 AM: Formal filing of charges will be Monday, July 30, at 9:30 a.m., the judge says. Holmes didn’t look at the judge as the hearing started, just down as he was read his rights. James Holmes appears before Judge William B. Sylvester. He is wearing a maroon jumpsuit. 6:15 AM: Suspect James E. Holmes is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 9:30 AM today. The 24-year-old North Aurora native is being represented by Daniel King and Tamara Brady, chief trial attorney for the state public defender. The decision to seek the death penalty will be up to the Arapahoe County District Attorney and will come 60 days after Holmes’ arraignment. The last executions in the state of Colorado occurred in 1976. Sunday, July 22, 2012 7:45 PM: University of Colorado-Denver Anschutz Medical Campus issues alert restricting access to areas of the campus. 6:37 PM: Crowds are gathering at the Aurora memorial vigil 5:50 PM: From @PeterBurnsRadio via Twitter: Obama talked on @JessicaRedfield’s sports passion. Was familiar with her story. Said “she was girl with passion that was going places” Editor’s note: Jessica was a former sports intern at FOX31 Denver. 5:34 PM: #Broncos players meet with some of the hospital staff that treated victims of the Aurora shooting victims. 5:15 PM: From Eli Stokols: Obama campaign will keep all ads off the air through the end of this week according to the campaign. Romney is following suit. Campaign says ads will be off the air “until further notice.” 5:05 PM: This coming from CNN reporter on Twitter: ‏@CNNValencia NEW- #CNN confirms #JamesHolmes received a Natl. Institutes of Health-sponsored Univ. grant worth $26,000. Got monthly check for ~$2,100 4:50 PM: From @PeterBurnsRadio Such a dichotomy of emotions after each Obama family meeting. Amazing celebrations of lives as well poignant issue discussions. 4:45 PM: From @PeterBurnsRadio “President Obama has just come in and is sitting with each family individually. Amazing dialogue with each group.” Burns is the morning radio host at WFAN and a close friend of Jessica Redfield/Ghawi. 4:42 PM: from @allisonsherry (Denver Post Washington Bureau) We arrived at University of Colorado Hospital at 3:52 p.m. local as spectacular summer thunderstorm rolled in, thunder, lightening and some much-needed rain. POTUS was escorted up to visit patients. From the hospital: Twenty-three patients were brought to the hospital in the aftermath of the Cinema 16 Aurora theater shootings July 20. Of those, one died and 12 were treated and released. Seven remain in critical condition and three in good condition, hospital officials said. Not sure of the 12 which one died at University hospital. Pool is holding in a cafeteria. Patients and hospital visitors are pressed across the glass on all floors taking cell phone pictures of all the black cars parked near the holding area. 4:40 PM: From Eli Stokols: >First stop is University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, where he is >meeting with families of victims killed in last Thursday¹s tragedy. He >is joined by Governor Hickenlooper and Mayor Steve Hogan. >Following the meeting, the President will make a statement to the press at the Hospital. >a hospital spokesman says that this hospital initially received injured >23 shooting victims. Thirteen have been released and ten remain. Of >those, seven are still in critical condition and three are in good >condition. > >The hospital is about a five minute drive from the movie theater. 4:34 PM: Members of the Denver Broncos met with victims today 3:58 PM: Report: Denver Broncos Quarterback Peyton Manning called victims of the Aurora theater shooting. 3:50 PM: Patient updates from Denver Health Medical Center Denver Health Medical Center received seven patients from the theatre shooting in Aurora. All patients were treated for gunshot wounds and abrasions to the extremities. Five patients have now been treated and released. Two remain at the hospital in fair condition. 1:44 PM: Per Aurora Police: Update regarding the Paris Street apartment address: The law enforcement perimeter has been reduced down to include only the building located at 1690 North Paris Street. The processing and collection of evidence inside the suspect’s apartment has concluded. Security of the building is still being maintained because of chemical hazards from the suspect’s apartment. Residents are being allowed to get personal items. When it is deemed safe, they will be allowed to return home. It is not known when this will occur for certain. Once the building is released to the residents, the suspect’s apartment will remain sealed off to maintain scene integrity. Update regarding crime scene at theater: The theater crime scene is not expected to be released for up to a week. This is for evidentiary purposes for case preparation. Saturday, July 21, 2012 9:05 PM: Police are looking for a second “person of interest” in connection with the Aurora theater shooting and suspected gunman James Holmes 8:49 PM: Per University of Colorado Hospital (as of Saturday evening): 23 patients brought to University of Colorado Hospital 12 treated and released 1 deceased (our understanding is this person has been included in death toll from Aurora Police) 7 patients in critical condition 3 patients in good condition 7:17 PM: (CNN) — President Barack Obama will be in Aurora, Colorado, on Sunday to visit with victims of a shooting rampage inside a movie theater, a White House official said Saturday. 6:47 PM: Per Aurora Police: – All hazards have been removed. – The FBI Evidence Response Team (ERT) remains on scene processing the apartment for evidence. This will be the case for several more hours. The FBI ERT will continue those efforts tomorrow. – The hazards have been removed and transported to a disposal site. – All evacuated residents can return to their homes. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF 1690 PARIS STREET. This building will remain secure for the purpose of preserving evidence. – The only remaining street closure is in the 1600 block of Paris. 3:38 PM: The Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office released the following list of victim’s names: The Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office has definitively identified 11 of the 12 victims who were killed inside the Century 16 movie theater: Jessica N. Ghawi (11/27/1987) Veronica Moser-Sullivan (12/23/2005) John T. Larimer (2/16/1985) Alexander J. Boik (9/20/1993) Jesse E. Childress (1/5/1983) Jonathan T. Blunk (1/20/1986) Rebecca Ann Wingo (10/8/1979) Alex M. Sullivan (7/20/1985) Gordon W. Cowden (11/17/1960) Micayla C. Medek (5/5/1989) Alexander C. Teves (6/1/1988) On Additional victim, Matthew R. McQuinn (3/26/1985), has been presumptively identified, but is awaiting definitive identification. All of the families have been notified. As of July 21, 2012, autopsies have been carried out on all of the victims. The cause of death in all cases is related to gunshot wounds. The manner of death is homicide. The Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office wishes to convey its sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the victims. 3:07 PM: FOX31 Denver reporter Mark Meredith tweets from a press briefing held by the Aurora Police Department: #theatershooting shooting victims names could be released as early as today from coroners office. #theatershooting police say it’s important that information comes out in court. The names of victims will be released by coroner #theatershooting – someone how loud music went off in apartment of suspect. But police not releasing a theory of what shooter may hav wanted #theatershooting – police: the gun purchases were legal. #theatershooting – police: at this time this appears to be a state prosecuted case. #theatershooting police: we simply hope to wrap up work at the suspects apartment in the 12-24 hours #theatershooting – vigil planned 630-730 tomorrow – many people expected from Colorado political leadership. #theatershooting police: aurora public schools has setup disaster recovery centers for victims and families. #theatershooting chief says people shouldn’t be afraid – be able to go to the movies. “Colorado is a special place in how it helps victims” #theatershooting aurora fire chief: we truly feel for the families and victims. Very proud of the firefighters of the response in last 48hrs @KDVR online now #theatershooting briefing. “we sure as hell are angry about what has happened to our city” says police chief #theatershooting police not ready to discuss any possible motive in case. Details will come out in court and not right now. #theatershooting police: we think well be out of the movie theater by Monday. Suspects defense team to see it on Tuesday. #theatershooting – police: no further hazards in theater. Personal effects being removed including purses wallets #theatershooting POLICE: tip line working well. 84 leads from tips so far. Anyone with info 720-913-7867 #theatershooting – police: our suspect has had high volume of packages from last 4 months. Explains how ammunition got to suspect. @KDVR #theatershooting – FBI says this was challenging for all involved. Both local and national asserts have been working on situation #theatershooting FBI says suspects apartment was very dangerous situation. If someone had opened the door people may have lost their life @KDVR #theatershooting FBI says most people who live near suspects apartment will be going home tomorrow 2:05 PM: From @CJose at the suspect’s apartment: still active scene at apt. & the 4 surrounding buildings that are also evacuated. doesn’t appear families will return soon 12:48 PM: Aurora PD statement: We have been successful in disabling a second triggering device through a controlled detonation. Although NOT certain – we are hopeful we have eliminated the remaining major threats. However, we will not know for sure until we enter the apartment. Many hazards remain inside. We will continue to be at this location for hours collecting evidence and mitigating those hazards. In the event that more triggering devices are found, there is a possibility of more controlled disruptions to occur. 11:47 AM: Emergency crews entered suspect’s apartment, which is filled with explosive devices and triggers. Disarming the devices will take place in three phases: APD statement: Most immediate threat was a tripwire rigged to the apartment’s door. The controlled detonation was successful. Still more work to be done in the apartment to include dealing with other devices. There is a possibility of more controlled detonations. We will keep you updated. Streets open now. Friday, July 20, 2012 10:20 PM: In addition to Jessica Ghawi, two additional victims have been identified: AJ Boik (age unknown at this time) Micayla Medek, 23 Alex Sullivan, 27, was celebrating his birthday the night of the shootings. His family issued the following statement: “The Sullivan family lost a cherished member of their family today. Alex was smart, funny, and above all loved dearly by his friends and family. Today was his 27th birthday.” 10:10 PM: “My heart goes out to the families and the victims,” Deborah Wood-Graves told FOX31 Denver on Friday. Wood-Graves frequently saw Holmes at a nearby store. 10:00 PM: Residents living at and near 1690 Paris Street remain evacuated from their homes this evening. Evacuees are staying at Aurora Central High School. 7:50 PM: James Holmes’ family issued the following statement: Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved. We ask that the media respect our privacy during this difficult time. Our family is cooperating with authorities in both San Diego, California and Aurora, Colorado. We are still trying to process this information and we appreciate that people will respect our privacy. 6:33 PM: Per the incident commander at the Century 16 Theatre, citizens will not be permitted to pick up their vehicles after 7PM. They will be allowed to retrieve their vehicles tomorrow at 9AM 6:12 PM: The Aurora Coroner’s Office said it will identify the names of the dead to families at 8 p.m. 5:54 PM: Per the incident commander at the Paris Street scene. Residents of the following addresses will be able to return to their residences to pick up emergency items, such as medicine and baby items: 11948 East 17th Avenue 1686 Paris Street 1685 Paris Street 1678 Paris Street Evacuees should meet at Paris Elementary School (1635 Paris Street) at 7PM. They will be escorted by a Police Officer and will only have a limited amount of time to pick up items. Residents will be required to show identification and no children will be permitted to enter the buildings. NO ONE will be permitted to enter 1690 Paris Street. 5:49 PM: “Batman” director Christopher Nolan condemns shooting in the following statement via TMZ: “Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community. I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting but that they were there last night to watch a movie. I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime. MORE>>> 5:45 PM: Metro area theaters will have increased security this weekend in wake of Aurora shooting. Several theaters are either discouraging or banning costumes. 5:38 PM: Hendrik Sybrandy reporting live from shooting suspect’s San Diego home. “Not clear if there were true warning signs” prior to shooting. James Holmes grew up in upper-middle class neighborhood. 4:46 PM: Authorities at the Aurora Medical Center have said the volume of patients they received from the Aurora theater shooting is the most extreme they’ve seen — more so, even, than the Columbine tragedy. “We got more patients in a shorter period of time,” Center surgeon James Denton said. “We were better prepared for it. Some of our distaster planning and training served us well.” Denton said the injuries ranged from gunshot wounds to the head, chest and abdomen, along with “substantial wounds to extremities.” 4:29 PM: We have a video interview with a man who shared beers with James Holmes at the Zephyr Lounge in Aurora. Jackie Mitchell called Holmes a ‘well-educated’ owner of an ‘intelligent smirk’ 3:39 PM: Police will shut down parts of Peoria Street at 6 p.m. as they attempt to enter James Holmes’ booby-trapped apartment either with personnel or a bomb robot. 3:33 PM: There is a new report out that while James Holmes may not have been dressed like the Joker, he had colored his hair read and told police he “was the Joker.” Read the story about an earlier report from the NYPD that may have been misreported. 3:07 PM: Colorado State football recruit Zack Golditch, who was slated to be an incoming freshman for the Rams this season, was the one person who was struck by a bullet in Theater 8, the adjacent theater to where the attacks occurred. Golditch was shot in the neck — under the ear — and the bullet passed through his body. He is currently recovering at home. We will sit down with him for an interview later today. 3:02 PM: Anyone wanting to donate to victims of the Aurora theater shooting are being urged to call 303-739-6346. 2:28 PM: Bunkley Air Force Base has confirmed that one of its four missing or injured service members has died. 2:18 PM: ABC’s Brian Ross reported earlier Friday that James Holmes might be a radical member of the Tea Party organization. ABC issued the following note retracting those statements: “Editor’s Note: An earlier ABC News broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado Tea Party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect. ABC News and Brian Ross apologize for the mistake, and for disseminating that information before it was properly vetted.” 2:04 PM: A statement from the department of defense reports that one sailors has been injured, along with two airmen at the Aurora theater shooting. A fourth service member known to be at the theater is unaccounted for. 1:57PM: James Holmes did purchase the weapons he used in the attack legally, though he did not have a permit to carry concealed weapons. Also, Holmes is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 8 a.m. Monday. 1:42 PM: More information from the Medical Center of Aurora: The hospital has just received three additional patients. The Center does not currently have status on these three patients, but hope to provide that information shortly. 1:25 PM: According to the Associated Press, a federal law enforcement official said suspect James Holmes first bought a ticket to the movie, and then is believed to have propped open an exit door in the theater as the movie was playing. He slipped out midway through the showing, put on his ballistic gear and re-entered the theater. 1:00 PM: Shantyl Toledo, who posted one of the most trafficked YouTube video of victims on the scene of the Aurora theater shooting, emailed us and wanted to issue this apology. Apparently he’s taking quite a bit of heat for the video. The apology featured many typos that we’ve tried to interpret and correct. This is the amended version that Toledo agrees captures the original intent of the letter: “I would like to comment to the public stating my apology, if my shooting the video offended anyone. I just wanted to capture people’s fighting spirit at the scene. My heart goes out to families. I was in theater 16 and walked out of front door alive. Thank God.” 12:53 PM: Our Chris Parente has contacted all Denver-area cinemas. None are planning to cancel showings of “The Dark Knights Rises.” All are planning on having increased security on hand. 12:50 PM: Obama orders flags at half staff for the day in honor of Aurora movie theater shooting victims. 12:43 PM: Multiple coroner vehicles are arriving at the scene of the Aurora movie theater shooting. 12:41 PM: The Washington examiner is reporting that in the 1985 comic book, “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,” there is a scene in which a lunatic kills three people in a movie theater. 12:45 PM: CU Police are clearing some buildings on Anschutz Medical Campus as a robot is about to enter Holmes’ apartment, which is three blocks away from campus. 12:32 PM: We now have video of the 3-month-old who was released from University Hospital this morning — one of the few positive stories to come out on this tragic day. 12:24 PM: We’ve found that suspect, James Holmes was not licensed to carry firearms. 12:18 PM: All of the following information comes from Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates Suspect James Holmes, 24, of Aurora, had one traffic summons for speeding in 2011. Other than that, he had no prior criminal record. Within one hour of the shooting early Friday morning, there were approximately 25 officers on the scene who apprehended Holmes. There were eventually approximately 200 officers on the scene several hours later. Holmes was apprehended with three weapons: one was left inside the crime scene. On his person, Holmes had an AR-15 assault rifle, a Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun and a 40-caliber Glock handgun. He had another 40-caliber Glock handgun in his car. The police have no capability of estimating the amount of shots fired. There were “many, many shots fired.” 71 people were shot — 12 are deceased. Two died at area hospitals, 10 died at the scene We are not looking for any other suspects, “we are confident that Holmes acted alone.’ Some rounds penetrated into an adjoining theater — at least one person was struck by a bullet in the adjoining theater The suspect was dressed in all black, ballistic attire that included throat, hand and leg covering as well as head and chest protection. Anyone with additional information is being encourage to call a tip line at 303-739-1862. For those who feel traumatized, you can call a help line at 303-617-2300. The crime scene is large, and includes some cars in the parking lot. The police are working to get those cars released, but “we will be (at the crime scene) for some time.” Holmes’ Paris Street apartment is booby-trapped with trip wire, incendiary devices and chemical devises. Five buildings in the area have been evacuated. There were four showings of “The Dark Knight Rises” at the theater. All were sold out. Police interviewed close to 200 witnesses. Police are analyzing all social media — there are a lot of fake reports. Someone called a national media station and said he was Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates. Police were on scene within a minute to a minute and a half of the first call and apprehended Holmes at that point. Aurora police often station off-duty officers at the theater. They were not there last night “We’re not going to get into why (Holmes) did what he did. We don’t have that information,” Oates said. “There is pretty significant evidence he used the assault rifle, shotgun and handgun in the theater,” Oates aid. Oates said that he used to work for the NYPD, but he would not comment on the NYPD report that Holmes was dressed as the Joker from the Batman franchise. “He was dressed as I described,” Oates said. 11:51 AM: Hickenlooper called the shooting an “act of a deranged mind,” in the Aurora Theater shooting press conference, which is streaming live now. We’ve also learned that the suspected gunman, James Holmes, may been dressed as the joker when he entered the theater last night. 11:46 AM: We now have a video interview with a man who was detained by Aurora Police in the Aurora Medical Center after he became enraged about the information that his 6-year-old child had been killed and his ex-wife had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest. When told that the suspected gunman was still alive, the man said “hopefully not for long.” 10:46 AM: Mitt Romney, who also cancelled his campaign events Tuesday in New Hampshire, just issued a live statement. Here are a few of his comments. “This morning, Colorado lost youthful voices,” Romney said. “There will be justice for those responsible. But that’s another matter for another day.” Instead, Romney said he wanted to offer these words of comfort today: “Our prayer is that the Comforter will bring the peace to the souls (of the victims and their families) that surpasses their understanding. The Apostle Paul explains: Blessed be God, who comforteth us in all our tribulations that we will be able to comfort them if they are in any trouble.” 10:27 AM: The death total has now been upgraded to 13 from 12. It had initially been reported at 14. 10:26 AM: Buckley Air Force Base confirms that the three casualties reported earlier by the Pentagon are actually injuries, not fatalities. No word on the further condition of those individuals. 10:22 AM: Of the 15 patients initially admitted to the Aurora Medical Center South, five are in critical condition. Call 303-873-5393 for a status of the patients at that location. 10:18 AM: We have now received confirmation that a 7-year-old has now been reported dead. In addition, we have learned that suspect James Holmes had no prior criminal record. 9:59 AM: We now have a 30-image photo gallery featuring everything from victims being treated on the scene to the suspects apartment and his riot gear to the plethora of police command posts that have been set up. 9:15 AM: CU-Denver Medical Campus said that suspected shooter was a student in the Fall of 2011. He was studying some form of neuroscience at the Medical Campus and withdrew in June. 9:11 AM: Police say they’ve evacuated 5 buildings near suspect James Holmes’ booby-trapped apartment. “It appears that’s sufficient at this time,” officials said. They continued to say “it could be hours, it could be days” until the apartment is ruled safe again. 9:06 AM: Police reports state the suspect in this shooting, James Holmes, moved to Colorado from San Diego to pursue a PhD. The owner of the booby-trapped apartment said that Holmes just moved in to his building. 8:58 AM: Aurora Police are saying that the third floor of James Holmes’ apartment is booby-trapped with sophisticated explosives. The entire building and surrounding area at 17th and Oswego have been evacuated. 8:53 AM: President Obama, speaking to crowd at campaign rally in Ft. Myers, Fla., offers condolences to victims’ families. He says, “There will be other days for politics. This, I think, is a day for prayer and reflection.” Obama and Romney campaigns also announce they will temporarily pull down TV ads out of respect to the victims. 8:47 AM: President Obama is speaking live now. Watch it here 8:33 PM: Morgan Freeman has released a statement via Twitter: “Deeply saddened to hear about the #theatershooting at the screen of The Dark Knight Rises. My prayers go out to the families and friends.” 8:29 PM: One of the confirmed dead, Jessica Refield, who interned here for a brief time at FOX31, wrote a blog post — now, a very chilling blog post — about narrowly escaping a deadly mall shooting in Toronto last month. 8:22 AM: Governor John Hickenlooper has released a statement. “This is not only an act of extreme violence, it is also an act of depravity. It is beyond the power of words to fully express our sorrow this morning. Our prayers and condolences go first to the families of those killed, and we share the grief of everyone affected by this senseless event. We appreciate the swift work by local, state and federal law enforcement. Coloradans have a remarkable ability to support one another in times of crisis. This one of those times.” 8:12 AM: Children’s Hospital Colorado has received 6 victims — one child and five adults, ages 18 – 31 — from last night’s shooting at the Aurora movie theater. One patient has passed and the other five range in condition from good to critical. 8:09 AM: President Obama has cancelled his Florida campaign stop in response to the shooting. 8:02 AM: The Medical Center of Aurora received 15 patients. Call the medical Center at 303-873-5292 for information. The Center reported that 12 of the 15 patients have gunshot wounds. The three other patients had chemical exposure, and have been released. The University Hospital now has 23 patients. 7:59 AM: Watch the video of our interview with a witness who said the shooter pointed a gun in her face. She said most people in the theater initially thought the gunman was a prop — a part of the show. 7:50 AM: Of the 38 injured, nine are being reported in critical condition at University Hospital in Aurora and two are reported in critical condition at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood. 7:46 AM: We’re tracking the emotional response that’s pouring out via social media. For some of the tweets, click here. 7:40 AM: We reportedly earlier that a girl named Jessica Ghawi was reported dead along with Jessica Redfield. We’re now being told that this girl is the same person. Her mother tells us that Ghawi is her “birth name,” but that she” never went by that last name.” She always went by Redfield. 7:36 AM: Watch the emotional interview from witness Ben Fernandez, who was in theater 9, and said he saw one 12-year-old with two bullet wounds and others “covered in blood.” 7:11 AM: A 3-month-old victim was recently released from hospital. A father has confirmed his 6-year-old daughter was killed. 7:05 AM: Congressman Ed Perlmutter, whose district includes the area where this shooting took place, has just released a statement. “I am stunned and furious at the news of the shooting at the Aurora Century 16 Movie theater this morning. Our heart and prayers are with the families and loved ones of the victims of this tragedy. Colorado is not a violent place, but we have some violent people. We are a strong and resilient community, and we will lean on each other in the days, weeks and months to come.” 6:58 AM: New photos of victims being treated on the scene can be found below. Also, President Obama will be addressing the shootings at his morning briefing at 9:20 a.m. this morning. 6:52 AM: The mother of suspect, James Holmes, is talking to ABC: “You have the right person,” she said, apparently speaking on gut instinct. “I need to call the police… I need to fly out to Colorado.” 6:47 AM: Refield’s friend is on the phone with us now on the live stream. Click here to watch. 6:42 AM: We are getting reports now that there are 38 confirmed wounded. 6:37 AM: The Premiere of the “The Dark Knight Rises” in Paris has been cancelled. 6:36 AM: Our Melody Mendez is reporting that another one of the 12 dead is Jessica Refield, a native of Texas who moved to Colorado last year. She interned for FOX31 for a brief time. Mendez said she was a huge sports fan, who also interned for a Denver radio station. 6:29 AM: Continue to check the top of this post for our most recent multimedia. The most recent is updated footage of this morning’s press conference with Aurora Police. 6:26 AM: The new full statement from Mitt Romney addressing the shooting: “Ann and I are deeply saddened by the news of the senseless violence that took the lives of 15 people in Colorado and injured dozens more. We are praying for the families and loved ones of the victims during this time of deep shock and immense grief. We expect that the person responsible for this terrible crime will be quickly brought to justice.” 6:15 AM: We’re now getting reports, according to scanner traffic, that a pregnant woman was shot in the chest. No further word on her condition. 6:07 AM: Pete Williams at NBC is sourcing two federal officials who are saying the name of the 24-year-old suspect in custody is James Holmes, of North Aurora. 6:00 AM: Very candid comments from Ben Fernandez, a witness who was in the theater. They will be up shortly. 5:58 AM: The identity of one girl killed in the attack has been released by a San Antonio TV station, KENS. That girl is Jessica Ghawi, a San Antonio native who has since moved to Colorado. 5:55 AM: Police say bodies of 10 victims are still at the crime scene inside the theater. 5:53 AM: Witness said “it was tear gas” that was used at the theater. 5:49 AM: Police originally said that there were 14 dead, that number has now changed to 12, per an Aurora Police press release. As of this moment, we have reports that some of the victims are as young as 12 years old. 5:45 AM: Multiple police organization have responded, including the FBI and ATF. Suspect said he had two bombs — one in his home and one in his vehicle. 5:43 AM: The gunman reportedly was also wearing a riot helmet and a bullet proof vest when he was discovered at his car int he back of the theater. He was also wearing a gas mask and carrying a handgun, a shotgun and a rifle. 5:37 AM: Some of the vehicles at hospital are being reportedly treated for chemical exposure. We’re told that most of the treatment is for tear gas. Reports say that many of the dead are children. 5:34 AM: Police say that a fire alarm was pulled by an employee, which was the only reason anyone began evacuating the theater. 5:31 AM: Police have evacuated residents at the apartment of 17th and Oswego in Aurora, which is expected to be the apartment of the suspect. The suspect alerted police he has some explosives in the apartment. A comment from a witness on the scene: “They said bullets were flying through the wall.” Then, gesturing to her friend, the witness said, “the girl that was sitting next to her got hit in the jaw.” The bullets coming through the wall into theater 8 came from theater 9, where the majority of the shooting occurred. 5:30 AM: Chief Dan Oats of the Aurora Police just made a few brief comments/ Oates said the suspect in custody “made a statement to us about explosive in his residence, beyond that I have nothing more to say” about the suspect’s motivations. Oates also answered a question referring to the possibility that there was a second shooter involved in the crime: “We have not been able to confirm reports of a second person. We have no evidence to support that right now. We are obviously very concerned about that.” 5:28 AM: The Red Cross is staffing an evacuation center at Gateway High School in Aurora with four mental health workers and a mobile feeding vehicle to help care for about 100 people who were evacuated from the scene. 5:26 AM: We’re told that the attack took place during a shooting scene in the movie, Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has also issued a brief statement: “Anne and I are deeply saddened praying for families and loved ones of the victims.” 5:20 AM: President Obama has issued a statement from a campaign event in Florida. His comments: “Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my Administration will do everything we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time. “We are committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people and caring for those who have been wounded. As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family. “All of us must have the people of Aurora in our thoughts and prayer as they confront the loss of family, friends and neighbors, and we must stand together with them in the challenging hours and days to come.” 5:15 AM: The death toll is still standing at 14, according to Aurora Police, but police are now saying “at least” 50 people are injured. It has been reported that 10 of those 14 people died inside the theater, with four dying later at area hospitals. A 24-year-old white male is said to have used homemade explosives in the attack. He was arrested with a shotgun, a handgun and a rifle in his possession, and he was wearing a gas mask. If you suspect you had a loved one at the theater, call 303-739-6000 for more information. This is not an information line, but rather a line to check on possible victims of this shooting. 4:33 AM: AURORA, Colo. — At least 14 people were killed and 50 more injured in a mass shooting during a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” at an Aurora movie theater Friday. It happened shortly after midnight at the Century 16 Movie Theaters just east of the Town Center at Aurora shopping mall near E. Mississippi Ave. and I-225. Witnesses said the gunman came into the front of theater #9, threw a canister that released smoke, and then opened fire. people first thought the gunfire was part of the movie. At least one person was in custody. It wasn’t known if there were more suspects. Witnesses were taken to nearby Gateway High School for questioning. MULTIMEDIA: Video: Investigation into suspected gunman leads to San Diego. Hendrik Sybrandy reports. Video: In-depth coverage: Victims identified as investigation into shooting spree continues Video: Columbine principal no stranger to tragedy Video: Suspect described as “smart, quirky loner” Hendrik Sybrandy reports from suspect’s childhood neighborhood in San Diego. Video: Many victims in theater shooting were kids Video: Aurora Public Schools opens its doors to victims, evacuees (press release) Video: Suspected gunman fits profile of a lone gunman, expert says Video: Theaters boost security in wake of Aurora shootings Video: Alleged gunman passed background check, legally purchased weapons Photo Gallery: Aurora theater shooting scene, suspect’s booby-trapped apartment … Video: Police detain man enraged over loss of child in Aurora theater shooting Video: Man shared beers with suspect, called him ‘well-educated’ owner of ‘intelligent smirk’ Web Poll: Should it be legal to own an assault rifle? Raw Video: Raw Video: 3-month-old injured in Aurora theater shooting released from hospital Raw Video: Crowd exits Aurora theater after shooting … YouTube Video: Scene outside Aurora theater shooting … Raw Video: Witnesses say ‘bullets were flying through wall’ of Aurora theater … Raw Audio: Police radio communications from Aurora theater shooting … Raw Video: Morning Aurora Police press conference from theater shooting … Raw Video: Emotional Aurora theater shooting witness describes seeing wounded children … Social Media: Follow the public reaction online … Raw Video: Witness says shooter ‘had the gun in my face’ ||||| Police are pictured outside of a Century 16 movie theatre where as many as 14 people were killed and many injured at a shooting during the showing of a movie at the in Aurora, Colo., Friday, July 20,... (Associated Press) A police spokesman says the gas mask-wearing suspect arrested in connection with a mass shooting in the Denver suburb of Aurora is a man in his early 20s. Aurora police spokesman Frank Fania told ABC's "Good Morning America" Friday that investigators don't believe anyone else was involved. Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates says witnesses reported the person released some type of a canister, then they heard a hissing sound and saw a gas _ and then the gunman started shooting. Officers found the suspect near a car behind the theater and also located a gas mask, rifle, handgun and at least another weapon. The suspect's name hasn't been released and police haven't indicated if there was a motive. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. A gunman wearing a gas mask opened fire early Friday at a suburban Denver theater at the opening of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises," killing 14 people and injuring at least 50 others, authorities said. The gunman, who is in custody, stood at the front of the theater and fired into the crowd about 12:30 a.m. MDT at a multiplex theater in a mall in Aurora. "Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire," Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said at a news conference. FBI spokesman Jason Pack said there's no indication in the investigation so far of any connection to terrorism. Aurora police spokesman Frank Fania on ABC's "Good Morning America" said he didn't know yet if all the injuries were gunshot wounds. He said some might have been caused by other things such as shrapnel. Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding the 911 switchboard, officials said. Officers came running in and telling people to leave the theater, Salina Jordan told the Denver Post. She said some police were carrying and dragging bodies. Officers later found the gunman near a car behind the theater. "A gas mask, rifle, handgun at least one additional weapon (were) found inside," he said. The suspect was taken into custody, but no name was released. Oates said there's no evidence of any other attackers. There was also no immediate word of any motive. The suspect spoke of "possible explosives in his residence. We are dealing with that potential threat," Oates said Police were at the Denver-area apartment and had evacuated other residents of the building. Oates did not say whether any explosives had been found. He said police also checked for explosives in the parking lot and at the Century 16 theater and secured those areas. President Barack Obama said he was saddened by the "horrific and tragic shooting," pledging that his administration was "committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded." Moviegoers spoke of their terror as violence erupted and people around them fell victim. Bejamin Fernandez, 30, told the Post that he heard a series of explosions. He said that people ran from the theater and there were gunshots as police shouted "get down!" Frenandez said he saw people falling, including one young girl. Jordan told the paper that one girl was struck in cheek, others in stomach including a girl who looked to be around 9-years-old. Jordan said it sounded like firecrackers until someone ran into Theater 8 yelling "they're shooting out here!" Hayden Miller told KUSA-TV that he heard several shots. "Like little explosions going on and shortly after that we heard people screaming," he told the station. Hayden said at first he thought it was part of a louder movie next door. But then he saw "people hunched over leaving theater." The police chief said 10 victims died at the theater and four at area hospitals. At least 24 people were being treated at Denver area hospitals. KUSA reported that some hospitalized victims were being treated for chemical exposure, related apparently to canister thrown by gunman. Eleven people were being treated at the Medical Center of Aurora for gunshots and ranged from minor to critical condition. Two others walked in to be treated for tear gas contamination. Denver Health had seven victims _ one in critical and the rest in fair condition. The youngest victim reported was a 6-year-old being treated at Children's Hospital Colorado, where a total of six victims were taken. Their condition wasn't known. Two people in critical condition were rushed to nearby Swedish Medical Center, spokeswoman Nicole Williams said. Aurora is on Denver's east side and is Colorado's third-largest city with 327,000 residents. It is home to a large Defense Department satellite intelligence operation at Buckley Air Force Base, as well as The Children's Hospital, the University of Colorado Hospital and a future Veterans Affairs hospital. ||||| AURORA — The family of 27-year-old Alex Sullivan confirmed Friday night that he was one of 12 people killed in the mass shooting at an Aurora movie theater. And The Associated Press was reporting that 23-year-old Micayla Medek was also among the dead. Her father's cousin, Anita Busch, said the sad news at least brought peace to the family. The Sullivan family was notified at 8 p.m. after they had desperately searched for Alex for more than 14 hours, a release from the family said. They said it was Sullivan's birthday. "The Sullivan family lost a cherished member of their family today," a release from the family said. "Alex was smart, funny, and above all loved dearly by his friends and family." Sullivan is one of 12 people killed in the rampage. Fifty-eight others were wounded, 11 critically. Another victim who has been identfied is an aspiring sports journalist Jessica Ghawi. Reports on Twitter said that her mother was asking that anyone using the microblogging service tweet under the hastag #RIPJessica because she wanted it to trend. Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said about 7 p.m. on Friday that the last of the 10 bodies in the Century 16 movie complex in Aurora Town Center were removed by 5 p.m. and police hope to have identifications of the victims within the next couple of hours. He said there were 70 casualties, including 12 confirmed dead. Two of the dead perished at local hospitals. The majority of the victims died from gunshot wounds. Many of the injuries were from bullets but a handful were the " result of the chaos and trauma in the theater." Gov. John Hickenlooper said that as of 3:30 p.m. 30 patients remained hospitalized, with 11 in critical condition. He called the shootings that took place during a screening of the newest Batman movie an "act that defies description." Contact The Post If you have information or tips related to this story, please call us at 303-893-TIPS or email us at tips@denverpost.com. The suspected gunman James Eagan Holmes, 24, was in the Arapahoe County Jail and is scheduled for his first court appearance at 8:30 a.m. Monday, according to the chief. A prayer vigil honoring the victims was planned in Aurora for 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Oates said the suspect is believed to have purchased four guns locally in the last two months and bought ammunition and magazines for his weapons over the Internet. With the weapons employed in the shooting — an AR-15 assault-style rifle, a shotgun and a handgun — the gunman could have gotten off as many as 60 rounds a minute, Oates said. The chief said authorities will wait until Saturday to attempt to gain entrance to the suspect's apartment in Aurora because the scene remains far too dangerous, laced with jars full of liquid and "something that looks like mortar rounds." Aurora police are working with experts from the federal government to secure the apartment. Oates families in four of the five apartments in the complex will be allowed to return briefly this evening to retrieve necessities such as medication, but they will be directed to evacuation centers or other accommodations for the night. The chief said two Aurora high schools will be open Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. for mental health counseling for anyone in need of services. James Holmes (Handout courtesy University of Colorado) The city plans a prayer vigil Sunday at 6:30 p.m. In front of the Aurora Municipsl Building. The lone suspect in the shooting had a ticket to the midnight premiere of the newest Batman film and entered along with the crowd, investigators believe. Then he walked out of the theater's emergency door unnoticed, investigators said, propping it open. The suspect, later identified as Holmes, allegedly returned through the same door minutes later, clad in black ballistic gear, and opened fire. Information about the shooter's movements was first reported by multiple news agencies citing anonymous sources in Washington, D.C. A local source with knowledge of the investigation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the information. A group of friends are overcome with emotion as they gather outside Gateway High School, Friday July 20, 2012, in Aurora. They got news that their friend was killed during a shooting, where about 50 people were shot 12 fatally early Friday inside an Aurora movie theater during a premiere showing of the new Batman movie, were taken to the high school by bus to be questioned by police. RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post) Bloodied moviegoers, who had gathered at midnight to see "The Dark Knight Rises," dragged one another from the chaotic smoke-filled theater 9 of the Century 16 complex. "It was like something out of a movie," said Jacob King, who was standing in the lobby when someone carried out the motionless body of a young girl, covered in blood. "You don't want to believe it's real, but it is." The child was handed to a police officer, who put her into the back of his squad car and sped away. Oates said many of the shooting victims were transported to hospitals by some of the nearly 200 officers who converged on the theater complex at about 12:40 a.m. after the shooter stormed the theater with three guns and discharged two canisters of gas that clouded the room and stung people's eyes and throats. Police arrested Holmes minutes after they arrived at the movie theater. He surrendered behind the theater, near a white Hyundai. The gunman shot the man sitting next to Chris Ramos, 20, in the chest. Ramos is haunted by the sight of the black-clad killer standing in the corner next to the movie screen, firing away, choosing the audience's fate with each bullet. "No care for people's ages, or male or female, or anything," Ramos said. "He was heartless. I panicked. I thought at that moment, I was going to die." When Ramos first saw the gunman come through the exit door, he saw objects flying in the air and thought they were fake bats, all in the spirit of the hour. Then, three rows in front of him, what Ramos described as tear-gas grenades exploded and sent out a hissing cloud. The man next to Ramos had already been shot, and others were falling. He used his own arm to jam his head down toward the floor and grabbed for his 17-year-old sister at the same time. "People were jumping over seats, jumping on you," Ramos said. On the floor, they felt bodies, and as they crawled, they came across a man with a bleeding leg wound. Ramos and his sister dragged him as far as they could and were eventually met in the lobby by police officers who took over. Jordan Crofter, 19, sneaked into theater 9 even though he had a ticket for the showing in the theater next door. He wanted to sit with his friends. When the gunman tossed a smoke canister, Crofter didn't think about getting down or being still — he just ran. He said he was first to the lobby. Crofter said the gunman appeared lackadaisical, "as calm as can be," and didn't say a word. "He was sitting there like target practice," Crofter said of the shooter. "He was trying to shoot as many people as he could." A friend who had been sitting in the first row, Crofter learned later, had been shot and collapsed. He did not know Friday afternoon whether his friend had lived or died. Three weapons were used in the shooting: a 12-gauge shotgun, an AR-15 assault-style weapon and a .40-caliber Glock handgun, according to Oates. A second Glock was found in Holmes' car, but police don't know if it was used in the attack. The weapons were bought from two local stores of national chains, Gander Mountain Guns and Bass Pro Shop, beginning in May, law enforcement officials told NBC News. Holmes was wearing "full ballistic gear," including a helmet, vest, throat protector, gas mask and black tactical gloves, Oates said. Oates said investigators are not able to calculate how many shots were fired in the theater but that "lots of bullets fired very quickly." Some shots fired in theater 9 penetrated the walls of adjacent auditoriums, hitting at least one person in theater 8 next door. Police found Holmes' north Aurora apartment booby-trapped, the same song seemingly playing on repeat on his stereo. His building in the 1600 block of Paris Street and five buildings around it have been evacuated. Ten people died at the scene, and two others died at hospitals, Oates said. Many others were critically injured. One of the victims died at Children's Hospital in Aurora, but officials there would not say whether it was a child or an adult. The other five patients survived, including one who is in critical condition with buckshot injuries to the back. Two of the victims at Children's were hit with a high-velocity rifle, perhaps from 60 to 80 feet away, emergency-room physician Dr. Guy Upshaw said. A U.S. Navy sailor who was at the Century 16 theater at the time of the shooting is unaccounted for, the Department of Defense announced Friday afternoon. The sailor was "known to have been at the theatre that evening," the Defense Department said in a statement. One other Navy sailor and two U.S. Air Force airmen were injured in the attack, according to the statement. The Defense Department also reported that Holmes is not and never has been a member of the military. Police received multiple calls about the shooting beginning at 12:39 a.m. and arrived within two minutes at the complex, 14300 E. Alameda Ave. Police say the suspect "appeared" at the front of one of the theaters showing "The Dark Knight Rises." Witnesses told The Post he entered at the right front of theater 9 less than 10 minutes into the film. The bodies of the 10 people who died at the theater remain at the scene while police continue to investigate. Josh Kelly, 28, was watching the movie with his girlfriend of about four years. He lost her in the chaos. Josh called his father, Robert Kelly, from the theater and said: "I can't find my girl." In the mayhem, the darkness and the smoke, and people panicking and trampling one another, he "just lost track and he couldn't see," the elder Kelly said. "My son is freaked out." Robert Kelly rushed to the theater after his son's call and found him outside covered in blood. Josh Kelly's girlfriend was among the fatalities, Robert Kelly said. Josh is now at home and sedated, under a nurse's care. Outside the back exit of the theater, FBI agents have placed yellow tape and numbered evidence markers on objects in the parking lot, including a gas mask. A bloody jacket and spilled popcorn were on the pavement. Authorities also searched a white car parked behind the movie theater, removing what appeared to be a combat helmet, a duffel bag, an ammunition clip and a vest. After his arrest, the suspect made a statement about possible explosives in his residence. Police have blocked off a three-block area around an apartment complex in north Aurora. Residents in the area said they were evacuated around 2 a.m. while police searched the third floor of the apartment building. The University of Colorado confirmed that Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from the university's graduate program in neurosciences. Holmes enrolled at the university in June 2011. Jackie Mitchell said he had drinks with Holmes a few nights ago at the Zephyr Lounge. Mitchell said the two talked about football. Holmes was "geeky" and had a "swagger" to him, Mitchell said. "He just didn't seem the type to go into a movie theater and shoot it up," Mitchell said. "He seemed like a real smart dude." But Myron Melnick, the owner of Zephyr Lounge, remembers Jackie Mitchell in the bar Tuesday night, but not Holmes. "We were not busy Tuesday night," he recalled . "I'm there seven nights a week, seven hours a night. I've talked to my bartenders, my security people, and we've never seen the guy. "There's maybe a 2 percent chance he was there, but I don't believe it," he said. Corbin Dates and Jennifer Seeger were sitting in the second row of the theater when Dates saw someone in the front row answer a phone call during the opening credits and walk to the emergency door in the front of the theater. Later, a man dressed in black and wearing a gas mask and what looked like body armor entered through the same emergency exit. He lobbed two canisters, and almost instantly the theater filled with smoke. Dates and Seeger, like others in the theater, thought the man and the smoke were all part of the show. Just as their eyes began to tear up from the smoke, the man fired a shot at the ceiling. The gunman moved through the crowd and stopped in front of Seeger. He pointed a long rifle at her face and said nothing. He shot at the person sitting behind her, Seeger said. "I have no idea why he didn't shoot me." The two dived to the ground. They could feel hot shell casings hitting their legs as the tried to crawl through the dark theater now filled with smoke. Seeger's forehead has a burn from one of the casings. Her friends urged each other and the people around them to stay quiet, desperate not to draw the attention of the gunman who was working his way up the aisle. As she huddled on the ground, Seeger could see bodies of women and children lying around her. Seeger, who has some EMT training, tried to help a man bleeding next to her. She worked to find a pulse but was forced to leave him behind as they tried to flee the theater. People tried to exit through the main entrance of the theater, Seeger said. By then the gunman had worked his way to the back of the theater, shooting at people as they tried to run. Seeger estimates she was trapped in the theater for 10 to 15 minutes. When she finally reached the lobby, she saw a police officer cocking a shotgun. Once outside, Seeger called her father. "My dad is not a sentimental guy, but he was crying on the phone," she said. James Wilburn also was sitting in the second row of the theater when the emergency door opened. "He was dressed in black," Wilburn said, "wearing a flak jacket and a gas mask." The man dropped a canister to the floor that began spewing gas before he fired several rounds toward the back of the theater. Naya Thompson, 21, said the gas spread quickly through the theater and thinks that the gunman may have dropped two canisters. "It was like tear gas," Thompson said. "I was coughing and choking, and I couldn't breathe." Benjamin Fernandez, 30, said he was watching the movie when he heard a series of explosions. He said people ran from the theater and there were gunshots as police shouted, "Get down!" Fernandez said he saw people falling, including one young girl. Brittany Romero was in theater 10 for the 12:15 a.m. showing. When the fire alarm sounded, people began throwing their popcorn and drinks in the air, assuming it was a practical joke, Romero said. Salina Jordan, 19, was in theater 8 and saw people fall after they were shot. She said one girl was struck in a cheek, and others were wounded in the stomach, including a girl who looked to be around 9 years old. Jordan said it sounded like firecrackers until someone ran into theater 8 yelling, "They're shooting out here!" The police came running in, telling people to run out. Some police were carrying or dragging bodies, she said. Meghan Walton, 20, of Boulder said she was sitting beside her friend Gage Hankins, 18 of Ohio in Theater 8 when he was shot in the arm before he was rushed out of the theater. "I saw a whole lot of smoke in the aisle," Walton said. "I saw about three or four bullets shot near the smoke." Walton was with 10 members of the group Friends: Association of Young People who Stutter. "I ran outside and was holding his arm that was shot," Walton said. "My eyes were blurred by the smoke. It was like chaos. People were crying hysterically." She counted 12 people who were bleeding. Ambulances started arriving, but there were not enough to put everyone in them. "The worst was a man who was shot in the head. He had his hand on his head," Walton said. "They started doubling up, putting two people in the same ambulance. One girl who wasn't injured as badly was placed in a police car and rushed away." Police set up a command post near the Dillards department store and were interviewing hundreds of possible witnesses. Many were taken by bus to Gateway High School for questioning. Robert Jones, 28, was in theater 9 when the shooting started. Jones said when he first saw smoke billowing from the front of the theater, he thought it was a special effect. Shots rang out almost immediately after. "I thought it was pretty much the end of the world," Roberts said. Roberts stayed flat on the ground until police came into the theater. Tammi Stevens said her son, 18-year-old Jacob Stevens, was inside theater 9 when the shooting started. Stevens was waiting for her son at Gateway High School while police interviewed him. Jacob told his mom that he saw a guy walk into the theater wearing body armor and throw some sort of cannister that then emitted some sort of gas. "You let your kids go to a late night movie ... you never think something like this would happen," Stevens said. President Barack Obama addressed the shooting from Fort Myers, Fla., Friday morning. "We never understand what leads someone to terrorize their fellow human beings like this," Obama said. "Life is very fragile, and it is precious." The president issued a proclamation Friday, ordering that all American flags be flown at half-staff until sunset on July 25. Gov. John Hickenlooper released a statement Friday morning. "It is beyond the power of words to fully express our sorrow this morning," Hickenlooper said. "We appreciate the swift work by local, state and federal law enforcement. Coloradans have a remarkable ability to support one another in times of crisis. This is one of those times." In a statement released Friday morning, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said that he was "deeply saddened" by the "senseless violence." The FBI is assisting in the investigation. Officers and deputies responded from almost every local police and sheriff's department in the metro area. The FBI said that there was no indication that the shooting has any connection to terrorism. Victims were transported to at least six hospitals. Several of them were rushed to hospitals in police cars. Ages of people injured and killed in the shooting vary. Shortly after midnight, patients started arriving at the Medical Center of Aurora. A total of 15 patients — ranging from 16 to 31 years old — were sent to the medical center, 12 of them with gunshot wounds. An additional 3 patients arrived at the hospital Friday afternoon. Information about those patients was not immediately available. Eight of the patients have been discharged, five victims remain in critical condition and two patients are being prepared for surgery. All of the patients came in with wounds to their torsos, heads or necks. Doctors said the wounds were caused by a high-caliber weapon or what appeared to be shrapnel. Swedish Medical Center spokeswoman Nicole Williams says two people injured at the theater have arrived at the hospital in critical condition. She says emergency workers said there could be several more patients. Denver Health Medical Center treated six victims from the shooting. All were treated for gunshot wounds and abrasions. Three victims have since been released, the other three remain in fair condition, hospital officials said. A total of 23 victims were taken to the University of Colorado Hospital. Nine of the victims are currently in critical condition. Rep. Rhonda Fields of Aurora announced that she is hosting a prayer vigil for "any and all" at 7 p.m. The location of the vigil was changed to 14701 E. Exposition Ave. Warner Bros. studio released a statement Friday morning saying the studio is "deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. The studio has canceled the red carpet premier of 'The Dark Knight Rises' in Paris," The Hollywood Reporter said. Aurora police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Families looking for information about loved ones should call 303-739-1862. Denver Post Staff Writers Eric Gorski, Kieran Nicholson, Kirk Mitchell, Michael Booth and Tegan Hanlon contributed to this report

– The gas mask-wearing suspect arrested in connection with the hellish Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting is 24-year-old local resident James Holmes, ABC News reports. The Denver Post reports that police have thus far recovered a gas mask, rifle, handgun, and at least one other weapon; they also evacuated an apartment building tied to Holmes, then began searching it. KDVR reports that the suspect apparently told police the apartment contained explosives. Officers found the suspect near a car behind the theater, reports the AP. A rep for the city's police force said investigators don't believe anyone else was involved, and they don't believe Holmes had terrorist ties. Police have not indicated if there was a motive.

This was expected, but still icky. After being sentenced to more than 15 years in prison last month on child porn and sex crimes charges, Jared Fogle is appealing his conviction in the hopes of getting a lighter term from a higher court. Fogle was transferred today from a prison in Henderson, Kentucky to a Federal facility in Oklahoma City, and it was then that he filed his notice of intent to appeal. Video: Dr. Phil Interviews One Of Jared's Alleged Victims With it, he's also hoping to [Image via FayesVision/WENN.] ||||| The 1980s were a painful time for some of Bruce Jenner's older children, who told Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview that their father, an Olympic icon and international celebrity, seemed to vanish during those years. Interested in ? Add as an interest to stay up to date on the latest news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest Three decades later, they finally understand why. “We have a very complex relationship,” said Jenner’s daughter, Cassandra Marino, told Sawyer. “He’s disappeared out of our lives, especially out of my life. So ... I’m looking forward to this next chapter.” That next chapter emerged with Jenner embarking on a transition to life as a woman, which Jenner discussed in a two-hour interview with Sawyer during a special edition of “20/20” that aired Friday. In previously unseen remarks from that interview, Jenner’s children discussed the pain that their father’s absence caused -- and how their relationships have since improved. “Us missing, you know, a time of our lives is still probably the hardest thing for us to deal with,” Brandon Jenner said. “We’re trying not to look back. We’re just looking forward.” Bruce Jenner admitted that he was too often absent from his children’s lives during the 1980s, a period of depression and isolation as he faced an identity crisis. During the interview, Jenner referred to himself using male pronouns and ABC News has chosen to follow his lead, though he also referred to himself as “Bruce” and “her.” “The big formative years for them, I was really struggling with these issues,” Jenner said. “I talked to all the boys about this after the fact, that, yeah, I didn’t do a good job. And I apologized to my kids for that.” khloekardashian/Instagram Jenner’s children have a message: All is forgiven. “In seeing him come out to me and explain his true self, I was more proud right there to carry the last name Jenner and to be part of the family than at any time before,” said Brandon Jenner. Burt Jenner, the former Olympian’s first child, agreed. “The one thing, I think, that we have gained that means more to us than anything is the honesty,” Burt Jenner said. ABC News The Kardashian-Jenner posse, Bruce Jenner’s reality TV cohorts, expressed support on social media -- Kris and their two daughters, Kendall and Kylie, each called Jenner “my hero” on Twitter. Woke up still in awe... I've never been more proud of you, Dad!!!!!! — Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) April 25, 2015 Khloe Kardashian deployed an old family nickname -- “Bruzer” -- in a tweet during the broadcast. Just finished watching the #BruceJennerInterview with the family. Bruzer, I'm soooo proud of you! Dads really are heros ?? — Khloé (@khloekardashian) April 25, 2015 Kourtney Kardashian was also supportive. “Woke up with a smile on my face knowing this will change lives,” she wrote. Couldn't be a more proud daughter. With courage and bravery, let's change the world. I am honored to stand by Bruce's side and support him. — Kourtney Kardashian (@kourtneykardash) April 25, 2015 Jenner’s journey carries special resonance for the transgender community. Transgender model Arisce Wanzer told ABC News that Jenner’s declaration is a major flashpoint. “This is huge. It is going to change TV, it is going to change people’s minds, it is going to change the fans’ minds, and everyone is going to have to open their minds,” Wanzer said. Arin Andrews and Katie Rain Hill, both transgender authors, said this is just the beginning. “This is going to help people," Hill said. "I know, right now, someone watched this special and it clicked. It suddenly made sense to them.” “When it all comes down to it, we all bleed red, and we are all human, and we are all trying to be happy,” Andrews said. Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just "star" this story in ABC News' phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here. ||||| For years, Bruce Jenner’s relationships with his famous children have been documented for the reality show, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” Interested in ? Add as an interest to stay up to date on the latest news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest Recently, however, their typically breezy conversations took a decidedly more personal turn, when the former Olympian opened up to them about his gender transition. “I tried to explain to them that. ... ‘As much of your upbringing was her much as it was the he side, that I will always be there. I’m not going anywhere,’” Jenner told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview that aired Friday in a special edition of “20/20.” During the interview, Jenner referred to himself using male pronouns and ABC News has chosen to follow his lead, though he also referred to himself as “Bruce” and “her.” Still, Jenner’s openness was met by his kids with tears, concern and love. There were also questions, including, ‘Should we still call you ‘Dad’?” "Those are the only ones I’m concerned with and… I can’t let myself hurt them,” Jenner said. Jenner has six biological children: Burt and Cassandra with his first wife Chrystie Scott, Brandon and Brody with his second wife Linda Thompson, and Kendall and Kylie with his third wife Kris Jenner. Jenner also played an integral role in raising Kris’s four children from her first marriage, Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Robert Kardashian. Each had a different reaction: ABC Burt: Jenner’s eldest was supportive, but he also admitted that he’s struggled with the news. “It’s hard for me. He’s always answered his phone, you know, ‘What are you doin’ big guy?’ ‘Well, nothin’ big guy!’” he said. “And now, you know, do I ever-- would you ever call a female ‘big guy’? No you would not.” Cassandra: Cassandra met her father’s admission with concern. Worried that she was losing the parent she knew, she felt “huge relief” when Jenner said that she should still call him “dad.” “Dad said… ‘It’s not that I’m trying to dress up like a woman. It’s that I’ve spent my whole life dressing like a man,’” she recalled. “I just held his hand and I cried with him and I just told him how proud of him I was and how inspired I was.” Brandon: Brandon, Jenner’s third-born and an expectant father himself, was the first child Jenner told that he was struggling with gender identity. “Brandon is kind of like our little Gandhi,” Jenner explained. “He’s got this soul that’s just wonderful.” Brandon understands the transition might not be “easy,” and he and his siblings are rallying around their dad. “There’s a thread throughout his whole life of, you know, a life that he was longing to live, really. And, you know, when you’re that close with somebody, you see little clues, you know, no matter what,” he said. “I feel like I’m getting an upgraded version of my dad, of a parent.” “I’m just honored and more proud than ever to be a part of the family,” Brandon said. Brody: Jenner admitted that he wasn’t always a very attentive father, especially in the years when he was struggling most with his gender identity, which is when Brody was a young child. Brody, his fourth child, took that especially hard. Having this conversation, Brody said, really helped him better understand what was going on during those years. “The first thing I thought was just like, 'It finally makes sense,’” he said. Kendall and Kylie: Jenner’s youngest two actually caught their father trying on in a dress well before he talked to them about his gender transition. “They had their computer on that security mode, so any time someone walked in the room, the camera turned on because Kendall thought Kylie was stealing clothes from her,” Jenner explained. “They came home and turned on their computer and ‘oh my God.’” However, the Olympian’s discussion about the transition was still a tearful one. “They are very protective of me,” Jenner explained. “They don’t want anybody to hurt dad." In a joint statement to ABC News, Kendall and Kylie Jenner said, “We love our dad very much as he is an amazing father. We couldn’t ask for a better dad. He has the biggest heart and all we want for him is to be happy. If he’s happy, we’re happy.” The Kardashians: Kim, who also once caught Jenner in a dress, was the first of the Kardashian children to know. After she initially brushed him off, the reality TV star became much more understanding after her husband, Kanye West, discussed with her the importance of being true to one’s self. “They were talking about it and he says to Kim, ‘Look, I can be married to the most beautiful woman in the world, and I am. I can have the most beautiful little daughter in the world. I have that. But I’m nothing if I can’t be me ... if I can’t be true to myself they don’t mean anything,’ … and since then, Kimberly has been by far the most accepting, and the easiest to talk to,” Jenner said. She’s also encouraged Jenner to really embrace his new image. “[She said], ‘Girl, you gotta rock it baby. You gotta look good! If you’re doing this thing, I’m helping you. You’re representing the family. You gotta look really good,’” Jenner said. Also in Jenner’s camp is Kourtney, though she did have questions about what to tell her three small children about Jenner’s new life. And of all the Kardashians, Khloe has had the toughest time with Jenner’s transition. “She’s had a lot of losses in her life,” he said, citing the death of Khloe’s father and the breakup of her marriage. “She feels likes there’s this massive… ‘my whole life is falling apart,’ you know, ‘it’s my dad,’ and I try to explain… but I’m not going anywhere. I’m still going to be there for you." When reached by ABC News for this report, Kim Kardashian declined to comment. Kourtney, Khloe and Rob Kardashian did not respond to ABC News’ requests for comment. ABC News also reached out to Kris Jenner for this report, but she declined to comment.

– One of Bruce Jenner's ex-wives expressed her support after Jenner confirmed Friday that he's transgender and identifies as a woman. Also standing firm behind the former Olympic athlete: his four oldest children (the ones not regularly seen on Keeping Up With the Kardashians), despite the "very complex relationship" he had with them and his absence in their lives while they were growing up. Jenner has acknowledged pulling back from his older kids—Burt and Cassandra with first wife Chrystie Scott, and Brandon and Brody with second wife Linda Thompson, per ABC—as he struggled with his gender identity, telling Sawyer that in "the big formative years for them, I was really struggling with these issues. I talked to all the boys about this after the fact, that, yeah, I didn't do a good job. And I apologized to my kids for that." In clips from Diane Sawyer's 20/20 interview that didn't air Friday, daughter Cassandra Marino said the Olympic athlete "disappeared out of our lives, especially out of my life. So … I'm looking forward to this next chapter," per ABC News. Brandon also notes the pain he felt, but like his other siblings, he's ready to forgive and move on. "Us missing, you know, a time of our lives is still probably the hardest thing for us to deal with," he told Sawyer. "We're trying not to look back. We're just looking forward." Oldest son Burt has especially kicked into protect-Dad mode, apparently tweeting about fair-weather fans on Saturday, according to Perez Hilton and other media sources. "Having a hard time not putting a few people on blast who were not supporters before hand, but want to act like they were all along," read the since-deleted tweet. Hilton speculates Burt may have been talking about Kris Jenner.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Kate and William have launched legal action against the publication of topless pictures of the duchess, Clarence House has said. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are hugely saddened over the "grotesque and unjustifiable invasion of privacy" by a magazine which published topless photos of Kate, a royal spokesman says. French publication Closer printed the pictures of the duchess, taken during their private holiday in France. The royals are now considering legal action over the case. Closer's editor says the couple were "visible from the street" and the images are "not in the least shocking". The BBC's Nicholas Witchell said that the royals were "incredulous that any magazine would have felt they had a justification in publishing these pictures". "They could go to law or seek a remedy through the French court - that is a big step to take but that is clearly what is being considered now," he said. Image caption French publication Closer printed the pictures of the duchess "I have rarely heard quite such a level of publicly expressed anger that I have heard today reflecting William's feelings. "He is absolutely determined to protect the privacy of his wife; he has always been very protective of her and that anger has mounted during the day." Our correspondent said that the prince had a "look of absolute thunder" on his face as they left Kuala Lumpur - a stop on their nine-day tour of South East Asia - to travel to Sabah in north Borneo. Kate, meanwhile, "looked composed and was smiling", he said. Closer editor Laurence Pieau said: "These photos are not in the least shocking. They show a young woman sunbathing topless, like the millions of women you see on beaches." She described the reaction as "a little disproportionate". "What we saw in the pictures was a young couple that have just got married, who are in love, who are beautiful. She's a princess of the 21st Century," said Pieau. "They [the couple] are on the terrace of a mansion in the south of France which is not far from a road along which cars pass without any problem. They are visible from the street." The photos look blurry, the BBC's Paris bureau said. There are four pages of photos of the couple, with Kate topless in several. "A red line has been crossed" according to palace officials. The gloves, it would seem, are off Luisa Baldini, Royal correspondent, BBC News Analysis: Royals and the media On the magazine's website, it says the pictures are of the couple "like you have never seen them before. Gone are the fixed smiles and the demure dresses. On holiday Kate forgets everything." The duke and duchess, who were staying at the French chateau of the Queen's nephew, Lord Linley, "have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner", a spokesman for Clarence House, the Prince of Wales's office, said. "The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to the duke and duchess for being so. "Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them. "Officials acting on behalf of their Royal Highnesses are consulting with lawyers to consider what options may be available to the duke and duchess." The prime minister's official spokesman said: "The view from Downing Street is that they are entitled to their privacy." The royal couple were told about the magazine's plan to publish the photos during breakfast in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on their tour to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. They are now on their way to north Borneo, where they are due to visit a rainforest. Analysis In France they will tell you privacy laws that govern the press are much tighter than they are in the UK. It's only half of the truth. While the French are sniffy about the tabloid culture in Britain many celebrity magazines have been publishing these kind of pictures for years. France is the home of one of the oldest 'celebrity' magazines in the world - Paris Match. But these days there are raunchier titles, like Closer, who unashamedly indulge in the celebrity gossip. And they budget for the legal payouts which in this case are seemingly inevitable. But for editors the fine is worth the risk. Read more from Christian Fraser It has emerged that British newspapers were offered photographs last week but turned them down. The Sun's editor Dominic Mohan said the newspaper had no intention of breaching the couple's privacy by publishing what he described as "intrusive" pictures. "The circumstances are very different to those relating to the photos of Prince Harry in Las Vegas. As we said at the time, he was at a party in a hotel suite with a large group of strangers and one of those present released a photograph into the public domain," he said. The Sun was the only British newspaper to print the naked pictures of Prince Harry, defying a warning by Clarence House that they breached his privacy. The Press Complaints Commission said it received hundreds of complaints from members of the public but did not act because it had not been contacted by representatives of the prince. Lloyd Embley, editor of the Mirror and Sunday Mirror, said the papers were offered a set of pictures of the duchess in her bikini a week ago but, as with the pictures of Harry, they took the decision not to publish them. In both cases they believed it would be a clear breach of the editors' code of practice involving breach of privacy. Closer is not run by the same company as the British title; it is administered by Italian business Mondadori, owned by former president Silvio Berlusconi's holding company Fininvest. A statement from the UK magazine said: "We were not offered any pictures of this nature and have no intention of publishing the photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge which have been published this morning." ||||| Un peu plus d’un an après leur mariage, le couple princier s’est offert un séjour en amoureux, loin du protocole, de l’étiquette dans une ambiance très Jardin d’Eden. Seuls au monde ou presque… Car Closer était là ! Découvrez en avant-première les photos que le monde entier commentera dans 24h. Après les vacances olé-olé du Prince Harry à Vegas, découvrez les clichés très sensuels de Kate Middleton et de son mari le Prince William. Découvrez les clichés incroyables de la future reine d’Angleterre telle que vous ne l’avez jamais vue… et telle que vous ne la reverrez jamais ! Découvrez en exclusivité demain dans Closer les photos que le monde n’attendait pas : la duchesse de Cambridge topless sur la terrasse d’une maison d’hôte dans le Lubéron ! OMG ! Demain dans Closer Qu’il est bon de se retrouver en tête-à-tête avec son mari, enfin débarrassée des soucis du quotidien, des révérences, de la pression médiatique. Pour leur seconde lune de miel, Kate et William ont choisi la Provence, pour un séjour romantique à souhait. Seuls au monde. Leur mot d’ordre : vacances j’oublie tout, la grisaille londonienne, et même le maillot de bain resté dans la valise de l’altesse… Au Château d’Autet, Kate parfait son bronzage et enduit son corps de naïade d’une crème solaire spf 50 pendant que William pianote sur sa tablette. Et pour éviter les marques de bronzage, Kate a pensé à tout… et à enlever le maillot. En photos : Un couple comme tant d’autres qui profite du soleil entre deux câlins… sauf que Kate est la future reine et que William est appelé à monter sur le trône. Kate redouble d’inventivité et de sensualité pour titiller son pilote préféré. Un plouf dans la piscine et hop, un maillot de bain à faire sécher ! Ne manquez pas ce numéro exceptionnel de Closer en vente vendredi. Elodie Mandel ||||| Kate Middleton SUES MAGAZINE Over Topless Pics Kate Middleton SUES France's Closer Magazine Over Topless Pics Breaking News andhave declared war on the French magazine that published naked photos of the future Queen of England -- filing a lawsuit today against the publication.A rep for St. James's Palace released a statement saying that "legal proceedings for breach of privacy have been commenced today in France" by the royal couple.So far, it's unclear what relief they are seeking.As we reported, the family had threatened legal action over the topless photos published today by France'smagazine, showing a topless Kate on vacation with Prince William recently.Now, they've made good on their word.Moments after the pic went public, the Royal Family issued a statement, claiming, "Their royal highnesses have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner."For the magazine's part -- Closer's editor Laurence Pieau has spoken out, calling the media "hypocritical" for condemning her decision to run the pictures.Story developing ... ||||| PIC: Kate Middleton in Headdress Echoes Iconic Princess Diana Photo Royal grace under fire. Friday probably wasn't the easiest day for the Duchess of Cambridge -- but she wasn't about to let the strain show. Kate Middleton and Prince William pressed on with their Diamond Jubilee Royal Tour of Southeast Asia on Friday after learning that French tabloid magazine Closer had published topless photos of the Duchess, 30, during a recent vacation in France. PHOTOS: Kate and Diana'a royal styles compared With Prince William, 30, at her side, the Duchess arrived at the Asyakirin Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday morning in what was their first visit to any mosque in the world. Kate Middleton and Prince William visit Assyakirin Mosque on September 14, 2012 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty For the landmark moment, Kate wore an off-white Belulah dress, a custom veil, nude tights and her go-to LK Bennett heels, which she removed before entering the mosque itself. Looking especially radiant and serene in photos from the visit, the Duchess brought to mind one of the most iconic snaps of her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana -- who similarly donned a traditional headdress for a visit to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan in June, 1996 (just one year before her tragic death in a car accident in Paris at age 36). PHOTOS: Kate and Diana's weddings -- a side-by-side look Diana's memory was invoked in the royal couple's official statement about the nude scandal. "The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to the Duke and Duchess for being so," the statement read. But that upset was not on display Friday morning. "It's so peaceful in here," Middleton commented during their barefoot, 20-minute tour of the mosque. "It's all so impressive!" "It was an honor to meet them," head division development manager Datin Faudziah Ibrahim said after the visit. PHOTOS: Will and Kate have fun at the Olympics "Catherine asked me so many questions that I struggle to even remember them all now. She really liked it when I spoke about how families come together during Ramadan," he continued. "She really liked that. She said family is very important." As for her modest but stunning ensemble? "The Duchess looked beautiful and very appropriate in her outfit. It was a great choice."

– Prince Harry has some company, because now his sister-in-law Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, is embroiled in her own nude photo scandal, the BBC reports. French magazine Closer published blurry topless pictures of Kate, apparently taken with a long lens while she and Prince William were on a private holiday at a French chateau owned by the queen's nephew. The royal couple filed a lawsuit today, TMZ reports, but no further details are available yet. Kate and Wills "have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner," a royal spokesperson said earlier. "The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to the Duke and Duchess for being so." Meanwhile, William and Kate continued their Asia tour, making their first visit to a mosque today. Kate wore a traditional headdress, echoing iconic pictures of Princess Diana in a similar look in 1996, Us notes.

You probably haven’t given much thought to what your local weatherwoman is donning as she enlightens you as to whether an umbrella is indeed necessary today, and when that cold front will be pushing strong, gusty winds in your direction. But there’s a lengthy laundry list of on-air dressing rules for female meteorologists, and a popular Reddit thread over the weekend brings light to the official and unofficial dress codes women face in this particular field.Using the power of social media, a group of female meteorologists came up with a solution to the problem. They all bought the same $23 dress on Amazon , after seeing it in a Facebook group used by women in the profession. A member of the group decided to create a collage of everyone's photos in the sheath, which Jennifer Myers, a meteorologist for Dallas’ FOX 4, posted to Reddit on Saturday, and it's been gaining popularity ever since.“Some of us have very strict dress codes...so it's pretty hard to have a closet stocked with solid colors and jewel tones that are affordable and flattering,” Myers wrote on Reddit. She outlined the sartorial specifics for this particular gig, which rules out “distracting prints,” the color green, lace, short hemlines, and cleavage (the latter “angers viewers over 40 something fierce,” Myers writes). We’ve reached out to Myers for further details and will update when we hear back.“Someone stumbled onto 'the dress' and a few of us ordered it and shared pics of it on air in our group," Shelby Hays, a meteorologist for Oklahoma City's KOCO told Tech Insider . "Everyone saw how great it looked. At $23 we could buy a handful of these dresses for what we normally pay for just one." The dress itself has become a little too popular — it’s apparently sold out in most colors and sizes until after Christmas, Hays told the publication.It’s usually assumed that TV personalities have an endless arsenal of stylists and free wardrobes, but that’s definitely not the case for your local weatherwoman, Myers explained in response to a Reddit poster’s assumption that meteorologists were attired by their TV stations. “Ha ha ha ha... no. We also do our own makeup (generally) and do our own hair,” Myers writes. “I have enough dresses to go five weeks without repeating...but the first two years of my job (another station) I only had a week and a half's worth because I could barely afford to eat, let alone buy more clothes.” Despite the general aura of glamour that an on-air TV gig connotes, the pay isn’t necessarily all that much: “Most on-air meteorologists get paid less than school teachers... so yeah. We try to save money just like everyone else,” Myers writes.One Reddit user even suggested that this is a very niche population the fashion industry should address, based on the popularity of a humble $23 frock from Amazon: "I feel like whoever designed that dress just found a completely untapped market and is going to be huge with female weather people. Pump out about 20 designs real quick, then say two a month per year, you'd have a rather large business going in no time."The coast-to-coast popularity of a single, cheap, no-name dress offers a fascinating peek into how these women work — and use their broader community to make things easier for themselves. Granted, being a meteorologist is a very specific job, but it underscores the gendered style expectations women (still) face in the workforce today. ||||| Please make sure that you are posting in the form of a question. Don't see what you're looking for? Ask the Community There was a problem completing your request. Please try your search again later. ||||| Last February, people went absolutely bananas over "the dress," a viral photo of dress that was either blue and black or white and gold. Now, a new dress is grabbing people's attention. After getting the idea from a private Facebook group devoted to female meteorologists, dozens of the professional weather reporters have all purchased and worn this one particular dress while broadcasting the forecast. The photo has already racked up over 6,053 points on Reddit since it was posted on Saturday. Shelby Hays, a KOCO Meteorologist from Oklahoma told Tech Insider that many female meteorologists are subject to a strict dress code for what they can and cannot wear on air. Patterns are considered "too busy" and there are often regulations on sleeve length or style, Hays told us. She says she buys her own clothes, admitting she sometimes gets flack from viewers if she repeats outfits too frequently. "Many stations even have consultants that come in and tell you colors you should and shouldn't wear," she explained. Hays was told to stay away from the colors green and white. Since these requirements can be tricky to meet, Hays and her fellow meteorologists use the Facebook group to offer fashion advice, in addition to career guidance and advice. About a month ago, someone in the group posted a picture of a cheap sheath dress available on Amazon. "Someone stumbled onto 'the dress' and a few of us ordered it and shared pics of it on air in our group. Everyone saw how great it looked," Hays said. "At $23 we could buy a handful of these dresses for what we normally pay for just one." Here's a look at the dress on Amazon: As for the collage, Hays says another meteorologist, Jennifer Myers, has been updating the collage weekly to include more and more women sporting the outfit. And if you're thinking about buying your own, you may have to wait a while. Hays tells us many of the sizes and colors are sold out until after Christmas. Of course, you still could probably purchase the green version of the dress, since you won't find any meteorologists wearing it on air. It would clash with the green screen. "They would literally disappear," Hays says of wearing green on green. "A few people do it on Halloween and they just look like floating heads!" ||||| "Moiré" and "Moire" redirect here. For other uses, see Moire (disambiguation) A moiré pattern, formed by two sets of parallel lines, one set inclined at an angle of 5° to the other The fine lines that make up the sky in this image create moiré patterns when shown at some resolutions for the same reason that photographs of televisions exhibit moiré patterns: the lines are not absolutely level. A moving moiré pattern on a billboard . The wind moves the printed net, thus constantly changing its distance to the wall and to the net’s shadow. In mathematics, physics, and art, a moiré pattern (English: ; French: [mwaʁe]) or moiré fringes[1] are large-scale interference patterns that can be produced when an opaque ruled pattern with transparent gaps is overlaid on another similar pattern. For the moiré interference pattern to appear, the two patterns must not be completely identical, but rather e.g. displaced, rotated or have slightly different pitch. Moiré patterns appear in many different situations. In printing, the printed pattern of dots can interfere with the image. In television and digital photography, a pattern on an object being photographed can interfere with the shape of the light sensors to generate unwanted artifacts. They are also sometimes created deliberately – in micrometers they are used to amplify the effects of very small movements. In physics, its manifestation is the beat phenomenon that occurs in many wave interference conditions. Etymology [ edit ] The term originates from moire (moiré in its French adjectival form), a type of textile, traditionally of silk but now also of cotton or synthetic fiber, with a rippled or "watered" appearance. Moire, or "watered textile", is made by pressing two layers of the textile when wet. The similar but imperfect spacing of the threads creates a characteristic pattern which remains after the fabric dries. In French, the adjective moiré (in use since at least 1823) derives from the earlier verb moirer, "to produce a watered textile by weaving or pressing". Moirer, in turn, is a variation of the word mouaire which is an adoption of the English mohair (in use since at least 1570). Mohair comes from the Arabic mukhayyar (مُخَيَّر, lit. "chosen"), a cloth made from the wool of the Angora goat. Mukhayyar (مُخَيَّر) descends from khayyara (خيّر, lit. "he chose"). "Chosen" is meant in the sense of "a choice, or excellent, cloth". It has also been suggested that the Arabic word was formed from the Latin marmoreus, meaning "like marble". By 1660 (in the writings of Samuel Pepys), moire (or moyre) had been adopted in English. Moire (pronounced "mwar") and moiré (pronounced "mwar-ay") are now used somewhat interchangeably in English, though moire is more often used for the cloth and moiré for the pattern.[citation needed] In the liquid crystal display industry, moiré is often referred to by the Japanese word mura,[citation needed] which roughly translates to "unevenness; irregularity; lack of uniformity; nonuniformity; inequality."[2] Pattern formation [ edit ] Line moiré with slow movement of the revealing layer upward Shape moiré Moiré patterns are often an artifact of images produced by various digital imaging and computer graphics techniques, for example when scanning a halftone picture or ray tracing a checkered plane (the latter being a special case of aliasing, due to undersampling a fine regular pattern).[3] This can be overcome in texture mapping through the use of mipmapping and anisotropic filtering. The drawing on the upper right shows a moiré pattern. The lines could represent fibers in moiré silk, or lines drawn on paper or on a computer screen. The nonlinear interaction of the optical patterns of lines creates a real and visible pattern of roughly parallel dark and light bands, the moiré pattern, superimposed on the lines.[4] The moiré effect also occurs between overlapping transparent objects.[5] For example, an invisible phase mask is made of a transparent polymer with a wavy thickness profile. As light shines through two overlaid masks of similar phase patterns, a broad moiré pattern occurs on a screen some distance away. This phase moiré effect and the classical moiré effect from opaque lines are two ends of a continuous spectrum in optics, which is called the universal moiré effect. The phase moiré effect is the basis for a type of broadband interferometer in x-ray and particle wave applications. It also provides a way to reveal hidden patterns in invisible layers. Line moiré [ edit ] Line moiré is one type of moiré pattern; a pattern that appears when superposing two transparent layers containing correlated opaque patterns. Line moiré is the case when the superposed patterns comprise straight or curved lines. When moving the layer patterns, the moiré patterns transform or move at a faster speed. This effect is called optical moiré speedup. More complex line moiré patterns are created if the lines are curved or not exactly parallel. Shape moiré [ edit ] Shape moiré is one type of moiré pattern demonstrating the phenomenon of moiré magnification.[6][7] 1D shape moiré is the particular simplified case of 2D shape moiré. One-dimensional patterns may appear when superimposing an opaque layer containing tiny horizontal transparent lines on top of a layer containing a complex shape which is periodically repeating along the vertical axis. Moiré patterns revealing complex shapes, or sequences of symbols embedded in one of the layers (in form of periodically repeated compressed shapes) are created with shape moiré, otherwise called band moiré patterns. One of the most important properties of shape moiré is its ability to magnify tiny shapes along either one or both axes, that is, stretching. A common 2D example of moiré magnification occurs when viewing a chain-link fence through a second chain-link fence of identical design. The fine structure of the design is visible even at great distances. Calculations [ edit ] Moiré of parallel patterns [ edit ] Geometrical approach [ edit ] The patterns are superimposed in the mid-width of the figure Moiré obtained by the superimposition of two similar patterns rotated by an angle α Let us consider two patterns made of parallel and equidistant lines, e.g., vertical lines. The step of the first pattern is p, the step of the second is p + δp, with 0 < δp < p. If the lines of the patterns are superimposed at the left of the figure, the shift between the lines increase when going to the right. After a given number of lines, the patterns are opposed: the lines of the second pattern are between the lines of the first pattern. If we look from a far distance, we have the feeling of pale zones when the lines are superimposed (there is white between the lines), and of dark zones when the lines are "opposed". The middle of the first dark zone is when the shift is equal to p/2. The nth line of the second pattern is shifted by n δp compared to the nth line of the first network. The middle of the first dark zone thus corresponds to n ⋅ δ p = p 2 {\displaystyle n\cdot \delta p={\frac {p}{2}}} that is n = p 2 δ p . {\displaystyle n={\frac {p}{2\delta p}}.} The distance d between the middle of a pale zone and a dark zone is d = n ⋅ p = p 2 2 δ p {\displaystyle d=n\cdot p={\frac {p^{2}}{2\delta p}}} the distance between the middle of two dark zones, which is also the distance between two pale zones, is 2 d = p 2 δ p {\displaystyle 2d={\frac {p^{2}}{\delta p}}} From this formula, we can see that: the bigger the step, the bigger the distance between the pale and dark zones; the bigger the discrepancy δp , the closer the dark and pale zones; a great spacing between dark and pale zones mean that the patterns have very close steps. The principle of the moiré is similar to the Vernier scale. Mathematical function approach [ edit ] Moiré pattern (bottom) created by superimposing two grids (top and middle) The essence of the moiré effect is the (mainly visual) perception of a distinctly different third pattern which is caused by inexact superimposition of two similar patterns. The mathematical representation of these patterns is not trivially obtained and can seem somewhat arbitrary. In this section we shall give a mathematical example of two parallel patterns whose superimposition forms a moiré pattern, and show one way (of many possible ways) these patterns and the moiré effect can be rendered mathematically. The visibility of these patterns is dependent on the medium or substrate in which they appear, and these may be opaque (as for example on paper) or transparent (as for example in plastic film). For purposes of discussion we shall assume the two primary patterns are each printed in greyscale ink on a white sheet, where the opacity (e.g., shade of grey) of the "printed" part is given by a value between 0 (white) and 1 (black) inclusive, with 1/2 representing neutral grey. Any value less than 0 or greater than 1 using this grey scale is essentially "unprintable". We shall also choose to represent the opacity of the pattern resulting from printing one pattern atop the other at a given point on the paper as the average (i.e. the arithmetic mean) of each pattern's opacity at that position, which is half their sum, and, as calculated, does not exceed 1. (This choice is not unique. Any other method to combine the functions that satisfies keeping the resultant function value within the bounds [0,1] will also serve; arithmetic averaging has the virtue of simplicity—with hopefully minimal damage to one's concepts of the printmaking process.) We now consider the "printing" superimposition of two almost similar, sinusoidally varying, grey-scale patterns to show how they produce a moiré effect in first printing one pattern on the paper, and then printing the other pattern over the first, keeping their coordinate axes in register. We represent the grey intensity in each pattern by a positive opacity function of distance along a fixed direction (say, the x-coordinate) in the paper plane, in the form f = 1 + sin ⁡ ( k x ) 2 {\displaystyle f={\frac {1+\sin(kx)}{2}}} where the presence of 1 keeps the function positive definite, and the division by 2 prevents function values greater than 1. The quantity k represents the periodic variation (i.e., spatial frequency) of the pattern's grey intensity, measured as the number of intensity cycles per unit distance. Since the sine function is cyclic over argument changes of 2π, the distance increment Δx per intensity cycle (the wavelength) obtains when k Δx = 2π, or Δx = 2π/k. Consider now two such patterns, where one has a slightly different periodic variation from the other: f 1 = 1 + sin ⁡ ( k 1 x ) 2 f 2 = 1 + sin ⁡ ( k 2 x ) 2 {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}f_{1}&={\frac {1+\sin(k_{1}x)}{2}}\\f_{2}&={\frac {1+\sin(k_{2}x)}{2}}\end{aligned}}} such that k 1 ≈ k 2 . The average of these two functions, representing the superimposed printed image, evaluates as follows: f 3 = f 1 + f 2 2 = 1 2 + sin ⁡ ( k 1 x ) + sin ⁡ ( k 2 x ) 4 = 1 + sin ⁡ ( A x ) cos ⁡ ( B x ) 2 {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}f_{3}&={\frac {f_{1}+f_{2}}{2}}\\&={\frac {1}{2}}+{\frac {\sin(k_{1}x)+\sin(k_{2}x)}{4}}\\&={\frac {1+\sin(Ax)\cos(Bx)}{2}}\end{aligned}}} where it is easily shown that A = k 1 + k 2 2 {\displaystyle A={\frac {k_{1}+k_{2}}{2}}} and B = k 1 − k 2 2 . {\displaystyle B={\frac {k_{1}-k_{2}}{2}}.} This function average, f 3 , clearly lies in the range [0,1]. Since the periodic variation A is the average of and therefore close to k 1 and k 2 , the moiré effect is distinctively demonstrated by the sinusoidal envelope "beat" function cos(Bx), whose periodic variation is half the difference of the periodic variations k 1 and k 2 (and evidently much lower in frequency). Other one-dimensional moiré effects include the classic beat frequency tone which is heard when two pure notes of almost identical pitch are sounded simultaneously. This is an acoustic version of the moiré effect in the one dimension of time: the original two notes are still present—but the listener's perception is of two pitches that are the average of and half the difference of the frequencies of the two notes. Aliasing in sampling of time-varying signals also belongs to this moiré paradigm. Rotated patterns [ edit ] Let us consider two patterns with the same step p, but the second pattern is rotated by an angle α. Seen from afar, we can also see darker and paler lines: the pale lines correspond to the lines of nodes, that is, lines passing through the intersections of the two patterns. If we consider a cell of the lattice formed, we can see that it is a rhombus with the four sides equal to d = p/sin α; (we have a right triangle whose hypotenuse is d and the side opposite to the angle α is p). Unit cell of the "net"; "ligne claire" means "pale line" Effect of changing angle. The pale lines correspond to the small diagonal of the rhombus. As the diagonals are the bisectors of the neighbouring sides, we can see that the pale line makes an angle equal to α/2 with the perpendicular of each pattern's line. Additionally, the spacing between two pale lines is D, half of the long diagonal. The long diagonal 2D is the hypotenuse of a right triangle and the sides of the right angle are d(1 + cos α) and p. The Pythagorean theorem gives: ( 2 D ) 2 = d 2 ( 1 + cos ⁡ α ) 2 + p 2 {\displaystyle (2D)^{2}=d^{2}(1+\cos \alpha )^{2}+p^{2}} that is: ( 2 D ) 2 = p 2 sin 2 ⁡ α ( 1 + cos ⁡ α ) 2 + p 2 = p 2 ⋅ ( ( 1 + cos ⁡ α ) 2 sin 2 ⁡ α + 1 ) {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}(2D)^{2}&={\frac {p^{2}}{\sin ^{2}\alpha }}(1+\cos \alpha )^{2}+p^{2}\\&=p^{2}\cdot \left({\frac {(1+\cos \alpha )^{2}}{\sin ^{2}\alpha }}+1\right)\end{aligned}}} thus ( 2 D ) 2 = 2 p 2 ⋅ 1 + cos ⁡ α sin 2 ⁡ α D = p 2 sin ⁡ α 2 . {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}(2D)^{2}&=2p^{2}\cdot {\frac {1+\cos \alpha }{\sin ^{2}\alpha }}\\D&={\frac {\frac {p}{2}}{\sin {\frac {\alpha }{2}}}}.\end{aligned}}} Effect on curved lines When α is very small (α < π/6) the following small-angle approximations can be made: sin ⁡ α ≈ α cos ⁡ α ≈ 1 {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\sin \alpha &\approx \alpha \\\cos \alpha &\approx 1\end{aligned}}} thus D ≈ p α . {\displaystyle D\approx {\frac {p}{\alpha }}.} We can see that the smaller α is, the farther apart the pale lines; when both patterns are parallel (α = 0), the spacing between the pale lines is infinite (there is no pale line). There are thus two ways to determine α: by the orientation of the pale lines and by their spacing α ≈ p D {\displaystyle \alpha \approx {\frac {p}{D}}} If we choose to measure the angle, the final error is proportional to the measurement error. If we choose to measure the spacing, the final error is proportional to the inverse of the spacing. Thus, for the small angles, it is best to measure the spacing. Implications and applications [ edit ] Printing full-color images [ edit ] The product of two "beat tracks" of slightly different speeds overlaid, producing an audible moiré pattern; if the beats of one track correspond to where in space a black dot or line exists and the beats of the other track correspond to the points in space where a camera is sampling light, because the frequencies are not exactly the same and aligned perfectly together, beats (or samples) will align closely at some moments in time and far apart at other times. The closer together beats are, the darker it is at that spot; the farther apart, the lighter. The result is periodic in the same way as a graphic moiré pattern. See: phasing In graphic arts and prepress, the usual technology for printing full-color images involves the superimposition of halftone screens. These are regular rectangular dot patterns—often four of them, printed in cyan, yellow, magenta, and black. Some kind of moiré pattern is inevitable, but in favorable circumstances the pattern is "tight"; that is, the spatial frequency of the moiré is so high that it is not noticeable. In the graphic arts, the term moiré means an excessively visible moiré pattern. Part of the prepress art consists of selecting screen angles and halftone frequencies which minimize moiré. The visibility of moiré is not entirely predictable. The same set of screens may produce good results with some images, but visible moiré with others. Television screens and photographs [ edit ] Strong moiré visible in this photo of a parrot's feathers (more pronounced in the full-size image) Moiré pattern seen over a cage in the San Francisco Zoo Moiré patterns are commonly seen on television screens when a person is wearing a shirt or jacket of a particular weave or pattern, such as a houndstooth jacket. This is due to interlaced scanning in televisions and non-film cameras, referred to as interline twitter. As the person moves about, the moiré pattern is quite noticeable. Because of this, newscasters and other professionals who appear on TV regularly are instructed to avoid clothing which could cause the effect. Photographs of a TV screen taken with a digital camera often exhibit moiré patterns. Since both the TV screen and the digital camera use a scanning technique to produce or to capture pictures with horizontal scan lines, the conflicting sets of lines cause the moiré patterns. To avoid the effect, the digital camera can be aimed at an angle of 30 degrees to the TV screen. Marine navigation [ edit ] The Moiré effect is used in shoreside beacons called "Inogon leading marks"[8] or "Inogon lights" to designate the safest path of travel for ships heading to locks, marinas, ports, etc. Whereas the Inogon light is most often used for the aforementioned benefits, it is also used to indicate underwater hazards (such as pipelines or cables).[9] The moiré effect creates arrows that point towards an imaginary line marking the hazard; as navigators pass over the hazard, the arrows on the beacon appear to become vertical bands before changing back to arrows pointing in the reverse direction. An example can be found in the UK on the East shore of Southampton water, opposite Fawley oil refinery ( ).[10] Similar moiré effect beacons can be used to guide mariners to the centre point of an oncoming bridge; when the vessel is aligned with the centreline, vertical lines are visible. Strain measurement [ edit ] Use of the moiré effect in strain measurement: case of uniaxial traction (top) and of pure shear (bottom); the lines of the patterns are initially horizontal in both cases In manufacturing industries, these patterns are used for studying microscopic strain in materials: by deforming a grid with respect to a reference grid and measuring the moiré pattern, the stress levels and patterns can be deduced. This technique is attractive because the scale of the moiré pattern is much larger than the deflection that causes it, making measurement easier. The moiré effect can be used in strain measurement: the operator just has to draw a pattern on the object, and superimpose the reference pattern to the deformed pattern on the deformed object. A similar effect can be obtained by the superposition of an holographic image of the object to the object itself: the hologram is the reference step, and the difference with the object are the deformations, which appear as pale and dark lines. See also: theory of elasticity, strain tensor and holographic interferometry. Image processing [ edit ] Some image scanner driver programs provide an optional filter, called a "descreen" filter, to remove Moiré-pattern artifacts which would otherwise be produced when scanning printed halftone images to produce digital images.[11] Banknotes [ edit ] Many banknotes exploit the tendency of digital scanners to produce moiré patterns by including fine circular or wavy designs that are likely to exhibit a moiré pattern when scanned and printed. Microscopy [ edit ] In super-resolution microscopy, the moiré pattern can be used to obtain images with a resolution higher than the diffraction limit, using a technique known as structured illumination microscopy.[1] In scanning tunneling microscopy, moiré fringes appears if surface atomic layers have a different crystal structure than the bulk crystal. This can for example be due to surface reconstruction of the crystal, or when a thin layer of a second crystal is on the surface, e.g. single-layer[12][13], double-layer graphene[14], or Van der Waals heterostructure of graphene and hBN [15][16]. In transmission electron microscopy (TEM), translational Moiré fringes can be seen as parallel contrast lines formed in phase-contrast TEM imaging by the interference of diffracting crystal lattice planes that are overlapping, and which might have different spacing and/or orientation[17], Most of the Moiré contrast observations reported in the literature are obtained using high-resolution phase contrast imaging in TEM. However, if probe aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) imaging is used, more direct interpretation of the crystal structure in terms of atom types and positions is obtained.[17][18] In materials science, known examples exhibiting Moiré contrast are e.g. thin films[19] or nanoparticles of MX-type (M = Ti, Nb; X = C, N) overlapping with austenitic matrix. Both phases, MX and the matrix, have face-centered cubic crystal structure and cube-on-cube orientation relationship. However, they have significant lattice misfit of about 20 to 24% (based on the chemical composition of alloy) what then leads to Moiré effect.[18] See also [ edit ] ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) - Do you think that TV meteorologists dress alike? You may be onto something. An Imgur user took screen grabs of weather reporters from across the country. The viral image has one caption, "This is what happens when you post a link to a $23 dress on Amazon that flatters everyone to a female meteorologist Facebook group." FOX 2 meteorologist Angela Hutti says, "The good thing about the dress is that it comes in solid colors. This is good for using on-air. Plus, it can be hard to find dresses with sleeves for colder winter months." Hutti found out about the dress in the private Facebook group. She is considering buying the dress. Her favorite color is a Houndstooth pattern but she says that will not work for television. The design is too detailed for smaller screens and it will produce a Moiré effect. A Oklahoma Meteorologist from KOCO-TV tells Tech Insider that there is a good reason they are wearing the same thing. Many TV stations have strict dress codes for what people can wear on-air. "Many stations even have consultants that come in and tell you colors you should and shouldn't wear," said Shelby Hayes. Weathercasters are subject to even more restrictions when they stand in front of green screens. Some of the technical requirements for overlaying forecast images of the screen mean that Meteorologists can't wear colors like green or blue. The private Facebook group has become a place where female MeteorologIsts share fashion advice, in addition to career guidance and advice. A month ago, someone in the group posted a picture of a cheap sheath dress available on Amazon. The rest is fashion history. Did we mention that the dress is only $22.99? Many meteorologists have to buy their own on-air wardrobe. Check out the dress on Amazon:

– Sartorial conspiracy, anyone? An Imgur user has revealed the fact that many female meteorologists are wearing the same $23 dress—which, it turns out, says a lot about their job and the attitudes of fans. Described on Amazon as a "Stretch Tunic Pencil Sheath Dress," it's a poly/cotton/spandex blend with sleeves, a solid color, and a bold black line down the front. That meets strict dress codes that some work under: "Many stations even have consultants that come in and tell you colors you should and shouldn't wear," KOCO meteorologist Shelby Hays tells Tech Insider (white is bad and green would vanish with the green screen). And solid colors are helpful for avoiding a "Moiré effect" created by busy patterns on camera, another meteorologist tells Fox 2 Illinois. As Dallas FOX 4 meteorologist Jennifer Myers reveals on Reddit, she's also not allowed to have short hemlines, lace, or cleavage, Refinery 29 reports. "Cleavage angers viewers over 40 something fierce, so we stay away from that," writes Myers. "There's no length rule on skirts/dresses but if you wouldn't wear it to a family event, you probably shouldn't wear it on TV." Myers adds that meteorologists don't have their own stylists or money for pricey clothes—which is partly why the dress caught on when a colleague posted it on a Facebook group page for women in their line of work. "Everyone saw how great it looked," says Hays. "At $23 we could buy a handful of these dresses for what we normally pay for just one." (Another dress "broke the Internet" earlier this year.)

The case of a Tijuana teenager who died screaming and going into convulsions after sipping liquid methamphetamine while in federal custody at the San Ysidro Port of Entry has been settled with a $1 million payment to his family members. The agreement in San Diego federal court came more than three years after Cruz Marcelino Velázquez Acevedo, 16, was referred for secondary inspection after crossing into the United States through the pedestrian lanes on the evening of Nov. 18, 2013. He died more than two hours later, just before 9 p.m., in the emergency room at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, after taking as many as four sips of the amber liquid that he carried in two juice bottles inside his knapsack. Claiming initially that it was apple juice that he had purchased in Mexico, Velázquez drank the liquid in the presence of two U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, according to documents filed in federal court. The lawsuit alleged that “the two agents told a young man to drink the liquid to prove to them that it was fruit juice and not a drug,” said Eugene Iredale, attorney for the teenager’s family. “He did that, and as a result, he died.” Attorneys for the two officers named in the complaint did not respond to queries about the lawsuit, which alleged wrongful death, assault and battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The settlement was reached in January. Valerie Baird and Adrian Parellon, the officers named in the complaint, continue to be employed by CBP in San Diego, the agency said Friday in a statement. “Although, we are not able to speak about this specific case, training and the evaluation of CBP policies and procedures are consistently reviewed as needed,” the statement said. Both Iredale and the Mexican Consulate in San Diego confirmed the monetary payment. Family members of the late teenager were reluctant to come forward and unavailable for comment, Iredale said. “It’s never enough when you lose a human life,” said Marcela Celorio, the Mexican Consul General in San Diego, who called it a “high visibility case” for the Mexican government. “The family lost their son, and the father was very committed to finding justice,” Celorio said. “What’s important is that the family is at peace … with the agreement that was reached.” At the time of his death, Velázquez was a high school student in Tijuana who did not have a previous criminal record. Iredale said that “we believe he was paid some small amount of money, the going rate is $100 or $200, that they gave the kids to cross the border” with drugs. Evidence in the case included sworn statements as well as CBP video footage that showed the teen communicating through hand signs with the two CBP officers in the secondary inspection area. “I don’t think they deliberately set out to kill the boy,” Iredale said. “But they did, in telling him to drink it in order to prove to themselves — or have him prove to them — that it was in fact what he said it was as opposed to a drug, which is what they suspected.” Iredale cited testimony from another CBP officer alleging that Baird had told her: “Oh my God, I told him to drink it, I asked him what it was, he said it was juice, I said, ‘Well then prove it.’” The incident began on a Monday night, at about 6:40 p.m., when the teenager reached the front of the San Ysidro pedestrian line. Velázquez told an officer in the primary inspection booth that he was crossing to visit an uncle in San Ysidro. The officer said he noticed the bottles filled with liquid, but “the primary reason I referred Velazquez to secondary is because of his rapid speech and due to the fact that he was shaking so uncontrollably.” It was in the secondary area that Velázquez drank the liquid. Iredale said that it was only after the teenager had taken sips that one of the officers, Baird, opted to test the liquid by putting drops on a screwdriver to see if they would crystallize — a test that is not sanctioned by CBP. “They have many test kits … they are readily available” at the port, Iredale said, but those were not used. It was minutes later that Baird noticed that the teenager began to sweat and appear nervous, according to a court document. She called for a canine officer and dog, which alerted to drugs on the teen’s body. He was taken to a security office, where he admitted that there were “chemicals” inside the bottles, the document said. As his condition rapidly deteriorated, he was taken by ambulance to Sharp Chula Vista Hospital, where he died. The Medical Examiner’s Office report stated that Velázquez died of “acute methamphetamine intoxication,” and ruled the death an accident. Attorneys for both Baird and Parellon argued that they are shielded by qualified immunity, which means reasonable officers shouldn’t be held liable unless their actions were obviously incompetent or that they knowingly violated the law. “Although it is obvious in hindsight that Cruz acted recklessly in drinking from the bottle and that may have been attributable to his age and poor judgment, that fact does not alter the analysis. … There must also be coercive or deceptive tactics employed by officers to exploit a suspect’s vulnerabilities. No such tactics were used in this case,” Perallon’s attorney, Barton Hegeler, wrote in a motion for summary judgment. Each officer denied allegations of forcing or egging on Velázquez to drink from the bottle, saying the other had prodded the teenager to do so, according to court documents. In one document, Baird stated that Perallon “allegedly spoke to (Velázquez) in Spanish, asking him to drink from one of the bottles, ‘to prove that it was juice.’” But Perallon gave a different account, according to a statement. Perallon said he had been translating for Baird, and told her that the teen said he was willing to drink from the bottle. Perallon said Baird then responded, “if that’s what you want to do.” When Velázquez “made what appeared to be hand signals seeking approval to drink … Baird responded with a similar gesture signaling ‘it’s okay,’” according to Parellon’s statement. Staff writer Kristina Davis contributed to this story. sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com @sandradibble UPDATES: 5:30 p.m.: This story was updated with additional details. ||||| Cruz Velazquez Acevedo began convulsing shortly after he drank the liquid methamphetamine he’d brought with him from Tijuana, Mexico. The 16-year-old had just crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to San Diego and was going through the San Ysidro Port of Entry. He was carrying two bottles of liquid that he claimed was apple juice. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers told him to drink it to prove he wasn’t lying, court records say. The teen took four sips. Then, he began sweating profusely. He screamed and clenched his fists. In a matter of minutes, his temperature soared to 105 degrees, his family’s attorney said. His pulse reached an alarming rate of 220 beats per minute — more than twice the normal rate for adults. “Mi corazón! Mi corazón!” Acevedo screamed, according to court records — “My heart! My heart!” He was dead about two hours later. Now, more than three years after his death, the United States has agreed to pay Acevedo’s family $1 million in a wrongful-death lawsuit brought against two border officers and the U.S. government. [Thousands of ICE detainees claim they were forced into labor, a violation of anti-slavery laws] Cruz Velazquez Acevedo, 16, died in 2013 after U.S. Border Protection officers told him to drink liquid methamphetamine, according to a legal complaint. (Courtesy of Eugene Iredale) The family’s attorney, Eugene Iredale, acknowledged that the teen did something wrong when he tried to bring drugs into the United States on Nov. 18, 2013. “But he’s a 16-year-old boy with all the immaturity and bad judgment that might be characteristic of any 16-year-old kid,” Iredale told The Washington Post. “He was basically a good boy, he had no record, but he did something stupid. In any event, the worst that would’ve happened to him is that he would’ve been arrested and put in a juvenile facility for some period of time. … “It wasn’t a death penalty case. To cause him to die in a horrible way that he did is something that is execrable.” Iredale said he does not know where or how Acevedo got the drugs, or why he brought them into the United States. “It’s typical for people who are drug smugglers to approach kids and offer them $150 to smuggle drugs across the border,” he said. “We’re never going to know in this case because Cruz died. He knows it’s something he shouldn’t be bringing.” Acevedo crossed the border through the pedestrian entrance at the San Ysidro Port of Entry at about 6:40 p.m. on that November night. Iredale said the teen was carrying his passport and his border crossing card, which allows Mexican citizens to enter the United States and travel within a certain distance for tourism purposes. In California and Texas, the distance is up to 25 miles from the border; New Mexico and Arizona allow noncitizens to travel for up to 55 miles and 75 miles, respectively. The two Border Protection officers, Adrian Perallon and Valerie Baird, believed the teen was carrying a deadly controlled substance, but they “coerced and intimidated” him into drinking the liquid, according to a complaint. The boy was taken to a hospital almost an hour after he had sipped the methamphetamine. He was pronounced dead just before 9 p.m. Iredale called the officers’ treatment of Acevedo “the most inhuman kind of cruelty.” [These California teachers mocked students for skipping school on immigrant boycott day] “I’m not prepared to say they knew for certain that it was going to kill him. … It’s obvious that they suspected from the beginning that it’s meth,” Iredale said. “Playing a cruel joke on a child is not something that’s justifiable in any way. They have test kits available that would’ve given results in two to three minutes.” Iredale said the officers did test the liquid for drugs, but only after the teen started overdosing. He also cited testimony by another border officer who said Baird confessed minutes after the incident. “I asked him what it was, he said it was juice,” Baird told the other border officer, according to Iredale. “I said to him then, ‘prove it.’ ” Perallon and Baird are still employed by the Customs and Border Protection in San Diego, the agency said in a statement. “Although we are not able to speak about this specific case, training and the evaluation of CBP policies and procedures are consistently reviewed as needed,” the statement said. Iredale said Acevedo’s death prompted an internal affairs investigation, but neither officer was disciplined. When asked about the internal affairs investigation, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said the agency had no further comment. Richard Tolles, an attorney for Baird, said his client and Perallon had sought a summary judgment on the case and were waiting for a hearing on their requests when the government decided to settle. Perallon’s attorney did not return a call from The Washington Post. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of California declined to comment. [California chief justice to ICE: Stop ‘stalking’ immigrants at courthouses] The complaint alleged violations of constitutional rights, including the right to not be subjected to punishment without due process. It also accused government officials of not adequately training border officers. Tolles said there was no misconduct on his client’s part “that would’ve risen to the level of denial of due process.” “There is no violation of any clearly established constitutional right,” he said. In a motion to dismiss filed on behalf of Baird in 2015, her attorneys said Acevedo wasn’t a U.S. citizen and had no connections with the United States that entitled him to any constitutional rights. “Nonresident aliens are entitled to constitutional protections only if they have substantial voluntary connections with the United States,” the attorneys argued. Iredale said the settlement was the result of several conversations between the parties. The money has been paid to Acevedo’s parents, Iredale said. A previous version of this story, citing the complaint, incorrectly referred to the defendants as agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The defendants are Border Protection officers who work at the port of entry in Southern California. Read more: What the U.S. learned from turning away refugees who fled the Nazis A severely injured Iraqi toddler has been in the U.S. for three months — without his parents Federal agents conduct immigration enforcement raids in at least six states ||||| A teenager died at the busiest border crossing in the world after drinking an amber-colored liquid in front of federal agents. NBC 7's Elena Gomez reports. The family of a teenager killed after drinking an amber-colored liquid -- which turned out to be liquid methamphetamine - in front of federal agents at the U.S.-Mexico Border will receive $1 million in a settlement, according to court documents. The family had argued the teen was "coerced and intimidated" into drinking the liquid then was taken into custody instead of being given medical attention. A medical examiner had ruled his death an accident. The settlement comes three years after the death of Cruz Marcelino Velazquez Acevedo, 16, of Tijuana. On Nov. 18, 2013, Acevedo was stopped by agents after he entered the U.S. from Mexico on foot at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Border Wall May Face Resistance on Tribal Land President Donald Trump's plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border may hit a snag if the Tohono O'odham Nation decides it doesn't want it on its land. While the U.S. government owns the actual border, 2.7 million acres of southern Arizona, with some 75 miles along the border, are sovereign tribal land. (Published Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017) At the primary checkpoints, agents asked the teen about two containers he was carrying. When an agent asked what was in the bottles, Acevedo called the liquid a juice, according to the lawsuit filed by his family. "The agent took a capful and poured it on the counter, because he thought if it was liquid methamphetamine it would instantly evaporate and leave behind crystals," according to the lawsuit. When it did not immediately evaporate, agents sent Acevedo to a secondary inspection point. The agent was later told by his supervisor that this was not a proper, safe test for detecting meth in liquid, according to the suit filed by the family. At secondary inspection, the teenager was questioned again, according to the lawsuit. Acevedo once again explained the bottles contained juice, but agents believed they contained controlled substances. The family claims in the lawsuit that agents "coerced and intimidated Cruz into taking a big sip from one of the bottles." A previous Medical Examiner report said Acevedo voluntarily took a sip. A K-9 then came into the room and alerted agents that Acevedo had controlled substances, according to the lawsuit. Agents then handcuffed Acevedo and took him into custody. "Despite the fact that they knew Acevedo had ingested drugs, agents did not take Cruz for medical attention," the lawsuit states. Shortly after, Acevedo began sweating, and then "screaming in pain and clenching his fists," according to the suit. In the lawsuit, the family alleges that Acevedo began yelling "the chemicals" in Spanish and then, "Mi corazon! Mi corazon!", or "My heart! My heart!" He began to seize uncontrollably, according to the suit. Agents called paramedics, who had to sedate the teen before transporting him to Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at the hospital several hours later, according to the Medical Examiner. The ME ruled his death an accident. Agents said they ran tests on the liquid that tested positive for liquid methamphetamine. When asked about the potency of methamphetamine in a liquid form, a member of the UCSD Poison Control center said the substance can show life-threatening side effects within minutes because it hits the stomach quickly. In a settlement with the agency, the family received $1 million. U. S. Customs and Border Patrol authorities released the following statement in response to the settlement: “Although, we are not able to speak about this specific case, training and the evaluation of CBP policies and procedures are consistently reviewed as needed.”

– Customs and Border Protection has paid $1 million to the family of a Mexican teen who died three years ago after sipping liquid meth at the US-Mexico border. Cruz Marcelino Velázquez Acevedo, 16, was traveling through the pedestrian entrance at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on Nov. 18, 2013, when border officers discovered two jars of amber liquid inside his knapsack, reports the San Diego Union Tribune. The Tijuana high school student said the liquid was juice, according to his family's lawyer, Eugene Iredale. But officers Adrian Perallon and Valerie Baird told him "to drink the liquid to prove [it]," Iredale says. The boy took four sips of what turned out to be liquid meth and began "screaming in pain," reports NBC San Diego. Acevedo died of acute methamphetamine intoxication two hours later. And though Iredale suspects he was paid a small sum to carry the drugs, he was "basically a good boy" who was treated with "the most inhuman kind of cruelty," he tells the Washington Post. "To cause him to die in a horrible way that he did is something that is execrable," especially as officers could have tested the liquid easily, he adds. While "it's never enough when you lose a human life," the Mexican Consul General in San Diego notes Acevedo's family is "at peace" with the $1 million settlement reached in January after a lawsuit accused Parallon and Baird of wrongful death and other crimes. Both officers remain at work with Customs and Border Protection. (Officers previously found a Mexican snail statue stuffed with meth.)

For years rumours surrounded the movie mogul behind films such as Shakespeare in Love and Gangs of New York, but now his accusers are going on the record alleging sex assaults On the day before news officially broke of alleged sexual harassment stretching back decades, Harvey Weinstein, the 65-year-old movie mogul, offered this comment: “The story sounds so good I want to buy the movie rights.” In its blend of the glib, the acquisitive and plain braggadocio, it seemed an incredible response to a potentially career-ending exposé. Yet those familiar with the man Meryl Streep called “God” at the 2012 Golden Globes, know that he’s defined by an attitude of infallibility. In 2000, having allegedly assaulted a young reporter at a crowded party, Weinstein is said to have screamed: “It’s good I’m the fucking sheriff of this fucking lawless piece-of-shit town.” (Though several photographers were present, no images surfaced.) With more than 300 Oscar nominations to his name, he is one of the most powerful men in Hollywood,– a formidable, even unrivalled mix of art, celebrity, politics, money and power. The New York Times story, the result of a far-reaching investigation by two female reporters, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, includes allegations of sexual harrassment and unwanted physical contact and reveals eight previously undisclosed settlements. A statement from Weinstein’s lawyer called the New York Times story “saturated with false and defamatory statements” and Weinstein is suing the paper. Among the women who spoke on the record to the New York Times is actress Ashley Judd, who commented: “I said no a lot of ways, a lot of times. Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time and it’s simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.” The implication that Weinstein’s misconduct was known in Hollywood and beyond has been widely echoed. In 2015, journalist Jennifer Senior denounced what she called “a despicable open secret”. Last week, Claudia Eller, co-editor in chief of Variety magazine, tweeted her congratulations to the New York Times, calling this “the story we’ve all been trying to get for decades”, while writer Rebecca Traister published a piece beginning: “I have been having conversations about Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual harassment for more than 17 years.” The lack of surprise greeting the story is not, however, entirely attributable to Weinstein himself, but to the culture in which the word of a young woman tends not to be believed over the word of an older, much more powerful man. Within Hollywood, the casting couch remains a place of dubious transaction. In 2010, a website called Pajiba ran a post titled “Harvey’s Girls”, those starlets whose “instant fame […] comes seemingly out of nowhere and without any justification in terms of resumé or skill set”. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Harvey Weinstein, Gwyneth Paltrow and the producers of Shakespeare in Love celebrate on Oscars night, 1999. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters But the climate may be changing. Traister, writing in New York magazine, noted that “recent years have seen scores of women, finding strength and some kind of power in numbers, come forward and tell their stories about Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, Donald Trump. In all of those cases, as in this case, the history of allegations has been an almost wholly open secret, sometimes even having been reported in major outlets, and yet somehow ignored, allowed to pass, unconsidered. But now our consciousness has been raised.” Unlike the men mentioned above, Weinstein has long presented himself as a supporter of women within liberal Hollywood. He was a major donor to both Obama and Clinton and last year hosted a fundraiser for the latter at his home. Recently, he was instrumental in endowing a faculty chair at Rutgers University in Gloria Steinem’s name. The phenomenon of a predatory, powerful man evading censure for years is clearly not a partisan issue. When women speak our truth the old order shatters. We slayed the dragon. Never forget this is what we’re capable of Lisa Bloom, civil rights lawyer Weinstein’s statement to the New York Times included a defensive apology of sorts: “I came of age in the 60s and 70s, when all the rules about behaviour and workplaces were different. That was the culture then.” America’s Civil Rights Act, which under Title VII defines sexual harassment as a criminal act, was passed in 1964. “Culture” and “law”, then, are not always coterminous; perhaps unwittingly, Weinstein demonstrated that what is legally outlawed can remain socially acceptable. He added: “I have since learned it’s not an excuse, in the office – or out of it. To anyone.” The actress Rose McGowan is among the eight women with whom Weinstein reportedly reached confidential settlements and on Thursday, McGowan tweeted: “Women fight on. And to the men out there, stand up. We need you as allies.” (In her case, the $100,000 settlement was “not to be construed as an admission” but “to avoid litigation and buy peace”. ) McGovan’s sentiments echo a tweet from earlier this year. In linking to a news story about Bill O’Reilly’s firing due to sexual harassment claims, civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom wrote: “When women speak our truth the old order shatters. We slayed the dragon. Never forget this is what we’re capable of.” Bloom, who has represented women accusing Bill O’Reilly of sexual misconduct, is now working with the accused: she called Weinstein, her client, “an old dinosaur learning new ways”. Bloom’s mother is Gloria Allred, the attorney famous for representing many of Cosby’s accusers. Bloom told the New York Post in July: “It was just second nature to me that, of course; you have to fight for the underdog”. That term could in no way be applied to Weinstein, whose power is such that journalists have struggled to persuade his associates to speak on the record. Rebecca Traister wrote last week that “Harvey could spin – or suppress – anything; there were so many journalists on his payroll… ” Notably, Bloom’s statement, as with her client’s, included mention of a future project: “And as we work together on a project bringing my book to the screen… ” This is Suspicion Nation, a planned miniseries that Weinstein is financing. How did Weinstein, born into an unremarkable family in Queens, reach this stature? He amassed power through his knack for seizing cheap arthouse films and engineering them into the commercially viable mainstream, a formula that not only gave us a pantheon of cultural touchstones – Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Gangs of New York – but also helped independent cinema itself become a going concern. Steven Soderbergh: 'Film-making is like sex. If I accidentally give someone else pleasure, that's fine' Read more His career began in 1979 when Weinstein set up a distribution company with his younger brother, Bob. The two of them conducted operations from a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan and it took almost a decade for them to strike a hit. That was Sex, Lies, and Videotape, the 1989 independent drama that also made Steven Soderbergh’s name. Soon, Miramax, named for their parents Miriam and Max, became a key player in the industry and by 2005, Weinstein left to form the Weinstein Company. Yet his extraordinary cultural force, one recognised in accolades including an honorary CBE from the Queen and the Légion d’honneur from the French consulate, has arguably waned. His last Oscar winning film was The Artist in 2011. His most recent movie, Tulip Fever, has been deemed a critical disaster. James Ivory once said: “He is a bully who feels that if he screams and yells and punishes you enough, he is going to get his way […] He’s both a genius and an asshole and unfortunately those things seem to go together.” We are now familiar with the way in which unrepentant bad behaviour can register as “colourful” rather than reprehensible. Trump, who was exposed as having bragged about sexually assaulting women, nevertheless won the election. Weinstein’s physical and verbal aggression has been well documented yet has tended to be met with indifference. He has frequently been described as “larger than life” and has blamed a glucose imbalance for his tirades. Weinstein’s statement last week included this sentence: “I want a second chance in the community but I know I’ve got work to do to earn it.” Those who take Cosby and co as bellwethers might be reminded of a line from F Scott Fitzgerald: “There are no second acts in American lives.” Then again, others may look to the president, he of the line “grab them by the pussy”, as an indicator of Weinstein’s professional durability. THE WEINSTEIN FILE Born On 19 March 1952, in Queens, New York, the son of Miriam and Max Weinstein, a diamond cutter. Best of times 1999 brings Weinstein Oscars success with best picture for Shakespeare in Love, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes. Worst of times On 5 October 2017, the New York Times publishes a story detailing a series of allegations of sexual harassment. What he says “You’ll get 15 people to say I’m a genius and 15 people to say I’m an asshole.” What others say “…his eyes also spot zeitgeist long before it comes over the hill. Which is why a city full of incandescent fabulousness pivots around a man who looks like nothing so much as a bean-bag chair with legs.” Journalist David Carr in a profile in New York magazine ||||| UPDATED with more reactions; refresh for latest: When sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein first surfaced last week in the New York Times, Hollywood was quick to react. Now that The Weinstein Company co-founder has been fired, it’s gotten really loud. Here’s a sampling of reactions that have surfaced since the board of directors terminated Weinstein’s contract late Sunday as more woman have come forward. Speaking out are the likes of Rose McGowan, who was cited in the NYT expose; Kate Winslet and Judi Dench, key stars TWC’s history; and even fashion designer Donna Karan, who came to Weinstein’s defense today: I don’t want tickets. Donate to rape crisis center @elawc that’s what I did with my “settlement” https://t.co/ZsfV5Eou77 — rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 9, 2017 Share some truth. Do your part. Retweet. Get loud. Push back. Bring it down. https://t.co/mEnjP7cOHy — rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 9, 2017 Kate Winslet, from Variety: “The fact that these women are starting to speak out about the gross misconduct of one of our most important and well regarded film producers, is incredibly brave and has been deeply shocking to hear. The way Harvey Weinstein has treated these vulnerable, talented young women is NOT the way women should ever EVER deem to be acceptable or commonplace in ANY workplace. “I have no doubt that for these women this time has been, and continues to be extremely traumatic. I fully embrace and salute their profound courage, and I unequivocally support this level of very necessary exposure of someone who has behaved in reprehensible and disgusting ways. His behaviour is without question disgraceful and appalling and very, very wrong. I had hoped that these kind of stories were just made up rumours, maybe we have all been naïve. And it makes me so angry. There must be ‘no tolerance’ of this degrading, vile treatment of women in ANY workplace anywhere in the world.” I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an enviornment for it to happen again. — Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) October 9, 2017 Easy to think Weinstein company took swift action but this has actually been the slowest action because they always always knew — Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 9, 2017 Miramax removing Harvey Weinstein’s credits from every film; really taking women’s complaints seriously now that the whole world found out! — Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) October 9, 2017 To be clear what Harvey Weinstein did was a disgusting abuse of power and horrible. I hope we are now seeing the beginning of the end of these abuses. — Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) October 8, 2017 The @nytimes, sat on Harvey Weinstein bombshell revelations FOR YEARS–but jumped all over Trump for his alleged misconduct. — Larry Elder (@larryelder) October 10, 2017 Judi Dench, from Newsweek “Whilst there is no doubt that Harvey Weinstein has helped and championed my film career for the past 20 years, I was completely unaware of these offenses which are, of course, horrifying, and I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered, and wholehearted support to those who have spoken out.” 1. Coming forward about sexual abuse and coercion is scary and women have nothing to be gained personally by doing so. — Julianne Moore (@_juliannemoore) October 9, 2017 2. But through their bravery we move forward as a culture, and I thank them. Stand with @AshleyJudd @rosemcgowan and others. — Julianne Moore (@_juliannemoore) October 9, 2017 Interesting. Will Michael Moore denounce Harvey Weinstein??? Haven't heard anything yet. Like other Limo Libs $$$ > principals https://t.co/h1KFRMFreo — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 8, 2017 Donna Karan, from Daily Mail: “Yes, I think [Weinstein is] being looked at right now as a symbol, not necessarily as him. I know his wife, I think they’re wonderful people, Harvey has done some amazing things. I think we have to look at our world and what we want to say and how we want to say it as well. You look at everything all over the world today and how women are dressing and what they are asking by just presenting themselves the way they do. What are they asking for? Trouble.” If even 1/10th of the stories about Harvey Weinstein are true (and I believe they are), then good fucking riddance. That shit’s gotta stop. — James Gunn (@JamesGunn) October 9, 2017 And fuck you to anyone who knew about it and let him get away with it. The enabling also needs to end. — James Gunn (@JamesGunn) October 9, 2017 so the Miramax partners had NO idea this had been going on for decades? And Weinstein paid all those settlements out of his own personal $$? https://t.co/ZTHM5bZhIr — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 9, 2017 Best thing anyone has ever called me besides thin. https://t.co/ZAMrYnHZgX — Jenni Konner (@JenniKonner) October 9, 2017 ||||| On Sunday night, John Oliver recapped a very busy news week and briefly addressed the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal. The Last Week Tonight host mentioned how this week marked the one-year anniversary of the infamous leak of the Access Hollywood tape that led to a “series of grim stories concerning the treatment of women,” which he tied to the ongoing controversy that’s rocking Hollywood. “His response was infuriating because he and his attorneys admitted he needs help while also denying the charges and threatening to sue The Times,” Oliver said. He then referred to Weinstein’s initial statement after the bombshell report was published, which read, “I came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different… That was the culture then. I have since learned it’s not an excuse…” “You’re right, your excuse isn’t an excuse!” Oliver reacted. “In fact, it isn’t even an excuse for that behavior in the ’60s! ‘Well back then, we had no idea that women didn’t want to be forced to look at dicks.'” Oliver noted one of the latest allegations that Weinstein masturbated in front of a local news reporter and ejaculated into a potted plant. “Step aside Chocolat, you are no longer the most horrifying picture that Harvey Weinstein has ever produced,” Oliver quipped. John Oliver is the first late-night comedian to address the controversy at length. Watch the clip above, via HBO. Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| The board made the decision to oust the mogul from his company at a meeting held Sunday afternoon after sexual harassment claims were made. For nearly four decades, Harvey Weinstein was the don of indie film, and a force of nature. Now he's been ousted by his own company. In a move that would've been shocking a week ago, the mogul was terminated Sunday as co-chairman of The Weinstein Co. after bombshell on-the-record sexual harassment allegations came to light in a New York Times report. "In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company — Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar — have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately," read a statement from the TWC board. The situation came to a boiling point Sunday in an explosive meeting when Harvey was offered the opportunity to settle with the company and leave but refused, a source tells The Hollywood Reporter. In the meeting, Harvey argued that the scandal would blow over. The board disagreed. President/COO David Glasser and other TWC executives have been reaching out to talent to assure them that the company is going forward without Harvey. Meanwhile, law firm Debevoise & Plimpton will continue the investigation into Harvey's behavior despite his exit. Harvey, who has been staying at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills since Friday night, is now being represented personally by David Boies and Charles Harder. The stunning turn of events followed an Oct. 5 New York Times article by investigative reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey detailing sexual harassment claims against the mogul spanning decades, including from actress Ashley Judd. The paper also reported, citing two unnamed sources, that "Weinstein has reached at least eight settlements with women." Harvey Weinstein's initial explanation to the Times about his behavior included a rambling statement saying that "I came of age in the '60s and '70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then." Additionally, he said he would be taking a leave of absence from his company in order to direct his attention to campaigning against the National Rifle Association and President Donald Trump. (Following the Times report, many prominent Democratic politicians, to whom Weinstein had donated over the years, gave his contributions away to charity.) The same day as the Times report, Weinstein gave an interview to Page Six, giving reasons for taking his leave of absence: "I also have the worst temper known to mankind, my system is all wrong, and sometimes I create too much tension. I lose it, and I am emotional, that's why I've got to spend more time with a therapist and go away." Despite an effort at contrition by the mogul, Weinstein's lawyer Charles Harder stated that he was preparing legal action against the Times, writing in an email: "The New York Times published today a story that is saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein. It relies on mostly hearsay accounts and a faulty report, apparently stolen from an employee personnel file, which has been debunked by nine different eyewitnesses." (A Times spokesperson responded: "We are confident in the accuracy of our reporting.") Following the story, the TWC board first held a contentious meeting Thursday night, during which Weinstein pleaded his case. On Friday, the board reconvened. Later that evening, after the board announced the leave of absence, TV news reporter Lauren Sivan told HuffPost about an incident a decade ago in which Weinstein masturbated in front of her in a hallway at the Cafe Socialista restaurant in New York, ejaculating into a potted plant. On Sunday, writer and artist Liza Campbell recounted, in the Sunday Times, that Weinstein once asked her to "jump in the bath" with him after summoning her to his hotel room in the Savoy for what she believed was a business meeting. More claims of misconduct could emerge. Journalist Ronan Farrow is said to be working on a Weinstein piece for The New Yorker. Since the Times report, three members of the nine-member, all-male board of The Weinstein Co. have resigned. They include Dirk Ziff, Tim Sarnoff and Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, who joined the board when former Cablevision CEO (and close friend of Harvey Weinstein) James Dolan vacated his seat in June 2016. Another board member, billionaire Paul Tudor Jones, has not attached his name to any of the recent statements from the board and is expected to follow the others out the door. Sunday's statement was jointly made by the four other remaining members of the board. Attorney Lisa Bloom — the daughter of Gloria Allred who has made a name for herself for working with victims of sexual assault and harassment — aggressively defended the mogul to the Times, as well as during TV appearances after the exposé was published. But on Saturday, after backlash to her role with Weinstein, she resigned, writing in a Twitter post: "I have resigned as an advisor to Harvey Weinstein. My understanding is that Mr. Weinstein and his board are moving toward an agreement." On Sunday, many in Hollywood immediately applauded the move by the Weinstein Co. board. Actress Rose McGowan wrote on Twitter: "I salute you #jodikantor #megantwohey & @nyt editor thank you for your incredible work. You've saved lives with your bravery." Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn wrote: "If even 1/10th of the stories about Harvey Weinstein are true (and I believe they are), then good fucking riddance. That shit's gotta stop." Added Gretchen Carlson, whose sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes forced him to resign as chairman and CEO of Fox News: "Women's voices heard. Again and Finally. #BeFierceAlways Its working." Weinstein's army of former employees, who now occupy top jobs across Hollywood, have been flooded by individual, and group, emails since the Times story hit. One insider tells THR that the mood can be described as "finally it has all become public." The Weinstein brothers launched TWC in 2005 after leaving Miramax in an acrimonious split with Disney. Miramax, launched in 1979, was unparalleled in its success during the 1980s and 1990s, turning out such hits as Clerks, Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting and Shakespeare in Love and scoring numerous Oscar nominations and best-picture wins for films such as The English Patient and Chicago. But Weinstein's golden touch has waned in recent years as the film side of his company has been under enormous financial pressure. While TWC films like Lion and The Hateful Eight still received nominations, the actual wins have become more scarce. This year, TWC's big awards prospect is the crime drama Wind River, the directorial debut from Sicario and Hell or High Water writer Taylor Sheridan. This may be the first awards season in recent memory that will not include Weinstein. The avid campaigner has had at least one best-picture nominee in every Oscars since 1990, winning the award an impressive five times, most recently with The King's Speech in 2011 and The Artist in 2012. TWC's upcoming slate includes The Current War (Nov. 24), an industrial-age drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison and Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse; Paddington 2 (Jan. 2); The Upside (March 9); and Mary Magdalene (March 30). A request for comment from attorney Charles Harder for Weinstein was steered to Sallie Hofmeister of strategic communications firm Sitrick and Company, who told THR: "I can't reach him at the moment. He's unavailable. Apologies." ||||| "In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company – Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar – have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately," the company said in a statement. ||||| Harvey Weinstein is making his sex harassment scandal worse by failing to grapple with the severity of the situation, crisis PR experts say. Experts consulted by Variety faulted Weinstein’s initial response to the New York Times’ expose as narcissistic, and said any contrition he may have shown was immediately undermined by his bellicose threats to sue. “This was his one opportunity to speak to victims,” says Richard Levick, a crisis PR expert in Washington, D.C. “It was one of the worst written apologies I’ve ever seen in a crisis situation.” Weinstein appeared to be pursuing contradictory strategies, hiring sex harassment lawyer Lisa Bloom to help him demonstrate remorse while also employing media attack dog Charles Harder to go after the Times. “This will not be a strategy that makes the future easy for him,” says Elizabeth Toledo, president of Camino PR. “This will be a strategy that continues to position him as someone who’s out of touch.” Toledo, who handled Planned Parenthood’s response to an undercover video controversy in 2015, says Weinstein seems to believe that he can continue to buy his way into good PR by supporting liberal causes. That will not work this time, she says. Related Manhattan D.A. Accuses Weinstein Lawyer of Seeking a 'Public Circus' Harvey Weinstein's Attorney Moves to Dismiss Rape Case “This is a moment to stop and truly change course,” she says. “He’s got to indicate a true understanding of the abuse and the damage that people are talking about… It can’t be about him personally. It’s got to be about the people he harmed. It is not about his personal journey. It’s not about his personal reformation. It’s not about his political priorities. It’s not about the NRA, or the place he had his bar mitzvah. This is about women.” Weinstein appears to have had months to prepare a response to the allegations, and brought in a high-powered team of advisors to help him navigate the situation. In addition to Bloom and Harder, he also hired Washington, D.C., crisis expert Lanny Davis, a veteran of President Clinton’s scandals of the 1990s, who famously counsels clients to tell their side of the story as fully as possible. “I’m hoping for Lanny’s sake that he didn’t follow Lanny’s advice,” Levick says. “There seems to be neither strategy nor sincere remorse. You see too many chefs in the kitchen. To the extent they have any strategy, it’s all falling apart.” Several experts doubted that Weinstein would follow through on his threat to sue the paper, saying it would be foolish to open himself up to discovery. Instead, it is possible he is seeking to intimidate other women from coming forward. “From a personal reputation point of view, suing the New York Times only serves one purpose, and that is to keep the story alive,” says Bruce Rubin, a Miami crisis PR expert. “The saber-rattling strategy just isn’t going to work.” The denials may only encourage other women to tell about their experiences, experts say. Instead, Levick says he would counsel Weinstein to pursue a “Betty Ford strategy,” referring to the former First Lady’s candid revelation of her alcoholism. “It’s simple, you provide a heartfelt statement of apology, and you mean it, and you disappear and you go into counseling,” Levick says. “And then what you do is have others talk about the good work you have done throughout your career. Him doing it himself sounds narcissistic. All he has done by responding the way he has is lit the tinderbox, and encouraged others to come out now… He’s made himself a really attractive target by seeming so insincere.” So far, though, it appears Weinstein simply isn’t in a position to accept good advice. “Sometimes it’s really tough for people in power to recognize how profoundly their world has shifted,” Toledo says. “He’s now going to be held publicly accountable for these decisions he’s made, and it’s not going to be a winning strategy for him at the end of the day to try to bully his way out of it.” ||||| FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2016 file photo, producer Harvey Weinstein participates in the "War and Peace" panel at the A&E; 2016 Winter TCA in Pasadena, Calif. Weinstein has been fired from The Weinstein Co.,... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2016 file photo, producer Harvey Weinstein participates in the "War and Peace" panel at the A&E; 2016 Winter TCA in Pasadena, Calif. Weinstein has been fired from The Weinstein Co., effective immediately, following new information revealed regarding his conduct, the company's board... (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — The allegations against Harvey Weinstein spanned three decades. His downfall came in three days. That was all it took to topple one of Hollywood's most high-profile and sharp-elbowed moguls — a combative power player who, like few ever have, regularly dominated the Academy Awards. But it was the all-powerful Weinstein who was ousted Sunday night from the company he co-founded and that bears his name. Following a devastating New York Times expose that detailed years of sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein, the Weinstein Co. co-chairman was unceremoniously fired by his brother, Bob, and three other directors on the film company's board. "In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company ... have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately," the company board said in a statement Sunday night. For a domineering studio head long known for intervening in the edit room, this is very likely the final cut. His career in Hollywood, many in the industry believe, is finished. Of course, it took much longer than three days for Weinstein's fall. The reporting took months, and followed years of previous efforts by other journalists to nail down details of the behavior that was roundly considered "an open secret" in Hollywood. And it took years for the alleged victims, including actress Ashley Judd, to work up the courage to go on the record. Not everyone was applauding the firing for its swiftness. Actress Lena Dunham tweeted Sunday night, "Easy to think Weinstein company took swift action but this has actually been the slowest action because they always always knew." Weinstein had previously taken an indefinite leave of absence following a New York Times expose chronicling decades of allegations of sexual harassment by the Oscar winner. The board on Friday endorsed that decision and announced an investigation into the allegations, saying it would determine the co-chairman's future with the company. But The Weinstein Co. board went further on Sunday, firing the executive who has always been its primary operator, public face and studio chief. Under his leadership, the company has been a dominant force at the Oscars, including the rare feat of winning back-to-back best picture Academy Awards with "The King's Speech" and "The Artist." In recent years, however, Weinstein's status has diminished because of money shortages, disappointing box-office returns and executive departures. The company has attempted to continue with business as usual, including a promotional event Sunday night for its 2017 awards hopeful, the indie hit thriller "Wind River." While it has a handful of films scheduled for release in the coming months, much of the company's business has recently angled toward television, producing shows like "Project Runway." An attorney for Weinstein didn't immediately return messages Sunday. But Weinstein will surely be heard from soon. On Thursday he issued a lengthy statement that acknowledged causing "a lot of pain." He also asked for "a second chance." But Weinstein and his lawyers also criticized The New York Times' report in statements and interviews, and vowed an aggressive response. The New York Times said it was "confident in the accuracy of our reporting." The Times article chronicled sexual harassment settlements Weinstein made with actresses and former employees at both The Weinstein Co. and Weinstein's former company, Miramax. Weinstein made his name with Miramax, the company he founded with his brother in 1979. They sold it to Disney in 1993 for $60 million. The company was a fixture of the 1990s independent film movement, launching the careers of filmmakers Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith and Steven Soderbergh, and winning best picture with "Shakespeare in Love" and "The English Patient." The allegations triggered cascading chaos at the Weinstein Co. A third of the all-male board has stepped down since Thursday. The prominent attorney Lisa Bloom, daughter of well-known Los Angeles women's rights attorney Gloria Allred, on Saturday withdrew from representing Weinstein, as did another adviser, Lanny Davis. A spokesperson for The Weinstein Co. declined to provide further details on the firing. Messages left for attorney John Keirnan, who had been appointed to lead an investigation, weren't immediately returned Sunday. Pressure to act continued to mount on the board as more developments followed. Congressional Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, donated to charities thousands of dollars in donations they had received from Weinstein. TV anchor Lauren Sivan on Friday detailed an alleged 2007 encounter with Weinstein in a HuffPost report. Sivan, then working at a New York cable channel, Long Island 12, alleged that Weinstein cornered her in the hallway of a Manhattan restaurant closed to the public and masturbated in front of her. Sivan said she had rejected an attempt by Weinstein to kiss her. "Well, can you just stand there and shut up," she claims he responded. She is scheduled to appear on Megyn Kelly's NBC show on Monday. Bob Weinstein and David Glasser, chief operating officer, are now running The Weinstein Co. But it remains to be seen not only if the company can continue without its prominent producer but also whether it can weather questions of culpability in its former co-chairman's behavior. In reaction to Thursday's report, many in Hollywood called Weinstein's behavior "an open secret." The settlement funds paid out also may have come from The Weinstein Co. Many in the movie industry vented their disgust with the allegations against Weinstein in recent days, including Lena Dunham and Brie Larson. For them, the allegations against Weinstein not only compare to those against Bill Cosby and Roger Ailes, but reflect Hollywood's deep-rooted gender inequality. Imbalances in pay between actors and actresses and the continued paucity of women directors behind the camera for the biggest productions have been ongoing issues in Hollywood. Still most of the A-listers who Weinstein led to Academy Awards nominations have been largely silent since Thursday's report. On Sunday night, others celebrated Weinstein's exit. "If even 1/10th of the stories about Harvey Weinstein are true (and I believe they are), then good riddance," said "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn, who added an expletive. "The enabling needs to end."

– Harvey Weinstein's fall from grace has been dizzying—and the movie producer's fate was sealed after what insiders describe as an "explosive" board meeting Sunday afternoon. A source tells the Hollywood Reporter that Weinstein was fired by the Weinstein Company, which he co-founded, after he rejected an offer to settle with the company and leave voluntarily. The source says Weinstein argued that his sexual harassment scandal would blow over, but directors, including brother Robert Weinstein, disagreed. A roundup of coverage: Plenty of Hollywood figures praised the firing on social media, including Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, who said "good (expletive) riddance," Deadline reports. The Guardian looks back at the career and the downfall of Weinstein, noting that unlike other celebrities who have faced similar accusations of sexual misconduct, recently, Weinstein "has long presented himself as a supporter of women within liberal Hollywood." The Wall Street Journal reports that Democrats who have received hefty donations from Weinstein, including Sens. Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren, are trying to distance themselves from him and making charity donations equivalent to his campaign donations. Crisis management experts tell Variety that Weinstein delivered one of the worst responses they had ever seen. They say he made matters worse for himself by offering a narcissistic apology while also threatening to sue the New York Times for exposing his behavior. "This was his one opportunity to speak to victims," says crisis PR expert Richard Levick. "It was one of the worst written apologies I've ever seen in a crisis situation." John Oliver slammed Weinstein and his apology on his Sunday night show, Mediaite reports. Weinstein's excuse that he came of age in the '60s and '70s "isn't an excuse," the Last Week Tonight show host said. "In fact, it isn't even an excuse for that behavior in the '60s!" Another allegation against Weinstein surfaced over the weekend, the New York Daily News reports. Producer Elisabeth Karlsen says a young exec who had been staying in a house rented by Miramax in the late '80s or early '90s told her that Weinstein had showed up naked in her bedroom. Karlsen says the exec left the company after an out-of-court settlement. A third of the Weinstein Company's board has stepped down in recent days and although the company has promised to carry on, it may be difficult to do so amid accusations that directors turned a blind eye to Weinstein's conduct, the AP reports.

A woman plays with a baby while sitting on the floor. When my daughter was 5 months old, we went to visit my husband’s family. A cousin shifted my daughter into her arms, and we gazed down at my baby’s sea storm eyes, her chick’s fluff of hair. “She’s beautiful,” the cousin said. “Don’t you just want to throw her out the window sometimes?” In fact, I did not want to throw my daughter out the window — at least, not yet — but in those days I was confronted with variations on the cousin’s question so often, I began to worry about my lack of any impulses to defenestrate my child. “You spend the first year waiting for them to walk and talk, and the rest of their lives wishing they’d sit down and shut up,” said the instructor at Mommy and Me yoga. A friend I hadn’t spoken to in a decade e-mailed advising me not to be “a martyr” to my child. My husband and I went to a first birthday party to which another guest, a father of two, brought as a gift a bottle of whiskey. The current lingua franca of parenthood is a rueful sigh, a sotto voce expletive and a desperate grab for a strong drink. My Facebook feed is a stream of reposted studies claiming that having a child is more stressful than divorce, unemployment or even the death of a loved one, and links to satiric essays in which frazzled mothers fantasize about doing cocaine to make it through a day at the playground. Hundreds of “bad mommy” bloggers parade their daily parenting “fails,” such as hiding in the bathroom with a bottle of Chardonnay during homework hour. On the show “Louie,” Louis C.K. patiently brushes his daughter’s teeth, then flips her off behind her back. A burgeoning genre of anti-motherhood memoirs has emerged, including Naomi Wolf’s “Misconceptions,” Ayelet Waldman’s “Bad Mother” and Rachel Cusk’s “A Life’s Work.” Even contemporary books for children are written with a wink and a sympathetic eye-roll toward their harried, hapless parents, whose red-faced, tufty-haired, single-toothed brats capriciously reject meals, boycott bedtime and leak from both ends simultaneously. [It turns out parenthood is worse than divorce, unemployment — even the death of a partner] Why is it so easy to complain about your child, and so hard to talk about how much you love them? Writer Jennie Yabroff tries to answer. (Tom LeGro/The Washington Post) Accordingly, when I got pregnant, I expected the worst. Sleep deprivation, crying jags, the conviction that my body had been replaced by an inflatable pool half-filled with warm Jell-O: I was ready. But no one had prepared me to fall in love with my baby, and when I did, it scared the hell out of me. I loved my husband. I loved our cat. In fact, I loved our cat so much that before my daughter arrived, I told myself that if I could manage to love her almost as much as the cat, she would probably turn out okay. And then she was born, and I was sucked down in a gasp and swoon of tenderness more fierce than anything I’d known. She would put her head on my shoulder and sigh, and I would throb with a physical sensation that was both flood and ache. The top of her head smelled like flowers and honey and sunshine — or so I believed, until I asked a friend what she thought it smelled like, and she took a whiff and said, “Sebum.” I knew I wasn’t the only one who’d been ambushed by parental love. Even my most vociferously exasperated Facebook friend’s sardonic rants about her “crackhead” 2-year-old were interspersed with pictures of the crackhead’s first day of preschool and the crackhead dressed as a bunny for Halloween. Images of love-drunk mothers gazing at cookie-sweet infants sell everything from formula to investment plans, needing no words to state the obvious: There is no greater love. But I needed words. I needed a way to talk about this terrifying, intoxicating experience that wasn’t sappy or cliche; that didn’t feel unfashionable and embarrassing; that was honest and true and helpful, rather than boastful or false. As a friend sniped as we watched the aggressively cheerful mother of four(!) boys(!) navigate her double-wide stroller through the park: “She’s in so much denial about how much pain she’s in.” [Americans are obsessed with parenting advice. So why are our kids so miserable?] Fearing that I, too, would be seen as delusional, or simply uncool, if I told the truth, I stuck to the dominant narrative of resentment and fatigue, of post-childbirth complaints and detailed analyses of infant digestive systems. And yes, there was tremendous comfort in sharing stories from the trenches. Some days the only thing that stanched the hysterical crying jags was knowing that being forced to fashion a diaper out of a plastic bag would make a great story for my mom friends, who, I knew, loved their babies just as ferociously as I loved mine. It wasn’t that I thought I was alone in this emotion — it was that I listened, in vain, for its echo in the chorus of complaint. Sutures would heal. Poop would sort itself out. What I really wanted to know was, what to do with all this love? My daughter seemed too small to receive it all. She couldn’t even bear the weight of her own head. Why is it so easy to joke about wanting to murder your child and so hard to talk about worrying you might actually die of love? Maybe it’s a hard-wired superstition that if we publicly express our delight at our children, the gods will hear us and smite us for our pride. Maybe all happy families really are alike. Or, as Jennifer Senior describes in her book “All Joy and No Fun,” it’s easier to find the words for the tough stuff: “The vocabulary for aggravation is large. The vocabulary for transcendence is more elusive.” We have a thousand words for sleep deprivation but a paucity of terms to describe that hour, just after dawn, when your child has gotten in your bed and is sleeping next to you, one arm flung over her head, her breath somewhere between a snore and a purr. Much of the daily routine of caring for a small person is low-stakes. My daughter and I share a bagel. At the pet store she tells the fish she is happy to see them again. The only way to transform these mundane events into anecdotes, which can then be strung together into a narrative, is to neuroticize them. So I emphasize frustration, embroider calamity. Our daughter sticking her hand in the tank to “pet” the fish, then scooping her wet hands into the bin of bird food while I shriek at her to stop, agitating the rabbits, which start banging in their cages . . . now we’re getting close to a story. I tell this story to my husband when he comes home at night, hoping to make him laugh. I tell this story to underscore how hard this job is, how poorly I am executing it, how utterly I am at the mercy of a three-foot tyrant in sparkly tights. I tell it to reassure him that I am still the sarcastic, ironic person he married, that motherhood has not made me soft-headed and moon-eyed, liable to weep at a Diapers.com commercial (though I do). I tell it to practice what I will say to the other moms at Saturday morning gymnastics, where we stand around with our puffy eyes and takeout coffees, trading polished complaints about our ungrateful, ill-tempered little monsters, additions to the canon of stories of parenthood as the worst thing that can happen to a minimally self-aware person other than not having kids at all. The joy of parenthood is not a story; it has no plot. It is a series of moments, unspoken. At the park, a father swoops up his son and kisses the top of his head in a single, flowing gesture. At the pizza place, a mother and daughter share an after-school slice, the daughter wiggling on her chair, waving her hands, the mother listening, smiling. Glimpsing these moments, I wonder what other, secret joys these parents are hiding, what furtive raptures they harbor. I wonder if they, too, sometimes wish there were more words to bridge the public story of being exasperated by your offspring to the point of defenestration, and the profoundly intimate experience of having a tiny pair of hands reach inside your ribs and wrench your heart open like a stuck window. I haven’t yet found a way to ask. I haven’t yet found a story to tell of this: On the way home from the pet store, my daughter held my hand for three whole blocks, not just the intersections. The top of her head still smells like honey. More from PostEverything: Stop judging poor moms. Bad policies hurt their kids — not bad parenting No, your kid may not have a snack I’m the mom whose encounter with an angry Maine diner owner went viral. Here’s what happened. ||||| A smiling mother and daughter touching foreheads, close-up When I became a mother five years ago I expected to be exhausted, stressed, saggy and desperate to go to the toilet on my own. What I didn't expect was to be told by other parents to "Shush!" whenever I spoke the truth about how parenting makes me feel. I'd been told over and again that becoming a mother would be like joining a club but I had no idea that the goal of said club would be to shroud in secrecy the realities of raising a child in the 21st Century. So why do so many parents seem ashamed of their experiences of parenting? Let me explain. i While raising my daughter I've experienced staggering highs and plummeting lows and I've been honest about all of them, not least because if there is one thing I've learned it's that parents are human and humans aren't perfect. While raising my daughter I've experienced staggering highs and plummeting lows and I've been honest about all of them, not least because if there is one thing I've learned it's that parents are human and humans aren't perfect. i That's why I have no compunction about admitting that I cried with grief for my old life during the first five months of my pregnancy and that when my daughter was born I felt nothing except a desperate urge for a coffee. Similarly, when she was in a crèche as an infant I rarely recognised her at picking-up time (luckily the freakishly patterned outfits she wore gave her away), her works of art often find their way into the bottom of the recycling bin, her wailing has occasionally made me drink rum straight from the bottle and recent hospital stays were blissful because they gave me the chance to sleep and read. Oh, and one more thing, although if you are easily shocked look away now: when I was in the throes of severe Post Natal Depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder I occasionally thought of smothering her. Oh, don't look at me like that. And don't bother calling Social Services either because all they'll find now is me blowing raspberries on my daughter's ever-pinchable bottom and cooing over her appearance in her Harvest Festival. Yet while I have no problem admitting that parenting doesn't come naturally to me or that it has driven me to the darkest reaches of depression why do so many parents have a problem hearing it? Perhaps I am the parenting version of the Bogey Man, scaring mums and dads with the realities of what lies under the bed when bedtime hour starts taking a toll on their sanity. Then again, I'm not the only Bogey Man. "Being able to forget about my son when I knew he was in safe hands kept me sane," explains Jen. "I also used to put him to sleep face down because it was the only way he would settle and the alternative would be to kill him during a sleep deprived rage. "Then there were the times when I used to get drunk so I could sleep though the night when it was husband's turn to do the getting up. "I regret nothing that I did, though, because he is a loving, well adjusted, adorable 13-year-old and at the time we were just winging it together." Jen is as unashamed of her experiences as I am of mine, not least because the refusal to speak openly about what we, as parents, go through is nothing but an exercise in isolation. However we raise our kids we all agree that it is a singular experience that irrevocably changes our lives, yet being 'shushed' when we dare to speak the truth – however ugly that truth can be – commits us to carrying the burden alone while also withdrawing a helping hand from mums and dads who need it the most. i OK, so there is a monumental amount of pressure upon parents to be perfect but that's only the pressure we put upon ourselves, as if the lack of sleep, endless questions, story-wrestling or snot-collecting isn't already tortuous enough. OK, so there is a monumental amount of pressure upon parents to be perfect but that's only the pressure we put upon ourselves, as if the lack of sleep, endless questions, story-wrestling or snot-collecting isn't already tortuous enough. i Believe me, if that mum I meet in the school yard wants to go on pretending that her baby's potty smells like roses she's welcome to it. Alison agrees. "I couldn't wait to get my son out to nursery. He was barely able to walk and I practically threw him through the door before running off home to sit on the sofa and look at the wall for two hours before picking him back up. I was just too tired of being mum and 'on' all the time. "There's a huge myth around motherhood that we're all going to love it. I had to give up my job (editor of local paper) and as much as I adored my son, motherhood was just like sitting alone at the bottom of a well. "The monotony, the incessant need of a child for you... I would happily have killed someone just to get out of the house and have an interesting day." Alison's point about adoring her son also shows that a parent's struggle isn't actually a reflection on how much their child is loved either. We just deal with the relationship in different ways. I'd savage anyone who attempted to harm my daughter but that doesn't mean I didn't spend one night of her early years sitting in the snow in my nightie because I couldn't stand to hear her voice any longer. That's why I'm giving Cathy the last word. She says: "I really hate this idea that we 'should' be ashamed of aspects of our parenting in the first place. "There are many ways to parent and I don't expect everybody else to parent like me because they don't have my child." So maybe it's not so much about not being ashamed, it's more about accepting that if you choose one path, another parent will choose another. We all do the best we can for our kids but we are only ever human too. Watch: The Parentdish community talk about their experiences of giving birth

– There was a time mothers bemoaned the fact that people weren't more honest about how hard it is to raise a kid. Not anymore: Nowadays, "bad mommy" bloggers abound, and your Facebook feed is likely "a stream of reposted studies claiming that having a child is more stressful than divorce, unemployment or even the death of a loved one, and links to satiric essays in which frazzled mothers fantasize about doing cocaine to make it through a day at the playground," writes Jennie Yabroff in the Washington Post. That makes it difficult for parents to be honest about something else: how much they love their kids. "When I got pregnant, I expected the worst," Yabroff writes. "Sleep deprivation, crying jags, the conviction that my body had been replaced by an inflatable pool half-filled with warm Jell-O: I was ready. But no one had prepared me to fall in love with my baby, and when I did, it scared the hell out of me." And, though she knows others in her life feel the same way about their own kids, it's more common to hear things like, "Don’t you just want to throw her out the window sometimes?" But talking about how much you do not, in fact, want to throw your child out the window is often seen as "boastful or false," so we don't do it. As she watches other parents, "I wonder what other, secret joys these parents are hiding, what furtive raptures they harbor." Click for her full column.

Saw VII (Saw 3D) (2010) Directed by Kevin Greutert. Cast: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Cary Elwes, Sean Patrick Flanery, Dean Armstrong, Chad Donella, Gina Holden, Chester Bennington, Rebecca Marshall, Naomi Snieckus, Laurence Anthony, James Van Patten, Tanedra Howard, Shauna MacDonald, Larissa Gomes, Joris Jarsky, Ned Bellamy, Greg Bryk, Noam Jenkins, Ishan Morris, Elizabeth Rowin, Gabrielle D. West, Joanna Douglas, Sebastian Pigott, Jon Cor, Anne Greene. 2010 – 91 minutes Rated: (for grisly bloody violence and language). Reviewed by Dustin Putman, October 29, 2010. Special Note: "Saw VII" is being released theatrically with the on-screen title "Saw 3D," a moronic moniker that won't make a lick of sense once it comes to DVD and Blu-ray in good, old-fashioned two dimensions. Clearly the makers weren't thinking when they opted for this flash-in-the-pan title. Then again, there's plenty of proof in the movie itself that no one was thinking much about anything but the bottom line. In lieu of being outdated in three months, the following review will refer to the film by the name it ought to have been all along, "Saw VII." Seven years, seven movies. If Lionsgate's marketing campaign is to be trusted, "Saw VII" has been set up as the final chapter in the blood-drenched-but-worn-dry horror series (if the empty multiplex auditorium I saw the film in the Thursday night before its official Friday release is any indication, it just might be). As such, it makes the ultimate case for why the franchise should have ended after 2006's " Following the brief uptick in quality with the stylish, thematically richer—but still, by this point, tedious—" Narrowly escaping a trap set for him by Jill (Betsy Russell) at the behest of her late, cancer-stricken husband John (Tobin Bell), homicidal protege Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) loses what was left of his mind and sets about on a rampage that he hopes to culminate with revenge against Jill. Meanwhile, author Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery) has just released a book detailing his survival of the Jigsaw Killer's wrath. The only problem: not a word of it is true. Now, with wife Joyce (Gina Holden) held hostage, Bobby has one hour to make his way through a maze of nightmarish tests or risk losing the person he loves most. "Saw VII" is beyond stupid, not the least bit interested in even bare coherence. Ridiculous from the start in a very giddy, unapologetic sort of way, the film opens with a complex trap taking place in a glass enclosure beside a busy city street, onlookers terrified and helpless as they watch two friends (Sebastian Pigott and Jon Cor) decide if they are going to kill each other with an electrical buzz saw or sacrifice the life of an unfaithful mutual girlfriend (Anne Greene). From there, one's suspension of disbelief is required as the movie gets all the more goofy. Are we really to believe Bobby Dagen has published a book about his survival against Jigsaw without a single person calling him out on his blatant mistruth? How are there gobs of new survivors the series had previously not mentioned all of a sudden coming out of the woodwork? How are the overly elaborate Rube Goldberg traps Hoffman is responsible for even halfway feasible? A magician couldn't even pull together what Hoffman has managed by himself. Meanwhile, the use of the tricycle-riding clown doll shoots right into laughable territory this time as it continually shows up and mouths out Hoffman's pre-recorded messages on cue. If all the viewer cares about are the torture sequences, they will be happy to know that "Saw VII" has notably more than any in the past. In fact, in between the fleeting exposition scenes full of bad writing and embarrassing performances, the movie is nothing but violent, gory set-pieces. Without anyone likable to care about, it all comes off as even more exploitative than the norm. Taken at face value, however, they up the ante an extra notch in their ghoulish imagination and certainly keep the unsettling energy levels high. Especially effective is one scene where a racist man's bare back is glued to a car seat, his inability to be set free causing a horrific chain reaction of death, and another where Bobby must get ahold of a key from publicist Nina (Naomi Snieckus) that has been hooked on a string and buried deep in her intestines. Without giving away the details, Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) from 2004's original " Seven years, seven movies. If Lionsgate's marketing campaign is to be trusted, "Saw VII" has been set up as the final chapter in the blood-drenched-but-worn-dry horror series (if the empty multiplex auditorium I saw the film in the Thursday night before its official Friday release is any indication, it just might be). As such, it makes the ultimate case for why the franchise should have ended after 2006's " Saw III ," easily the tightest and craftiest of all the entries as it satisfyingly tied up the various plot threads and killed resident villain John Kramer/Jigsaw Killer. Where there was money to still be made, there were further sequels to be thrown together, with 2007's " Saw IV " and 2008's " Saw V " especially lame, convoluted and amateurish. In death, John Kramer returned time and time again in flashback sequences as the tacked-on continuation of the story seemingly was pulled from the asses of screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan.Following the brief uptick in quality with the stylish, thematically richer—but still, by this point, tedious—" Saw VI ," "Saw VII" opts for something altogether different, but not necessarily better. In lieu of treating the purportedly last installment with any sort of seriousness or reverence, director Kevin Greutert has thrown all logic to the wind. From an aesthetic standpoint, "Saw VII" outclasses its predecessors with a fuller, brighter tone, scope and color scheme. For once, scenes actually take place in exterior locations during the daytime as opposed to being solely set in cold, dank, dilapidated warehouses. Otherwise, this grisly anticlimactic offering is bound to piss fans off, becoming so brazenly far-fetched that it actually poses a slew of new questions while answering almost none of the old ones. If this really is the final film in the series, it comes off as a rotten joke that laughs in the face of anyone who has followed the ongoing corkscrew narrative and expected it to properly wrap things up. Instead, the picture's conclusion is just as open-ended as any of the past ones.Narrowly escaping a trap set for him by Jill (Betsy Russell) at the behest of her late, cancer-stricken husband John (Tobin Bell), homicidal protege Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) loses what was left of his mind and sets about on a rampage that he hopes to culminate with revenge against Jill. Meanwhile, author Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery) has just released a book detailing his survival of the Jigsaw Killer's wrath. The only problem: not a word of it is true. Now, with wife Joyce (Gina Holden) held hostage, Bobby has one hour to make his way through a maze of nightmarish tests or risk losing the person he loves most."Saw VII" is beyond stupid, not the least bit interested in even bare coherence. Ridiculous from the start in a very giddy, unapologetic sort of way, the film opens with a complex trap taking place in a glass enclosure beside a busy city street, onlookers terrified and helpless as they watch two friends (Sebastian Pigott and Jon Cor) decide if they are going to kill each other with an electrical buzz saw or sacrifice the life of an unfaithful mutual girlfriend (Anne Greene). From there, one's suspension of disbelief is required as the movie gets all the more goofy. Are we really to believe Bobby Dagen has published a book about his survival against Jigsaw without a single person calling him out on his blatant mistruth? How are there gobs of new survivors the series had previously not mentioned all of a sudden coming out of the woodwork? How are the overly elaborate Rube Goldberg traps Hoffman is responsible for even halfway feasible? A magician couldn't even pull together what Hoffman has managed by himself. Meanwhile, the use of the tricycle-riding clown doll shoots right into laughable territory this time as it continually shows up and mouths out Hoffman's pre-recorded messages on cue.If all the viewer cares about are the torture sequences, they will be happy to know that "Saw VII" has notably more than any in the past. In fact, in between the fleeting exposition scenes full of bad writing and embarrassing performances, the movie is nothing but violent, gory set-pieces. Without anyone likable to care about, it all comes off as even more exploitative than the norm. Taken at face value, however, they up the ante an extra notch in their ghoulish imagination and certainly keep the unsettling energy levels high. Especially effective is one scene where a racist man's bare back is glued to a car seat, his inability to be set free causing a horrific chain reaction of death, and another where Bobby must get ahold of a key from publicist Nina (Naomi Snieckus) that has been hooked on a string and buried deep in her intestines.Without giving away the details, Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) from 2004's original " Saw " does, indeed, make a prominent return appearance. How he is used will both surprise and bewilder, though, especially during a final act that creates countless plot holes and fails to conclude in a way that does the series justice. Bigger and bolder in its body count but not even half as smart as the other "Saw" films, "Saw VII" replaces its signature morose atmosphere with sheer brain-numbing goofiness and a lack of respect for faithful audiences. Go in expecting any sort of closure, and you'll be in for a rude awakening. © 2010 by Dustin Putman ||||| Saw VII 3D (Film) Rating: R Running Time: 90 Country: USA Director: Kevin Greutert Cast: Tobin Bell, Cary Elwes, Sean Patrick Flanery, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell Distributor: Hoyts Release Date: October 28, 2010 Film Worth: $5.00 FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth While the graphic violence is there in spades, this is missing a decent plot or interesting characters. The fact that SAW VII (or SAW 3D) is kind of crappy should come as no real surprise to anyone. Even the hardcore fans are pretty much just into it for the inventive gore scenes. The actual Jigsaw killer (seen in all-too-brief flashbacks, played by Tobin Bell yet again) was killed at the end of SAW III. Rather than use the Friday the 13th method of resurrecting Jason (with a bolt of lightning in Friday VI) or Elm Street's various shonky rationales for bringing Freddy back - the SAW franchise keeps ret-conning the plot so a bunch of other folks are doing the killing. That would be okay if they followed Jigsaw's rather heavy-handed form of tough love, making people appreciate all they have by putting them through ingenious, grisly tests - but unless you've been following every movie obsessively (and we'll get to you guys in a second) SAW VII is a patchy, sometimes confusing experience. That said, are you really expecting an amazingly fresh and ingenious journey from a flick with the roman numeral "VII" in the title? Even seasoned horror lovers will have to admit that the words "part seven..." are rarely followed with "... was the best one!" So what SAW VII has: graphically violent death sequences. Intestines fly, heads explode and arms are torn off in 3D - and they really ramp up the kill count in this one with pretty decent effects, although the blood seemed a little pink and the 3D added nothing. What SAW VII doesn't have: a decent plot, characters you care about and an ounce of credulity. This is so over-the-top and convoluted it's goofy. Still, teenage boys, stoners and gore-hounds with low expectations may have fun. Anyone expecting a decent ending to the series will not. This, however, is the final SAW in the same way that Friday the 13th part IV: The Final Chapter was actually the final one, ie. it's not. There are way too many plot strands left dangling - and questions raised in the final act. SAW VII is just as silly and trashy as it looks. If you know that and still want to see it: watch or don't - the choice is yours. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| And so the long, bloody road comes to an end… Saw 3D, promoted as the Final Chapter in the series, picks up where Saw VI left off, with Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) having survived the trap he was put in by Jill (Betsy Russell), albeit with some newfound facial issues. And as you might imagine, Hoffman is none too happy with Jill and has plans for her. Meanwhile, a man named Bobby (Sean Patrick Flanery) has become famous thanks to surviving one of Jigsaw's traps, writing a book and going on a shameless self-promotion tour, guided by his media savvy team. This makes Jigsaw none too happy, and soon Bobby finds himself within a new Jigsaw trap, where he must fight for the survival of both himself and those closest to him. You may notice that I haven't mentioned Dr. Gordon yet – even though one of the most eagerly anticipated aspects of this film is the return of the main character from the original Saw, played by Cary Elwes. Well, that's where this film's problems begin. Elwes, you see, is barely in Saw 3D. He's in a couple of early scenes (including the crowd-pleasing opening that shows Gordon in the immediate aftermath of the first film), but then he completely disappears from the movie. It seems inevitable that he'll eventually return by the end, but he certainly has no impact on the story for the abundance of the running time. - Lionsgate "I'm not left-handed either!" - Lionsgate The car trap is a highlight of the film Also baffling is how little Jigsaw, the real Jigsaw that is, appears in this film. Yes, John Kramer died in, but up until now, he's still had a decent amount of screen time in each sequel, via flashbacks and videos he left behind. This time out, Tobin Bell pretty much has a cameo, so little is he in this movie. In fact, I'm hard pressed to think of a film where the actor with top billing has as little screen time as Bell has here.As a fan of the series, it was impossible not to be bothered by how little time was spent with either Jigsaw or Gordon, the characters that mean the most to the series at this point. And unfortunately, what we do spend time with doesn't have much impact. Likeand, the main scenario here once again involves a man walking room to room, encountering different people he could potentially save. Having just had a sequel cover this ground again (and do it very well – I foundto be one of the stronger installments in the series), seeing Bobby go through this type of thing again feels tired at this point.On top of that, an early sequence, in which Jigsaw has one of his traps conducted in full view of the public, seems to raise the stakes on what Jigsaw is doing. While the scene itself -- involving three participants and three buzzsaws -- feels somewhat goofy, the idea of the traps being out in the open, on public display, is an edgy next step the movie then immediately retreats from.How are the traps this time out? Decent, but again, a step down from. One, involving having to physically pull a key from a very difficult place, is pretty effective. Another, involving crossing an area where the floor is almost completely gone, adds a nice bit of adventure to the vibe (and gave me flashbacks to Flanery's days as Indiana Jones). But at the same time, there's nothing truly memorable in the way's rack or's carousal were. One exception: The best trap here is probably the one involving a car and a neat/twisted domino effect caused when it falls from a jack. By the way, I know this is nothing new in this series, but watching, I kept thinking how Jigsaw must have both the brilliance and bank account of Tony Stark, considering how elaborate, specific and complicated these traps are.Theis used as you might expect it to be - which is to say, this is no James Cameron immersive experience. Instead, blades jut out of the screen, and there is some fun had with blood and guts literally shooting forward at several points. As always,is a very visceral experience.The cast is serviceable. Flanery has his moments as Bobby, who is hiding a secret of his own, while Elwes, in his few moments on screen, chews the scenery a bit. Costas Mandylor has always been a bit of an odd choice as the man who Jigsaw would pick as his successor, coming off more like a hulking henchman than a criminal mastermind – and the fact that here, it Is Hoffman leaving the videos almost the whole time, and not John, only underscores this, as Mandylor doesn't have the delivery to sell the thoughtful, "You will learn from this," tone that Tobin Bell brings. Also of note is Chad Donella, giving an amusingly bad performance as IA agent Gibson, who at one point yells at Jill that she's a crazy, crazy person who is being crazy.A note about Jill:seemed to end with her laying down the gauntlet and rising as a formidable presence of her own, prepared to fight for John's legacy. That being the case, it's sad to see her reduced to a running, screaming victim here, who doesn't seem prepared to face Hoffman at all.I'm writing a lot of negatives here, so I should say thathas its moments, and offers the basics fans of the series enjoy. And it is at least better than the low-point of the series,. But if this is the last film (though, no shocker, there is a door left open for another installment, should they ever decide to do it), it's a very weak way to go.aside, screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan have done much better work on this series than what they deliver here. And director Kevin Greutert brought a lot more energy and style tothan he shows in this film. Although maybe that's to be expected, given Greutert was pretty much forced to direct Saw 3D , while he was in the midst of planning to do a different film, and wrote that the experience was giving him nightmares involving, "the World Trade Center collapsing in slow motion, plane crashes, drownings, other bad s**t." A situation like that is not normally conducive to very good filmmaking.

– Saw 3D, the seventh installment in the gory horror franchise, will be the final one, according to its producers, and most critics are hoping they stick to their word. The use of 3D is effective but "a lack of multi-dimensional flying body parts wasn't this series' problem," Geoff Berkshire writes at Metromix. The Saw franchise, he writes, "goes down in history as the most unnecessarily convoluted horror franchise of all time—and that’s the nicest thing you can say about it." The inventive traps that are the series' trademark are reasonably well done, but the characters audiences care about are barely seen, grumbles Eric Goldman at IGN. Saw 3D is a weak way to the end the series, he decides, but at least it's better than Saw V. If you're only there for the torture sequences, you won't be disappointed, but if you're hoping for a story, Saw 3D is "a rotten joke that laughs in the face of anyone who has followed the ongoing corkscrew narrative and expected it to properly wrap things up," complains Dustin Putman. Saw 3D isn't much good, but "are you really expecting an amazingly fresh and ingenious journey" from the seventh installment in a horror series?" asks Anthony O'Connor at Film Ink. "Teenage boys, stoners, and gore-hounds with low expectations may have fun. Anyone expecting a decent ending to the series will not," he writes, noting that so many loose ends are left that it won't be much of a surprise if Saw VIII surfaces next Halloween.

Hugo Correia / Reuters Justin Bieber performs in Lisbon on March 11, 2013 Thieves broke into a South African stadium early Monday, opened the safe and made off with a lot of loot — 3 million rand ($330,000) in cash. Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium was particularly well stocked with cash after both Justin Bieber and Jon Bon Jovi played shows there over the weekend, and police believe that’s why the crooks targeted it. “The intruders broke through the roof of the bathroom nearby and there is evidence that they gained entry by abseiling down to gain access to the strong room,” Lt. Col. Katlego Mogale, a spokesman for Gauteng police, told CNN. The crime was not discovered until Monday morning. A Soweto-based police officer, who declined to be named, told Reuters, “We don’t know how many people were involved as we are still gathering evidence.” Police are studying the stadium’s closed-circuit TV footage for clues to the crime. (MORE: New Study: Americans Dislike Justin Bieber, Would Vote Justin Timberlake For President) Trouble seems to have followed Bieber on his Believe tour. The 19-year old Canadian pop mega star had his pet monkey quarantined by German customs officials, caused an uproar in Amsterdam when he stopped by Anne Frank’s house, and was tackled by a fan while performing on stage in Dubai. Soccer City is the largest stadium in Africa with a seating capacity of almost 95,000. In addition to concerts, the stadium hosted the finals of the 2010 World Cup. MORE: Justin Bieber Hopes Anne Frank Would Have Been A ‘Belieber’ – and the Internet Explodes MORE: Watch: Justin Bieber Attacked By Fan On Stage In Dubai ||||| Justin Bieber's world tour has generated its share of unexpected headlines, but the strangest was saved for last. A massive Ocean's 11-type heist took place during Bieber's show in Johannesburg, South Africa, according to local news reports. TMZ estimates the alleged thieves made off with roughly $330,000 in cash. According to South Africa's Eyewitness News, the suspects used ropes and chisels to break into a safe room. Stadium officials believe the break-in was an inside job, according to another local publication, the Independent Online. FNB Stadium, the concert venue, has a capacity of 94,000 people, and any thieves would've had to get past as many as 900 security guards. TMZ reports that Bieber tweeted at the gossip site, "It wasn't me," though any such tweet is no longer online. The Believe singer has taken an astonishing amount of flak, some of it deserved, on his recent overseas trek. In Dubai, his security guard deflected a teenager who rushed the stage. In Sweden, police said they found drugs on Bieber's tour bus. In Amsterdam, Bieber started a firestorm with his comments in the Anne Frank House guestbook. In Los Angeles, police have been investigating Bieber for allegedly spitting on a neighbor. In London, Bieber showed up late for a show and was later hospitalized after collapsing backstage, prompting him to deny ridiculous talk he might benefit from rehab. In the coming months, he'll be performing back in the good ol' U.S. of A., where people of all political stripes can agree one one thing: He sucks. Aww. His next show is at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday in Las Vegas, and then his North American tour kicks off June 22 in San Diego, California, crisscrossing the continent through an August 10 gig in Atlanta. We're gonna go out on a limb here: No way this guy organized an Ocean's 11-style heist. ||||| The seed for this crawl was a list of every host in the Wayback Machine This crawl was run at a level 1 (URLs including their embeds, plus the URLs of all outbound links including their embeds) The WARC files associated with this crawl are not currently available to the general public.

– The latest crazy headline to come out of Justin Bieber's world tour: Thieves broke into a South African stadium early Monday and stole $330,000 from the safe, which had quite a bit of cash in it thanks to a weekend Bieber concert, Time reports. Police think that's why the thieves went for it, and they also believe it was an inside job. Spin calls the crime "a massive Ocean's 11-type heist," because the suspects used ropes and chisels to get into the safe room and were likely chiseling for several days, South Africa's Eyewitness News reports. (This comes, of course, after headlines involving Bieber's monkey, Anne Frank, and marijuana, among other things.)

These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Injection of human iPS cells into a pig blastocyst. A laser beam (green circle with a red cross inside) was used to perforate an opening to the outer membrane (zona pellucida) of the pig blastocyst to allow easy access of an injection needle delivering human iPS cells. (Salk Institute) For the first time, scientists have grown an embryo that is part-pig, part-human. The experiment, described Thursday in the journal Cell, involves injecting human stem cells into the embryo of a pig, then implanting the embryo in the uterus of a sow and allowing it to grow. After four weeks, the stem cells had developed into the precursors of various tissue types, including heart, liver and neurons, and a small fraction of the developing pig was made up of human cells. The human-pig hybrid — dubbed a “chimera” for the mythical creature with a lion's head, a goat's body and a serpent's tail — was “highly inefficient,” the researchers cautioned. But it's the most successful human-animal chimera and a significant step toward the development of animal embryos with functioning human organs. In a study published a day earlier, an international team of researchers demonstrated that organs for transplant can be grown in chimera embryos that are part-mouse, part-rat. Writing in Nature, the researchers reported Wednesday that they were able to grow a mouse pancreas inside a rat embryo, then transfer insulin-secreting tissue from that organ into diabetic mice, alleviating their illness without triggering an immune response. It was the first demonstration that such an interspecies organ transplant is possible. Researchers hope that one day doctors may be able to grow human tissue using chimera embryos in farm animals, making organs available for sick humans who might otherwise wait years for a transplant. [Human embryo experiment shows progress toward 'three-parent' babies] The technique is already the subject of a vigorous debate about the ethics of introducing human material into animals; since 2015, the National Institutes of Health has had a moratorium on funding for certain human-animal chimera research. (The new study was performed in California at the Salk Institute without federal funds.) Some argue that, since stem cells can become any kind of tissue, including parts of the nervous system, chimeras raise the specter of an animal with a human brain or reproductive organs. Others think there's a symbolic or sacred line between human and animal genetic material that should not be crossed. But Vardit Ravitsky, a bioethicist at the University of Montreal's School of Public Health, said that the two studies published this week could help make a case for further human-animal chimera research by demonstrating the field's potential benefits. “I think the point of these papers is sort of a proof of principle, showing that what researchers intend to achieve with human-non-human chimeras might be possible,” she said. “The more you can show that it stands to produce something that will actually save lives … the more we can demonstrate that the benefit is real, tangible and probable — overall it shifts the scale of risk-benefit assessment, potentially in favor of pursuing research and away from those concerns that are more philosophical and conceptual.” [NIH may allow funding for human-animal stem cell research] In an effort to address the world's growing organ shortage — an estimated 22 people a day die waiting for transplants, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — scientists have been trying to grow organs outside the human body. But organs developed in petri dishes are not identical to the ones that grow inside a living thing. “That's where the rationale of this kind of experiment comes in,” said Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a developmental biologist at the Salk Institute and the senior author on the study of the human-pig chimera. “What if we let nature do the work for us? What if we just put human cells inside the embryo and the embryo knows what do to?” An illustration of a potential process for harvesting human organs from pigs using chimera embryos. (Hiro Nakauchi) The model for using chimeras for organ transplant would probably look something like the technique reported in Nature. In that experiment, researchers took induced pluripotent stem cells (ordinary cells that have been reverted to an early embryonic state, so that they have the potential to develop into any tissue type) from mice. These cells were then injected into rat embryos that had been genetically modified so that they were unable to grow their own pancreas — “emptying a niche” for the mouse stem cells to fill. The embryonic rats developed normally and were born healthy. Each had a rat-sized pancreas made of mouse cells. The whole pancreases were too big to transplant into tiny mice, so the researchers extracted just the islets — the region of the pancreas that produces hormones like insulin — and planted them in mice that had been induced to have diabetes. Because the transplanted cells were grown from stem cells taken from mice, the animals required just five days of immunosuppressive drugs to keep their bodies from rejecting the new tissue. After that, they were able to live normally with healthy blood glucose levels for over a year — half a lifetime in human terms. The study showed that interspecies organ transplants are not only possible, but they can be done effectively and safely, said Hiromitsu Nakauchi, a stem cell researcher at Stanford University and the University of Tokyo who is the senior author of the study. “This is a form of transplantation we could do in the clinic with human patients someday,” he said. [Stem-cell clinics face new scrutiny from federal regulators] Nakauchi also conducts research on human-chimera embryos, but his efforts to inject human stem cells into sheep embryos have largely been unsuccessful — the evolutionary distance between humans and livestock may be making it difficult to get human stem cells to take hold in those animals. Other researchers have achieved human-mouse chimeras that developed to full size and grew to adulthood, but there is debate about how substantially human cells can contribute to mice, which are much more distantly related. He said he was cheered to read the Cell study, which represents the most significant progress on human-animal chimeras yet, though the technique is still nowhere near ready for an experiment like the one performed in Nakauchi's mice. “If you read the paper, the contribution of human cells is very limited, is very, very minor, and only in the early embryonic phase, so we’re still not sure if we can make human chimeras,” he cautioned. “But I'm glad that they're doing this research.” Though researchers have had great success producing rat-mouse chimeras (top), it has been more difficult to achieve chimerism with human and pig cells (bottom). (Wu et al./Cell 2017) The Cell study was the result of four years of work involving some 1,500 pig embryos. These embryos were not genetically modified, like Nakauchi's rat embryos, but the Salk scientists used a similar technique to inject human stem cells. Pigs are an ideal animal for chimera research, said co-author Pablo Ross, an associate professor in the department of animal science at the University of California, Davis. Their organs are roughly the same size as those of humans (recall that the pancreases grown in Nakauchi's rats were rat-sized, even though they were grown with mouse cells), but they reach their full size far more quickly than humans and other primates. “You go from one cell [at] fertilization to 200 pounds, the average size of an adult [pig], in nine months,” Ross said. “I think that's very reasonable, when you think about the fact that the average wait for a kidney transplant is about three years.” [Scientists turned mouse skin cells into egg cells — and made babies] Still, pigs' rapid gestation means that their organs develop much more rapidly than those of humans. If researchers want to create a successful chimera, they have to consider timing. So Ross and his colleagues used three different types of stem cells for their experiment: “naive” cells that were at the very earliest stages of development, “primed” cells that have developed further (but are still pluripotent), and “intermediate” cells that are somewhere in between. Dozens of cells of each type were injected into pig embryos, which were then implanted in sows and allowed to develop for three to four weeks (about a quarter of a pig's gestation period). The primed cells never really took hold in the host embryo. The naive cells were initially incorporated into the growing animal, but were indistinguishable in the developing pig four weeks later. The intermediate cells were most successful; by the time the embryos were removed from the sow and analyzed, about one in every 100,000 cells was human rather than pig, lead author Jun Wu estimated. The human cells were distributed randomly across the chimera: Many wound up in what would become the heart (where they made up about 10 percent of tissue), some in the kidneys and liver (1 percent or less). A few developed into the precursors of neurons, a fear of bioethicists who worry about creating an animal with human or even humanlike consciousness. But Izpisua Belmonte said that prospect is still a long way off. The contribution of human cells to the chimera was tiny, and research protocols were in place to prevent the development of any human-animal chimera to maturity. “We were just trying to answer the yes or no question of, can human cells contribute at all?” he said. “And the answer to that question is yes.” Salk Institute scientists Jun Wu (seated) and Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, authors of the new Cell paper. (Salk Institute) The Cell study researchers also discussed progress with rat-mouse chimeras. Though they have not performed an interspecies organ transfer, they were able to grow hearts, eyes and pancreases in chimeric embryos. They also grew a rat gall bladder inside a mouse embryo, even though rats don't grow gall bladders during normal development — suggesting that rats have the genetic coding for gall bladders but those genes are suppressed by their developmental environment. That's another important aspect of chimera embryo research, Izpisua Belmonte said, one that is sometimes overlooked in the focus on organ transplants. Chimera embryos can be used to understand development, examine genetic diseases and test drugs without risking the health of humans. In August, NIH released a draft of a policy that would change the guidelines to allow funding of certain human animal chimeras. Under the proposed new rule, the taxpayer funds could be used for experiments that introduced human stem cells to early stage embryos of all animals except other primates. Some nonhuman primate research would also be allowed, but only using embryos at later stages of development and only after an extra layer of review by a special NIH committee. But the policy change is still under review. Neither Nakauchi's nor Izpisua Belmonte's study was funded by NIH grants. Nakauchi said he hoped that recent progress in the field might garner support for easing the ban. “Finally we’re able to provide a proof of principle that ... this approach of making organs … is possible and also safe and efficient,” he said. “So I hope people will understand this.” He continued, “Many people think this is a kind of science fiction story. But this is becoming reality.” Read more: Trump administration continues to give scientists the cold shoulder, alarming researchers Elon Musk is going to tunnel from his desk to LAX — or so he’s tweeted Wolf-sized otters prowled prehistoric China A 466-million-year-old space collision is still raining shrapnel on Earth Dear Science: Why is everything backward in a mirror? ||||| Image copyright Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte Image caption The embryos were allowed to develop for 28 days Embryos that are less than 0.001% human - and the rest pig - have been made and analysed by scientists. It is the first proof chimeras - named after the mythical lion-goat-serpent monster - can be made by combining material from humans and animals. However, the scientific report in the journal Cell shows the process is challenging and the aim of growing human organs in animals is distant. It was described as an "exciting publication" by other researchers. To create a chimera, human stem cells - the type that can develop into any tissue - are injected into a pig embryo. Image copyright Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte Image caption The spherical pig embryo is held in place while a tiny needle is used to inject human cells The embryo - now a mix of human and pig - is then implanted into a sow for up to one month. The process appears very inefficient - of the 2,075 embryos implanted only 186 continued to develop up to the 28-day stage. But crucially there were signs that human cells were functioning - albeit as a tiny fraction of the total tissue - as part of a human-pig chimera. "This is the first time that human cells are seen growing inside a large animal," Prof Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, from the Salk Institute, told the BBC News website. Image copyright Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte Image caption Human cells, coloured green, were found in the four-week-old embryo Commenting on the inefficiency, Prof Belmonte said: "Humans and pigs are separated by a long time in evolution." Development in the womb is also much faster in pigs - pregnancy lasts less than four months compared with about nine in people. "It is like a freeway with one car going much faster than another - you're more likely to have an accident," Prof Belmonte said. He added there was a "long distance" between now and growing animals with human organs - such as a heart, pancreas or liver, that can be transplanted. However, in the meantime the Salk researchers argue that making chimeras with more human tissue could be useful for: screening drugs before human trials studying the onset of human diseases understanding the earliest stages of human embryo development. explaining differences between organs in different species Dr Jun Wu, part of the research team, told the BBC: "[Getting the efficiency] in the range of 0.1% to 1% human cells should be enough. "Even at this early stage [28-days], billions of cells in the embryo would have millions of human cells, then testing would be meaningful and practical." There was no evidence that human cells were integrating into the early form of brain tissue. Organ breakthrough On Wednesday, a study in the journal Nature showed how organs could be grown in one species for use in another: by making some room. Rats were genetically modified so they could not produce a pancreas - the organ crucial for controlling blood sugar levels. Mouse stem cells were injected in the deficient rat embryos, promptly took advantage of the missing pancreas and grew a mouse one there instead. This was then transplanted back into mice to treat diabetes. The work to try this in humans and pigs is already under way. Although in the long term cows look likely to be a better host for human organs as both cow and human pregnancies last about nine months. The field is also ethically charged, the US National Institutes of Health at one point imposed a moratorium on funding the experiments. The researchers have done only research that is legal, but they are aware of the controversy. Prof Belmonte said: "We are restricting development to one month in the pig, the reason is this is enough for us now to understand how cells mix, differentiate and integrate. "One possibility is to let these animals be born, but that is not something we should allow to happen at this point. "Not everything that science can do we should do, we are not living in a niche in lab, we live with other people - and society needs to decide what can be done. Dr Wu said: "When the public hears the world chimera it is always associated with Greek mythology, there is always this associated fear. "But angels are chimeras, it can be a positive image and hopefully help with a worldwide shortage of organs, not create a monster." Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Chimeras are named after the fire-breathing beast of Greek mythology Prof Bruce Whitelaw, the interim director of the Roslin Institute where Dolly the sheep was cloned, said: "This is an exciting publication. "It clearly demonstrates that human stem cells introduced into the early pig embryo can form a human-pig chimera. "This is the first scientific publication to achieve this result. "This is a first in the development of chimeric animal production and paves the way for significant advances in our understanding of development in the embryo and hints towards future novel biotech applications." Prof Robin Lovell-Badge, from the Francis Crick Institute, said: "An ability to make interspecies chimeras would be valuable in terms of providing basic understanding of species differences in embryo development and organ function. "It would also offer the possibility of growing human tissues or organs in animals for transplants - although this is still a long way off. "The goals of this study are therefore highly laudable." Follow James on Twitter.

– Researchers have created part-human-part-pig embryos in what other scientists are calling an "exciting" step toward proving the viability of human-animal chimeras, the BBC reports. The researchers injected human stem cells into pig embryos, then implanted those embryos into adult pigs. After a month or so, the developing pig was part human, and the stem cells were turning into the makings of a heart, liver, and neurons, according to the Washington Post. Researchers published their findings Thursday in Cell. Still, the embryos were less than 0.001% human. And Seeker reports the host pigs were "euthanized and incinerated" after four weeks to prevent the accidental creation of super-smart pigs or something equally horrifying. The goal of the research is to eventually be able to grow human organs inside "large host animals." Approximately 22 people in the US die every day while waiting for an organ transplant. Researchers say this new process could allow organs to be grown on demand, ending organ shortages. But they warn that's far in the future. In the meantime, it could be used to research diseases and test drugs in animals. But there are still moral questions surrounding the creation of animal-human chimeras, with some scientists expressing concern about making animals with human brains or reproductive organs. (A "human chimera" resulted in a dad learning that his unborn twin "fathered" his son.)

The White House announced President Donald Trump’s preferred pick to head NASA on Friday night, but the choice is already proving unpopular, with Florida senators criticizing Trump's choice. The man nominated is Oklahoma congressman Jim Bridenstine, who would become the 13th administrator of the national space agency upon Senate approval. The role’s responsibilities include serving as senior space science adviser to the president, leading the agency and managing its resources. However, Republican senator Marco Rubio and Democrat Bill Nelson, both of Florida, home to NASA's space center at Cape Canaveral, have criticized the appoinment of someone political and with a perceived lack of experience. Bridenstine did serve as a pilot in the U.S. Navy Reserve for nine years and is a former executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium between December 2008 and August 2010. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call He was elected to Congress in 2012 to represent Oklahoma’s First Congressional District and currently sits on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee, which oversees energy research in the U.S. and opposed the 2015 Paris climate deal. His interest in space was shown in the American Space Renaissance Act he introduced in 2016 and, though it did not pass, parts of the legislation were used in other bills. But unlike previous NASA administrators, the 42-year-old Michigan native does not have any formal qualifications in science or engineering, having earned a triple bachelor's degree in economics, psychology and business from Rice University, and later an MBA from Cornell University. The Congressman says he has business experience in real estate, ranching, aerospace, and defense contracting. According to Ars Technica, who first tipped Bridestine for the position in August, the congressman is popular among commercial space companies as he supports an increased privatization of U.S. civil and military space activities. Bridenstine was a strong supporter of Trump’s presidency and was interviewed for the second time for the role in April, as he confirmed to an Oklahoma publication. But Rubio said he is worried the nomination has more to do with politics than competence. “I just think it could be devastating for the space program. Obviously, being from Florida, I’m very sensitive to anything that slows up NASA and its mission,” Rubio told Politico. “It’s the one federal mission which has largely been free of politics and it’s at a critical juncture in its history,” Rubio said. “I would hate to see an administrator held up—on [grounds of] partisanship, political arguments, past votes, or statements made in the past—because the agency can’t afford it and it can’t afford the controversy.” Democrat Senator Nelson echoed Rubio’s concerns. “The head of NASA ought to be a space professional, not a politician,” he said in a written statement to Politico. Explaining his interest in space in February at the Commercial Space Transportation Conference in Washington, Bridenstine said: "People often say, 'Why are you so involved in space issues? You don't have any space interests in Oklahoma.' You bet I do. My constituents get killed in tornadoes." Bridenstine’s concern regarding extremee weather phenomena does not extend to climate change. In a speech on the House floor in 2013, he bashed then-President Barack Obama for spending “30 times as much money on global warming research as he does on weather forecasting and warning,” exaggerating the discrepancy, as Polifact verified. Despite the controversy, acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot welcomed Bridenstine’s nomination in a statement on Friday. “I am pleased to have Representative Bridenstine nominated to lead our team. Of course, the nomination must go through the Senate confirmation process, but I look forward to ensuring a smooth transition and sharing the great work the NASA team is doing.” Lightfoot is expected to remain in acting role for several more weeks as the nomination process can be lengthy. He already broke a record as the longest NASA has been led by an acting administrator in the agency’s history, nearly seven and a half months. ||||| The bipartisan pushback by Florida Sens. Marco Rubio (left) and Bill Nelson (right) underscores the importance of the agency to the state. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images Rubio, Nelson blast Trump’s NASA pick Florida’s senators are voicing opposition to President Donald Trump’s pick for NASA administrator, Oklahoma Congressman Jim Bridenstine, saying a “politician” shouldn’t lead the nation’s space program. Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Bill Nelson wouldn’t say whether they’d buck the president and vote against Bridenstine, who was nominated Friday. But they suggested the GOP congressman’s political past would needlessly spark a partisan fight in the Senate that could ultimately damage NASA. Story Continued Below Bridenstine also trashed Rubio during last year’s GOP presidential primary, although Rubio said he doesn’t hold that against the congressman. The bipartisan pushback against Trump’s nominee for NASA administrator underscores the importance of the agency to Florida, home of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Nelson, as a member of Congress, in 1986 flew on a Space Shuttle Columbia mission; he also has a home on what’s known as the state’s Space Coast. “The head of NASA ought to be a space professional, not a politician,” Nelson said in a brief written statement to POLITICO. Nelson serves as the ranking member on the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, which oversees NASA and would hear Bridenstine’s nomination. Bridenstine’s office did not return calls seeking comment. The White House officially announced in a statement on Friday night that Trump intended to nominate Bridenstine to the role of NASA administrator. The most reliable politics newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. Rubio said he and Nelson “share the same concerns” and worry Bridenstine’s “political baggage” would weigh him down in a GOP-led Senate that has grown increasingly resistant to Trump. NASA can’t afford that, Rubio said. “I just think it could be devastating for the space program. Obviously, being from Florida, I’m very sensitive to anything that slows up NASA and its mission,” Rubio told POLITICO. “It’s the one federal mission which has largely been free of politics and it’s at a critical juncture in its history,” Rubio said. “I would hate to see an administrator held up -- on [grounds of] partisanship, political arguments, past votes, or statements made in the past -- because the agency can’t afford it and it can’t afford the controversy.” Noting NASA’s mission to Mars, Rubio said the agency is at critical moment in its history and he would prefer an administrator who has the “respect of the people who work there from a leadership and even a scientific perspective.” Rubio said he relayed his thoughts to the White House. Rubio said he would wait to meet with Bridenstine, a former Navy pilot who once served as director of Tulsa’s Air and Space Museum, and review his credentials before deciding how to vote. Bridenstine was harshly critical of Rubio during the GOP presidential primary when the Oklahoma representative supported Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. In two ads for Cruz that suggested Rubio was weak on terror, Bridenstine also attacked Rubio’s support of comprehensive immigration reform. "I have seen Ted Cruz stand up to both Obama and Marco Rubio, when they joined forces to provide amnesty without border security,” Bridenstine said in one of the spots. “The Rubio amnesty bill would have expanded the U.S. refugee resettlement program." When asked about Bridenstine’s politicking against him, Rubio wisecracked that “there’s a couple people in the executive branch who didn’t always say nice things about me in a political campaign. This is largely a secondary issue. I don’t think it speaks to a person’s ability to work at NASA.” Cristiano Lima contributed to this report.

– President Trump has finally named his pick for NASA administrator—and lawmakers from both parties are not happy with the choice. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, an Oklahoma lawmaker first elected to the House in 2013, is being criticized as overly political and as lacking aerospace experience, Newsweek reports. The 42-year-old Republican, who was an early Trump supporter, served as a pilot in the US Navy Reserve and was executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium for around 18 months, but he has no formal science or engineering qualifications. He has been active on space issues in Congress, however, and is strongly supported by private space companies. To become NASA's 13th administrator, Bridenstine has to be approved by the Senate, and both senators from Florida have expressed concerns. "I just think it could be devastating for the space program. Obviously, being from Florida, I’m very sensitive to anything that slows up NASA and its mission," Republican Sen. Marco Rubio told Politico after the White House named Bridenstine on Friday night. "It’s the one federal mission which has largely been free of politics and it’s at a critical juncture in its history." Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson echoed Rubio's concerns about Bridenstine having too much "political baggage," saying: "The head of NASA ought to be a space professional, not a politician."

These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Thomas Hardiman. AP Photo/Cliff Owen President Donald Trump announced Monday morning that he had settled on a nominee for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court — and one formerly dark-horse candidate has emerged as the judge with quite possibly the inside track to score the nod. Thomas Hardiman, a 51-year-old judge who sits on the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals, has caught the attention of observers to fill the void left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia for several reasons. With Democrats threatening to block Trump's Supreme Court pick, it's noteworthy that Hardiman was voted onto the appeals court in 2007 by a 95-0 tally. Both Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted to approve him. Hardiman also has the backing of Trump's closest judicial source: his sister. Maryanne Trump Barry, a fellow 3rd Circuit judge, holds a high opinion of Hardiman. As an adviser who spoke with the president told Politico, "Maryanne is high on Hardiman." And those who know the conservative judge say there's another trait that could be attractive to Trump. "I don't know that I can think of anybody that seemed as down-to-earth as he is," Carter Phillips, a Washington, DC, lawyer who has argued before the Supreme Court more than any other attorney in private practice, told Business Insider. Phillips said he has argued a pair of cases in front of Hardiman, been a part of a few panels with the Pittsburgh-based judge, and had a handful of Hardiman's former clerks work at his law firm, Sidley Austin. "He's a really nice person," Phillips said. "I think he will be what you see is what you get on the bench. I don't think you're going to see anything quite like Justice Scalia in that regard — I don't expect him to be larger than life. ... He appears, by all means, to be a solid conservative." Hardiman, at 37, was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve on the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He was nominated to the appeals court four years later. A Notre Dame graduate who received his law degree from Georgetown, Hardiman would find himself in sparse company on the Supreme Court bench — each justice currently seated holds an Ivy League law degree. As SCOTUSblog noted, Hardiman has reflected originalist opinions on Second Amendment cases. On abortion-related issues, Hardiman has not weighed in directly. AP Photo/Cliff Owen Trump promised throughout the campaign to fill the vacancy with a judge in the mold of Scalia. Those who spoke with Business Insider about Hardiman said he would likely fall somewhere between Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts ideologically. Former US District Judge Robert Cindrich, who hired Hardiman to join his Pittsburgh firm when Hardiman moved to the city, said he "tries to be humanistic" and "tries to solve problems" in a way similar to Roberts. "That might be somewhere where he might fit," Cindrich told Business Insider. "For sure he's a conservative. In his philosophies, he is a Republican, There's no question about his conservative bona fides. He was active in the Republican Party when he came to Pittsburgh — very successful at that, by the way — so you would have to say he'd be of the conservative mold. How far, it's very hard for me to say. "Whether he is as strict an originalist as Justice Scalia, I can't say," he said. "But whether he would pay heed to the word of the Constitution, I know he will. There's no question." But Cindrich, a Democrat, also said he considered Hardiman to be "sufficiently forward-thinking and thoughtful." Echoing Phillips' assessment, Cindrich said Hardiman is the consummate "people person." "[It's] one of the reasons he was so successful as a district judge," Cindrich said. "He wasn't there very long. They picked him out as a star, which he was, and got him to [that] circuit court appointment." Phillips said Hardiman's clerks say they "love him." "But they also say he's open-minded, likes to talk through the issues, stays engaged with them after they complete their clerkship," he said. "From my perspective, he'll likely be pro-business, and he'll be a lot like Justice Scalia in terms of his overall approach to the cases. I think he'll probably be good for most of my clients." Like Cindrich, Phillips said he expects Hardiman would fall somewhere between Alito and Roberts ideologically and that he would be surprised if the judge ended up closer to the more moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy. "At least based on everything I've read on him — which I won't say is that much, I won't start reading a judge's opinions until I have a nominee in hand — everything I've heard about him and read about him suggests he will be a solid conservative," Phillips said. "The same way I knew that Merrick Garland was going to be a solid liberal if his nomination hadn't stalled." Phillips said it was "probably not an unfair comparison" to make that Hardiman would be for the right what Garland, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals judge who was nominated early last year by President Barack Obama for Scalia's vacancy, was for the left. Hardiman is joined on the Trump administration's list of finalists by 10th Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch and 11th Circuit Judge Bill Pryor. Trump initially said he would announce the nomination on Thursday, but after a weekend firestorm surrounding his executive order that temporarily bars people immigrating to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries, the announcement was moved up to Tuesday night. Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network, a group that plans to go to bat for Trump's eventual nominee and spend millions to help get that person confirmed, told Business Insider that it seems as if there is a new front-runner for the vacancy with each passing day. "You know, yesterday was Gorsuch's day. Today is Hardiman. Tomorrow, we'll probably be on [7th Circuit Judge] Diane Sykes," she said. She insisted that Hardiman would be an "excellent choice" for the vacancy and would fulfill Trump's promise of picking a judge akin to Scalia. But Severino added that she feels "like an Ivy League admissions office" with what she believes are a litany of great conservative choices being reported as under consideration. "You've got all these people with 4.0s and 1600 SAT scores," Severino said. "You can kind of pick which flavor, and they'd all be great choices. That, I think, is the president's task, but it's a great problem to have." ||||| Over the weekend, reports indicated that President Donald Trump’s shortlist for a nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia nearly a year ago has apparently gotten even shorter, with Jan Crawford of CBS News reporting that the list had been narrowed to Judge William Pryor of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, Judge Neil Gorsuch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and Judge Thomas Hardiman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. In some ways, the 51-year-old Hardiman has more in common with Justice Sonia Sotomayor – whom he would sit next to if nominated and confirmed to the court – than with Justice Antonin Scalia, whom he would replace: The Massachusetts-born Hardiman became the first person in his family to go to college when he went to the University of Notre Dame, and he financed his law degree at the Georgetown University Law Center by driving a taxi. (If nominated and confirmed, Hardiman would also bring educational diversity to a court on which all of the other justices attended Ivy League law schools.) After his law school graduation, Hardiman worked for two years in the Washington office of Skadden Arps before moving to Pittsburgh, where he practiced law until 2003. At the age of 37, Hardiman became a federal district judge; he was appointed to the 3rd Circuit in 2007, at the age of 41 – yet another similarity with Sotomayor, who also became a district judge at the age of 37 and took her seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit at the age of 44. But the comparisons with Sotomayor largely end there. Hardiman is a solid, although hardly knee-jerk, conservative who was active in Republican politics before joining the federal bench, and his jurisprudence as a Supreme Court justice likely would be closer to another justice who hails from the 3rd Circuit: Justice Samuel Alito. During his nearly ten years as a federal appeals court judge, Hardiman has weighed in on a variety of hot-button topics important to Republicans, and his votes in these cases have consistently been conservative. For example, the gun rights cases in which Hardiman has participated reflect an originalist approach to the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Although he rejected a Second Amendment challenge to the general constitutionality of the federal law barring felons from possessing firearms, last year he concurred in a pair of challenges to the law by two men who had been convicted of corruption of a minor and carrying a handgun without a license, respectively. Hardiman agreed with the would-be gun owners that, at least as applied to them, the federal law violates the Constitution. He explained that “the threshold question in a Second Amendment challenge is one of scope: whether the Second Amendment protects the person, the weapon, or the activity in the first place. This,” he continued, “requires an inquiry into ‘text and history.’” Based on that inquiry, he concluded that “the most cogent principle that can be drawn from traditional limitations on the right to keep and bear arms is that dangerous persons likely to use firearms for illicit purposes were not understood to be protected by the Second Amendment” – a category into which the individuals in this case, in his view, did not fall. Relying on this principle, Hardiman also joined an unpublished and unsigned opinion rejecting a Second Amendment challenge to the federal and state bars on gun ownership by an inmate released from prison after serving time for armed robbery. Hardiman’s opinion in Drake v. Filko is a strong statement of his commitment to a more expansive view of the Second Amendment. The case was a challenge to a New Jersey law regulating the issuance of permits to carry handguns in public. Among other things, the gun owner seeking a permit is required to show that he has a “justifiable need” to carry the gun. The panel ruled in favor of the state, but Hardiman dissented from that ruling. He emphasized that the Supreme Court’s decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago both “indicate that the Second Amendment extends beyond the home,” and that – at least in his view – the law violates the Second Amendment. After considering the case at three different conferences, the Supreme Court declined to review the case on the merits, as it did with several other cases presenting the same question. On the death penalty, Hardiman has generally – but not always – voted in favor of the state and against the inmate. Many of the death penalty cases in which he has participated involve applications of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, a 1996 federal law that imposes both procedural and substantive limitations on an inmate’s ability to obtain habeas corpus relief from his conviction. In particular, Hardiman has emphasized that AEDPA imposes a high bar that inmates will rarely be able to overcome. Thus, in one case he dissented from the en banc court’s decision on a death-row inmate’s claims that the prosecution did not comply with its duty to disclose exculpatory evidence. Even if there are “gaps or errors” in a state court’s reasoning, he stressed, federal courts should still uphold it on habeas review unless the decision itself is unreasonable. In another death penalty case, Hardiman first joined a decision in favor of the inmate, but that decision was vacated by the Supreme Court. On remand, the panel ruled for the inmate again, in a decision authored (like the original opinion) by Judge Maryanne Trump Barry – the president’s sister. Hardiman dissented from the ruling on remand, explaining that the inmate could not “surmount AEDPA’s formidable bar to habeas relief. “Although I agree with my colleagues that the best reading of the” police report in the case on which the inmate relied “is that it is not ambiguous or speculative,” he acknowledged, “I cannot say that the state court’s ruling was unreasonable under the highly deferential AEDPA standard.” Hardiman also joined an opinion that upheld Delaware’s lethal injection protocol. However, the decision was hardly a ringing endorsement of Delaware’s practices: The panel also cautioned that its ruling “should in no way be construed as license for Delaware to stay the worrisome course it appears to have taken at times under its former protocol.” And it added that the “record before us reflects an occasional blitheness on Delaware’s part that, while perhaps not unconstitutional, gives us great pause.” Hardiman has not weighed in directly on issues relating to abortion. In United States v. Marcavage, though, he joined an opinion vacating the conviction of an anti-abortion protester who was arrested for refusing to move away from the sidewalk in front of the Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia. The court agreed with the protester that the sidewalk is a public forum, subjecting the government’s efforts to restrict his speech to a more exacting standard of review. The panel declined to defer to the trial court’s finding that the content of Marcavage’s message played no role in his removal from the sidewalk. Hardiman was less sympathetic to other free speech claims. In Easton Area School District v. B.H., he dissented from a ruling in favor of students who wanted to be able to wear silicone bracelets with the slogan “I [Heart] Boobies” as part of a breast-cancer awareness campaign. Hardiman argued that the decision was “inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s First Amendment jurisprudence.” Describing the case as a “close” one, he contended that the bracelets “would seem to fall into a gray area between speech that is plainly lewd and merely indecorous.” But he deemed it “objectively reasonable to interpret the bracelets, in the middle school context, as inappropriate sexual innuendo and double entendre.” A contrary ruling, he cautioned, would require schools “to permit more egregiously sexual advocacy messages.” The Supreme Court denied the school district’s petition for review without comment, indicating that there were not four votes to review the case on the merits, but not necessarily endorsing the decision of the lower court. And in NAACP v. City of Philadelphia, Hardiman dissented from a panel opinion holding that the city’s ban on non-commercial advertisements by private advertisers at the city’s airport violated the First Amendment. Hardiman characterized the ban as “a reasonable attempt to avoid controversy at the airport” and thereby “create a comfortable environment” there. Hardiman’s lone campaign finance opinion suggests that he would vote to relax restrictions on campaign donations, although in the specific case before the 3rd Circuit his views worked for the benefit of police unions. He wrote for the court in striking down a provision in Philadelphia’s charter that barred police officers from making contributions to their union’s political action committee. He acknowledged the city’s “historic struggles with police and political corruption,” but he concluded that the city had not shown how the ban “serves in a direct and material way to address these harms.” He seemed to find particularly troubling the city’s claim that “the ban is part and parcel of a larger scheme that insulates police officers from all politics, while simultaneously condoning political activities by the police that have similar, if not more pernicious, implications.” Many of the religion cases in which Hardiman has been involved have been lawsuits filed by inmates who contend that their ability to exercise their religion has been restricted by prison officials. In those cases, Hardiman generally ruled in favor of the prison officials, but in other cases he has written opinions supporting a student’s ability to express religious beliefs in the public schools. Thus, he dissented from the panel’s ruling in favor of a school district and against a mother and her son, both of whom described themselves as evangelical Christians, who were barred from reading from the Bible during a kindergarten “show and tell” activity. Hardiman suggested that “the school went too far in this case in limiting participation in ‘All About Me’ week to nonreligious perspectives,” which “plainly constituted” discrimination based on the family’s viewpoint. And Hardiman questioned the 3rd Circuit’s test for reviewing the propriety of student speech in elementary school, criticizing the factors used in that test as “highly manipulable.” “The majority’s desire to protect young children from potentially influential speech in the classroom is understandable,” he concluded, but that desire, “however admirable, does not allow the government to offer a student and his parents the opportunity to express something about themselves, except what is most important to them.” And in another case, he joined a decision against a school district and in favor of a child who was barred from distributing at school invitations to a Christmas party to be held at her church. In other cases, Hardiman has been harder to pigeonhole. He wrote for the court in allowing a gender-stereotyping claim by a gay man who described himself as “effeminate” to go forward, reversing the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the company where the man worked, and which ultimately fired him. Hardiman explained that the plaintiff was “harassed because he did not conform to” the company’s “vision of how a man should look, speak, and act – rather than harassment based solely on his sexual orientation.” Hardiman agreed with the company that “every case of sexual orientation discrimination cannot translate into a triable case of gender stereotyping discrimination.” But at the same time, he observed, the company “cannot persuasively argue that because Prowel is homosexual, he is precluded from bringing a gender stereotyping claim.” Hardiman’s opinion for the court in a challenge to a fire department’s residency requirement similarly reaches a more liberal result. The court affirmed the district court’s ruling that the residency requirement had a disparate impact on African-American firefighters, rejecting the argument that the fire department “will be forced to open to hiring to non-residents while other municipalities exclude” its own residents. Hardiman explained that “we have no authority to endorse discrimination against firefighter candidates who do not live in North Hudson in order to protect those who do.” In immigration cases, Hardiman has generally affirmed – in fairly unremarkable unpublished opinions – decisions going against noncitizens. But he has not hesitated to vacate decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals when he believes that the board has erred. In Valdiviezo-Galdamez v. Attorney General, for example, Hardiman was part of a panel that ruled in favor of an asylum applicant, who alleged that he had come to the United States to avoid being involuntarily recruited into a violent gang in his home country of Honduras. The case centered on whether the applicant was being persecuted because of his “membership in a particular social group” within the meaning of federal immigration laws. The panel sent the case back to the BIA, reasoning that two requirements – “social visibility” and “particularity” – imposed by the BIA on asylum-seekers were inconsistent with the board’s earlier decisions. Hardiman concurred in the judgment for the asylum-seeker. He would have held that the BIA can interpret the term “particular social group” “to include whatever requirements it sees fit.” But, he cautioned, the BIA must also acknowledge that the requirements are a departure from its previous position and explain why it is making the change. Here, he observed, “[a]nnouncing a new interpretation while at the same time reaffirming seemingly irreconcilable precedents suggests that the BIA does not recognize or is not being forthright about, the nature of the change its new interpretation effectuates. It also unfairly forces asylum applicants to shoot at a moving target.” And in Di Li Li v. Attorney General, Hardiman joined an opinion that remanded the case to the BIA for reconsideration of a motion to reopen based on changed circumstances when the asylum applicant had become Christian and the BIA had not addressed his argument “as to how conditions have worsened over time” for Christians in China. Several of the decisions in which Hardiman has participated have made their way to the Supreme Court on the merits. In Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, Hardiman wrote for a divided panel in a challenge to a New Jersey jail’s policy of strip-searching arrestees before they join the facility’s general population. The majority reversed the district court’s ruling in favor of the arrestee. Hardiman concluded that, “balancing the Jails’ security interests at the time of intake before arrestees enter the general population against the privacy interests of the inmates,” the strip-search procedures are “reasonable.” By a vote of 5-4, the Supreme Court affirmed that ruling. Hardiman also joined another high-profile decision that was ultimately affirmed by the Supreme Court: an en banc ruling striking down a federal law that criminalized depictions of animal cruelty in videos. The challenge to the law came from a Virginia man convicted of making and selling dog-fighting videos; he argued that the law violated the First Amendment, and both the 3rd Circuit and the Supreme Court (the latter by a vote of 8-1) agreed. Yet another decision in which Hardiman participated will be before the court on the merits soon: In December 2016, the justices announced that they would review a trio of cases involving the interpretation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, which generally applies to employers that offer pensions and other benefits to their employees, but does not apply to church plans. The question before the Supreme Court is whether that exemption applies to pension plans maintained by employers – such as non-profit religious hospitals, schools, and homes for the elderly – that are affiliated with a church, or whether the exemption instead applies only to plans that were originally established by a church. Hardiman was part of a 3rd Circuit panel that ruled that “only a church can establish a plan that qualifies for an exemption” under ERISA; now the justices will decide whether that conclusion is correct. Hardiman’s wife Lori, with whom he has three children, is from a well-connected Democratic family in Pennsylvania, but Hardiman registered to vote as a Republican in 1994. Hardiman has headed the local Big Brothers Big Sisters program, and he has also served as a “Big Brother” himself. A 2003 article in the Pittsburgh City Paper raised questions about Hardiman’s role in defending a challenge to a Ten Commandments plaque on public property, as well as his role in opposing housing discrimination cases. Hardiman is a fluent Spanish speaker who studied in Mexico; while living in Washington he worked with Ayuda, a legal aid clinic representing poor Spanish-speaking immigrants, on (among others) domestic violence and political asylum cases. During his Senate confirmation hearings, he described one of his immigration cases for Ayuda as “one of the most important cases I have ever handled.” Thanks are due to Andrew Hamm for his significant contributions to the legal research for this post. [Disclosure: I was among the counsel to petitioner Albert Florence in Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders.] Recommended Citation: Amy Howe, Potential nominee profile: Thomas Hardiman, SCOTUSblog (Jan. 23, 2017, 4:19 PM), http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/01/potential-nominee-profile-thomas-hardiman/ ||||| Update at 12:19 p.m., January 11: This post has been expanded to include discussion of Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama. Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit is widely considered, along with Judge Diane Sykes, to be the front-runner to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. President-elect Donald Trump mentioned both judges by name during a primary debate shortly after Scalia’s death, and both have the conservative bona fides necessary to allay concerns about, as Pryor himself has put it, adding “more Souters” to the court. Pryor, 54, earned his B.A. from Northeast Louisiana University in 1984 and his J.D. from Tulane University Law School 1987. Pryor clerked for Judge John Minor Wisdom on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and then worked as a private attorney until 1995. He served for two years as deputy attorney general of Alabama before becoming attorney general in 1997. As attorney general, he became known for his removal of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore for Moore’s refusal to follow a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state Supreme Court building. President George W. Bush nominated Pryor to the 11th Circuit in 2003, but the nomination stalled after Senate Democrats criticized Pryor for several incidents. While serving as attorney general, Pryor wrote a brief in defense of the Texas law banning sodomy that was later struck down in Lawrence v. Texas. Additionally, Pryor has called Roe v. Wade the “worst abomination in the history of constitutional law.” Bush eventually appointed Pryor to the appeals court during a congressional recess in 2004, and he was later confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 53-45. Criminal Law Judge Pryor is no friend of criminal defendants. He very consistently sides with the government in criminal cases on issues both big and small. And he has almost never ruled in favor of a capital defendant. General Criminal Cases. For example, in In re Morgan, Pryor wrote an opinion holding that the Supreme Court’s decision in Miller v. Alabama – which held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits imposing mandatory life sentences without parole on those who were under the age of 18 when they committed their crimes – did not apply retroactively to inmates whose sentences were final before the Supreme Court announced its decision. The Supreme Court subsequently reached the contrary conclusion in Montgomery v. Louisiana, over the dissents of Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito, and Clarence Thomas. In United States v. Jayyousi, Pryor joined a decision that, over Judge Rosemary Barkett’s dissent, upheld the convictions of a number of individuals charged with forming a support cell to provide money, recruits and equipment to overseas terrorist groups, including al-Qaida. Among other things, the panel rejected the defendants’ objections to admission of testimony from an FBI agent who testified that seemingly innocuous statements in intercepted phone calls were actually using code words, and then provided interpretations of what the code words and conversations meant. The panel also reversed the district court’s decision to give one of the defendants a 208-month-below-guidelines sentence. In United States v. Bautista-Silva, Pryor wrote a majority decision rejecting a Fourth Amendment challenge to a traffic stop leading to an arrest for human trafficking. The court concluded that the veteran border patrol agent “reasonably suspected that a sport-utility-vehicle with California license plates containing six adult males of apparently Hispanic descent was transporting illegal aliens when the driver changed speeds erratically on a slippery road and the passengers appeared nervous and refused to acknowledge the agent’s attempts to gain their attention.” Judge Barkett dissented, concluding that the evidence, “even when viewed together, supports nothing more than impermissible racial profiling that should never be used under our Constitution as an excuse for randomly stopping any of the many Hispanic motorists that travel the highways of Florida in SUV’s.” Capital Cases. Pryor has participated in many decisions associated with death penalty petitioners (writing 28 reported decisions by our estimation), far too many for us to describe here in any detail. A few statistics, however, are worth noting: Of the 28 reported decisions Pryor has written on the death penalty, all were resolved in favor of the state (including two vacating district court decisions granting habeas relief). In at least five cases in which Pryor voted in a capital defendant’s favor: On three occasions, the panel vacated a district court decision denying habeas. These are Thomas v. Att’y Gen., Fla. (remanding for full hearing on equitable tolling); Cooper v. Sec’y, Dep’t of Corr. (reversing habeas denial on ineffective assistance of counsel claim and granting relief from death sentence); and Zakrzewski v. McDonough (reversing district court judgment that motion for relief from judgment was a second and successive habeas petition). The other two occasions involved either a short per curiam opinion on remand from the Supreme Court, Ford v. Sec’y, Dep’t of Corr., or a panel decision bound by circuit precedent that was unanimously reversed en banc, Zack v. Tucker. Of Pryor’s 28 reported opinions we identified, 17 were unanimous with no separate opinions. A few, however, did lead to vigorous dissents from Judges Beverly Martin and Charles Wilson. These include Melton v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr. (with dissent by Martin); Henry v. Warden (with dissent by Wilson); Muhammad v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr. (with dissent-in-part by Wilson); Mann v. Palmer (with dissent by Martin); and Ponticelli v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr. (with dissent by Martin). Other Pryor decisions with separate opinions include Howell v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr. (with two concurrences, neither of which disagreed with Pryor’s analysis); Reese v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr. (with one concurrence by Martin disagreeing with majority’s decision to perform de novo review of merits after finding petition did not meet requirements of AEDPA); and McClain v. Hall (with one concurrence that did not disagree with Pryor’s analysis). The Supreme Court has never reviewed any of the capital decisions Pryor wrote himself (although a cert petition in one case, discussed below, is currently pending). Of the other opinions Pryor joined, at least two were reversed by the Supreme Court — Porter v. Att’y Gen., reversed under the name of Porter v. McCollum, and Holland v. Florida. Both are discussed below. Pryor has written two en banc decisions in capital cases. These are Evans v. Sec’y, Dep’t of Corr., in which Pryor, writing for eight judges, over two dissents, affirmed the district court’s conclusion that there was no Strickland violation due to counsel’s decision not to present mitigating evidence that would have been more harmful than helpful, and Wilson v. Warden, which is discussed below. The vast majority of Pryor’s death penalty cases involved federal habeas review under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. Those opinions have touched on a range of issues, including ineffective assistance of both trial and appellate counsel (Morton v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr.; Darling v. Sec’y, Dep’t of Corr.; McClaim v. Hall; and Diaz v. Sec’y for the Dep’t of Corr.); Brady challenges (Sochor v. Sec’y Dep’t of Corr.); Batson challenges (Greene v. Upton); ex post facto clause challenges ( Trotter v. Sec’y, Dep’t of Corr.); and procedural defaults (Muhammad v. Sec’y, Dep’t of Corr. and Crowe v. Hall). One hallmark of these decisions has been Pryor’s willingness to describe the intricate and often gory details of the crimes themselves, even if not directly relevant to the appeal. Examples of this practice include Greene v. Upton; Doorbal v. Dep’t of Corr.; and Trotter v. Sec’y, Dep’t of Corr. Pryor’s most controversial death penalty decision was probably Wilson v. Warden. Writing for the panel, Pryor explained that a state supreme court’s summary denial of a certificate of probable cause to appeal was an adjudication on the merits, such that the federal habeas court should not “look through” that summary denial to the underlying lower court merits decision. The 11th Circuit voted to vacate that decision and rehear the case en banc. En banc, however, in Wilson v. Warden, Pryor wrote for the court, over the dissent of five judges, affirming the approach set forth in his panel decision. A petition for certiorari remains pending. As noted earlier, the Supreme Court has reversed two cases in which Pryor joined the majority decision in favor of the state. In Porter v. McCollum, the district court granted habeas after finding that Porter’s penalty-phase counsel was ineffective for failing to perform an adequate investigation of mitigating evidence, and that this deficient performance was prejudicial. The 11th Circuit reversed, finding that the district court failed to defer to the state court’s factual findings regarding Porter’s prior alcohol abuse and mental health, and concluding that it was not unreasonable for the state court to discount all of the categories of mental health evidence. The Supreme Court reversed. First, the court concluded that Porter’s counsel was clearly deficient because he failed to perform almost any investigation into Porter’s background for mitigating evidence. Further, the court found that the Florida Supreme Court unreasonably applied Strickland in holding that the deficiency was not prejudicial. The court explained that, due to this deficiency, the judge and jury heard essentially no evidence that would humanize Porter or allow the judge or jury to assess his moral culpability. Thus, the court found the failure to investigate his background clearly prejudicial. In Holland v. Florida, the Supreme Court held that the one-year statute of limitations for filing a federal petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus under AEDPA is subject to equitable tolling. The 11th Circuit had agreed that equitable tolling could apply, but only in situations involving bad faith, dishonesty, divided loyalty, mental impairment or the like, and that negligent attorney misconduct was insufficient. The Supreme Court reversed, finding the 11th Circuit’s test too rigid, and holding that a more flexible equitable test was necessary for determining if tolling was appropriate. The court then remanded for further proceedings to determine whether tolling would be appropriate for Holland’s petition. Finally, Pryor has written decisions on three occasions denying stays of execution on the eve of an execution. In Mann v. Palmer, over a dissent by Judge Martin, the panel upheld the district court’s denial of a stay in light of a challenge to Florida’s substitution of two drugs in its three-drug execution cocktail. The opinion rested on both res judicata and statute of limitations grounds, but nevertheless went on to explain that the majority would have, under de novo review, found no Eighth Amendment violation. In Muhammad v. Secretary, Florida. Department of Corrections, Pryor wrote a short opinion for the panel finding that res judicata barred petitioner’s claim that Florida’s use of midazolam in its execution cocktail violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Finally, in Crowe v. Donald, the panel affirmed the district court’s denial of a stay of execution on the ground that the section 1983 complaint was untimely. Thus, in all three opinions reviewing a stay of execution, Pryor upheld the denial of the stay on procedural grounds. Immigration Pryor also generally votes in the government’s favor in immigration cases, but with regular and notable exceptions. He has voted both for (Ayala v. U.S. Att’y. Gen.) and against (Malu v. U.S. Att’y. Gen.) asylum-seekers alleging fear of persecution based on sexual orientation. He has repeatedly voted in favor of immigrants seeking asylum based on fears of religious persecution. Examples include Mezvrishvili v. U.S. Att’y. Gen. (Jehovah’s Witness from Republic of Georgia); Mingkid v. U.S. Att’y. Gen. (Indonesian Christians); Kazemzadeh v. U.S. Att’y. Gen. (Christian from Iran); as well as Tan v. U.S. Atty. Gen. (vacating denial of asylum to Indonesian of Chinese descent, alleging racial persecution). Pryor has also voted for and against asylum-seekers asserting abortion-related grounds for persecution at home in, for example, Jiang v. U.S. Att’y. Gen. (Chinese applicant entitled to reopen case to present new evidence of forced sterilization in China); Li v. U.S. Att’y. Gen.(same); Yu v. U.S. Att’y. Gen. (spouse failed to prove persecution based on wife’s forced sterilization); and Lin v. U.S. Att’y. Gen. (same for boyfriend). Civil Rights Unlike his record in criminal cases, Judge Pryor’s record in civil rights cases is less susceptible to generalization. Pryor has been a strong proponent of religious freedom, has been perhaps surprisingly receptive to claims of discrimination by LGBTQ plaintiffs, and has voted to reject voting rights challenges in the small number of such cases he has confronted. Religion. Pryor has consistently – although not uniformly – ruled in favor of parties raising religious liberty claims. For example, the day after the Supreme Court released its decision regarding the Obamacare birth control mandate, an 11th Circuit panel issued an order enjoining enforcement of the mandate pending appeal in a related case, but expressly stating that the order did not prejudge the merits of the appeal. Pryor, however, issued a lengthy concurrence in Eternal Word Television Network, Inc. v. Sec’y, U.S. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs. (almost certainly written long before the Supreme Court decision came down), explaining why he believed that the plaintiff would prevail in demonstrating that the mandate violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In particular, he concluded that the plaintiff’s exercise of religion was substantially burdened by the requirement that it fill out a form in order to opt out of the contraceptive mandate, and he characterized the government’s opposition as impermissibly second-guessing the content of the plaintiff’s religious beliefs. Pryor also joined an opinion in Covenant Christian Ministries, Inc. v. City of Marietta, Ga., finding a municipal zoning ordinance violated RLUIPA by discriminating against churches in permitting a variety of uses in residential zones (such as private parks and playgrounds) but not the building of churches. But the court held that the violation should not have been remedied by allowing the church to build in the zone; instead, it held that the district court should have struck down the ordinance allowing other non-residential uses in residential zones. In Pelphrey v. Cobb County, Ga., Pryor wrote a lengthy opinion upholding a county’s practice of opening its meetings with a prayer, even though the prayers frequently included sectarian (overwhelmingly Christian) references. Over a dissent, Pryor concluded that the establishment clause permits legislative prayers that include sectarian references so long as the prayer is not exploited to advance or disparage particular religions. At the same time, however, the court found that the district court did not clearly err in finding that the county violated the establishment clause during a certain period by categorically excluding clergy of certain faiths from giving the prayer. In Selman v. Cobb County School District, Pryor and two of his colleagues heard an appeal from a decision striking down a school board’s decision to include a sticker in biology textbooks stressing that evolution is “a theory, not a fact” and urging that the issue be “approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.” The district court had ruled the sticker violated the establishment clause, but the panel concluded that the case record was too much of a mess to permit appellate review (It was missing, for example, evidence referred to in the district court opinion.). The case was remanded with instruction to clean up the record and address a number of factual issues regarding the context in which the sticker was proposed and adopted by the school board. Pryor has written opinions coming out both ways in cases alleging infringement of prison inmates’ religious rights. In United States v. Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, for example, he ruled in favor of the federal government in a civil rights suit brought on behalf of inmates whose religions required kosher meals, rejecting the state’s arguments that it cost too much. But in Lake v. Skelton, Pryor wrote that sheriffs in Georgia (who run county jails) are entitled to sovereign immunity as arms of the state and therefore are immune from private damages suits (in this case, alleging violations of RLUIPA and the First Amendment for failure to provide religiously required vegetarian meals). Pryor also voted against religious freedom claims in an employment case, Morrissette-Brown v. Mobile Infirmary Med. Ctr., finding that the employer adequately accommodated an employee’s religious objection to working on Fridays. LGBTQ Rights. In the context of LGBTQ rights, Pryor’s most significant decision is probably one that he did not write, but simply joined. In Glenn v. Brumby, Pryor joined an opinion written by Judge Barkett (one of the 11th Circuit’s most liberal judges) holding that Georgia officials violated the equal protection clause when they fired an employee for being transgender. The plaintiff was born a biological male and was hired by the Georgia General Assembly’s Office of Legislative Counsel as an editor. While working there, the plaintiff began to transition from male to female. When she informed her supervisor that she would begin coming to work as a woman, she was fired. Her supervisor stated that the “intended gender transition was inappropriate, that it would be disruptive, that some people would view it as a moral issue, and that it would make [her] coworkers uncomfortable.” The district court granted summary judgment in the plaintiff’s favor on the equal protection claim and the 11th Circuit affirmed. First, the court held that discrimination on the basis of transgender status constitutes sex-based discrimination and is therefore subject to heightened scrutiny under the equal protection clause. The panel relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, which held that discrimination on the basis of gender stereotypes is sex-based discrimination. The panel reasoned that discrimination against transsexuals is sex-based discrimination under that rule because a “person is defined as transgender precisely because of the perception that his or her behavior transgresses gender stereotypes.” The panel further held that the only justification proffered for the firing – a concern that “other women might object to [the plaintiff’s] restroom use” – was unsupported by any evidence in the record (The court noted, for example, that the office in which the plaintiff worked had only single-occupancy restrooms.) The court therefore concluded that the employer had “advanced no other reason that could qualify as a governmental purpose, much less an ‘important’ governmental purpose, and even less than that, a ‘sufficiently important governmental purpose’ that was achieved by firing Glenn because of her gender non-conformity.” In Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley, Pryor joined another decision written by Barkett, rejecting a religious freedom claim by a graduate student in a counseling program. During her classes, the student expressed the belief that homosexuality is a disorder and that she intended to attempt to convert students from being homosexual to heterosexual. School officials believed that this approach was contrary to the American Counseling Association’s code of ethics (which the school was required to adopt and teach to retain accreditation) and required the student to undertake a remediation plan before being allowed to participate in one-on-one counseling as part of the school’s clinical practicum. The 11th Circuit rejected the student’s First Amendment claim, concluding that the school was not discriminating against her on the basis of her viewpoint, but rather because she expressed an intent to impose her own personal religious views on her clients, in violation of the code of ethics. The panel also held that because the rule was neutral with respect to religion and generally applicable, it did not violate the establishment clause. Pryor concurred separately. Among other things, he noted that although the 11th Circuit had held that universities can enforce such codes of ethics with respect to school-sponsored activities (like a clinical practicum), “we have never ruled that a public university can discriminate against student speech based on the concern that the student might, in a variety of other circumstances, express views at odds with the preferred viewpoints of the university.” At the same time, he emphasized that “[a]lthough federal courts owe no deference to universities when considering whether a public university has exceeded constitutional constraints, … we may not act as ‘ersatz deans or educators’ by second-guessing regular academic methods of a public university.” Pryor also discussed the evolving view of homosexuality in the psychiatric profession and its relationship to the First Amendment: A few decades ago, the prevailing view of the psychiatric profession maintained that homosexuality was a treatable mental disorder. See American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2d ed. 1968). As this record makes plain, the prevailing view changed. This shift in psychiatric orthodoxy occurred largely because professionals who had been taught that homosexuality was a disease of the mind, but who rejected that view, argued successfully that the psychiatric diagnostic criteria should be amended. See Herb Kutchins & Stuart A. Kirk, Making Us Crazy 55–77 (1997) (describing professional efforts to remove homosexuality as a mental disorder from the DSM–II). This change in opinion would have taken much longer if public universities had been able to expel students who rejected the prevailing view and intended to argue that homosexuality was not a mental disease. As the First Amendment protected the professionals who successfully advocated against the then-prevailing view of the psychiatric profession, so too does it protect Keeton should she decide to advocate that those professionals got it wrong. In another First Amendment case touching on LGBTQ issues, Carver Middle School Gay-Straight Alliance, v. School Board Of Lake County, Florida, Pryor wrote a decision reviving a lawsuit by a middle school gay-straight alliance group under the Equal Access Act. Pryor explained that under the EAA, “if a public school ‘provides secondary education as determined by State law,’ the school must give extracurricular clubs equal access to school resources. 20 U.S.C. §§ 4071–72.” A group of Florida middle-school students and a teacher had applied to form a gay-straight alliance student club, but were denied on the ground that the club had no “allowed purpose.” The district court dismissed the suit as both unripe and moot, and held in the alternative that the Act did not apply to the school. In an unpublished decision, Pryor wrote that the controversy was in fact ripe, was not moot, and that the statute applied to the school. Voting Rights. Pryor has had two voting rights decisions of note. First, in Common Cause/Georgia v. Billups, he wrote a decision rejecting a challenge to Georgia’s voter identification statute. He began by characterizing the case as addressing “whether the legitimate interest of the government of safeguarding the exercise of a civil right is outweighed by a corresponding burden of that right.” Pryor and his colleagues concluded that the Supreme Court’s decision in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, which had upheld Indiana’s voter identification law, compelled the same result in the case from Georgia. Pryor specifically rejected the plaintiff’s claim that Georgia was required to substantiate a real risk of voter fraud or prove that the identification requirement was an effective remedy. At the same time, he concluded that the plaintiffs were “unable to direct this Court to any admissible and reliable evidence that quantifies the extent and scope of the burden imposed by the Georgia statute.” Accordingly, the court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying an injunction. Pryor’s other main voting rights decision came in Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama, in which he sat on a three-judge panel at the district court level. After the 2000 census, the Alabama state legislature passed new redistricting plans that created twenty-seven (out of 105) house districts and eight (out of 35) senate districts with a majority minority population. In redistricting after the 2010 Census, the legislature set a goal of no more than 2% population deviation between districts (as opposed to 10% for the 2001 redistricting plan) and instructed a consultant to keep the percentage of minorities in each district roughly the same as in the 2001 plan. The legislature largely preserved the same number of majority-minority districts, but the choice of a 2% deviation limit and an instruction to keep the minority percentage roughly the same in these districts led to an expansion of the minority population in the majority-minority districts, creating “super-majorities.” The plan was challenged as segregating minority voting power into a select few districts, thus harming the ability of minority voters to affect elections at-large and violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th and 15th Amendments. By a 2-1 margin, the district court upheld the redistricting plan, with Pryor drafting the opinion. Pryor explained that the 2001 redistricting plan led to districts that became malapportioned in light of population changes in the 2010 Census, and that the adoption of the 2% deviation threshold required significant population shuffling to cure the malapportionment. The court found that the tighter deviation percentage and subsequent minority packing did not violate the Voting Rights Act or Constitution as vote dilution or racial discrimination. The court also dismissed the claims of some of the plaintiffs for lack of standing. The Supreme Court reviewed the racial gerrymandering claims, reversing the district court and remanding for a rehearing before the three-judge district court. Writing in 2015 for a 5-4 majority, Justice Stephen Breyer explained that the district court erred by analyzing the redistricting plan as a whole on the state level instead of analyzing the racial gerrymandering claims on a district-by-district basis. The court also rejected Alabama’s argument that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act required it to maintain the percentage of minority voters in majority-minority districts, and its claim that its goal of having equally-populated districts could be considered in determining if race was a predominant motivating factor in redistricting. The court also reversed the district court’s dismissals for lack of standing. Free Speech In the free speech context, Pryor has steered a middle course. Consistent with his concurrence in Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley discussed above, Pryor has written of the importance of First Amendment rights, while also regularly upholding government restrictions on speech in particular contexts. In Jane Doe I v. Valencia College Board of Trustees, female students studying sonography at a Florida public college were pressured by school officials to allow fellow students to conduct transvaginal ultrasounds on them. When the students complained (and one refused to cooperate), school officials retaliated against them (failing the student who refused to submit and threatening to blacklist the students from a local hospital). Pryor, writing for a unanimous panel, reinstated the students’ First and Fourth Amendment claims after they were dismissed by a district court. He rejected the district court’s view that the students’ complaints constituted “school sponsored speech” subject to very limited First Amendment protection under Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. Instead, the panel held the speech was subject to the more protective rule of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, under which it could be banned or punished only if the school could reasonably forecast that it would lead to substantial disruption at the school. Pryor further ruled that the exams constituted a search under the Fourth Amendment, rejecting the law of other circuits that hold that the Fourth Amendment is inapplicable unless the alleged search was undertaken for an investigative or administrative purpose. Although the court did not rule that the defendants violated the First or Fourth Amendments, it revived both claims and sent the case back to the district court for further proceedings. In Mech v. School Board of Palm Beach County, Florida, Pryor wrote an opinion for the 11th Circuit rejecting a First Amendment challenge to a school’s removal of banners promoting a tutoring business from its fences after the school discovered the owner of the business was a retired porn star whose pornography production business used the same mailing address as his “Happy/Fun Math Tutor” company. Although he found it a close question, Pryor, along with his colleagues, ultimately concluded that the tutoring banners – having been placed on the school’s fences and proclaiming the business to be a “partner” of the school – constituted government speech enjoying no First Amendment protection. In First Vagabonds Church of God v. City of Orlando, Fla., Pryor upheld against First Amendment challenge a city ordinance requiring a permit to conduct “a large group feeding” (i.e., feeding large groups of homeless people) within a downtown park and limiting the number of permits available. The court held that even assuming the feeding constituted expressive conduct, the regulation was a valid time, place and manner restriction. Powers of Congress/Federalism Pryor’s record on federalism issues is relatively sparse. But in the handful of cases implicating the issue, he has regularly upheld federal statutes as falling within Congress’ constitutional powers, often in the context of challenges to criminal statutes. Commerce Clause. Judge Pryor has rejected commerce clause challenges to several federal criminal statutes. For example, in United States v. Baston, the government challenged the district court’s failure to award restitution under 18 U.S.C. § 1596(a)(2) to a victim of sex trafficking for acts that occurred in Australia. Pryor, writing for the panel, explained that Congress approved of extraterritorial jurisdiction over sex trafficking in the Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, and that Congress had the power to enact extraterritorial laws under the foreign commerce clause. In particular, the panel found that Congress’ powers under the foreign commerce clause were analogous to its plenary powers under the Indian commerce clause, but nevertheless concluded that the extraterritorial scope of the Trafficking Act would be justified even under the more restricted powers of the interstate commerce clause. Pryor similarly joined opinions upholding two criminal provisions, 18 U.S.C. § 2251(b) (prohibiting parents from allowing a minor child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for purpose of producing child pornography) and 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) (prohibiting convicted felons from possessing a firearm), against attacks that the statutes violated the commerce clause by regulating purely intrastate conduct. These cases are United States v. Wright (upholding § 922(g) and including a concurrence by Judge Pryor on an unrelated matter – that the rule of lenity should not apply to interpretation of the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines) and United States v. Paige (upholding § 2251(b)). In the non-criminal context, in 907 Whitehead Street, Inc. v. Sec’y of U.S. Dep’t of Agric., Pryor similarly rejected a Commerce Clause challenge to the USDA’s regulation (under the Animal Welfare Act) of the Hemingway Museum (and the Hemingway cats) because the museum used the cats in advertising to out-of-state visitors. On the other hand, in Tundidor v. Miami-Dade County, Pryor joined a decision finding that a canal with an artificial obstruction that prevents travel is not navigable water sufficient to justify federal admiralty jurisdiction. Spending Clause. In Benning v. Georgia, Pryor wrote a decision upholding RLUIPA as a valid exercise of Congress’s spending clause authority. Among other reasons, he explained that “the United States has a substantial interest in ensuring that state prisons that receive federal funds protect the federal civil rights of prisoners.” In the same decision, the court rejected the argument that RLUIPA violates the establishment clause. (The Supreme Court subsequently agreed with the establishment clause ruling in Cutter v. Wilkinson. Justice Thomas, concurring in Cutter, however, stated that “RLUIPA may well exceed the spending power.”) Molly Runkle contributed extensively to this post, identifying, reviewing and analyzing the cases summarized above and writing the biographical summary. Recommended Citation: Kevin Russell and Charles Davis, Potential nominee profile: William Pryor (Expanded), SCOTUSblog (Jan. 10, 2017, 3:35 PM), http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/01/potential-nominee-profile-william-pryor/ ||||| This week, Neil Gorsuch emerged as a front-runner to fill the vacancy left by the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. President Trump has indicated that he intends to nominate someone “very much in the mold of” Justice Scalia, and Neil Gorsuch is about as close as it gets. A judge on the Denver-based Tenth Circuit, Gorsuch is known for his colorful writing style and textualist opinions. His background features sterling academic credentials (with degrees from Columbia, Harvard, and Oxford), clerkships with D.C. Circuit Judge David Sentelle and Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy, and service in the U.S. Department of Justice. ADVERTISEMENT Though born in Colorado, Gorsuch spent many years in Washington when his mother, Anne Gorsuch Burford, served as EPA administrator under President Reagan. Thus, he’s more of an “inside the Beltway” candidate than many others on Trump’s list of 21 potential nominees Like Scalia, Gorsuch is an ardent supporter of religious liberty, as demonstrated by cases such as the ObamaCare contraception mandate challenges brought by Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor and others involving religious monuments on public lands and prisoners’ free exercise rights. They appear to have similar views about physician-assisted suicide, and their jurisprudence reflects a common theme of reading criminal statutes narrowly to favor defendants and not allowing the government to ignore mens rea requirements. Senate leaders huddle with Trump ahead of Supreme Court battle https://t.co/bfh8iZ1BJk pic.twitter.com/U8HbbuMKPe — The Hill (@thehill) January 24, 2017 Just as Scalia was a champion of originalism, Gorsuch has demonstrated a commitment to following the original public meaning of the Constitution in countless opinions and speeches. As a former clerk recounted: “Whenever a constitutional issue came up in our cases, he sent one of his clerks on a deep dive through the historical sources. ‘We need to get this right,’ was the memo — and right meant ‘as originally understood.’” In his dissenting opinion in United States v. Nichols, for example, Gorsuch highlighted a constitutional issue lurking in a case dealing with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act — whether Congress may delegate to prosecutors the responsibility of defining the crimes they enforce. Going back to first principles, Gorsuch wrote: “There’s ample evidence … that the framers of the Constitution thought the compartmentalization of legislative power not just a tool of good government or necessary to protect the authority of Congress from encroachment by the Executive but essential to the preservation of the people’s liberty.” In Cordova v. City of Albuquerque, a case seeking to make a constitutional claim out of a malicious prosecution (a common law tort), Gorsuch wrote that the Constitution: “Isn’t some inkblot on which litigants may project their hopes and dreams … but a carefully drafted text judges are charged with applying according to its original public meaning. "If a party wishes to claim a constitutional right, it is incumbent on him to tell us where it lies, not to assume or stipulate with the other side that it must be in there someplace.” In a speech delivered weeks after Scalia’s passing, Gorsuch declared: “(I)t seems to me an assiduous focus on text, structure, and history is essential to the proper exercise of the judicial function. "That, yes, judges should be in the business of declaring what the law is using the traditional tools of interpretation, rather than pronouncing the law as they might wish it to be in light of their own political views, always with an eye on the outcome, and engaged perhaps in some Benthamite calculation of pleasures and pains along the way.” One notable area of difference from Scalia is their approach to administrative law. Gorsuch has suggested the Supreme Court should reconsider its Chevron doctrine, which affords federal agencies deference in interpreting statutes they are charged with administering. Schumer doubles down on vow to block Trump Supreme Court nominee https://t.co/A4ScEy72y3 pic.twitter.com/LNVkA8TAyu — The Hill (@thehill) January 23, 2017 Though Scalia was not enamored with the Chevron decision, he did not seem interested in overruling it. In Gutierrez-Brizuela v. Lynch, Gorsuch posited: “(W)hat would happen in a world without Chevron? ... Surely Congress could and would continue to pass statutes to enforce. And just as surely agencies could and would continue to offer guidance on how they intend to enforce those statutes. "The only difference would be that courts would then fulfill their duty to exercise their independent judgment about what the law is … We managed to live with the administrative state before Chevron. We could do it again.” As President Trump mulls over his selection to replace Justice Scalia, he has many fine options. Justice Scalia left big shoes to fill, but if the pick is Neil Gorsuch, he seems up to the task. John G. Malcolm is the Director of and Elizabeth H. Slattery is a Legal Fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation. The views of contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill. ||||| Neil Gorsuch was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit by President George W. Bush on May 10, 2006, and confirmed shortly thereafter. Both his pre-judicial resumé and his body of work as a judge make him a natural fit for an appointment to the Supreme Court by a Republican president. He is relatively young (turning 50 this year), and his background is filled with sterling legal and academic credentials. He was a Marshall Scholar at the University of Oxford, graduated from Harvard Law School, clerked for prominent conservative judges (Judge David Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, as well as Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court), and was a high- ranking official in the Bush Justice Department before his judicial appointment. He is celebrated as a keen legal thinker and a particularly incisive legal writer, with a flair that matches — or at least evokes — that of the justice whose seat he would be nominated to fill. In fact, one study has identified him as the most natural successor to Justice Antonin Scalia on the Trump shortlist, both in terms of his judicial style and his substantive approach. With perhaps one notable area of disagreement, Judge Gorsuch’s prominent decisions bear the comparison out. For one thing, the great compliment that Gorsuch’s legal writing is in a class with Scalia’s is deserved: Gorsuch’s opinions are exceptionally clear and routinely entertaining; he is an unusual pleasure to read, and it is always plain exactly what he thinks and why. Like Scalia, Gorsuch also seems to have a set of judicial/ideological commitments apart from his personal policy preferences that drive his decision-making. He is an ardent textualist (like Scalia); he believes criminal laws should be clear and interpreted in favor of defendants even if that hurts government prosecutions (like Scalia); he is skeptical of efforts to purge religious expression from public spaces (like Scalia); he is highly dubious of legislative history (like Scalia); and he is less than enamored of the dormant commerce clause (like Scalia). In fact, some of the parallels can be downright eerie. For example, the reasoning in Gorsuch’s 2008 concurrence in United States v. Hinckley, in which he argues that one possible reading of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act would probably violate the rarely invoked non-delegation principle, is exactly the same as that of Scalia’s 2012 dissent in Reynolds v. United States. The notable exception is one prominent concurrence last August, in Gutierrez-Brizuela v. Lynch, in which Gorsuch criticized a doctrine of administrative law (called Chevron deference) that Scalia had long defended. Even here, however, there may be more in common than meets the eye. Religion Some of the most high-profile cases in which Gorsuch has cast a vote have involved the religion clauses of the Constitution (those prohibiting the establishment of religion and creating a right to free exercise), as well as congressional statutes expanding protection for religious adherents (known as RFRA and RLUIPA). Followers of the Supreme Court will recognize two recent cases in which Gorsuch participated on the 10th Circuit, Hobby Lobby Stores v. Sebelius and Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged v. Burwell. In Hobby Lobby, Gorsuch wrote a concurrence in the en banc 10th Circuit that sided with the company and its owners. He stressed the need to accept these parties’ own conceptions regarding the requirements of their faith, and held (among other things) that they were likely to prevail on claims that the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act substantially burdened their religious exercise in violation of RFRA. This position was largely vindicated in the subsequent decision by the Supreme Court. Thereafter, in Little Sisters of the Poor, Gorsuch joined a group of 10th Circuit judges who dissented from denial of rehearing en banc when a panel of the court of appeals ruled against the Little Sisters on their RFRA claims about the same ACA mandate. There, again, the point was that the 10th Circuit had shown insufficient deference to the Little Sisters’ own articulation of the tenets of their religious beliefs. That position, too, was at least partially vindicated by the Supreme Court when it decided that the Little Sisters’ religious beliefs probably could be accommodated while still affording full and equal contraceptive coverage to their employees, and directed the parties and courts to consider such a solution on remand. Simply put, in cases that closely divided his court and the Supreme Court, Gorsuch has shown himself to be an ardent defender of religious liberties and pluralistic accommodations for religious adherents. Gorsuch has also written or joined opinions – again, largely vindicated by the Supreme Court – that have criticized doctrines that limit religious expression in public spaces. In Summum v. Pleasant Grove City, in 2007, Gorsuch joined a dissent from denial of rehearing en banc in a case in which the 10th Circuit had limited the ability of the government to display a donated Ten Commandments monument in a public park without accepting all other offers of donated monuments. The subsequent Supreme Court decision reversing the 10th Circuit largely adopted the reasoning of that dissent. Gorsuch also has a pair of dissenting opinions in which he criticizes the “reasonable observer” test for establishment clause cases as far too likely to find impermissible endorsements of religion by the government when none was intended, and thus to prevent religious adherents from reasonably participating in public life. These cases are American Atheists Inc. v. Davenport, in 2010, and Green v. Haskell County Boad. of Commissioners, in 2009. The common thread in these cases is one that matters very deeply to conservatives: a sense that the government can permit public displays of religion – and can accommodate deeply held religious views – without either violating the religion clauses of the Constitution or destroying the effectiveness of government programs that occasionally run into religious objections. In his 2009 concurrence in Pleasant Grove City, Utah v. Summum , Scalia articulated very similar views. Gorsuch’s opinions on these issues are quite thoughtful, and demonstrate that he would be a natural successor to Scalia in adopting a pro-religion conception of the establishment clause. Criminal Law Another area in which Gorsuch has written persuasively in a manner that closely echoes Scalia relates to how to interpret criminal laws correctly, so as to avoid criminalizing potentially innocent conduct. One of Gorsuch’s most notable opinions in this area also happens to overlap with the hot-button issue of gun ownership — although the case is not about the Second Amendment, and doesn’t involve anything like the typical gun-rights groups. A federal criminal law prohibits the knowing possession of a gun by a felon. This law has given rise to a debate about how best to read its limitation to “knowing” violations: Does it apply whenever a felon knowingly possesses a gun, or must violators also know that they have been convicted of a felony? This matters, because lots of minor crimes might technically be felonies, and lots of dispositions that seem inconsequential (because they involve no jail time) might technically be felony convictions. And the penalties for violating this law can be very high. In United States v. Games-Perez, in 2012, Gorsuch urged the 10th Circuit to review its rule holding that it is enough to support a conviction that the defendant knew he possessed the gun, whether or not he knew he was a felon. The opinion is an example of Gorsuch’s strong commitment to textualism, and a severe critique of using legislative history — particularly to make criminal what might otherwise be innocent. Accordingly, it is easy to hear clear echoes of Scalia’s views regarding the proper reading of statutes — especially criminal statutes — as well as the importance of focusing on ordinary usage and linguistic rules. A few examples make the resemblance even clearer. Take this sentence from Games-Perez: “For current purposes, just stating Capps‘s holding makes the problem clear enough: its interpretation—reading Congress’s mens rea requirement as leapfrogging over the first statutorily specified element and touching down only at the second listed element—defies grammatical gravity and linguistic logic.” Or this passage, which contains both an endorsement of Second Amendment rights and a classic Scalia principle about attaching mens rea requirements to the element that criminalizes innocent conduct: Besides, even if the government could somehow manage to squeeze an ambiguity out of the plain statutory text before us, it faces another intractable problem. The Supreme Court has long recognized a “presumption” grounded in our common law tradition that a mens rea requirement attaches to “each of the statutory elements that criminalize otherwise innocent conduct.” … Together §§ 922(g) and 924(a)(2) operate to criminalize the possession of any kind of gun. But gun possession is often lawful and sometimes even protected as a matter of constitutional right. The only statutory element separating innocent (even constitutionally protected) gun possession from criminal conduct in §§ 922(g) and 924(a) is a prior felony conviction. So the presumption that the government must prove mens rea here applies with full force. Either of these passages would be perfectly at home in a canonical Scalia opinion about how to read the criminal law. And, it is worth noting, this means that Gorsuch, just like Scalia, is sometimes willing to read criminal laws more narrowly in a way that disfavors the prosecution – especially when the Second Amendment or another constitutional protection is involved. Death Penalty Gorsuch, like Scalia, has not been a friendly vote for death penalty petitioners pursuing relief from their sentences through federal habeas. But it is important to recognize that, as in the case of Scalia, this makes plenty of sense in light of Gorsuch’s commitment to reading statutes according to their plain text. During the 1990s, Congress passed a statute called the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act that – true to its name – was intended to limit federal habeas in order to make the death penalty easier to carry out. Strict readers of AEDPA are unlikely to find many cases in which a petitioner qualifies for relief. This is particularly true in the courts of appeals, where many of the death penalty habeas cases are uncontroversial —or at least not nearly as close as the cases that make their way to the Supreme Court. Whatever the source of the position, however, it is clear that Gorsuch’s position in death penalty cases is likely to be quite close to Scalia’s, and very unlikely to make the court any more solicitous of the claims of capital defendants. Dormant Commerce Clause Another area of the law in which Gorsuch has shown both his writing talent and his similarity to Scalia is in the application (and critique) of doctrines surrounding the so-called “dormant commerce clause.” These doctrines treat the commerce clause not only as a grant of power to Congress to make laws regulating interstate commerce, but as a kind of presumptive limitation on the power of states to make laws that either unduly burden or unfairly discriminate against interstate commerce, without regard to whether Congress has ever passed a law in the relevant area. Because — as its name suggests — the dormant commerce clause cannot actually be found in the text of the Constitution, Scalia eventually came around to the view that it should not be a thing, and refused to endorse any future expansions of the doctrine. For example, in 2015, in a dissenting opinion in Comptroller v. Wynne, Scalia stated: “The fundamental problem with our negative Commerce Clause cases is that the Constitution does not contain a negative Commerce Clause.” Although a court of appeals judge lacks the same freedom to disparage and/or depart from existing Supreme Court precedent, Gorsuch’s opinions also reveal a measure of distrust towards unwritten constitutional provisions like the dormant commerce clause. For example, a 2015 10th Circuit decision written by Gorsuch, Energy and Environment Legal Institute v. Epel, declined to apply the dormant commerce clause to strike down a clean-energy program created by Colorado on the grounds that it might negatively affect traditional energy producers outside the state. The opinion explains that this result is consistent with the limited reach of the dormant commerce clause’s “judicial free trade policy” even under existing precedent. But while acknowledging that lower courts must take the Supreme Court’s doctrine as they find it, Gorsuch’s opinion shows respect for the doctrine’s “[d]etractors,” like Scalia, who “find dormant commerce doctrine absent from the Constitution’s text and incompatible with its structure.” Though Gorsuch’s personal constitution seems to require him to write clearly about the many unclear aspects of the doctrine, his opinion plainly takes some joy in the act of demonstrating that not only does the dormant commerce clause not apply — the doctrine also doesn’t make much sense. That same instinct is present in a prominent concurrence last year in Direct Marketing Association v. Brohl, in which Gorsuch singled out one aspect of dormant commerce clause doctrine—the Quill rule that exempts out-of-state mail order sales from state sales tax—as an “analytical oddity” that “seems deliberately designed” to be overruled eventually. This opinion aligned him with Justice Anthony Kennedy (who has called for overruling Quill), and again with Scalia, who identified Quill as part of the “bestiary of ad hoc tests and ad hoc exceptions that we apply nowadays” under the dormant commerce clause. The dormant commerce clause isn’t a particularly hot-button issue, nor does it have obvious liberal/conservative fault lines. But it’s noteworthy that criticism of the dormant commerce clause is of a piece with criticism of the “right to privacy” that undergirds the Supreme Court ‘s abortion jurisprudence, as well as other judge-made doctrines that do not have a strong connection to the constitutional text. Again, Gorsuch’s opinions seem to follow the lead of textualists and federalists like Scalia in expressing great skepticism towards such doctrines, which allow judges to strike down duly enacted local laws on the basis of vague principles that cannot be found in the concrete text of the national charter. Administrative Law Finally, there is administrative law—the one area that seems to demonstrate some real distance between Scalia and Gorsuch. Last August, Gorsuch made real waves in the normally sleepy world of administrative law by advocating the end of a doctrine that has been tied closely to the functioning of the administrative state and the executive branch since the mid-1980s — a doctrine called Chevron deference. The basic idea behind Chevron is that, when Congress enacts a broadly worded statute whose precise contours are ambiguous, the courts should permit the federal agencies that are charged with administering the statute to enforce it in any manner that is not clearly forbidden. Scalia was a judge on the D.C. Circuit (which does more agency review than any other court), and he was a strong advocate for Chevron’s basic take on agency review and the flexibility that it preserved in the administrative state: He often warned that the consequences of efforts to limit or tinker with its model could be severe. Gorsuch’s recent opinions in Gutierrez-Brizuela — he wrote both the majority opinion and a concurrence to his own opinion to express his personal views on the doctrine — expressly urge: “We managed to live with the administrative state before Chevron. We could do it again.” Ironically, Gorsuch’s chief complaint about Chevron doctrine was something that would have been close to Scalia’s heart — namely, that it empowers agencies to take the power of statutory interpretation away from courts, and subjects judicial decision-making to administrative review, rather than the other way around. Gorsuch’s opinion — in which he stakes out ground that few have sought to defend — is a very compelling read, and it is unfair to try to summarize it in a few sentences. But it seems quite clear that: (1) Gorsuch’s views on administrative law are meaningfully different from Scalia’s in a way that could be described as even more conservative; and yet (2) the difference is not as profound as one might think. Unlike Scalia, Gorsuch really does want to apply the basic Gorsuch/Scalia take on ordinary statutes to administrative statutes as well. He believes even these broadly worded enforcement statutes have objective meanings that can be understood from their texts; that it is the job of the courts to say what those laws mean and to tell agencies when they do not have the best reading; and that if the agency disagrees, the only proper recourse is for Congress to change the law or the Supreme Court to correct the error. Scalia, on the other hand, wanted to limit courts to the role of reviewing agency implementations of these kinds of statutes for clear error in order to prevent “ossification,” recognizing that the understanding of these kinds of laws might need to change from time to time to accommodate changing priorities among presidents and changing conditions on the ground. The reason that difference is less pronounced than you might think is that Scalia’s take on Chevron was always a little different from others’, in part to address the very concerns that Gorsuch so clearly articulates. First, Scalia was much more willing than others to say that a particular agency position was beyond the statutory bounds, even when the words at issue in the statute were ambiguous (at least in isolation). For example, in MCI Telecommunications Group v. AT&T, in 1994, Scalia held that the term “modify” unambiguously excludes major changes. In fact, in a Duke Law Journal piece in 1989 Scalia once said strict textualists like him (and, say, Judge Gorsuch) would be less likely to find statutes ambiguous for purposes of Chevron because of their attention to the details of statutory text and their unwillingness to consider broad purposes and legislative history. Such an approach makes a statute’s delegation to agencies much narrower, notwithstanding Chevron. And second, Scalia wanted Chevron to apply all the time precisely to avoid a situation in which a court would give the statute its best reading and the agency could later revise that understanding with the benefit of newfound deference — one of Gorsuch’s chief complaints. In Gutierrez-Brizuela, Gorsuch criticized the Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Ass’n v. Brand X, which permitted an agency to bypass a Supreme Court decision through Chevron deference, echoing Scalia’s own dissent in Brand X, in which Scalia criticized the court for having adopted a version of Chevron that led to the spectacle of agencies bypassing Supreme Court readings of statutes. In short, Gorsuch definitely has a different take from Scalia on the administrative state — one that grants it less power, and so accords even more closely with the conservative conception of small government. Indeed, this is an area in which Gorsuch is plainly a thought leader, expressing judicial sentiments many conservatives with similar concerns have rarely voiced, and which even Scalia might have bristled at. But given their parallel commitments to textualism and their parallel understandings of the relative roles of agencies and courts, even this seems like a bridgeable divide between Gorsuch and the justice he might replace. Gorsuch is still a very natural choice for any Republican president to nominate as a replacement for Scalia — someone who would espouse similar principles, stand firm on similar doctrinal commitments, reach similar outcomes, and even fill a similar role as one of the court’s most articulate defenders of conservative judicial theory. Andrew Hamm contributed extensively to this post, identifying, reviewing and analyzing the cases summarized above. Recommended Citation: Eric Citron, Potential nominee profile: Neil Gorsuch, SCOTUSblog (Jan. 13, 2017, 12:53 PM), http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/01/potential-nominee-profile-neil-gorsuch/ ||||| Take Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California, who once called the Obama administration the most corrupt presidency in history, until Mr. Issa nearly lost his seat and claimed he had cooperated with Mr. Obama. His district appears to be getting more ethnically diverse, but it still has affluent Republican strongholds that have helped him remain in power since 2003. The statement takes the Republican nonposition to an art form: “America is a nation of immigrants. Our country has been built by the hard work of those who’ve come here for liberty and to find hope in a land of opportunity. A welcoming America is not incompatible with a strong and secure America. We can put in place a vetting process that the American people have confidence in. To do so, the Congress must work with the administration to swiftly reestablish strong and clear screening procedures so that our rich tradition of immigration is not permanently threatened by those who wish us harm.” Democrats demand investigation into Homeland Security Richard J. Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, Illinois’ two Democratic senators, demanded an independent investigation by the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security into the way it carried out Mr. Trump’s executive order on immigration. The call came amid reports that Customs and Border Protection repeatedly ignored judicial orders to release travelers from detention facilities at airports across the country. “We are particularly alarmed by allegations that C.B.P. officers and potentially other department personnel failed to comply with a temporary restraining order,” they wrote. “The United States Constitution means little if law enforcement agents disregard it, or if Americans are unwilling to defend its principles and respect foundational constitutional rights, from due process to equal protection under the law. The American people are relying on your independent investigators to serve as a check against a powerful law enforcement agency that may be violating the civil rights of LPRs and operating in violation of the law.” Jordanian king will have breakfast with Pence Jordan’s king, Abdullah II, is scheduled to have breakfast on Monday with Vice President Mike Pence at the vice president’s residence a few miles from the White House. He would certainly like to get a little closer than that. Amid turmoil over Mr. Trump’s order to halt entries from seven predominantly Muslim countries, the king probably has issues he would like to bring up with the man signing the executive orders. But Mr. Trump does not appear keen to host Abdullah II at the White House, certainly not before Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pays a visit. Jordan’s king will also be meeting with leaders on Capitol Hill. They are likely to get an earful. To criticize Trump, senators lean on a friend Maybe senators are so scared of Mr. Trump that they need a friend for support. First, on Sunday, Senators John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, released a joint statement condemning Mr. Trump’s executive order blocking refugees, visitors and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Of course, those two are practically their own political party — called McGraham by some, Jindsey by others.

– Donald Trump is returning to prime time. The president on Monday morning announced via Twitter that he'd be naming his pick for the Supreme Court live on TV. The 8pm Tuesday announcement speeds up the original plan, which the New York Times reports had Antonin Scalia's replacement being named Thursday. The Times bets on one of these three federal appeals judges: Neil Gorsuch, Thomas Hardiman, and William Pryor (the links take you to SCOTUSblog profiles of each). Business Insider puts its money on the 51-year-old Hardiman, and gives three reasons why: A 95-0 vote got him onto the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals, with both Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein giving him the green light; Maryanne Trump Barry (that would be the president's sister) is a fan of him; and he's "down-to-earth." But the Hill notes Trump suggested he would go with "very much in the mold of" Justice Scalia, and "Neil Gorsuch is about as close as it gets." It outlines why here.

Photo: Roy Hsu In the low-down world of dining and dashing, there are classy thieves and then there are people like Paul Gonzales, an alleged “serial” check-skipper from L.A., whose method involves setting up a dinner date, then ditching the woman before the check arrives. CBS Los Angeles reports that his latest victim is a Bumble match he invited to the local BJ’s brewhouse, where he ordered a steak, a Caesar salad with a side of shrimp, a baked potato, and a glass of wine. Once he’d worked his way through most of that haul (“he left maybe half a baked potato,” the woman says), he said he needed to take a phone call. That’s the last anyone at the restaurant saw of Paul Gonzales. He’s reportedly swindled at least two other women with this same trick. One of them says he showed up “very complimentary” at a “romantic” restaurant in Long Beach, but things got weird really fast: He ordered more than $100 worth of food, including an extra entrée he claimed was necessary because he’s “a bodybuilder.” On that occasion, he disappeared during an alleged bathroom trip. Not surprisingly at all, Gonzales has a police record with multiple misdemeanors, two warrants out for his arrest, and once even committed something called a “snip and ditch,” which involved him fleeing a hair salon still wearing a smock. Amazingly, when it comes to online dating, women can somehow still do worse. ||||| LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A second woman has come forward to tell the tale of a romantic date gone wrong when the man she met on social media dined, dashed and stiffed her with bill. KCAL9’s Andrea Fujii on Thursday talked to the woman who didn’t want to be identified. She had no problem identifying her date — Paul Gonzales. She said they met on a dating website in May. The plan was a romantic first date at a restaurant in Long Beach. “[He was] very complimentary, very chatty, seemed to have similar interests,” she said. The woman said things got weird when he ordered over $100 worth of food for himself. “This guy is obnoxious,” she thought. “First of all, who orders two entrees? But he excused it by saying he was a bodybuilder.” She said when she didn’t reciprocate his advances, he took off and left her holding the check. “He says ‘I’m going to the bathroom, I’ll be right back’ and he never did,” she said. The woman acknowledges she is very embarrassed but said she came forward after seeing another women tell her similar story on Wednesday evening on the KCAL9 News at 10 p.m. “He had an appetizer, he ordered a steak. This restaurant is all ala carte,” said Diane Guilmette. Police said the alleged dine-and-dasher also did the same thing to a Burbank hair salon in February. RELATED LINK: Police Look For Man Who Allegedly Committed ‘Snip And Ditch’ At Hair Salon Security video allegedly caught Gonzales walking out of the salon still wearing his smock. Police told Fujii he was arrested on July 23 in that incident but it’s not clear if he’s still behind bars. The LA County DA’s Office says they have two pending petty-theft cases against him. The women he dashed out on in May said she didn’t file a police report but now says she will. “So, now is my retribution time,” she said. Fujii reports that since our story aired Wednesday evening, she also heard from another Burbank hair salon that said Gonzales skipped out on his bill. She said she tried reaching out to Gonzales via Facebook, but as of Thursday had not heard back. ||||| A woman said a man skipped out on a meal with her at an LA restaurant,; she later learned the same man had done this before, to at least two other women. (Source: KCAL/KCBS/CNN/social media photos/surveillance video stills) LOS ANGELES (KCAL/KCBS/CNN) - The dine-and-dash dater has struck again. A California woman came forward this week to say a man who’s been accused of dining and ditching on the bill with two other women also did it to her. As she scrolled through her text messages with Paul Gonzales, the woman, who asked to be identified as Beth, said she thought she was just going on a typical blind date. Gonzales asked if she was available for dinner over the weekend, and she said yes. Beth, who wanted to protect her identity, said she met Gonzales on the dating app Bumble. There, he called himself Dave Gonzales. He has since taken down his profile. She said when she met him at BJ’s in Pasadena, he ordered right away and after he scarfed down most of his meal, he got up. “Left maybe half a baked potato and then received a phone call and said, ‘Oh, I need to take this call. Make sure they don’t take the rest of my meal,'” Beth said of her date. But she said he never returned, leaving her with the bill. “I was shocked that anybody would do this. And I even texted him, ‘Is everything OK?’ And obviously he never responded,” she said. Beth said she went online and discovered previous stories about Gonzales - how he had dined and dashed last summer, leaving at least two other women with large bills. Police said he committed a snip-and-ditch when security video caught him leaving a Burbank hair salon with his smock on after getting a cut and color last year. Beth said the restaurant was nice enough to comp Gonzales’ meal. She only had to pay for his glass of wine. She now hopes this doesn’t happen again to another unsuspecting date. What she wants is “for him to stop doing this to people. It’s just disgusting.” Copyright 2017 KCAL/KCBS via CNN. All rights reserved.

– Paul Gonzales' approach to dating is similar to that of many men. He meets women online and invites them out to dinner. But here's where he allegedly diverges: According to CBS Los Angeles, 44-year-old Gonzales has been dining and dashing at area restaurants, leaving behind unsuspecting women he's asked out on blind dates. CBS reported in August that Gonzales had left two women to pay the bill after walking out on restaurant dates last summer. One of the women described how he'd eaten $100 worth of food at a restaurant in Long Beach—explaining he had to order two entrees because he's a bodybuilder—before saying he was going to the bathroom. She never saw him again. Now, the man Grub Street identifies as perhaps "the world's worst dinner date" appears to have struck again. A woman, identified by WTOL as Beth, says she met "Dave Gonzales" on Bumble before agreeing to dinner at a restaurant in Pasadena. Gonzales ordered "a glass of pinot, a Caesar salad with a side of shrimp, a steak, and a baked potato" and ate most of the meal before excusing himself to take a phone call, Beth says. He never returned, a text went unanswered, and his Bumble profile was later removed, adds Beth, who soon after learned of Gonzales' alleged notoriety. She says she wants his "disgusting" ruse to stop. According to police, Gonzales has also walked out of a salon, still clad in a smock, without paying for a haircut and color. He's wanted on two bench warrants as a result of misdemeanor charges, including petty theft. (This blind date was more shocking.)

The Harry Potter author JK Rowling has shared some withering rebuffs publishers sent to her alter ego Robert Galbraith, in an effort to comfort aspiring authors. Rowling posted the rejection letters on Twitter after a request from a fan. They related to The Cuckoo’s Calling, her first novel as Galbraith. But Rowling also saw Harry Potter turned down several times before the boy wizard became one of the greatest phenomena in children’s literature, with sales of more than 400m copies worldwide. Asked how she kept motivated, she tweeted: “I had nothing to lose and sometimes that makes you brave enough to try.” When she pitched under the name Galbraith without revealing her true identity, she faced many more snubs. Since then, Galbraith has published three successful novels but the first was rejected by several publishers, and Rowling was even advised to take a writing course. J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) By popular request, 2 of @RGalbrath's rejection letters! (For inspiration, not revenge, so I've removed signatures.) pic.twitter.com/vVoc0x6r8W Rowling erased the signatures when she posted the letters online, saying her motive was “inspiration not revenge”. She did not reveal the full text of the most brutal brush-off, which came by email from one of the publishers who had also rejected Harry Potter. Rowling said she could not share the Potter rejections because they “are now in a box in my attic” before offering the Galbraith letters. The kindest and most detailed rejection came from Constable & Robinson, who – despite the advice about a writing course – included helpful tips on how to pitch to a publisher (“as on book jackets – don’t give away the ending!”). The publisher added: “I regret that we have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we could not publish it with commercial success.” The short note from publishers Crème de la Crime said the firm had become part of another publishing group and was not accepting new submissions. JK Rowling tells story of alter ego Robert Galbraith Read more When The Cuckoo’s Calling eventually found a publisher in 2013, it was achieving respectable sales before the secret of its authorship broke, and it then shot to the top of the bestseller lists. Joanne Harris, author of a string of hit novels, joined the Twitter discussion to say she had so many rejections for her 1999 book Chocolat, later adapted as a Hollywood movie, that she had piled them up and “made a sculpture”. Rowling, Harris and their literary disciples are in excellent company. Eimear McBride, the 2014 Bailey’s prizewinner for her first novel A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, accumulated a drawer full of rejection letters before a chance conversation led to her book being published by Galley Beggar, a tiny independent publisher in Norwich. James Joyce’s epic masterpiece Ulysses, regarded as one of the greatest Irish novels, was repeatedly rejected by baffled publishers before finally being published in a tiny edition in Paris in 1922 by his friend Sylvia Beach’s Shakespeare & Co bookshop: a copy of the first edition sold a few years ago for £275,000. TS Eliot, in his role as an editor at Faber and Faber, turned down George Orwell’s Animal Farm as “unconvincing”. Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 was rejected as “not funny on any intellectual level”, and John le Carré�?s first spy novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, was passed from one publisher to another with the withering comment: “You’re welcome to le Carré – he hasn’t got any future.” Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick attracted the memorable response “First, we must ask, does it have to be a whale?” It did. ||||| Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Image copyright Getty Images JK Rowling has shared two rejection letters she received for her first novel writing as Robert Galbraith. The author was trying to find a publisher for The Cuckoo's Calling, which was eventually released in 2013. Rowling posted the rejections on Twitter, saying she was doing so to encourage other aspiring writers. One of the letters, from publishing house Constable & Robinson, says it "could not publish [The Cuckoo's Calling] with commercial success". The letter goes on to suggest politely that Galbraith "double check in a helpful bookshop" or in the twice yearly "buyer's guide of Bookseller magazine", about who the current publishers of his fiction genre are. The letter adds "a writers' group or writing course may help" Galbraith to get constructive criticism of his debut crime novel. The second letter, from Creme de la Crime publishers, explains simply that they have become part of Severn House Publishers and are "unable to accept new submissions at the moment". Image copyright JK Rowling / Twitter Rowling, who has more than seven million Twitter followers, posted them in response to a fan's request for a picture of a rejection letter. She explained: "The Potter ones are now in a box in my attic, but I could show you Robert Galbraith's?" The Harry Potter author removed the signatures from the letters because she said she was posting them "for inspiration, not revenge". "I wasn't going to give up until every single publisher turned me down, but I often feared that would happen," she added. Author Joanne Harris joined the Twitter discussion, joking that she got so many rejections for her 1999 novel Chocolat that she had "made a sculpture" out of them. The novel went on to become hugely successful and was made into a film starring Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp. The Cuckoo's Calling was eventually published by Sphere Books, an imprint of Little, Brown & Company. The book sold about 1,500 copies before Rowling's identity as the author was revealed by the Sunday Times newspaper. It was Rowling's second novel for adults, having released The Casual Vacancy under her real name in 2012. The Harry Potter series of books has to date sold more than 400 million copies. The eight film adaptations of the books have been named as the second-highest grossing franchise and film series of all time. Rowling has also been named as the first female novelist in the world to become a billionaire. ||||| Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

– Every good writer gets rejected, and JK Rowling may know that better than most. Despite selling 400 million copies of her Harry Potter books, she still had trouble getting her 2013 novel The Cuckoo's Calling published under pseudonym Robert Galbraith. In fact, she got some pretty "cringe-worthy" rejection letters, and posted two to Twitter on Friday to inspire other writers, per the Telegraph. In one, Constable & Robinson notes it "could not publish [the crime novel] with commercial success." An editor advised Galbraith to read the Writer's Handbook, learn how to write an "alluring" blurb, and noted "a writer's group/writing course may help," report the BBC and the Guardian. Creme de la Crime sent Rowling a more general rejection stating that it was "unable to accept new submissions at the moment." Rowling notes a third unnamed publishing house that turned down Harry Potter also turned down The Cuckoo's Calling in what was Galbraith's "rudest rejection (by email)!" Still, "I wasn't going to give up until every single publisher turned me down, but I often feared that would happen," she says, adding, "I had nothing to lose and sometimes that makes you brave enough to try." Joanne Harris commiserated with her fellow author on Twitter, writing she "made a sculpture" out of all the rejection letters she received for her 1999 novel Chocolat, later turned into a film starring Johnny Depp. (Rowling recently got in hot water with Native American fans.)

Brock Turner in an undated Facebook photo. Facebook In the few days since ex–Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was given a six-month jail sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, much of the internet’s chatter has converged on a heart-wrenching, beautifully argued, deeply felt statement the woman read to him in court. It’s a devastating account of the survivor’s revictimization during her trial, a powerful indictment of the lighter sentences imposed on white, wealthy sex criminals, and a haunting depiction of how rape culture exerts its influence on college campuses and in courts of law. The victim provided her statement to BuzzFeed News; the page been viewed more than 4 million times since Friday afternoon. Now, the internet has an opposing letter to read: a defense of Turner reportedly written by his father, Dan. Posted early Sunday morning by Michele Dauber, a Stanford law professor and sociologist who led the school’s revision of its sexual assault policies in recent years, the letter appears to have been written prior to Brock’s sentencing to advocate for probation only, in lieu of any jail time. The sentence Brock got—six months in county jail and three years of probation—was extraordinarily light; he could have served up to 14 years in state prison. The judge opted for just a few months in jail (the Santa Clara County district attorney predicts he’ll only serve three of the six) because, the judge argued, a prison sentence would “have a severe impact on [Turner].” Turner will also have to register as a sex offender. That generous decision is an echo of Dan Turner’s letter, which essentially argues that Brock has already suffered enough for his crimes. This piece is a near-perfect complement to the victim’s gripping 7,200-word essay—Dan Turner defends his son with nearly every thin excuse his son’s victim demolishes in her letter; he elevates all the rape-apologist, victim-diminishing tropes she exposes as misogynist garbage. #brockturner father: son not "violent" only got "20 mins of action" shouldn't have to go to prison. @thehuntinground pic.twitter.com/IFECJs687b — Michele Dauber (@mldauber) June 5, 2016 Dan’s letter begins by describing how his son’s life has been thrown off track by his sexual assault, but never assigns responsibility to Brock, who repeatedly defended himself by saying that the victim enjoyed the assault and even had an orgasm. It’s not “Brock’s sexual assault” or “Brock’s actions” that occurred in January 2015, according to Dan; it’s “the events.” He spends five full sentences discussing Brock’s loss of appetite, as if that’s plenty punishment for his deeds. Perhaps he was trying to avoid the tone-deaf protests put forth by so many other Brock defenders, including the probation officer who helped determine his sentence, who’ve argued that the loss of his swimming scholarship is a major retribution that should figure into his sentence. In her essay, the survivor of Brock’s assault eloquently explains why that’s another symptom of a justice system sick with racial and socioeconomic inequity: The probation officer weighed the fact that he has surrendered a hard earned swimming scholarship. How fast Brock swims does not lessen the severity of what happened to me, and should not lessen the severity of his punishment. If a first time offender from an underprivileged background was accused of three felonies and displayed no accountability for his actions other than drinking, what would his sentence be? Later in his letter, Dan Turner writes that jail time is “not the appropriate punishment” for Brock because “he has no prior criminal history and has never been violent to anyone including his actions on the night of Jan 17th 2015.” That is patently untrue. A jury convicted Brock of three violent offenses: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated person; sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object; and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object. Brock’s victim made a persuasive argument for why Brock’s lack of criminal history is no reason to let him off with a slap on the wrist: As a society, we cannot forgive everyone’s first sexual assault or digital rape. It doesn’t make sense. The seriousness of rape has to be communicated clearly, we should not create a culture that suggests we learn that rape is wrong through trial and error. The consequences of sexual assault needs to be severe enough that people feel enough fear to exercise good judgment even if they are drunk, severe enough to be preventative. Dan also furthers the tired, insulting, victim-blaming narrative that holds drunk women responsible for their own sexual assaults when he discusses Brock’s possible future as an anti-drinking activist. “By having people like Brock educate others on college campuses is how society can begin to break the cycle of binge drinking and its unfortunate results,” he writes. The unfortunate results of binge drinking are manifold, but they do not include sexual assault. Brock’s victim writes: Alcohol is not an excuse. Is it a factor? Yes. But alcohol was not the one who stripped me, fingered me, had my head dragging against the ground, with me almost fully naked. Having too much to drink was an amateur mistake that I admit to, but it is not criminal. … Regretting drinking is not the same as regretting sexual assault. We were both drunk, the difference is I did not take off your pants and underwear, touch you inappropriately, and run away. Starting an anti-drinking foundation and becoming an anti-drinking activist is something celebrities do to manage their reputations after they incur a DUI; no sane person would expect Brock to devote the rest of his life to fighting teen alcoholism, much less be any good at it. But his father claims that a sole sentence of probation would allow Brock to “give back to society in a net positive way.” Net positive: as in, when the sum of negative consequences of Brock’s sexual assault are combined with the sum of whatever positive influence he could affect with his anti-drinking lectures, the positives outweigh the negatives. Dan Turner is saying that the harm Brock caused by sexually assaulting an unconscious woman and antagonizing her for a year on trial is so minimal, he could more than make up for it by lecturing students about keggers. But the worst parts of Dan’s letter are his grave mischaracterizations of rape as sex. “[Brock’s] life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve. That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life,” Dan writes, as if Brock should get special credit for not raping anyone during the first 19 years of his life. Committing sexual assault is not getting “action,” and 20 minutes may have been short for Brock, but it is not a short time for a victim enduring a sexual assault. Brock’s assault was not over when 20 minutes were up—his victim will forever contend with its persistent, damaging consequences. She will pay for his actions for the rest of her life. Dan, like Brock and his lawyer, deny the very existence of sexual assault by equating it with the kind of casual sex other college students enjoy: “Brock can do so many positive things as a contributor to society and is totally committed to educating other college age students about the dangers of alcohol consumption and sexual promiscuity.” Alcohol did not sexually assault Brock’s victim, and hook-up culture did not threaten her dignity and self-worth. Anonymous, drunken sex did not land Brock in jail. In her letter, Brock’s victim explains the willful ignorance someone must employ in order to conflate sexual assault with casual sex. “It is deeply offensive that [Brock] would try and dilute rape with a suggestion of ‘promiscuity.’ By definition rape is not the absence of promiscuity; rape is the absence of consent,” she writes. “It perturbs me deeply that he can’t even see that distinction.” ||||| Court statement by father of Brock Turner adds to concern over ‘lenient’ six-month sentence he received for intent to rape an unconscious woman The father of a former Stanford University athlete convicted on multiple charges of sexual assault has said his son should not have to go to prison for “20 minutes of action”. Brock Turner, a former swimmer at Stanford University, was on Thursday sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and probation for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. The 20-year-old from Dayton, Ohio – who was convicted of three felonies, including assault with intent to rape – faced a maximum of 14 years in prison. But Turner was expected to spend only three months of a six-month sentence in county jail after the judge, Aaron Persky, said positive character references and lack of a criminal record had persuaded him to be more lenient. Prison would have a “severe impact on him”, the judge said. Stanford sexual assault case: victim impact statement in full Read more The decision sparked anger on social media, with many quoting from the victim’s impact statement, which went viral after being published by international media. Joe Brown (@joemfbrown) One of the most powerful things I’ve read in a long, long time. Brock Turner should be forced to read it every day. https://t.co/M3yjOloXqE Leslie Grossman (@MissLeslieG) Brock Turner's victim has lit a fire. It is up to all of us to fan the flames. The 23-year-old victim gave an emotional speech at the hearing, an abbreviated version of a 12-page impact statement submitted to Judge Persky before the sentencing hearing. She recounted going to a party on the evening of 17 January 2015 and waking up the next morning in hospital with no memory of the night before. She also told of the invasive exam she underwent to collect evidence and the “excruciating” interrogation of the court trial. “I thought there’s no way this is going to trial; there were witnesses, there was dirt in my body, he ran but was caught ... Instead, I was told he hired a powerful attorney, expert witnesses, private investigators ... That he was going to go to any length to convince the world he had simply been confused. ... “I was pummeled with narrowed, pointed questions that dissected my personal life, love life, past life, family life, inane questions, accumulating trivial details to try and find an excuse for this guy who had me half naked before even bothering to ask for my name.” Her victim impact statement – released by the district attorney’s office and published in full by Palo Alto Online, among others – has received global attention for shedding light on what advocates say is an epidemic of violence on college campuses. On BuzzFeed, it has been viewed more than 4m times since being published on Saturday. Turner’s father had called on the judge to grant his son probation, saying that he had already paid “a steep price ... for 20 minutes of action”. Michele Dauber, a professor of law at Stanford University, tweeted an excerpt from the probation pre-sentencing report in which Dan Turner said his son’s life had “been deeply altered forever”. “He will never be his happy go lucky self with that easy going personality and welcoming smile,” he wrote of his son. “His every waking minute is consumed with worry, anxiety, fear, and depression. You can see this in his face, the way he walks, his weakened voice, his lack of appetite.” His statement was met with fury on social media, with many condemning its tone. Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) RAPE CULTURE: Brock Turner's dad is sad he only got "20 minutes of action" & doesn't even like eating steaks anymore pic.twitter.com/eQswM8Lb11 John Hodgman (@hodgman) It's the utter lack of self awareness and context that makes Brock Turner's dad's statement so chilling. Purest dumb dad privilege Nick Davis (@NicksFlickPicks) I understand that this father's pain must be excruciating and I sympathize. But this statement is itself an outrage. https://t.co/KR8Mq9jsHE Responding to questions over the statement’s validity, Dauber said it was “all too real” and that Dan Turner had read it aloud in open court at sentencing. She has been contacted for comment. Dan Turner said imprisonment was not the “appropriate punishment” for his son, who was “totally committed to educating other college age students about the dangers of alcohol consumption and sexual promiscuity”. “By having people like Brock educate others on college campuses is how society can begin to break the cycle of binge drinking and its unfortunate results.” This echoed Turner’s own statement, in which he said he was in the process of establishing a program for high school and college students so that he could “speak out against the college campus drinking culture and the sexual promiscuity that goes along with that”. The victim was scathing on this point in her address at Thursday’s hearing, noting that Turner had said he wanted to “show people that one night of drinking can ruin a life”. “Let me rephrase for you, I want to show people that one night of drinking can ruin two lives. You and me. You are the cause, I am the effect. ... “Your damage was concrete; stripped of titles, degrees, enrolment. My damage was internal, unseen, I carry it with me. You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today.” Victoria Aveyard (@VictoriaAveyard) Students, if your school is ever stupid enough to allow Brock Turner to "educate" you on drinking, I hope you boo him off the stage. Prosecutors had asked for Judge Persky, a Stanford alumnus, to sentence Turner to six years in a state prison. The maximum for the three felony charges – assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object – was 14 years. In justifying the six-month sentence, Judge Persky said positive character references written on Turner’s behalf, such as that given by his father, had factored into his decision. His age, his lack of a criminal history, and the role that alcohol played in the assault were also mitigating factors. “A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him,” said the judge. “I think he will not be a danger to others.” Judge Persky is running unopposed for re-election in the Santa Clara county election on Tuesday. A Change.org petition calling for him to be recalled from his judicial position had received more than 15,500 signatures at time of writing. siobhan vivian (@siobhanvivian) Outraged by the laughable punishment in the Stanford rape case? JUDGE AARON PERSKY is up for reelection. RT his name! Get him off the bench! Colin Dickey (@colindickey) Just texted my mom, who's a lawyer in Santa Clara County, to try to get her to run against the judge who sentenced Brock Turner. The Santa Clara county district attorney, Jeff Rosen, criticised the “unjust” sentence on Thursday, which he said did not fit the crime. “Ultimately, the fact that the defendant preyed upon an intoxicated stranger on a college campus should not be viewed as less serious than if he assaulted an intoxicated stranger in downtown Palo Alto,” he said. “Campus rape is no different than off-campus rape. Rape is rape. We will prosecute it the same.” Rosen also praised the victim’s statement as “the most eloquent, powerful and compelling piece of victim advocacy that I’ve seen in my 20 years as a prosecutor”. Palo Alto Online reported that Turner plans to appeal his conviction and will be represented by Dennis Riordan, a well-known San Francisco appellate attorney. ||||| The father of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner, who was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman near a dumpster, urged the judge not to put his son in prison over "20 minutes of action." Dan A. Turner, Brock Turner's dad, wrote a letter to Judge Aaron Persky before his son's sentencing Thursday. He said that since his son was found guilty of sexual assault, he isn't eating much and is full of worry and anxiety. It's "a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life," he argued. You can read Dan Turner's full letter here. Brock Turner, 22, was sentenced Thursday to six months in county jail, and could be released sooner for good behavior. In March, Turner was found guilty of three felony sexual assault charges for violating a recent Stanford graduate outside a fraternity party. Two male graduate students who were passing by the party around 1 a.m. on Jan. 18, 2015, interrupted Turner when they saw him on top of a woman. The grad students chased Turner -- who left his victim behind in the dirt -- and then held him down as a third person called police. Turner admitted to having sexual contact, but insisted during the criminal trial that the woman had given consent and that he was too drunk himself to realize she passed out, according to the Palo Alto Weekly. The woman testified she had no memory of her assault. A Stanford public safety officer said in court that after he found her lying unconscious behind a dumpster, she did not wake up for several hours. A jury found Turner guilty of assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object. Prosecutors recommended six years in state prison, noting that he'd lied about his alcohol history, had been previously accused of aggression toward women and has refused to admit he committed assault. At the sentencing, Turner's victim read a 13-page letter about how the assault affected her. The statement was widely shared online over the weekend, with many calling it "powerful." Persky determined that six months in jail followed by three years of probation was the best punishment for Turner, stating that he had to ask himself, "Is incarceration in prison the right answer for the poisoning of (the woman's) life?" Perksy also cited Turner's lack of a criminal record as a factor in a more lenient sentence. Dan Turner noted in his letter that his son plans to develop a program for high school and college students to educate them about the "dangers of alcohol consumption and sexual promiscuity." However, the tone of his letter -- which does not acknowledge that Brock committed an assault, instead describing the crime as "20 minutes of action" and insisting that Brock "has never been violent to anyone including the night of the Jan 17th 2015" -- offended many people. Dan Turner offered a brief response to his critics Monday morning. "My words have been misinterpreted by people," he said in a statement to The Huffington Post, submitted through his son's defense attorney. "What I meant with that comment is a 20 minute period of time. I was not referring to sexual activity by the word 'action.' It was an unfortunate choice of words and I did not mean to be disrespectful or offensive to anyone." Still, many people are frustrated with the light sanction for Brock Turner's assault of an unconscious woman, a sanction that came despite several other letters to the court arguing for a more robust punishment. Under California statutes, Turner should have faced a minimum of two to three years of incarceration for the crimes, noted Stanford University Law Professor Michele Dauber in a letter to the court. A less severe punishment can be given if the case is "unusual" in that it is "substantially less serious than the circumstances typically present in other cases," and the offender is young and has no criminal record, Dauber wrote, but she insisted Turner's case was far from unusual: Dauber went on to add that Turner was privileged, suggesting that he should be fully aware he was committing a crime which has no justification. A letter signed by more than 250 Stanford students and a handful of alumni, parents and professors also pointed out Turner should have known he was committing a horrific crime due to the programming he received as a freshman that dealt with sexual assault, consent and alcohol usage. A third letter, submitted by a dozen student leaders, including Greek life and student government members, echoed that point: This is not a case of someone who just didn’t know what he was doing and made a mistake. ... His crime was serious, and his sentence should also be serious. As people who have suffered fear as a result of his crime, we ask that you consider the impact on our community of the sentence you impose in his case. District Attorney Jeff Rosen was also displeased by the light sentence for Turner, saying in a statement that the "punishment does not fit the crime." "The predatory offender has failed to take responsibility, failed to show remorse and failed to tell the truth," Rosen said. "The sentence does not factor in the true seriousness of this sexual assault, or the victim’s ongoing trauma. Campus rape is no different than off-campus rape. Rape is rape. And I will prosecute it as such." Read the impact statement from Brock Turner's victim below: _______

– A rape case at Stanford continues to make headlines, first because of the defendant's sentence and the victim's powerful statement, and now because of another statement made by the 20-year-old assailant's father. Swimmer Brock Turner received a sentence of six months in jail—he could have gotten 14 years—after being convicted of raping a passed-out young woman. In a letter written to the judge before sentencing, his father argued for just such leniency, reports the Guardian. Brock Turner shouldn't have his life ruined over "20 minutes of action," wrote Dan Turner, adding that his son had suffered enough already. “He will never be his happy go lucky self with that easy going personality and welcoming smile,” he wrote. “His every waking minute is consumed with worry, anxiety, fear, and depression. You can see this in his face, the way he walks, his weakened voice, his lack of appetite.” The letter was made public Sunday in a tweet by Stanford law professor Michele Dauber, who helped shape the school's new sexual assault policies, and it's being met with a barrage of criticism online. "Tone-deaf," says a post at the Huffington Post. It's a "near-perfect complement" to the victim's statement, writes Christina Cauterucci at Slate. "Dan Turner defends his son with nearly every thin excuse his son's victim demolishes in her letter; he elevates all the rape-apologist, victim-diminishing tropes she exposes as misogynist garbage."

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge threw out multiple aspects of Wisconsin's voter ID law on Friday, leaving the law itself intact but ruling unconstitutional many restrictions on voting passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Two liberal groups filed a lawsuit in May challenging the laws, including a requirement that voters show photo identification. U.S. District Judge James Peterson agreed with arguments that the laws were enacted to benefit Republicans and make it harder for Democratic supporters to vote, and ordered a range of changes. He ordered the state to quickly issue credentials valid for voting to anyone trying to obtain a free photo ID for voting. He struck down a restriction limiting municipalities to one location for in-person absentee voting, time limits on in-person absentee voting, an increase in residency requirements from 10 to 28 days, and a prohibition on using expired but otherwise qualifying student IDs to vote. Earlier Friday, a federal appeals court blocked a North Carolina law that required voters to produce photo identification and included other provisions disproportionately affecting black voters. Judges in the Virginia-based 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said the law was enacted "with discriminatory intent." Earlier this month, a federal appeals court ruled that Texas' strict voter ID law discriminates against minorities and must be weakened before the November elections. And earlier this month, a federal judge in Milwaukee said people without required photo identification can still vote in the Nov. 8 presidential election. That ruling, which isn't in place for the Aug. 9 primary, provides a pathway for people having trouble getting photo identification to still vote. In the Wisconsin lawsuit decided Friday, liberal groups challenged the laws saying they were unconstitutional and discriminate against the poor, racial minorities and younger voters who are more inclined to vote Democratic. They presented evidence at trial attempting to show that Republicans were motivated to pass the laws to suppress Democratic turnout. The state Department of Justice, which defended the restrictions, countered that they have not suppressed turnout and that the state works hard to ensure everyone who needs a free ID to vote gets one. A spokesman for the agency didn't immediately return an email message seeking comment on Friday's ruling. Bobbie Wilson, the lead attorney for the groups that brought the lawsuit, One Wisconsin Institute and Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund Inc., didn't immediately respond to a voicemail left at his San Francisco office. "We argued Gov. Walker made it harder for Democrats to vote and easier for Republicans to cheat, and the judge agreed," said Scot Ross, director of One Wisconsin Now. Walker spokesman Tom Evenson did not immediately return messages seeking comment. ||||| Poll worker Kim Tinsley checks a photo identification for a voter while stationed at Ward 238 at the Lincoln Court Apartments, 2325 S Howell Ave., on Feb. 16. Credit: Rick Wood SHARE By of the Madison — Finding that Republican lawmakers had discriminated against minorities, a federal judge Friday struck down parts of Wisconsin's voter ID law, limits on early voting and prohibitions on allowing people to vote early at multiple sites. With the presidential election less than four months away, GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel said he plans to appeal the sweeping decision by U.S. District Court Judge James Peterson. Peterson also turned back other election laws Republicans have put in place in recent years. "The Wisconsin experience demonstrates that a preoccupation with mostly phantom election fraud leads to real incidents of disenfranchisement, which undermine rather than enhance confidence in elections, particularly in minority communities," U.S. District Judge James Peterson wrote. "To put it bluntly, Wisconsin's strict version of voter ID law is a cure worse than the disease." The ruling came the same day a federal appeals court struck down numerous voting laws in North Carolina and a week after a different appeals court ruled a photo ID law in Texas violates voters' rights. Last week, a federal judge in Milwaukee determined voters in November could cast ballots without showing ID if they submitted statements at polling places saying they could not easily get a state-issued ID card. Friday's 119-page decision in Madison is broader than the Milwaukee ruling and resets the rules for voting less than four months before the presidential election. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett praised the ruling, saying that "without a question" the city would take advantage of it to help more of its citizens vote. "Gov. (Scott) Walker and the Legislature wanted to create a bottleneck in the city of Milwaukee to make it more difficult for people to vote," Barrett said. The decision deals with a swath of election laws that have been modified in recent years by Walker and Republican lawmakers. Peterson, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014, concluded many of them violate the First Amendment right to free speech, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law and the Fifteenth Amendment protection of the right to vote. He struck down: ■ Limits on early voting Republicans have put in place in recent years. GOP lawmakers restricted early voting to weekdays during the two full weeks before elections, thus eliminating weekend voting that was popular in Milwaukee and other urban areas. ■ A requirement that cities can have only one place for early voting. Critics have said large cities such as Milwaukee should be able to have multiple voting sites because not everyone can get downtown easily. ■ A requirement that people must live in their voting ward 28 days before an election. Previously, people had to live in a ward for 10 days before an election. ■ The system the state uses to determine if people with the most difficulty getting IDs should be provided identification for voting. He ruled anyone in that system must immediately be granted an ID for voting within 30 days. ■ Part of the voter ID law allows people to use certain student IDs to vote, but those IDs cannot be expired. Peterson found that aspect of the law is unconstitutional, ruling that expired student IDs can be used at the polls — just as expired driver's licenses can be used for voting. ■ A requirement that dorm lists provided to poll workers include citizen information. Universities provide the lists of those living in dorms to poll workers so they have an easy way to check whether students are voting in the right wards; lawmakers put in a requirement that those lists show whether the students are U.S. citizens. ■ A prohibition on providing voters with absentee ballots by email or fax is unconstitutional, the judge ruled. The ruling will not change any of the rules for the Aug. 9 primary. But — if kept in place — it will reshape how the Nov. 8 general election is run. Further rulings higher courts could change that, however. The law limiting early voting "intentionally discriminates on the basis of race," Peterson wrote. "I reach this conclusion because I am persuaded that this law was specifically targeted to curtail voting in Milwaukee without any other legitimate purpose. "The Legislature's immediate goal was to achieve a partisan objective, but the means of achieving that objective was to suppress the reliably Democratic vote of Milwaukee's African-Americans." The ruling drew praise from the executive director of One Wisconsin Institute, one of the liberal groups that brought the lawsuit. "As the eyes of the nation are focused on the accomplishments and legacy of our nation's first African-American president and first lady, Governor Walker and his legislative allies refuse to accept the expanding diversity of our nation," Scot Ross said in a statement. "Republicans instead chose to rig the laws to rig the ballot box." Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna) dismissed the ruling, saying that Peterson overstepped his authority. "Another in a long line of judicial overreaches that usurp states' rights. One more example of why (the U.S. Supreme Court) is critical," Steineke tweeted. A key part of the case dealt with the system the state has used to provide IDs to people who are qualified to vote but who have trouble getting them because they don't have birth certificates or have errors on them. Walker made changes to that system on the eve of the May trial before Peterson, but for years people without birth certificates have had to go through a lengthy process to try to get IDs, and even then many of them failed to get them even though they were considered eligible voters. Those who have had the most difficulty getting IDs are overwhelmingly minorities, and Peterson called the system created for them a "wretched failure." Most people have been able to get free IDs from the state with little trouble after a single visit to the state Division of Motor Vehicles. The decision comes at a time when voting rights cases are making their way through the courts. Peterson issued his decision just hours after a federal appeals court struck down a similar requirement in North Carolina that voters there show ID at the polls. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond, Va., also reinstated one more week of early voting in North Carolina, concluding that lawmakers had sought to discriminate against certain voters in passing those measures. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana's voter ID law in 2008 and since then such laws have flourished around the country. Many of those states, including Wisconsin, have passed laws that are more stringent than Indiana's, sparking a new wave of litigation. Wisconsin's voter ID law was blocked for years by court orders, but revived last year after rulings by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Even after those decisions, one of the cases remained alive as those opposed to the voter ID law argued some people needed another method of voting because they had great difficulty in getting IDs because they lacked birth certificates or had errors on them. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman embraced those arguments last week and ruled that in the Nov. 8 election voters who don't have IDs can cast ballots if they submit affidavits at the polls saying they can't easily get IDs. A former Democratic state senator, Adelman was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton. That decision has been appealed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, which has shown it is equally divided when it comes to Wisconsin's voter ID law. The same court will hear an appeal of Peterson's decision. A panel of three 7th Circuit judges upheld the voter ID law in 2014. The full court then split 5-5 on whether the law should be overturned, leaving the earlier ruling in place. Bruce Vielmetti of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

– The same day a federal judge ruled North Carolina's voter ID law was racially discriminatory and unconstitutional, a federal judge made a similar ruling in Wisconsin. While he didn't strike down the state's entire 2011 voter ID law, Judge James Peterson did repeal big chunks of it, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Limits on early voting have been removed, as has a requirement that voters must live in Wisconsin for 28 days prior to the election. According to the AP, expired student IDs will also once again be valid at the polls. Wisconsin's voter ID law had been accused of unfairly targeting African-Americans, Latinos, and other people likely to vote Democrat. However, an appeal of Friday's ruling could keep the restrictions in place for November's election.

River Martinez, 10, breaks camp at the Upper Pines Campground in Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Martinez's family, visiting from Los Angeles, had to cut their stay short... (Associated Press) River Martinez, 10, breaks camp at the Upper Pines Campground in Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Martinez's family, visiting from Los Angeles, had to cut their stay short as portions of Yosemite close today to allow crews to battle the Ferguson fire burning nearby. (AP Photo/Noah... (Associated Press) IDYLLWILD, Calif. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire — believed to have been sparked by arson — tore through trees, burned five homes and forced evacuation orders for an entire forest town as California sweltered under a heat wave and battled ferocious fires at both ends of the state. The so-called Cranston Fire, which erupted Wednesday in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles, turned into a wall of flame that torched timber and tinder-dry brush. In a matter of hours it grew to 7 1/2 square miles (19 square kilometers). It was threatening an estimated 600 homes, authorities said. The fire was the largest of at least five that police believe were purposely set Wednesday by a man whose car was reportedly spotted at the starting point of the blaze in Riverside County, officials said. Brandon N. McGlover, 32, of Temecula was booked on suspicion of five counts of arson, state fire officials said. It wasn't clear whether he had an attorney. Authorities ordered residents to leave Idyllwild and several neighboring communities, home to about 12,000 people. William Blodgett of Idyllwild said he couldn't get home because of the fire and had to wait along with others at a gas station in nearby Mountain Center — until the fire hopped a highway and began to move in his direction. "We were all peeling out of there as fast as we could," he told KNBC-TV. "It was apocalyptic." Horses and other animals were taken to shelters as were several hundred children who were evacuated from summer camps. About 200 were at a local high school serving as a shelter, KCAL-TV reported. The fire in the San Bernardino National Forest sent up a cloud 50,000 feet high that was so enormous it created its own weather in the form of lightning, the National Weather Service reported. Throughout the day, helicopters and planes dumped water and fire retardant that turned swathes of land and homes pink. Fire engines also were stationed to protect homes. The fire is one of several across California amid a heat wave that has seen days of triple-digit temperatures. To the north, in the San Francisco Bay Area, at least one home burned in a fast-moving blaze in Clayton, where houses are spread out around windy roads. Yosemite Valley, the scenic heart of the national park, was closed at noon Wednesday during the height of tourist season as smoke cast a pall on the region from a fire in the Sierra Nevada. The closure was heartbreaking for travelers, many of whom mapped out their trips months in advance to hike and climb amid the spectacular views of cascading waterfalls and sheer rock faces. "We had one guest who planned a weeklong trip," said Tom Lambert, who owns a vacation rental property near Yosemite Valley. "It was a father-daughter trip, for her high school graduation ... Now it's done. It's sad." Another guest had to delay plans to climb Half Dome. Officials emphasized that Yosemite wasn't in imminent danger from the fire. Authorities decided on the shutdown to allow crews to perform protective measures such as burning away brush along roadways without having to deal with traffic in the park that welcomes 4 million visitors annually. Yosemite Valley will be closed until at least Sunday, along with a winding, mountainous, 20-mile (32-kilometer) stretch of California's State Route 41 that leads into the area, Gediman said. At least 1,000 campground and hotel bookings were canceled — to say nothing of the impact on day visitors, park workers and small businesses along the highway, Gediman said. The last time the 7.5-mile-long (12-kilometer-long) valley was closed because of fire was 1990, he said. Over nearly two weeks, flames have churned through 60 square miles (155 square kilometers) of timber in steep terrain of the Sierra Nevada just west of the park. The fire was just 25 percent contained. More than 3,300 firefighters are working the fire, aided by 16 helicopters. One firefighter was killed July 14, and six others have been injured. In the state's far north, a 7-square-mile (18-square-kilometer) wildfire has forced the evacuation of French Gulch, a small Shasta County community that dates to the Gold Rush. ___ Noah Berger reported from Yosemite; Chris Weber from Los Angeles. AP reporters Robert Jablon, Michael Balsamo and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed. ___ Follow Weber at https://twitter.com/WeberCM ||||| An arson suspect was arrested in relation to the Cranston Fire in Idyllwild, which grew to 4,700 acres Wednesday night. Robert Kovacik reports for NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on July 25, 2018. (Published Thursday, July 26, 2018) What to Know Investigators were looking into the possibility that the cause was arson The fire has burned thousands of acres in the San Jacinto Mountains in Riverside County Highway 74 between Cranston Fire Station and Lake Hemet and Highway 243 between Pine Cove and Mountain Center were closed A 32-year-old man from Temecula was arrested on suspicion of arson Wednesday night after he was accused of setting multiple fires, one of which burned thousands of acres in the San Bernardino National Forest, destroyed homes and forced thousands to flee. Brandon N. McGlover was arrested on suspicion of five counts of arson to wildland after the Cranston Fire erupted earlier the same day. The Cranston Fire consumed at least 4,700 acres, leveled five residential structures and closed roads. As of Wednesday night, the fire was 5 percent contained. Booking photo of Brandon n. McGlover, 32, of Temecula, who was arrested in relation to Cranston Fire in Idyllwild. Photo credit: San Bernardino National Forest The Cranston Fire was reported at around noon off state Route 74 in the forest area between Hemet and Mountain Center, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The fire was burning "with a rapid rate of spread," according to the USFS. Photos: Wildfire Tears Through Riverside County Mountains No injuries have been reported in connection with the blaze, which was zero percent contained as of Wednesday night. The cause of the fire has not been confirmed, but California Highway Patrol Officer Darren Meyer said a motorist who witnesses said was spotted "near the origin of the fire" was detained. A light-colored sedan matching the description provided by witnesses was spotted at around 12:30 p.m. near Newport Road and State Street in Hemet, Meyer said. An enforcement stop was conducted by the CHP, Riverside County Sheriff's Department and Hemet Police Department and the driver was arrested. Authorities had not yet confirmed whether the man captured on video being detained by officers was McGlover. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for residents of Idyllwild, Mountain Center along McGaugh and McCall Park roads and the communities of Pine Cove and Fern Valley. Cranston Fire Rips Through Homes (Published Wednesday, July 25, 2018) "Leave the area immediately," a USFS Twitter post advised. At least 110 homes in southwest Idyllwild have been evacuated, and officials said at least 600 more structures were threatened by the blaze. Television news footage showed at least a few homes going up in flames. Authorities have established an evacuation center for residents and campers at Banning High School, 100 W. Westward Ave. Small animals can also be evacuated to Banning High School, while animals of all sizes can be taken to the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus at 581 S. Grand Ave. Road closures include state Route 74 between the Cranston Fire Station and Lake Hemet, as well as state Route 243 between the communities of Pine Cove and Mountain Center, where authorities say flames jumped the highway near the Idyllwild Grinding Facility. The fire has also taken out power to more than 7,700 Southern California Edison customers in the Idyllwild area, according to an SCE online outage map. Full restoration was expected at around 2 a.m. Thursday. Authorities have also issued a smoke advisory for the region, advising that winds could bring smoke into various parts of Riverside County, including the Coachella Valley, Banning Pass, the Hemet/San Jacinto Valley, Perris Valley and Anza. The advisory will be in effect through Thursday morning. McGlover was also accused of setting several other fires Wednesday in the southwest Riverside County area and along Highway 74. A fire information call center for the public has also been established at (909) 383-5688.

– A fast-moving wildfire—believed to have been sparked by arson—tore through trees, burned five homes, and forced evacuation orders for an entire forest town as California sweltered under a heat wave and battled ferocious fires at both ends of the state. The so-called Cranston Fire, which erupted Wednesday in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles, turned into a wall of flame that torched timber and tinder-dry brush. In a matter of hours it grew to 7.5 square miles, threatening an estimated 600 homes and forcing the evacuation of Idyllwild, authorities say. The fire was the largest of at least five that police believe were purposely set Wednesday by a man whose car was reportedly spotted at the starting point of the blaze, the AP reports. Brandon N. McGlover, 32, of Temecula was booked on suspicion of five counts of arson, state fire officials say. Authorities ordered residents to leave Idyllwild and several neighboring communities, home to about 12,000 people. William Blodgett of Idyllwild says he couldn't get home because of the fire and had to wait along with others at a gas station—until the fire hopped a highway and began to move in his direction. "We were all peeling out of there as fast as we could," he tells KNBC. "It was apocalyptic."

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. - The El Paso County Sheriff's Office issued a release at 10 p.m. Saturday updating its investigation into horses at a barn in Black Forest. The release reads as follows: There has been a great deal of outcry about the situation involving the horses in the Black Forest area. We recognize this to be an emotional issue for many citizens, and in light of that, the Sheriff's Office would like to provide some additional facts about the case. Friday, September 19, 2014, members of our Investigations Division and our Mounted Unit, skilled in the investigation of animal cruelty and neglect cases involving horses, responded to the property off of Burgess Road to conduct the initial investigation. After our investigators arrived on scene, they determined that while the appearance of the animals was visually disturbing, none of the horses were in immediate danger and none of them had to be euthanized. As such, investigators had no legal right to seize the horses at that time. We are looking into the cause of death of the deceased animals. Members of our Mounted Unit are in contact with the horse owner, who is cooperating and receptive to working on a plan of action for continuing care of the animals and improving their living conditions. They have been provided with fresh food and water, (which they had along along) and the owner is making arrangements to further clean up the property. Rest assured, had any of the animals been in imminent jeopardy, they would have been removed from the location. The Sheriff's Office has had to do that in previous instances and would not have hesitated in this case should it have been necessary. We have a number of large animal rescue groups we work with in those cases. The Sheriff's Office truly appreciates the outpouring of concern the citizens have shown in this case and will make use of the generous offers should they become necessary. Sgt. Gregory White El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer/Legislative Liaison ||||| More Video... A horse owner in Black Forest who is facing animal cruelty charges pleaded not guilty in court Wednesday, according to The Gazette. The horses and llamas were rescued from a barn in Black Forest in September. The animals appeared to have been badly abused for a long time. A trial for Sherri Brunzell has been set for February 2015. At the time the animals were discovered, the state humane society took the horses to an undisclosed animal rescue facility. The llamas were taken to a separate facility. Brunzell, has been charged with animal cruelty. Due to these being misdemeanor charges, Brunzell was ticketed; she was not arrested. The animals were discovered living among the remains of nearly a dozen dead horses. The 10 surviving horses and four llamas did not look healthy, though authorities said none appeared to be in immediate danger. Denise Pipher had been living on the Burgess Road property since August, but was not aware of what was in the barn until Friday afternoon when one of her German Shepherds ran into the barn. Pipher's daughter-in-law followed the dog in and made the gruesome discovery. "Diana went in to get her [the dog] because I couldn't climb over the pallets, and then she just started stepping all over...she sees all these bones and the feces are like 6 feet deep in there," Pipher told 11 News. "The people that rented this barn were very private, and now I know why," Pipher's daughter-in-law Diana Ragula said. "I asked her when I first met her, I said, 'Do you need any help in the barn? If so let me know.' She said 'no,' I said, 'okay.' ... She didn't want anyone near the barn." Pipher and Ragula remain horrified and baffled at what was happening in their barn. "They just laid down and died, and decomposed right where they laid. And there's tarps over these and there's feces on top of these bodies that were just covered," Pipher said. "They [the surviving animals] couldn't say nothing, they can't yell for help, they're stuck in there behind these walls and nobody else gets to see them," Ragula said. Thanks to Pipher and Ragula, authorities were called, and four days later the surviving animals left the property for good. Neighbors say they have been gutted by what they learned was allegedly happening behind closed doors on that property, and were relieved to watch the rescue Monday. "It's despicable and it's been haunting me since I saw the news on Friday that it's in my community," Laura Easom said. "I don't know why anyone would have an animal--whether it's a mouse, a horse or an elephant--and treat them like this. They count on us so much." "To see them being rescued and whinnying and moving...very thankful. I'm sure I speak for all of our Black Forest residents and all of our riding clubs," Linda Moneymaker said. The El Paso County Sheriff's Office says the reason for the four-day delay between the discovery of the abused animals and their rescue was because one of their veterinarians, who had worked on similar cases, had to make an assessment first. Once the vet did so, the sheriff's office says they then had the legal right to seize the horses, and made arrangements to do so. "In order to seize somebody's livestock, there's a very specific set of criteria that we have to follow," Sgt. Greg White with EPSO explained. White said Brunzell was being "very cooperative." 11 News spoke with the suspect in September, who maintains that she did nothing wrong. Brunzell says her horses died of old age last winter, but because the ground was frozen she was unable to bury them. Brunzell told 11 News she instead put down a tarp and used a product to dissolve their bodies. When 11 News asked why, eight months later, the horse carcasses were still in the barn, she said she had other things going on and was "going to take care of it." Brunzell said the other horses appeared thin because it's between seasons, but that they are healthy. If Brunzell is found guilty of animal abuse, she could face anywhere from six to 18 months in jail, or a $500 to $5,000 fine. The El Paso County Sheriff's Office is currently heading up the investigation, but at Tuesday's county commissioners meeting District Attorney Dan May said his office would like to be involved. County Commissioner Darryl Glenn said he had received more than 1,500 emails in a 24-hour span from people all over the world inquiring about the horses.

– Authorities say a special unit that responds to animal abuse will handle a case involving more than a dozen dead and malnourished horses found in a Colorado barn. KRDO-TV reports that the El Paso County Sheriff's Office mounted unit is investigating the Friday discovery of the horses in Black Forest, near Colorado Springs. A woman renting the property says she found the dead horses—some no more than skeletons—under Lye and tarps, when one of the German Shepherds she's raising broke free into the barn, KKTV reports. At least eight horses were alive but in extremely poor health. Sgt. Gregory White says investigators could not legally seize the living horses because they were not in immediate danger. Authorities gave them water and food. White says the woman who owns the horses has been cooperative in making a plan to improve their health and conditions and has agreed to clean the property. She isn't facing charges but is "under supervision" by authorities, KKTV reports. (Read about an elephant sanctuary founder who was "crushed by an old friend.")

There was no plan for how to keep the park occupied throughout the night in the face of the new regulations, and many people made arrangements for overnight shelter. Some people offered couches to one another, and two Manhattan churches opened their doors and said protesters could sleep there. Shortly after midnight, about a hundred people remained at the park, and some said they were prepared to stay awake through dawn. “If they are letting us stay here, I am staying up all night,” said Jordan McCarthy, 22. But absent from the park on Tuesday night were some of the Occupy movement’s core members. “Our actual organization is taking the night off,” said Justin Stone Diaz, 38, a member of the information group. “We’re trying to give our people a break.” A surprise police raid that began at about 1 a.m. Tuesday had emptied the park. Officers not only removed the protesters who had camped there for almost two months, but they also removed their tents, tarps and belongings. As the morning unfolded, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg defended the decision to clear the park, saying “health and safety conditions became intolerable.” He also told a City Hall news conference that in approving the police operation, he had had to balance concerns about free speech against concerns about what had been happening in the park. “New York City is the city where you can come and express yourself,” the mayor said. “What was happening in Zuccotti Park was not that.” He said the protesters had taken over the park, “making it unavailable to anyone else.” Mr. Bloomberg said the city had planned to reopen the park on Tuesday morning after the protesters’ tents and tarps had been removed and the stone steps had been cleaned. He said the police had already let about 50 protesters back in when officials received word of a temporary restraining order sought by lawyers for the protesters. The police closed the park again while a judge heard arguments in State Supreme Court. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The judge, Justice Michael D. Stallman, handed down his decision late Tuesday afternoon, ruling for the city and saying the protesters could go into Zuccotti Park but could not take their tents and sleeping bags. Justice Stallman said that the demonstrators “have not demonstrated that they have a First Amendment right to remain in Zuccotti Park, along with their tents, structures, generators and other installations” — to the exclusion of the landlord or “others who might wish to use the space safely.” The mayor’s comments at a City Hall news conference came about seven hours after hundreds of police officers moved in to clear the park, after warning that the nearly two-month-old camp would be “cleared and restored” but that demonstrators who did not leave would face arrest. The protesters, about 200 of whom have been staying in the park overnight, initially resisted with chants of “Whose park? Our park!” The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly , said that nearly 200 people had been arrested, 142 in the park and 50 to 60 in the streets nearby. Most were held on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, among them City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a Democrat who represents northern Manhattan. He was with a group near the intersection of Broadway and Vesey Street that was trying to link up with the protesters in the park. The group tried to push through a line of officers trying to prevent people from reaching the park. Later in the day, the police cleared a lot at Canal Street, about a mile away, where some of the protesters had gone after the sweep. About two dozen people were arrested there after protesters snipped a chain-link fence with bolt cutters. At least four journalists who trailed the protesters as they went through the opening in the fence were also led out in handcuffs, including a reporter and photographer for The Associated Press and a reporter from The Daily News. The operation in and around the park was a blow to the Occupy Wall Street movement, which saw the park as its spiritual heart. The sweep was intended to empty the birthplace of a protest movement that has inspired hundreds of tent cities from coast to coast. Participants criticize a financial system that they say favors the rich and corporations at the expense of ordinary citizens. On Monday, hundreds of police officers raided the main encampment in Oakland , Calif., arresting 33 people. Protesters returned later in the day. But the Oakland police said no one would be allowed to sleep there anymore, and promised to clear a second camp nearby. The police action was quickly challenged as lawyers for the protesters obtained a temporary restraining order barring the city and the park’s private landlord from evicting protesters or removing their belongings. That left the protesters in a kind of limbo as they waited for Justice Stallman to issue his ruling. Occupy Wall Street’s legal team had spent most of the day trying to reverse the reasoning the city used as the legal underpinning for the sweep. The protesters’ lawyers said after Justice Stallman issued the decision that their clients would continue their struggle. “This has not stopped the movement,” said Yetta Kurland, one of the lawyers for the protesters. “Win, lose or draw, the 99 percent will continue to show up, continue to express themselves.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story The mayor, at his news conference in the morning, read a statement he had issued around 6 a.m. explaining the reasoning behind the sweep. “The law that created Zuccotti Park required that it be open for the public to enjoy for passive recreation 24 hours a day,” the mayor said in the statement. “Ever since the occupation began, that law has not been complied with” because the protesters had taken over the park. “I have become increasingly concerned — as had the park’s owner, Brookfield Properties — that the occupation was coming to pose a health and fire safety hazard to the protesters and to the surrounding community,” Mr. Bloomberg said. He added that on Monday, Brookfield asked the city to assist in enforcing the no sleeping and camping rules. “But make no mistake,” the mayor said, “the final decision to act was mine and mine alone.” Some of the displaced protesters regrouped a few blocks away at Foley Square, with the row of courthouses on Centre Street as a backdrop, and swapped stories of their confrontations with the police as they talked about what to do next. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. One protester, Nate Barchus, 23, said the eviction from Zuccotti Park was likely to galvanize supporters, particularly because a series of gatherings had already been planned for Thursday, the protest’s two-month anniversary. “This,” he said, referring to the early morning sweep, “reminds everyone who was occupying exactly why they were occupying.” The midday arrests at the Canal Street lot unfolded next to a triangular space known as Duarte Square, for the first president of the Dominican Republic , Juan Pablo Duarte. The city owns slightly less than half an acre of land there, on the eastern edge of the square. The western section is owned by Trinity Church, a major landowner downtown, and had been fenced off for the winter recently after an art installation was dismantled. With dozens of police officers watching, protesters climbed to the top of the plywood fence and held a general-assembly-style discussion on whether to “liberate another piece of property,” and about an hour later — after some protesters said they had tried to obtain permission to enter the church’s lot — two protesters dressed in black appeared with bolt cutters. They quickly made an opening in the fence. As the crowd poured in, police vans sped down Varick Street toward Zuccotti Park, where another group of several hundred protesters was trying to retake the space where they had camped out since mid-September. It was cleaner than it had been in some time: after the protesters were thrown out, workers using power washers blasted water over the stone that covers the ground. The cleaned-up park caught the attention of passers-by who had become accustomed to seeing the protesters’ tents and tarps. One young father, pushing his toddler son in a stroller, gave police officers guarding Zuccotti Park a thumbs-up sign. Another man, rushing by in a cream suit, flashed them a huge grin, and a blonde woman stopped in her tracks. “Ooh, good,” she said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Marybeth Carragher, who lives in a building overlooking the park, said she and other residents were apprehensive about the city’s plan to let the protesters return, without their tents. “I think my neighbors and I are very thankful that the mayor acted,” she said, “but we remain completely outraged for having to endure this for nine weeks.” The operation to clear the park had begun near the Brooklyn Bridge , where the police gathered before riding in vans to the block-square park. As they did, dozens of protesters linked arms and shouted “No retreat, no surrender,” “This is our home” and “Barricade!” The mayor’s office sent out a message on Twitter at 1:19 a.m. saying: “Occupants of Zuccotti should temporarily leave and remove tents and tarps. Protesters can return after the park is cleared.” Fliers handed out by the police at the private park on behalf of the park’s owner and the city spelled out the same message. The protesters rallied around an area known as the kitchen, near the middle of the park, and began putting up makeshift barricades with tables and pieces of scrap wood. Over the next two hours, dozens of protesters left the park while a core group of about 100 dug in around the food area. Many locked arms and defied police orders to leave. Some sang “We Shall Overcome” and chanted at the officers to “disobey your orders.” “If they come in, we’re not going anywhere,” said Chris Johnson, 32, who sat with other remaining protesters near the food area. By 3 a.m., dozens of officers in helmets, watched over by Commissioner Kelly, closed in on those who remained. The police pulled them out one by one and handcuffed them. Most were led out without incident. The police move came as organizers put out word on their Web site that they planned to “shut down Wall Street” with a demonstration on Thursday to commemorate the completion of two months of encampment, which has prompted similar demonstrations across the country. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The move also came hours after a small demonstration at City Hall on Monday by opponents of the protest, including local residents and merchants, some of whom urged the mayor to clear out the park. Before the police moved in, they set up a battery of klieg lights and aimed them into the park. A police captain, wearing a helmet, walked down Liberty Street and announced: “The city has determined that the continued occupation of Zuccotti Park poses an increasing health and fire safety hazard.” The captain ordered the protesters to “to immediately remove all private property” and said that if they interfered with the police operation, they would be arrested. Property that was not removed would be taken to a sanitation garage, the police said. About 200 supporters of the protesters arrived early Tuesday after hearing that the park was being cleared. They were prevented from getting within a block of the park by a police barricade. There were a number of arrests after some scuffles between the two sides, but no details were immediately available. After being forced up Broadway by the police, some of the supporters decided to march several blocks to Foley Square. In the weeks since the protest began, Mr. Bloomberg had struggled with how to respond. He repeatedly made clear that he did not support the demonstrators’ arguments or their tactics, but he has also defended their right to protest and in recent days and weeks has sounded increasingly exasperated, especially in the wake of growing complaints from neighbors about how the protest and the city’s response to it has disrupted the neighborhood and hurt local businesses. ||||| Journalists at the overnight raid of Occupy Wall Street's New York encampment were kept at a distance from covering it Tuesday, and several were arrested, handcuffed and hauled onto police buses along with hundreds of protesters. At least half a dozen journalists were among those arrested in and around Zuccotti Park and at other protest sites in downtown Manhattan, according to demonstrators and other journalists who photographed and filmed their peers being taken into custody. Reporter Karen Matthews and photographer Seth Wenig of The Associated Press in New York were taken into custody along with about eight other people after they followed protesters through an opening in a chain-link fence into a park, according to an AP reporter and other witnesses. Matthew Lysiak of the Daily News of New York was also arrested at the park, according to witnesses and the Daily News. Julie Walker, a freelance radio journalist, told the AP she was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge while walking several blocks north of Zuccotti Park after covering the raid that evicted protesters from the two-month encampment. She said an officer grabbed her arm twice and arrested her after she asked for the officer's name and badge number. "I told them I'm a reporter," said Walker, who was working for National Public Radio. "I had my recorder on before he ripped it out of my hand." Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the NYPD's policy of keeping the media back, saying it was intended to keep them out of harm's way. "The police department routinely keeps members of the press off to the side when they're in the middle of a police action. It's to prevent the situation from getting worse and it's to protect the members of the press," the mayor said. But journalists said the multiple arrests, which followed the detention of two journalists Sunday who were handcuffed at a protest in Chapel Hill, N.C., were unusual even for the most chaotic press events. A city official said the police behavior was troubling and called for an investigation. "American foreign correspondents routinely put themselves in harm's way to do their jobs, in some of the most brutal dictatorships in the world. And their NYC colleagues deserve the freedom to make the same choice," Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said. "Zuccotti Park is not Tiananmen Square." Journalists who arrived on the outskirts of Zuccotti Park as riot police evicted protesters said they were kept from standing in one place to watch the events and some, including an AP videojournalist, said they were kept several blocks from the site. Journalists wearing press passes were kept on the sidewalks and away from the park, along with the protesters, several said. The NYPD didn't immediately respond to a request for comment outlining its policies toward journalists, and couldn't immediately say how many journalists were arrested. Deputy NYPD inspector Kim Royster said that 22 people were arrested, including two AP journalists and two other journalists, for entering a private park; protesters clipped a chain link fence to get in, she said. "The space was off limits. It was private property and there was signage that said no trespassing," Royster said. A protester at the site confirmed the police account, saying protesters tore a hole in a chain link fence to get into the park after the Zuccotti encampment was cleared. "They had hardware. There was a chunk of wood keeping it together along with a chain and they used hardware to remove all of it," protester April Kidwell said. David Higginbotham, a freelance video journalist working for TV New Zealand, said he was arrested late Tuesday morning after protesters tried to re-enter Zuccotti Park. Higginbotham said he was standing on top of a phone booth to film and was told to get down. "The police just pulled me off, put me in handcuffs, slapped me against the truck. They took my press ID off me," said Higginbotham, who has worked a decade in New York. "Ten years. Never been arrested. I covered 9/11. I covered DSK (Dominique Strauss-Kahn)." ___ Associated Press writers Verena Dobnik, Samantha Gross and Amy Westfeldt contributed to this report. ||||| By Ben Fractenberg, Julie Shapiro, Sonja Sharp, Carla Zanoni, Della Hasselle and Caroline Jumpertz DNAinfo Staff LOWER MANHATTAN — Hundreds of protesters reentered Zuccotti Park Tuesday evening, determined to reclaim the birthplace of the Occupy Wall Street movement, despite losing a major legal battle with the city. Cheers and cries of victory coud be heard as the protesters trickled back into the park through checkpoints under the watchful eye of the NYPD, which had kicked them out of the park 16 hours earlier. "It feels like our own little part of history," said Lee Debo, 44, of the Bronx. "I still have some worries about what's going to happen coming down the road, but it feels good for the common man to prevail." The protesters had surrounded the park Tuesday afternoon in anticipation of a judge's ruling about whether they would be allowed back into the space where they'd been encamped for nearly two months. The judge said they could return, provided they didn't bring their sleeping bags and tents with them. They were also instructed not to lie down on the benches and ground and were barred from storing personal property there. The rules would be enforced by employees of Brookfield Properties, which owns Zuccotti Park, with the assistance of the NYPD, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told NY1. Those who did not comply with the rules, which were posted on new signs around the park, were subject to arrest, he said. Musical instruments, particularly drums, which had tormented Occupy Wall Street's neighbors for weeks, weren't explicitly banned under park rules, but several protesters said they were told by cops they couldn't bring their instruments in. Nevertheless, more than 1,000 protesters flowed back into the park, and some were planning to spend the night. "I'm staying because it's awesome that we're still here after all the madness," said Jack Amico, 23, an artist from Staten Island. Mark Wood, 52, from upstate New York, was also planning to stay. "We are half back," he said. "[The eviction] backfired on them. I'm concerned about what the government is going to do to us next. Are they going to take the shoes and coats away?" The NYPD evicted the Occupy Wall Street protesters during a 1 a.m. raid that resulted in roughly 200 arrests. The plan had been put together well in advance of the predawn action. Sources said hundreds of cops who were ending their normal shift Monday night were told to head to lower Manhattan and get into riot gear. Several journalists were arrested during the ensuing scrum between cops and protesters, including two from DNAinfo.com. News Editor Patrick Hedlund was arrested early Tuesday morning. A freelance photographer on assignment for DNAinfo.com, Paul Lomax, was arrested covering protests at Duarte Square in SoHo. Both journalists were released later Tuesday. After Zuccotti Park was cleared, Dept. of Sanitation workers moved in and tore down the encampment's tents, tarps and protest signs. Protesters were told they could retrieve their belongings at a Hell's Kitchen Sanitation facility Tuesday afternoon, but they were turned away when they showed up. They were told to come back Wednesday. Sunshine Simpson, 22, of North Carolina, stood outside Zuccotti Park Tuesday afternoon wearing a tie-died T-shirt and was bracing himself for a chilly night. He had lost lost most of his belongings (including his wallet, sleeping bag, journal and books) during the raid. "I don't know what we're going to do, but I'm not going anywhere," said Simpson. "Because of this hardship we are going to grow tremendously." The throng of protesters were informed of the judge's decision by the "human microphone," where one protester's words are repeated and amplified by the group so all can hear. There was an audible groan when the word came that the protesters wouldn't be allowed to take up residence again in Zuccotti Park. "It's garbage," Mia Ragovino, 23, of Brooklyn, said of the decision. "Taking away the right to have tents and sleeping bags is shutting down the movement. The point is not to have a march every day, the point is to be here all the time every hour of every day. "With the winter, how are we supposed to stay here without blankets and tents to protect us?" she said. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he sent in the NYPD after receiving a letter from Brookfield Properties requesting the city help in to clear the park so it could be cleaned. "We have been in constant contact with Brookfield and yesterday they requested that the city assist it in enforcing the no sleeping and no camping rules in the park," Bloomberg said at a morning press conference. "But make no mistake — the final decision to act was mine." Cops roused protesters just after 1 a.m. Tuesday and forced them to vacate the park. They distributed fliers that told the park needed to be cleared because the protesters had become a health and safety hazard. "We lost the infrastructure. We lost the tents," said Liz Dalton, 45, of the Upper East Side, as a light drizzle fell over the protesters. "But, if anything, this forceful disruption has just ignited even more momentum."

– Marchers were clogging the streets around empty Zuccotti Park this afternoon, awaiting a judge's decision on whether they can return after this morning's raid. Some other developments from DNA Info, the New York Times, and the AP: More protests: Minor clashes were reported throughout the day as demonstrators marched through lower Manhattan. At one point, protesters tried to take over a lot at Canal Street, but police cleared them out. Most seemed to head toward the closed Zuccotti Park again. Bloomberg defends raid: “New York City is the city where you can come and express yourself," said the mayor. "What was happening in Zuccotti Park was not that.” Protesters made it "unavailable to anyone else," and health and safety conditions became "intolerable." Protester's response: “This reminds everyone who was occupying exactly why they were occupying.” Journalists arrested: At least a half-dozen journalists were among the 200 or so arrested in the overnight raid and subsequent protests today.

The streetlights in Buenos Aires are considerably dimmer than they are in New York, one of the many things I learned during my family’s six-month stay in Argentina. The front windshield of the rental car, aged and covered in the city’s grime, further obscured what little light came through. When we stopped at the first red light after leaving the hospital, I broke two of my most important marital promises. I started acting like my wife’s doctor, and I lied to her. I had just taken the PET scan, the diagnostic X-ray test, out of its manila envelope. Raising the films up even to the low light overhead was enough for me to see what was happening inside her body. But when we drove on, I said, “I can’t tell; I can’t get my orientation. We have to wait to hear from your oncologist back home.” I’m a lung doctor, not an expert in these films, I feigned. But I had seen in an instant that the cancer had spread. PET scans are like that, radioactive tracers that travel around the body and measure how much work different cells are doing. And cancer cells are very active workers. The scans are like the ground seen from the air at night. When there is no cancer they look like Idaho, all quiet. Really bad news looks like downtown Chicago or Phoenix. It was a warm night for early June, the beginning of the winter in Argentina. People crowded the sidewalks, returning from work, stopping for dinner. All the everyday stuff that fills our lives, neither adding particular meaning or taking it away. We pulled into the garage with the narrow entrance; our tires squeaked on the newly painted floor. Ruth was silent. I was silent. I knew. She didn’t. Actually, she probably did. My wife was dead eight months later. We were back in New York. In our home. During our winter. It didn’t take long for those films to be examined and interpreted by doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the hospital where I’ve been a doctor for more than a decade and where Ruth had been treated when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer, three years earlier, in 2008. Only a few minutes after we parked the car, the phone in our apartment rang. It was the oncologist. Ruth and I sat next to each other on the couch, each with a handset. The oncologist used many words familiar to me—metastasis, emergency radiation, focusing on “quality of life,” not cure. Technical jargon sneaked into my questions as Ruth’s name disappeared from them. “Could she develop cord compression?” I asked. Then her voice. “What’s that?” Ruth’s doctor never made us wait. No gentle approach, no layer of euphemism obscuring the truth, no gingerly poke and quick retreat from the scary thing over there. He filled in answers to unspoken questions. “There’s a lot we can do.” “This is manageable.” “You might have many years.” But then circling back. “It can’t be cured anymore. Our goal now is to slow down the cancer and give you as much quality life as we can.” To paraphrase, the films meant Ruth was going to die. When I relayed that conversation to my friends, many of whom are cancer doctors, they were pretty surprised. What Ruth’s doctor had done was unusual, or maybe even inappropriate, they told me—delivering bad news, especially over the phone, before it needed to be conveyed. When I asked them when the right time was to tell someone that death is unavoidable, they most often told me that the moment occurs after several successive attempts at stopping the cancer have failed. Only then, when the patient is cornered by cancer, that’s the time. Doctors claim that patients aren’t ready for the bad news earlier, when they are still digesting their shocking predicament: that their lives have changed irretrievably; that their priorities, their future aspirations, their promises to their loved ones—both the explicit and, more important, the implicit ones—would go unfulfilled. They cite their own hesitations too. Doctors want to be purveyors of hope rather than despair, a motive sometimes attributed to compassion, sometimes to a starker concern that patients will find a new, more optimistic second opinion. I’m a fan of bluntness, but I know it can be detrimental when a patient isn’t ready and can cause confusion when other doctors are shimmering with lighter scenarios. Ruth’s doctor may have done the right thing despite what my friends were telling me. There’s a famous report from the Institute of Medicine showing that nearly all adults say they want doctors to share what they know, even if the news is bad. Ruth had expressed this sentiment to me many times, as in “I don’t want my doctor knowing something about me that I don’t.” ||||| The streetlights in Buenos Aires are considerably dimmer than they are in New York, one of the many things I learned during my family’s six-month stay in Argentina. The front windshield of the rental car, aged and covered in the city’s grime, further obscured what little light came through. When we stopped at the first red light after leaving the hospital, I broke two of my most important marital promises. I started acting like my wife’s doctor, and I lied to her. I had just taken the PET scan, the diagnostic X-ray test, out of its manila envelope. Raising the films up even to the low light overhead was enough for me to see what was happening inside her body. But when we drove on, I said, “I can’t tell; I can’t get my orientation. We have to wait to hear from your oncologist back home.” I’m a lung doctor, not an expert in these films, I feigned. But I had seen in an instant that the cancer had spread. PET scans are like that, radioactive tracers that travel around the body and measure how much work different cells are doing. And cancer cells are very active workers. The scans are like the ground seen from the air at night. When there is no cancer they look like Idaho, all quiet. Really bad news looks like downtown Chicago or Phoenix. It was a warm night for early June, the beginning of the winter in Argentina. People crowded the sidewalks, returning from work, stopping for dinner. All the everyday stuff that fills our lives, neither adding particular meaning or taking it away. We pulled into the garage with the narrow entrance; our tires squeaked on the newly painted floor. Ruth was silent. I was silent. I knew. She didn’t. Actually, she probably did. My wife was dead eight months later. We were back in New York. In our home. During our winter. It didn’t take long for those films to be examined and interpreted by doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the hospital where I’ve been a doctor for more than a decade and where Ruth had been treated when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer, three years earlier, in 2008. Only a few minutes after we parked the car, the phone in our apartment rang. It was the oncologist. Ruth and I sat next to each other on the couch, each with a handset. The oncologist used many words familiar to me—metastasis, emergency radiation, focusing on “quality of life,” not cure. Technical jargon sneaked into my questions as Ruth’s name disappeared from them. “Could she develop cord compression?” I asked. Then her voice. “What’s that?” Ruth’s doctor never made us wait. No gentle approach, no layer of euphemism obscuring the truth, no gingerly poke and quick retreat from the scary thing over there. He filled in answers to unspoken questions. “There’s a lot we can do.” “This is manageable.” “You might have many years.” But then circling back. “It can’t be cured anymore. Our goal now is to slow down the cancer and give you as much quality life as we can.” To paraphrase, the films meant Ruth was going to die. When I relayed that conversation to my friends, many of whom are cancer doctors, they were pretty surprised. What Ruth’s doctor had done was unusual, or maybe even inappropriate, they told me—delivering bad news, especially over the phone, before it needed to be conveyed. When I asked them when the right time was to tell someone that death is unavoidable, they most often told me that the moment occurs after several successive attempts at stopping the cancer have failed. Only then, when the patient is cornered by cancer, that’s the time. Doctors claim that patients aren’t ready for the bad news earlier, when they are still digesting their shocking predicament: that their lives have changed irretrievably; that their priorities, their future aspirations, their promises to their loved ones—both the explicit and, more important, the implicit ones—would go unfulfilled. They cite their own hesitations too. Doctors want to be purveyors of hope rather than despair, a motive sometimes attributed to compassion, sometimes to a starker concern that patients will find a new, more optimistic second opinion. I’m a fan of bluntness, but I know it can be detrimental when a patient isn’t ready and can cause confusion when other doctors are shimmering with lighter scenarios. Ruth’s doctor may have done the right thing despite what my friends were telling me. There’s a famous report from the Institute of Medicine showing that nearly all adults say they want doctors to share what they know, even if the news is bad. Ruth had expressed this sentiment to me many times, as in “I don’t want my doctor knowing something about me that I don’t.”

– Peter Bach writes in New York magazine about the moment he looked at his wife's X-ray results while stopped at a red light, with her sitting next to him. In that instant, "I broke two of my most important marital promises," he writes. "I started acting like my wife’s doctor, and I lied to her." He did the latter because he knew the bad news immediately—her breast cancer had spread. He knew what was in store for her, even if she wouldn't for a little while longer, until her oncologist broke the news. Bach's essay recounts in eloquent fashion the next eight months leading up to Ruth's death—the increasingly desperate treatments, the black humor, the moment when his wife had to tell their young son that the doctors couldn't make her better, his struggles to balance his roles as husband and doctor. He concludes with the observation that Hollywood gets grief wrong. It's not, for instance, the big events like anniversaries that hit you. "It’s in the grocery aisle passing the romaine lettuce and recalling how your spouse learned to make Caesar salad, with garlic-soaked croutons, because it was the only salad you’d agree to eat. ... It’s not sobbing, collapsing, moaning grief. It’s phantom-limb pain. It aches, it throbs, there’s nothing there, and yet you never want it to go away." The full essay is well worth the read.

Robin Thicke Blurred Sonogram Lines April's Pregnant with a Girl!!! Robin Thicke's Girlfriend April Love Geary Pregnant with Girl Exclusive Details Robin Thicke is about to be a father again, with a girlfriend who is barely able to legally drink. 22-year-old April Love Geary is 3 months pregnant with a girl ... the baby is due March 1. 40-year-old Robin has been dating April for 3 years ... shortly after his wife, Paula Patton, filed for divorce. Robin and Paula are still not divorced, and they have had an on-and-off custody war over their 7-year-old son, Julian. By the way, we're told Robin and April told Julian this week and he's "super excited for a little sister." March 1 would have been Alan Thicke's 70th birthday. ||||| Robin Thicke and April Love Geary are expecting! The model announced her pregnancy on Instagram Thursday, writing: “Robin and I are very excited to share with you all that we’re having a baby! The due date is March 1st, [Robin’s late father] Alan’s birthday!” In addition Geary, 22, shared a photo of her sonogram, which was dated Aug. 14. TMZ reports that the baby is a girl. Thicke, 40, is already dad to 7-year-old Julian Fuego, his son with ex-wife Paula Patton. The parents-to-be started dating in the months following his separation from the actress in February 2014. Patton filed for divorce in October 2014 and in March 2015, their divorce was finalized. Earlier this year, the former couple were embroiled in a lengthy custody dispute, which now appears to be resolved. Dave M. Benett/amfAR15/WireImage Thicke and Geary made their first public appearance together at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2015 after dating for over a year. On Wednesday, Geary shared a bikini photo and first look at her baby bump during her vacation in Hawaii. Both Thicke and Geary frequently post about their romance on social media and she has previously joked about the couple’s 18-year-age gap in April. Put your celeb and pop culture knowledge to the test and download PEOPLE and Zynga’s Crosswords with Friends!

– Robin Thicke is expecting his second child, his first baby with girlfriend April Geary. Geary announced the pregnancy with an ultrasound photo on Instagram, noting that the little one is due March 1—the birth date of Thicke's late father, Alan. Thicke, 40, has a 7-year-old son with ex-wife Paula Patton. The singer started dating Geary, 22, soon after his 2014 split with Patton, People reports. According to TMZ, their baby is a girl.

Image copyright Jocelyn Alexander Image caption Panke, the oldest known African baobab, in 1997. The tree has since died. A tree regarded as the icon of the African savannah is dying in mysterious circumstances. International scientists have discovered that most of the oldest and largest African baobab trees have died over the past 12 years. They suspect the demise may be linked to climate change, although they have no direct evidence of this. The tree can grow to an enormous size, and may live hundreds if not thousands of years. The researchers, from universities in South Africa, Romania and the US, say the loss of the trees is "an event of an unprecedented magnitude". Revealing the findings in the journal Nature Plants, they say the deaths were not caused by an epidemic. "We suspect that the demise of monumental baobabs may be associated at least in part with significant modifications of climate conditions that affect southern Africa in particular," said the team, led by Dr Adrian Patrut of Babes-Bolyai University in Romania. "However, further research is necessary to support or refute this supposition." 'Shocking and very sad' The researchers have been visiting ancient trees across southern Africa since 2005, using radio carbon dating to investigate their structure and age. Unexpectedly, they found that eight of the 13 oldest and five of the six largest baobabs had either completely died or had their oldest parts collapse. Baobab trees have many stems and trunks, often of different ages. In some cases all the stems died suddenly. "We suspect this is associated with increased temperature and drought," Dr Patrut told BBC News. "It's shocking and very sad to see them dying." The trees that have died or are dying are found in Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia. They are all between 1,000 and more than 2,500 years old. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Baobabs are trees recognisable by their distinctive swollen stems Also known as "dead-rat" trees, after the shape of their fruit, baobab trees have stout, branchless trunks. They store large quantities of water inside their trunks to endure the harsh conditions of the arid areas in which they live. The trees also support wildlife; they are important nesting sites for birds. Follow Helen on Twitter. ||||| In South Africa’s Limpopo province, a baobab tree once grew so large and stood so strong that its human neighbors decided to do the obvious: They built a pub inside the living tree’s thousand-year-old hollow trunk, which measured more than 150 feet around and enclosed two interconnected cavities. For two decades, the Sunland baobab attracted tourists wanting to knock back a pint in a tree. But in August 2016, one of the monster stems forming the interior wall cracked and collapsed. Eight months later, another huge chunk toppled over, and now, five of the giant Sunland stems have collapsed and died, leaving only half of the tree standing. Though the Sunland tree’s demise could sound like a consequence of human visitation, it’s part of an alarming trend: A startlingly high percentage of the oldest, largest baobabs in Africa have died within the last 12 years, scientists report today in the journal Nature Plants. Thousands of Years Ago, This Was a Forest. See What Remains. Many equate the English moors with open grassland and bogs. However, they were not always this way. Once temperate rainforests, the trees were felled and fires swept through the land. Filmmaker Burnham Arlidge envisions a future where the forests might return, teeming with life. The Short Film Showcase spotlights exceptional short videos created by filmmakers from around the world and selected by National Geographic editors. The filmmakers created the content presented, and the opinions expressed are their own, not those of National Geographic Partners. That means the Sunland tree’s fate could be a harbinger of a future without these whimsical, beloved trees. The culprit behind their deaths is still unknown, though scientists suspect that changing climate is to blame. (By contrast, the oldest tree in Europe is now having a growth spurt.) “It is very surprising to visit monumental baobabs, with ages greater than a thousand to two thousand years, which seem to be in a good state of health, and to find them after several years fallen to the ground and dead,” says study coauthor Adrian Patrut of Romania’s Babes-Bolyai University. “Statistically, it is practically impossible that such a high number of large old baobabs die in such a short time frame due to natural causes.” Falling Forests Looking like creatures from a Dr. Seuss illustration, baobabs are characterized by their thick trunks and sparse branches, which sometimes make the trees appear as though they’ve been planted upside-down. Because of the way they grow—by adding stems in a ring-shaped structure—baobabs are famous for having hollow interiors that can sometimes be big enough to entertain (or imprison) people inside. (Meet the people replanting trees by hand in Canada.) The oldest seed-producing trees in the world, the nine species of trees in the Adansonia genus have earned themselves a cornucopia of colloquial names and roles in folklore and legend, and they are valuable players in dry deciduous forests, deserts, and savannas from Africa to Arabia to Australia. Patrut began studying baobabs in the early 2000s, and he has spent much of the last 15 years identifying more than 60 of the largest, oldest specimens and using radiocarbon dating to determine the trees’ ages. Unlike trees such as redwoods and oaks, baobabs can’t simply be aged by counting their growth rings; as the trees grow, their rings fade or are erased, and their giant interior cavities make the remaining traces difficult to count. Pull Quote I think we take for granted that these giant trees have no problem. Henry Ndangalasi, University of Dar Es Salaam Patrut has largely focused on the African baobab, Adansonia digitata, scattered mostly throughout continental Africa and the surrounding islands. The majority of the largest and oldest African baobabs grow in southern Africa, he says. But since 2005, eight of the 13 oldest trees and five of the six largest have either suffered catastrophic partial collapses or completely fallen down and died. These include well-known trees that have become famous for their size or natural architecture like the Sunland baobab, as well as the sacred Panke baobab, a giant tree in Namibia called Grootboom , and Botswana’s Chapman baobab. Though it’s a small data set, the trend is alarming. “We felt as if we were the ones outliving the baobabs, instead of them outliving many generations of humans,” Patrut says. National Geographic explorer Henry Ndangalasi, a botanist at the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, agrees that the discovery is eye-opening: “I think we take for granted that these giant trees have no problem,” he says. Unsettling Trend Patrut and colleagues do not think the trees’ deaths are the work of disease, and instead suggest the wave of mortality may be the result of a hotter, drier climate. In addition to these superlative trees, the team notes that other mature baobabs are dying at an accelerated rate, particularly in areas where the African climate is warming most rapidly. Though more work needs to be done to definitively connect the dots between climate change and baobab mortality, a different study, published in Biological Conservation, has already concluded that changing climates will harm two of the three endangered baobab species in Madagascar. There, increasing temperatures and more extreme variations in seasonal rainfall will restrict the ranges in which these trees can grow—and the Malagasy government has not yet set aside protected areas that could be suitable in the future. A similar, climate-related phenomenon is claiming tropical trees in the Costa Rican cloud forest, which appear to be succumbing to rising temperatures, notes National Geographic explorer Tarin Toledo Aceves, a forest ecologist at Mexico’s Instituto de Ecología A.C. “The findings of the study with baobabs is not surprising, unfortunately,” she says. “There is an unexpected high mortality in the oldest baobabs in the south of Africa, but we do not know why.” Toledo Aceves also points out that the number of studied baobabs is low and says it’s possible—although unlikely—that the findings are just reflecting a natural pattern of mortality in older individuals. “These trees can live for more than two thousand years, and while the researchers are following exactly the older individuals, I think it is remarkable that more than 70 percent of them died in such a short period of time,” she says. In other words, too many trees are dying too rapidly for the trend to be natural. ||||| Why Are Some of Africa's Biggest Baobab Trees Dying Off? Enlarge this image toggle caption Panoramic Images/Getty Images Panoramic Images/Getty Images Baobab trees — ancient, otherworldly behemoths with bulbous trunks that splinter into a constellation of spindly branches — are some of Africa's most iconic living things. Until late last year, the Platland tree in South Africa, also known as Sunland, was their queen. It was the continent's biggest baobab, at 111 ft. around, 62 ft. high and more than 1,000 years old. It had a cavernous central hollow that hosted a fully functional cocktail bar with seating for 15 people. Beginning in Spring 2016, the tree began to split apart. By November 2017, it had crumbled completely. The bar's owners blamed rot caused by heavy rain and threw a barbeque to honor its passing. But if the Platland's demise was sudden and tragic, it wasn't unique: A new survey of baobab trees across several countries in southern Africa found that most of the two dozen oldest and biggest trees have died or significantly deteriorated in the last decade. Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy Adrian Patrut Courtesy Adrian Patrut Scientists are wondering what's behind the mysterious die-off — and are looking at climate change as a likely culprit. "Such a disastrous decline is very unexpected," says Adrian Patrut, a chemist at Romania's Babeș-Bolyai University who organized the survey, published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Plants. "It's a strange feeling, because these are trees which may live for 2,000 years or more, and we see that they're dying one after another during our lifetime. It's statistically very unlikely." Patrut began to notice the deaths during a long-term effort to use radiocarbon dating to gauge the ages of major baobabs. Patrut's survey began in 2005 and eventually covered more than 60 trees. Of these, a group of around two dozen stood out for their exceptional size and, or, age. This included the Platland baobab and a few trees that appeared, by Patrut's calculations, to be more than 2,000 years old. Baobabs are notoriously tricky to date because their strange shape and growth patterns can complicate traditional tree-ring analysis — and Patrut's method drew some controversy from other baobab ecologists. But his finding about the deaths came as no surprise: Anecdotal evidence of a die-off was already spreading in the baobab research community. Patrut says more research is needed to understand the cause of the die-off, but he believes the most likely explanation is climate change. "These trees are under pressure by temperature increases and drought," he says. Scientists are growing increasingly worried about the status of baobab health across Africa, according to Carla Staver, an expert on savannah ecology at Yale University. The survey "is consistent with a lot of concern in the conservation community in southern Africa about [baobabs'] long-term persistence," she says in an email. "Climate change certainly seems like a possible (or likely) contributor." Southern Africa — including countries like Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, where the trees catalogued by Patrut were found — is already warming faster than the global average. Scientists predict that over the next few decades it will experience some of the continent's most intense increases in temperature and decreases in rainfall. Baobabs, especially old ones, can be more vulnerable to drought than their grizzled appearance might suggest, says David Baum, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But more evidence is needed, he says, to strengthen the link between climate change and the baobab deaths. Other factors, including human interference with individual trees (installing a cocktail bar, for example), could also be responsible. In any case, Baum said in an email, "it is very likely that human actions, whether by changing the local landscape or altering global climate, have contributed to the death of so many large baobabs." Baobabs have deep cultural significance for many communities across southern Africa. A common myth among the indigenous people living near southern Africa's Zambezi river holds that the earliest baobabs were vain about their massive size, and as punishment were ripped from the ground by the gods and replanted upside down, with their roots in the air. They are often the site of shrines and meeting places, and support self-contained ecosystems of mammals, birds, reptiles and insects. Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy Adrian Patrut Courtesy Adrian Patrut The trees could also be an underappreciated solution to economic development and food security in rural areas, according to research from the Kenya-based World Agroforestry Center. The fruit is nutritious, with up to 10 times the vitamin C of an orange — and there's a booming global market for products made from the leaves and seeds, including cosmetics and herbal medicine. The oldest tree in Patrut's survey was one in Zimbabwe called Panke, which died in 2011. According to Patrut, it was around 2,500 years old — meaning that it sprouted a few years after the founding of the Roman Republic. But baobab dating is a tricky, controversial process. Baum says that many baobab specialists are dubious of Patrut's tree dating method, which could underestimate the age of a tree by up to 1,000 years. The problem is the tree's so-called "architecture." Baobab bark is a favorite snack of elephants and is susceptible to rot. Because of these pressures, from a young age baobabs become pockmarked with "scars." The common theory, Baum said, is that as the tree slowly grows around these scars, they can become large hollows. In a typical tree ring, it's easy to trace a straight line from the oldest part at the center to the youngest part at the edge. But on a baobab, new wood grows both on the outside and into the hollows, meaning that a straight line from the center of the tree can pass both forward and backward in time — or even skip decades altogether if they rotted out or were eaten. That makes it very hard to know which part of the tree is the oldest, or even to know if the oldest parts still exist. But according to Patrut, the big central hollows were never filled with wood, and are instead the result of independent trunks fusing over time with a gap in the middle — "the only reasonable explanation," he says. Diane Mayne, a baobab ecologist who worked with Patrut in South Africa, called his theory a "fantasy" that lacks "a single reference on wood, anatomy, allometry or biomechanics or the hollowing process — despite recent research in these fields." A spokesperson for Nature Plants says the paper followed the journal's normal review process, which involves peer review by two or three outside experts. The architectural debate doesn't change the finding that so many trees are dying off. But it matters because correctly identifying the oldest part of a tree is a prerequisite for knowing its age. And a better understanding of the trees' ages may help conservationists know which baobabs may be the next to go — and to offer a chance to support and protect them before it's too late. "The decline and death of so many large baobabs in recent years is so tragic," Baum says. "It is heartbreaking that any should die — but even worse that we might be seeing the beginning of the end of all the giant baobabs on the planet." Tim McDonnell is a journalist covering the environment, conflict and related issues in sub-Saharan Africa. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

– Researchers taking a survey of some of the world's oldest and funkiest trees have bad news to report: Africa's legendary baobabs are dying. The statistic getting the most attention out of the new study in Nature Plants is that eight of the continent's 13 oldest baobabs have died since 2005 and five of the six largest have suffered significant collapses. The scientists can't say for sure what's going on, but they suspect that climate change—as in, higher temperatures and drought—is the primary culprit in the deaths throughout Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, and Zambia, reports the BBC. Baobabs grow in unusual ways, often with hollows, making it difficult to gauge precise ages, but the research team says the trees in the survey range in age from 1,000 to 2,500 years, reports NPR. “It is very surprising to visit monumental baobabs, with ages greater than a thousand to two thousand years, which seem to be in a good state of health, and to find them after several years fallen to the ground and dead,” study co-author Adrian Patrut of Babes-Bolyai University in Romania tells National Geographic. And it's no fluke, he adds. "Statistically, it is practically impossible that such a high number of large old baobabs die in such a short time frame due to natural causes." The stories note baobabs' iconic place in African history. In South Africa, one legendary baobab more than 1,000 years old grew to 111 feet and had a hollow so large that it functioned as a pub for two decades. The tree started to split in 2016 and collapsed completely the following year. (The Nazis' attempt to cloak its ship affected Norway's trees.)

China doctor tried for trafficking babies Zhang Shuxia admitted to selling seven babies to traffickers, state media said Continue reading the main story Related Stories A Chinese obstetrician is on trial for stealing newborn babies and selling them to child traffickers, a court and state media report. Zhang Shuxia was accused of selling seven babies. She told the parents their infants were sick, and convinced them to give them up, reports said. Ms Zhang admitted the charges in a court in Fuping, Shaanxi province. The case emerged after two parents went to the police, suspecting their child had been abducted. Ms Zhang sold seven babies to child traffickers between November 2011 and July 2013, including a pair of twins, an indictment posted on Weinan Intermediate People's Court's verified microblog said. Six of the babies were rescued, but one baby girl died. Ms Zhang worked in Shaanxi's Fuping Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital. In the most recent case, a baby born on 16 July was trafficked after Ms Zhang told his parents the boy had a serious congenital disease, and convinced them to give up the child. Ms Zhang sold the baby to two other suspects, who sold the boy to a buyer in Henan province. The parents reported the case to police on 20 July after they suspected that their baby had been trafficked. The baby was found and returned to his parents in early August. Ms Zhang and several other suspects were arrested. Ms Zhang's defence lawyer said that the parents had voluntarily given up their babies, and that she had received several awards in her work, the court said. Under China's strict population control policies, most couples can only have one child, and there is a strong preference for healthy baby boys. Earlier this month, China's top legislature formally adopted a resolution easing the country's one-child policy, allowing couples to have two children if either parent is an only child. ||||| A doctor confessed to stealing seven newborns and selling them for cash, exposing an underground human trafficking ring in China. Zhang Shuxia stood trial in Weinan Intermediate People's Court in northwest Shaanxi province on Monday. Zuma Press According to the official Xinhua News Agency, 55-year-old Zhang Shuxia stood in front of a court in central China on Monday and pleaded guilty to selling seven babies to traffickers between November 2011 and July 2013. While working as an obstetrician at the Fuping County Maternal and Child Hospital in central Shaanxi province, Ms. Zhang persuaded couples to give up their newborns by telling them they had complex health problems, Xinhua said. Six of the seven children Ms. Zhang abducted have been returned to their parents, Xinhua said, while one child who was sold for 1,000 yuan, or roughly $165, died.

– A Chinese doctor has admitted in court that she stole babies from the hospital where she worked and sold them to human traffickers, state media and a court said. Zhang Shuxia, a locally respected and soon-to-retire obstetrician, told parents their newborns had congenital problems and persuaded them to "sign and give the babies up," according to online postings from the court. The indictment said that from November 2011 to July 2013, she sold seven babies, including one set of twins, per the BBC, to middlemen who sold the babies to "couples" in central and eastern China. Six of the babies were rescued, but one that was trafficked in April later died. Zhang was found out when a mother suspected her baby had been abducted and reported her to police in July. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that Zhang had taken the baby home with her and sold him to a man in a neighboring province for $3,600 the same night. He in turn resold the baby to a villager in central China for $9,900. The BBC reports the child was reunited with his family in August. Several other suspects have been detained in at least four provinces, Xinhua said. The Wall Street Journal reports, by way of local media, that Zhang faces the death penalty.

Sen. John McCain said on Sunday he's praying House Republicans will take up immigration reform following the Senate's passage of a bill last month. "We hope and pray that our Republican colleagues will take up the issue, and we can join together, Republicans and Democrats," Arizona Republican said on CBS's "Face the Nation." Senate Republicans, he said, aren't trying to control how the House Republicans act. "We are not trying to dictate what the House of Representatives should do, and I believe that if they can come up with a bill we would be more than eager to negotiate with them. A failure to act is de facto amnesty for 11 million people living in the shadows," McCain said. "Wherever you are on that issue, there's agreement on that," he added. "So shouldn't we sit down together and solve this issue -- not only for the good of if republican party, but for the good of the nation?" Read more about: John McCain, Immigration ||||| The ouster of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was a military coup and is an example of failed American leadership, Sen. John McCain said Sunday. "It was a coup, and it was the second time in two-and-a-half years that we have seen the military step in. It's a strong indicator of the lack of American leadership and influence since we've urged the military not to do that," the Arizona Republican said on CBS's "Face The Nation." McCain reiterated that he believes the U.S. should suspend aid to Egypt. U.S. law restricts America from giving aid to a country that has a military coup where there was a democratic election. "Reluctantly, I believe that we have to suspend aid until such time as there is a new constitution and a free and fair election. We can't -- Morsi was a terrible president," McCain said. "Their economy is in terrible shape thanks to their policies but the fact is the United States should not be supporting this coup and it's a tough call." "The place is descending into chaos but so is the entire Middle East because of the total vacuum and lack of American leadership," McCain added. "Whether it be the massacres in Syria; Lebanon is beset by sectarian violence; Jordan is about to collapse under the weight of refugees; Iraq is unraveling; Afghanistan -- we're having grave problems organizing a follow on force in Afghanistan." "America has not led and, America is not leading. And when America doesn't lead, bad things happen and other people do lead and Egypt is just one segment of a failure of American leadership over the last five years and we need to start being leaders rather than bystanders," McCain said. Read more about: John McCain, Egypt ||||| Egypt's ambassador to the U.S. says Egypt didn't have a military coup, despite the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi. "Egypt has not undergone a military coup, and it was certainly not run by the military. Today, there is an interim president in place," Mohamed Tawfik said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "This is not a coup?" ABC's Jonathan Karl asked. "Absolutely not," said Tawfik, who was appointed by Morsi. "The military -- listen, what happened was, you had over 15 million people in the street. And President Morsi, he could have said, 'Listen, my people, I listen, I hear you.' But instead of that, he whipped up religious fervor among his supporters. And there was violence in the air. After more than 20 people had been killed, leaders from Egyptian parties, from Egyptian religious establishments, from the military, they came together, they said, 'We have to stop this, otherwise violence will spiral out of control.'" The United States is restricted by law against providing aid to a country that has been overthrown by a military coup in a country where there was a democratic election. Read more about: Egypt, Arab Spring, Mohammed Morsi ||||| Former President George W. Bush says President Barack Obama has acted through his counterterrorism policies in the way Obama believes is best to protect the country. "Your former spokesperson said when you look at what President Obama's done on counterterrorism, this is basically the fourth Bush term," ABC's Jonathan Karl told Bush in an interviewed aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "Are you surprised that President Obama's kept in place so many of your counterterrorism programs, including those he criticized-- as a candidate?" Bush responded: "I think-- I think the president got into the Oval Office and realized the dangers to the United States, and he's acted in a way that he thinks is necessary to protect the country. Protecting the country is the most important job of the presidency." Last month, amid the controversy surrounding the NSA leaks, former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer told POLITICO that Obama was "carrying out Bush's fourth term." “Drone strikes. Wiretaps. Gitmo. Renditions. Military commissions. Obama is carrying out Bush’s fourth term, yet he attacked Bush for violating the Constitution,” Fleischer told POLITICO at the time. Read more about: Barack Obama, George W Bush, NSA ||||| Former President George W. Bush says the immigration reform bill has a chance to pass. "Sometimes, it takes time for some of these complex issues to evolve. And it looks like immigration, you know, has a chance to pass," he said in an interview aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "The reason to pass immigration reform is not to bolster a Republican Party -- it's to fix a system that's broken. Good policy yields good politics as far as I'm concerned." Last month. the Senate passed an immigration bill, but it's unclear what will happen to the legislation in the House. "It's very important to fix a broken system, to treat people with respect and have confidence in our capacity to assimilate people," Bush said. "It's a very difficult bill to pass because there's a lotta moving parts. And the legislative process is-- can be ugly. But it looks like they're making some progress." Read more about: Immigration, George W. Bush, Bush Administration

– George W. Bush thinks Congress might actually be chugging toward doing something about a holdover from his days in office: immigration. "Sometimes, it takes time for some of these complex issues to evolve. And it looks like immigration, you know, has a chance to pass," he said today on This Week, per Politico. "The reason to pass immigration reform is not to bolster a Republican Party—it's to fix a system that's broken. Good policy yields good politics as far as I'm concerned." Bush's longtime nemesis John McCain added his voice to the chorus, saying, "We hope and pray that our Republican colleagues will take up the issue, and we can join together, Republicans and Democrats." Elsewhere on the Sunday dial, as per Politico: Bush on whether Obama's second term is 'Bush's fourth term': "I think the president got into the Oval Office and realized the dangers to the United States, and he's acted in a way that he thinks is necessary to protect the country. Protecting the country is the most important job of the presidency." McCain on Egypt: "It was a coup, and it was the second time in two and a half years that we have seen the military step in. It's a strong indicator of the lack of American leadership and influence since we've urged the military not to do that. Reluctantly, I believe that we have to suspend aid until such time as there is a new constitution and a free and fair election. Morsi was a terrible president ... but the fact is the United States should not be supporting this coup and it's a tough call." Egypt's ambassador to the US Mohamed Tawfik: "Egypt has not undergone a military coup, and it was certainly not run by the military. Today, there is an interim president in place." President Morsi "whipped up religious fervor among his supporters. And there was violence in the air. Leaders from Egyptian parties, from Egyptian religious establishments, from the military, they came together, they said, 'We have to stop this, otherwise violence will spiral out of control.'"

Notice You must log in to continue. ||||| While President Donald Trump backtracked on Friday to end a controversial five week partial government shutdown, Congressional leaders kick started work on a border security funding agreement, even as the White House threatened to use a national emergency declaration if no border wall money is approved by a February 15 funding deadline. “We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier,” the President said Friday in remarks from the White House Rose Garden, as he announced the deal to fund the government for three weeks. “If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on February 15th, again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency,” the President added. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders emphasized that option in a tweet posted later on Friday night, sending a clear signal that if House-Senate negotiators don’t give the President money for a border wall, then he will likely act to declare a national emergency – and try to move money around in the federal budget to fund the wall unilaterally. In 21 days President @realDonaldTrump is moving forward building the wall with or without the Democrats. The only outstanding question is whether the Democrats want something or nothing https://t.co/dMaDfBOIuT — Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) January 26, 2019 Some more conservative GOP voices in the Congress seemed ready to sign on to that option. “If Democrats refuse to work with us to tackle this national priority over the next few weeks, President Trump will do what is necessary to protect America,” said Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), a key Senate ally of the President. “Compromise is important, but not required, to secure our border and protect American families,” added Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), maybe the closest Trump ally in the House. The decision by Mr. Trump to allow the government to be funded capped five weeks of turmoil for 800,000 federal workers, as they missed a second paycheck on Friday, and will likely have to wait well into next week to receive their back pay. After watching some of the news coverage about his latest moves, President Trump did not seem pleased. “This in no way was a concession,” the President tweeted Friday night, even as he did what Democrats wanted. I wish people would read or listen to my words on the Border Wall. This was in no way a concession. It was taking care of millions of people who were getting badly hurt by the Shutdown with the understanding that in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2019 The statements of the President and the White House presented negotiators with an ultimatum of sorts, even before they began their work on border security funding. “The President has agreed to our request to open the government and then debate border security,” said Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, as President Trump agreed to do exactly what Democrats had been calling for as a way to end a 35 day partial government shutdown. “I hope over the next three weeks we can bridge our differences with a common goal to protect our country and end the humanitarian crisis, while keeping government open,” said Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA), one of the House GOP negotiators. Many Democrats alternated between mocking Mr. Trump and condemning his actions, arguing he had needlessly put thousands of federal workers through financial stress and strain with the shutdown – only to finally back off his demand that the government would not be funded until Congress approved money for his border wall. 35 days shut down, 2 paychecks missed for 800,000 federal employees, and countless other hardships and national security threats… and the President has just agreed to an offer he could have accepted back in December. — Rep. Brendan Boyle (@CongBoyle) January 25, 2019 “No one should applaud his recent actions – he created the crisis,” said Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA). “Americans don’t care whether or not you call your speech a concession,” said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA). “No President should ever threaten to hurt, or actually hurt, Americans as a negotiating tactic.” “Holding federal employees’ livelihoods hostage in order to get Congress to meet an unreasonable border policy demand was always a bad idea,” said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN). More moderate Republicans also said the shutdown should not have been an option for the President. “Ultimately, this shutdown never should have happened,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). ||||| Careers Tulsa Public Schools is on a journey to be the destination for excellence in teaching and learning, and we invite you to join us! We have positions available throughout the district: from our classrooms, to our transportation hubs, to our district office. If you are ready to make a difference for teachers, children, and families, we have a place for you at Tulsa Public Schools! ||||| 0 Tulsa teacher turns to panhandling to raise money for classroom supplies TULSA, Okla. - Quick facts: Teresa Danks is a Tulsa teacher. She says she spends a large portion of her paycheck on classroom supplies. Danks went to a local intersection to ask for money in order to pay for supplies Wednesday. Donate to Danks' cause HERE Danks's story is getting national attention, she told FOX23 she's getting a huge outpouring of support from the community A Tulsa teacher’s bold statement is now making the rounds nationally after her story aired on FOX23. Danks says the outpour from the community both yesterday and since her story aired has been incredible. So far, she’s received about 100 emails from people in the community who are mailing supplies to her classroom. A business has even given Danks a $250 gift card for supplies. A Tulsa teacher is making a bold statement about the state of education as she pleads for money at a local intersection in order to pay for classroom supplies. Teresa Danks is a third grade teacher in the Tulsa Public Schools systems. SEE MORE: Educators say Oklahoma budget doesn't solve teachers' problems As a result of serious education budget cuts, Danks says she is now spending between $2,000 and $3,000 of her $35,000 salary on supplies for her students. Oklahoma ranks nearly last in teacher pay when compared to other states across the U.S. “It all adds up week after week and month after month,” Danks said. “So, it’s a huge need.” SEE MORE: FOX23 Investigates Oklahoma teacher pay Danks says she decided to ask the public for help after she learned lawmakers weren’t going to help her. In six minutes Tuesday, the veteran teacher made $55 standing on the street corner near 193rd East Avenue and I-44, more than double what she makes per hour in the classroom. Danks says she was overwhelmed by the response, and she became emotional talking about it. She says her unusual fundraising style not just about the money, but she says she is setting out to bring awareness to the budget cut crisis and how it affects Oklahoma’s education system. Danks says she hopes that other teachers will join her in the effort. SEE MORE: Area teachers reveal second jobs She urges people to donate to their local schools, because she believes other teachers are likely in similar situations. If you would like to contact Danks, you can email her here. She released a list of needed supplies Wednesday: "Local Friends, "With more budget cuts to our schools, I am in need of some help. If you already have, would be willing to save up for me, donate or sell cheaply for the 2017-18 school year it would be greatly appreciated. Just comment if you are able to help. Thanks so much." Any and all things crafty: Egg cartons Paper towel/toilet paper rolls Yarn Old, leftover party paper plates Straws Pipe cleaners Broken costume jewelry Beads Craft wire Silk flowers Plastic water bottles Gallon size plastic jugs Sewing needles/Thread Buttons Fabric pieces Cotton balls/Pom Poms Safety pins Stencils (letters & pictures) Stamp pads Large felt board Sandwich bags Other items: Treasure box single wrap candy Single electric hot burner Board games and card games for ages 6+ Big Joe black bean bag chair Yoga balls Protractors Microscope Small dorm size refrigerator Small microwave Trending Now on FOX23.com Golden retriever gives birth to rare, green puppy © 2018 Cox Media Group. ||||| Sign in using you account with: {* loginWidget *} Sign in using your koki profile Welcome back. Please sign in Why are we asking this? By submitting your registration information, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Already have an account? We have sent a confirmation email to {* data_emailAddress *}. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Thank you for registering! Thank you for registering! We look forward to seeing you on [website] frequently. Visit us and sign in to update your profile, receive the latest news and keep up to date with mobile alerts. Click here to return to the page you were visiting.

– She probably could've tried GoFundMe, but Teresa Danks came up with a different plan for raising money to buy supplies for her third-grade classroom: Stand on a corner in Tulsa, Okla., and beg for it. FOX23 reports on the unusual crowdfunding effort by the teacher, who says she spends between $2,000 and $3,000 of her $35,000 annual salary to scoop up materials for her students, in a state that's notorious for low teacher pay. But while she brought in $55 on the streets in just over five minutes on Tuesday, she says the cash itself isn't the only goal: She wants to raise awareness about the strapped financial situation that educational workers in her state find themselves in. "We don't want to call it [begging], but this kind of shows it is," Danks, who's been in the educational arena since 1996, tells KRMG. Supplies she's looking to acquire to stock her classroom for the fall, among others: beads, egg cartons, yarn, and board games, as well as bigger-ticket items such as a microwave and dorm fridge. Those interested in donating can email Danks here, though she stresses people should donate to teachers in their neck of the woods as well.

× 79-Year-Old Retired Barber Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Newport Beach Urologist A 79-year-old retired barber was sentenced Friday to life in prison, plus 10 years, without the possibility of parole for fatally shooting a urologist inside the doctor’s Newport Beach office in 2013. An Orange County Superior Court jury on Aug. 21 had swiftly found Stanwood Elkus of Lake Elsinore guilty of first-degree murder for making an appointment with Ronald Gilbert using a fake name and shooting the physician 10 times when he walked into the exam room. Jurors also affirmed a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait and a sentencing enhancement allegation of personal use of a gun, which added 10 years to Elkus’ life sentence. Elkus had pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge by reason of insanity, but jurors determined he was sane at the time of the killing. Had they found that he was insane, Elkus likely would have been sent to a mental health facility. Read the full story on LATimes.com. ||||| SANTA ANA – A talented doctor, good friend and loving husband and father – that is how loved ones remembered Dr. Ronald Gilbert on Friday. On Jan. 28, 2013, the successful urologist was shot 10 times at his Newport Beach medical practice by a disgruntled former patient who blamed the 52-year-old doctor for his prostate problems. The killer, Stanwood Elkus, 79, sat in a wheelchair for the duration of his trial in Orange County Superior Court last month. But for his Friday sentencing, he walked into the courtroom without the use of his wheelchair, as many in the room gasped. The Lake Elsinore resident sat quietly as Superior Court Judge Patrick Donahue sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility parole. Elkus had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but the jury last month found that he was mentally sound when he plotted to kill the doctor, used a fake name to schedule a medial appointment and then gunned him down in an exam room. “There can be no punishment as great as the hate he has in his heart,” Gilbert’s childhood friend, Julie Harold Carter, said to the judge. Gilbert first saw Elkus in 1992 while he was working as young resident at the VA Long Beach Hospital. Elkus complained of frequent urination and was diagnosed with a narrowing of the urethra. Gilbert recommended he undergo a procedure to widen his urethra; the operation was performed by different doctors. The operation was a simple, outpatient procedure, but Elkus argued with nurses and refused to leave the hospital until he believed he was “fully healed.” Days later he returned to the hospital and demanded that doctors remove his temporary catheter. The prosecution said Elkus became obsessed, believing that the procedure had damaged his prostate and caused his erectile dysfunction. For decades, he seethed over his medical issues and would talk about his prostate to anyone who would listen, attorneys said. Elkus’ defense attorney had said that he suffered from dementia and psychotic depression that was exacerbated by his health issues. In late 2012, Elkus bought a .45-caliber handgun and mapped out directions to the Hoag Health Center in Newport Beach, where Gilbert worked. At the sentencing, several close friends and family members described in court how they have been affected by the devastating loss. Elkus stared straight ahead and removed his hearing-aid headphones as some loved ones read statements. Glenn Gilbert said his brother was a “brilliant” and “selfless” man who “brought joy into the world and enriched countless people’s lives. … His absence has been painful and profound.” Glenn Gilbert said Elkus caused his own problems by refusing to follow post-operative care and medical advice from the doctors who did the procedure: “If he wanted to kill the person responsible, he should have just looked in the mirror and shot himself.” Gilbert’s wife, Elizabeth, said her husband was a wonderful father to their two sons. “Ron welcomed everyone into our home with open arms and a huge smile,” she said. “Our life will never be the same.” ||||| Halfway through family members' statements, Elkus, who has hearing loss, removed the headphones that helped him hear the proceedings. He stared ahead, only occasionally glancing back to the podium where Gilbert's family and friends stood to address the court. He placed the headphones over his ears again when it was time to hear his sentence.

– A retired barber who murdered a urologist inside his Southern California office in 2013 over a 21-year-old grudge was sentenced Friday to life in prison plus 10 years without the possibility of parole, the Los Angeles Times reports. In 1992, Ronald Gilbert—then a medical resident at the veterans hospital in Long Beach—worked with other doctors to diagnose Stanwood Elkus, who was dealing with frequent urination, with a narrowing of the urethra. Two other doctors at the VA ultimately performed a simple urethra-widening surgery without Gilbert; Elkus firmly believed the surgery was botched and damaged his prostate, the Orange County Register reports, causing incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and diminished sex drive, all of which led his longtime girlfriend to leave him. A DA on the case told jurors that Elkus held a grudge against Gilbert over the incident. More than two decades later, Elkus—who had often seethed about his medical issues in the ensuing years "to anyone who would listen," per the Register—used a fake name to make an appointment with Gilbert on Jan. 28, 2013, at his Newport Beach office, where he entered the exam room and shot him 10 times, killing him. The now-79-year-old pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but jurors found that he was sane and convicted him last month of first-degree murder. Per KTLA, jurors also affirmed a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait. That, along with a sentencing enhancement allegation of personal use of a gun, added 10 years to his sentence. "The world was robbed of a model citizen … our children were robbed of an amazing father," said Elizabeth Gilbert, Ronald Gilbert's wife, at the sentencing hearing, recalling her husband's death just days before his 53rd birthday.

Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Irony shuffled dispiritedly from his bedroom in worn, smelly pajamas, fetching yesterday’s copy of The Wall Street Journal from the magazine rack, brewing a cup of tea and sitting down with a sigh at the ratty, stained kitchen table. He wondered for the thousandth time that morning if life was worth living in this new age, an era in which he could not shake the suspicion that he was obsolete. Waving these depressing thoughts away, he opened the paper to the opinion section: And with that, Irony rose determinedly from the table, fashioned a noose from the belt of his bathrobe, secured it around his neck, leapt up onto the table and tied the other end to the chandelier, kicked the table away and ended it all. The end.

– Dick and Liz Cheney unload on President Obama in a Wall Street Journal op-ed today, accusing the president of squandering a hard-won victory in Iraq, shirking US responsibility to lead in the world, and allowing terrorists to rise again. "Rarely has a US president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many," they write. (In his last-ever press conference today, Jay Carney responded to that line by asking, "Which president was he talking about?" notes Politico's Edward-Isaac Dovere.) The Cheneys say that when Obama took office in 2009, the Iraq war was largely won and he had only to make sure that Iraqi forces got the training and intelligence they needed to keep things on track. "Instead, he abandoned Iraq," and the same can be said of Afghanistan and Syria. "Obama seems determined to leave office ensuring he has taken America down a notch," they write. "Indeed, the speed of the terrorists' takeover of territory in Iraq has been matched only by the speed of American decline on his watch." Reaction on the left has been swift and of the "death of irony" variety. At the Daily Kos, for example, Barbara Morrill rounds up some of Dick Cheney's statements about Iraq in 2003, including his prediction that the US military action "will go relatively quickly—weeks, rather than months." She concludes: "Seriously, Dick, shut up." (Click for her full post, or for the Cheneys' full post.

“Pass the computerized condiment, please." Look out ketchup and mustard. We’ve gone back to the cognitive kitchen to create Bengali Butternut BBQ Sauce, an unexpected blend of squash, Thai chilies, tamarind and a dozen more ingredients that have never before been slathered together on a chicken wing. It’s got a slow, warm heat and a kick that becomes even more to savor when you discover that it was concocted by something that has no taste buds. Cognitive computers from IBM Research modeled quintillions of recipes based on thousands of ingredient combinations to predict what new tastes people would find surprising and delicious. And voilà! The sauce was only bottled for a limited run, but you can whip up a batch at home with this recipe. We even added a label to print. Bon appétit. ||||| The list contains more Eastern influences, such as rice vinegar, dates, cilantro, tamarind (a sour fruit you may know best from Pad Thai), cardamom (a floral seed integral to South Asian cuisine) and turmeric (the yellow powder that stained the skull-laden sets of True Detective) alongside American BBQ sauce mainstays molasses, garlic, and mustard. When I unwrapped the brightly colored box and found the bottle inside, I immediately flipped to the back label. Most BBQ sauces start with ingredients like vinegar, tomatoes, or even water, but IBM’s stands out from the get go. Ingredient one: White wine. Ingredient two: Butternut squash. Not so long ago, IBM shared Watson’s cooking methodology and first public recipe with Co.Design. Shortly thereafter, they opened a food truck at SXSW . And they also sent a lucky few journalists a beautiful bottle of Bengali Butternut BBQ Sauce, a golden, algorithmic elixir born from the silicon mind of Watson himself. Yes, it’s THE Watson. The same computer that decimated Ken Jennings in Jeopardy has taken on an even greater challenge–what IBM calls cognitive computing, or put more simply, creativity. And what better arena to test creativity than the kitchen? After all, computers are good at math or whatever, but they can’t invent the next cronut or conceptualize the snack chip that will become a taco shell. They can’t stick a toilet plunger in a melted pile of brown birthday fondant like those bakers on reality TV–right? I pour a bit of the bottle onto a plate of roasted tofu and broccoli–even a pork lover has gotta watch his cholesterol–and tentatively took a bite. Watson’s golden sauce may have the pulpy consistency of baby food, but it packs a surprising amount of unique flavor. Immediately, you can taste the sweet warmth of the wine and the squash. The tamarind blends seamlessly, backed by a duo of vinegars, to tickle your tongue with just the right amount of tartness. The other flavors combine to leave an indefinable, warm aftertaste that, as you have a few more bites, actually heats your mouth–thanks to Thai chiles. I test it again and again. Finally I just slather my plate in the stuff. It’s delicious–the best way I can describe it is as a Thai mustard sauce, or maybe the middle point between a BBQ sauce and a curry. Does that sound gross? I assure you that it isn’t. A closer inspection of the nutritional content reveals another unadvertised benefit of Watson’s sauce. Not only is it deliciously sweet and tangy, but it’s low in sugar, with only 2g per serving versus the 16g you’ll find in Sweet Baby Ray’s signature sauce, or the 5g you’ll find in their honey mustard dipping sauce (this is probably a fairer comparison, but let it be said that Sweet Baby Ray has triple the calories because it’s loaded with fat). The opportunity to generate healthier tasty foods by maximizing the use of complementary flavor-packed ingredients is just one of the promises of IBM’s technology, and at least in this case, they’ve proven the concept. (No doubt, IBM’s small, promotional batch production allowed them to pack some relatively pricey ingredients into their bottle.) But as I mop my plate of the last drips of Bengali Butternut BBQ Sauce, contemplating the difference between a future in which computers addict us to the next Lean Cuisine and one where they attempt to eradicate us with Terminators, Napoleon’s old adage comes to mind: An army marches on its stomach. He–or that–who controls our stomachs controls it all. ||||| For Foodies IBM's Watson Is Out With Its Own Barbecue Sauce i itoggle caption IBM IBM A company specializing in bytes is offering a special flavor for your Fourth of July: IBM's Watson barbecue sauce. The supercomputer first showed off its intellectual process on Jeopardy, but Watson now seems ready for the Food Channel. After analyzing massive numbers of recipes, Watson went gourmet. The condiment, called Bengali Butternut BBQ Sauce, contains a dozen ingredients, including butternut squash, white wine, dates, Thai chilies and tamarind. According to IBM, "it's got a slow, warm heat and a kick." IBM says the sauce was only bottled for a limited run, but it has published the recipe for anyone who wants to try making a batch at home. As Joe Palca reported, IBM first began to test the supercomputer's food talents in 2012. Computer scientists gave it a database of recipes that were already being used successfully. "Then we remix them, substitute things, do all kinds of other modifications and generate millions of new ideas for recipes," Lav Varshney told Palca. "The second step is to take those millions of ideas and find the best ones. To do that we try to predict what humans will find flavorful, based on some basic ideas from chemistry and psychology."

– What does a machine with no mouth, no taste buds, and no interest in consuming ribs know about barbecue sauce? Everything, according to IBM. The company says its Watson supercomputer has analyzed huge numbers of recipes and used its "cognitive cooking" abilities to create a delicious BBQ sauce, NPR reports. For the supercomputer to cook, a database of recipes is added, and then "we remix them, substitute things, do all kinds of other modifications and generate millions of new ideas for recipes," an IBM research scientist explains. To pick the best ones, "we try to predict what humans will find flavorful, based on some basic ideas from chemistry and psychology." Watson's Bengali Butternut BBQ Sauce was only bottled for a limited run, but the recipe is online here. IBM says it includes "squash, Thai chilies, tamarind, and a dozen more ingredients that have never before been slathered together on a chicken wing." So what does the "computerized condiment" taste like? Mark Wilson at Fast Company tried it out and, like other reviewers, he says it is delicious. "The best way I can describe it is as a Thai mustard sauce, or maybe the middle point between a BBQ sauce and a curry," he writes. "Does that sound gross? I assure you that it isn't." (When not creating sauces, Watson's other ventures have included crushing human contestants on Jeopardy and dispensing medical advice.)

(CNN) Colombia says it has found a Spanish galleon sunk 300 years ago in the Caribbean with treasure estimated as high as $17 billion in gold, silver and gems. "Great news: We found the galleon San Jose!," President Juan Manuel Santos tweeted. "Finding the #GaleonSanJose marks an historic milestone for our underwater cultural patrimony," Santos said Saturday, tweeting a video of the search team at sea. The discovery off Colombia's coast is sure to intensify an international dispute over the treasure. The hunt for the San Jose has already been a long legal saga over how the booty should be split between the Colombian government and an American company based in Bellevue, Washington. Sea Search Armada, a group of U.S. investors engaged in marine salvaging, claims it found the site of the San Jose in 1981 and contends the Colombia government has been trying "to illegally confiscate SSA's finds." Hallazgo del #GaleónSanJosé marca un hito histórico para nuestro patrimonio cultural sumergido. https://t.co/YjXxpvjfVz — Juan Manuel Santos (@JuanManSantos) December 5, 2015 Indeed, the legal dispute is seemingly as dramatic as the sinking of San Jose itself, which was destroyed in 1708 by British warships thwarting Spain's delivery of New World riches. "The Complaint in this case reads like the marriage between a Patrick O'Brian glorious-age-of-sail novel and a John Buchan potboiler of international intrigue," U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg wrote in a 2011 ruling. SSA filed several lawsuits in the United States and Colombia, and the American company contends it won a Colombian Supreme Court ruling upholding how the treasure should be split 50-50 between the government and the U.S. firm. Two lawsuits filed in U.S. courts were dismissed, in 2011 and 2015. The galleon Jose was intercepted by British warships off Cartagena, Colombia. At a press conference Saturday, Colombia Cultural Minister Mariana Garcés Córdoba contended that all legal challenges were ruled in favor of the Colombia government. But Jack Harbeston, managing director of SSA, said in a written statement to CNN that the government of Colombia "keeps repeating the Big Lie (which is unfortunately repeated by the press) that the GOC 'won the case' in Federal District court and SSA had lost its rights to the treasure. Nothing could be further from the truth. "It would now appear that the GOC had no intention of good faith implementation of the Colombia Supreme Court ruling by settling with SSA," Harbeston said. "Their intent seems to be to preempt and make moot SSA's right to visit its property -- while flouting its own laws. The GOC continues in its expropriation of property belonging to U.S citizens in direct violation of its trade agreement with the U.S." Colombia threatened the firm with military force, Harbeston said. "It's the same mentality as the conquistadors," he told CNN. In U.S. court papers, SSA claimed that it located the San Jose site on the continental shelf off the Colombia coast in 1981 and formally filed that location with Colombia in 1982. But Colombia broke an 1984 agreement to give the U.S. salvagers 35% of the treasure and prevent the Americans from salvaging the shipwreck at the bottom of the sea, the U.S. firm contended. The Colombian Parliament passed a law giving the country all rights to the shipwreck treasure and only a 5% finders fee to SSA, an amount that would also be taxed at a rate of 45%, according to SSA's lawsuit. In Colombian courts, SSA won a lawsuit claiming the new law was unconstitutional, and the Circuit Court of Barranquilla ruled the treasures of the San Jose should be split 50-50 between the government and SSA, the firm said. An American company claims its investors are owed half of the underwater haul. The Supreme Court of Colombia upheld that even split, according to SSA's lawsuit filed in the United States. The San Jose's treasures of bullion and coin was estimated between $4 billion and $17 billion as of three or four years ago, the U.S. firm says. "Nobody knows what exactly is on there," Harbeston said. The San Jose was the flagship and largest galleon of a Spanish fleet carrying gold and silver from the mines of Potosi, Peru. It was traveling from Portobello, Panama, to Cartagena, Colombia, but the British intercepted it off Cartagena. "In the armada of 1708, the value of the cargo on the flagship alone exceeded Spain's annual national income from all sources. When the bullion and coins on all the galleons of the armada were totaled, it was two or three times Spain's annual income. In addition, there were trade goods of cocoa, indigo, leather, cochineal, precious woods and many other items," according to an online account posted by SSA. The Spanish fleet's other galleons with gold, silver, jewelry, emeralds and other gems escaped the British navy. "The galleons were lumbering bank vaults," according to SSA's historical account. In Saturday's video posted on the Colombian President's Twitter account, an unidentified crew member is exuberant over the San Jose's discovery. "It's a huge feeling," the crewman says. "This is the work of many years, a lot of work at that and a collaborative effort that has finally come to light, and there'll be much work ahead of us, but this was a huge triumph." The Colombia President was equally excited at Saturday's press conference. Gran noticia: ¡Encontramos el Galeon San José! Mañana daré los detalles en rueda de prensa desde Cartagena. — Juan Manuel Santos (@JuanManSantos) December 4, 2015 "Without a doubt, without any doubt, we have found 307 years after sinking, the galleon San Jose," Santos said. The shipwreck "is one of the greatest finds and identification of sunken patrimonies, if not the biggest as some say in the history of mankind," the President said. "The Colombian government will continue its process of research, exploration and protection of underwater cultural heritage, in accordance with the laws and current public policy of the Colombian State. "It is a scientific event that's a reminder that Colombia's history is made up of very different eras featuring people who are part of our national memory," he added. ||||| Colombia has announced the discovery of what could be the world's largest sunken treasure somewhere off its Caribbean coast, but it faces competition for keeping the caskets of gold believed to be strewn around the wreckage. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said this weekend that he is sure he knows exactly where the Spanish galleon San José sank 300 years ago with its hold said to be full of 11 million gold coins and almost 200 tons of other valuables. The hoard, he said, was part of Colombia's "submerged cultural patrimony." The announcement — complete with a government video of the team that found the site off the coast near the city of Cartagena led by the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History and the navy — has rebooted a long standing legal dispute over who owns the treasure that is already also claimed by an American maritime salvage firm. The Spanish government may also soon make its own bid to at least some of the bounty reportedly worth between $1.5 and $17 billion. Related: UN Experts Discredit Underwater Explorer's Pirate 'Treasure' Discovery Sea Search Armada (SSA), a US-based marine salvage company, says it found the site in 1981 and consequently has a right to up to half the recovered loot under international law, though Colombia says it has won cases in the US and Colombia that rule this out. Jack Harbeston, Managing Director of SSA, accused the Colombian government of lying over the result of the court battles, and trying to steal the company's property. He also said Colombia had threatened the firm with military force. "It's the same mentality as the conquistadors," Harbeston told CNN. The dispute stems from two conflicting claims. SSA claim that the wreckage is in the area they identified in 1981, though Colombia maintains that the discovery announced this month is in a different location. The exact whereabouts are a secret. Colombian media, meanwhile, was in full voice over the discovery that was plastered over the front pages. The respected weekly Semana ran an editorial with the headline: "We must defend San José!" Photo via MinCultura The ship was sunk by a British warship on 8 June 1708, during the Spanish War of Succession that engulfed Europe's empires after the childless King Charles II of Spain died. The British attacked a fleet of Spanish galleons carrying treasure to fund the war, sinking the San José with 600 people on board. And it is the history that the Spanish government believes means it also has a claim to the ship's reputed cargo of chests full of of pieces of eight, emeralds, pearls and other precious stones, as well as ingots of gold and silver from the famed mine of Potosí in Peru. Spanish Culture Minister José María Lassalle told the Spanish news agency EFE that Spain would be requesting more information about the discovery of the San José from Colombia. Lassalle said Spain would then analyze "what action to take in defense of what we consider to be our sunken wealth." Lassalle cited 2001 agreements within UNESCO which define ownership of a shipwreck according to the flag under which the vessel was sailing. And while the San José may have been carrying treasure plundered from colonial territories and found off the coast of what is now Colombia, it was undoubtedly a Spanish ship at the time it went down. The problem for the Spanish is that Colombia has not signed the UNESCO agreements. A similar legal dispute erupted over the discovery of Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, a Spanish naval frigate carrying treasure which was found off the Atlantic coast of Portugal in 2007. Claims emerged from Odyssey Marine Exploration, the salvage company that found the wreck, and Spain and Peru. The plunder went to Spain after a US federal court case. In the meantime some experts are not entirely convinced that the treasure actually exists. "I'm not saying they didn't find this thing, but I want a little more proof than just a picture of bronze cannons and Spanish ceramics," Robert Marx, a historian and marine exploration expert based in Florida, told VICE News. He stressed that over 1,000 Spanish galleons were lost off the Cartagena coast. "Show me the chest, let me see the coins, then I'll believe it." Marx said that if this is a boat full of treasure, the cost of the salvage effort would probably be about $200,000 per day and last a couple of years working everyday in all weathers. In the mean time, Marx stressed, the legal battles will continue. "The only people that are gonna get rich off this are the goddamn lawyers," he said. Related: Two Guys Claim They've Found a Lost Nazi Train Filled with Treasure Follow Joe Parkin Daniels on Twitter: @joeparkdan ||||| The salvage of the legendary San José and its cargo of gold, emeralds and other treasure could be worth as much as $17bn if ownership agreement can be reached The discovery of the “holy grail of shipwrecks” off the coast of Colombia this week has provoked a three-cornered fight over ownership of the gold, emeralds and other treasures on the ocean floor. New battle looms over rights to the world's richest shipwreck Read more In a tale that mixes 18th-century buccaneering with 21st-century courtroom drama, the San José, a Spanish galleon carrying one of the richest cargos in naval history, was sunk by British warships in 1708 and is now once again at the heart of a conflict. Colombia, Spain and a US salvage company have lodged competing claims to the chests of pieces of eight, silver coins and jewels, which are estimated to be worth between US$1bn (£662m) and US$17bn. The San José was the flagship of an armada carrying treasure from Spain’s colonies in South America to the court of King Philip V to fund battles against the British in the War of Succession. On 8 June 1708, it was was attacked off the coast of Cartagena by a British squadron led by Admiral Charles Wager, who wanted to steal the gold. But before the San José could be boarded, it exploded and sank with the loss of all but 11 of its 600 crew and passengers. Ever since, finding the ship has been the fantasy of treasure hunters, adventurers and novelists. In Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera, the unrequited lover, Florentino Ariza, dreams of recovering the sunken hoard for his love Fermina Daza. In the 1980s, the hunt was led by Sea Search Armada – a US-based salvage company – which described the galleons as “lumbering bank vaults” filled with gold from the mines of Potosi, Peru, pearls from Panama and emeralds, amethysts and diamonds from the Andes. “In the armada of 1708, the value of the cargo on the flagship alone exceeded Spain’s annual national income from all sources. When the bullion and coins on all the galleons of the armada were [added together], it was two or three times Spain’s annual income. In addition, there were trade goods of cocoa, indigo, leather, cochineal, precious woods and many other items,” the company noted on its website. The discovery – 16 miles off Cartagena at a depth of about 300m – was confirmed on 27 November by an international team led by the Colombian institute of anthropology and history and the Colombian navy. Announcing the find last week, the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, said this “constitutes one of the greatest – if not the biggest, as some say – findings and identification of underwater heritage in the history of humanity”. He promised to build a museum in Cartagena to exhibit the treasure, which also includes ceramics, brass cannon and the personal wealth of the viceroy of Peru. But Colombia’s ownership is contested on two fronts. Sea Search Armada claims it first located the area of the wreck in 1981 and signed a deal with the Colombian government in which it was promised a 35% share of the treasure. After this was overturned by the country’s parliament, the company fought a battle in US and Colombian courts asserting its claim. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Action off Cartagena, 28 May 1708 by Samuel Scott. Battle at which Spanish galleon San José was sunk. Illustration: Samuel Scott Colombia’s minister of culture, Mariana Garcés Córdoba, claimed last week that his government had won all legal challenges. But Sea Search Armada insist the issue remains unresolved. The government of Colombia “keeps repeating the Big Lie (which is unfortunately repeated by the press) that [it] ‘won the case’ in federal district court and SSA had lost its rights to the treasure. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Jack Harbeston, the managing director of Sea Search Armada told CNN. The Spanish government is considering whether to stake a claim. The Spanish culture secretary, José María Lasalle, speaking in Havana on Saturday, reminded Colombia of Spain’s “clear position” in defence of its “sunken wealth”. He said Spain was examining the information provided by Colombia before deciding “what action to take in defence of what we consider to be our sunken wealth and in accordance with Unesco agreements that our country signed up to years ago”. As a precedent, he reminded Colombia of the case of the Spanish frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, which was sunk by the British off the Algarve in southern Portugal in 1804. In 2007, the wreck was discovered by a salvage company, Odyssey Marine Exploration, which recovered more than 500,000 silver and gold coins, about 17 tonnes in total. There then began a three-sided dispute between Odyssey, Spain and Peru, the latter claiming the treasure had been plundered from the Incas. In 2012, a US court ruled that, as the Mercedes was a warship on a state-sponsored mission and Peru was then just a colony, Spain was the rightful owner of the treasure, which was put on display in Madrid in 2014 in an exhibition titled the Last Voyage of the Frigate Mercedes. Given the far greater loot on the San José, an even more protracted legal wrangle may be looming. In an earlier lawsuit by Sea Search Armada against the Colombian government, the judge wrote in his ruling: “The complaint in this case reads like the marriage between a Patrick O’Brian glorious-age-of-sail novel and a John Buchan potboiler of international intrigue.” This is also unlikely to be the last story of ancient mariners and sunken treasure to re-emerge in the Caribbean. It is estimated that there are about 1,200 wrecks off the coast of Colombia alone.

– The "holy grail of shipwrecks" has been found, but the rightful owner of its treasure—including gold, silver, and jewels worth up to $17 billion—has yet to be determined. US company Sea Search Armada claims to have discovered the area of the San Jose wreck back in 1981 and says it was promised a 35% share in a deal signed with the Colombian government in 1984. Colombia—which argues the San Jose wreck was found in a different area, per Vice—says the deal was overturned by the country's parliament and it won all legal challenges. Sea Search Armada, however, disagrees and now contends it should get 50%. Colombia's government "keeps repeating the Big Lie (which is unfortunately repeated by the press) that [it] 'won the case' in federal district court and SSA had lost its rights to the treasure. Nothing could be further from the truth," Managing Director Jack Harbeston tells CNN. Harbeston says the Colombian Supreme Court actually ruled the treasure should be shared evenly with SSA. Now, "their intent seems to be to preempt and make moot SSA's right to visit its property." He adds Colombia has threatened SSA with military force, per Vice. Meanwhile, Spain's government is weighing "what action to take in defense of what we consider to be our sunken wealth and in accordance with UNESCO agreements," the country's culture secretary tells the Guardian. The agreements note a wreck belongs to the country under which it was sailing, but Colombia hasn't signed them. Spain fought a salvage company for ownership of a Spanish frigate, sunk in 1804 and found off Portugal in 2007. Peru had also claimed ownership on the basis that its treasure was taken from the Incas. A court ruled in Spain's favor. (A family found $1 million in Spanish treasure off Florida.)

U.S. Highway 10 was closed for almost 4 hours after a fatal crash Tuesday night near Becker. (Photo: KARE-David Peterlinz) A man originally believed to be driving a pickup that ran a red light and crashed into a van in July, killing a 54-year-old Becker man and his 10-year-old daughter, has told investigators that his girlfriend was driving. Search warrants filed in Stearns County District Court show that investigators are focusing on Carlee Rose Bollig, 17, as being the driver of the pickup that hit the van. One of those warrants indicates that Bollig, as she was being loaded into an ambulance at the crash scene, told a trooper that she was the driver. The crash July 21 killed Charles Maurer and his daughter Cassy. Those search warrants also show that Bollig and those in the pickup had stopped in St. Cloud before the crash to use drugs and that Bollig might have been posting to Facebook right before the crash. The warrants also quote a passenger in the vehicle as telling Bollig before the crash to stop using her phone while she was driving; Bollig is quoted in the warrants as telling that passenger to shut up and that she didn’t care if she crashed. Investigators found synthetic marijuana and a pipe inside the truck in property that belonged to Bollig, according to the search warrants. They were seeking permission from a judge to search her phone to determine whether she was using her phone at the time of the crash. No criminal charges have been filed; the Minnesota State Patrol continues to investigate the crash. The Patrol said early on that troopers believed the people in the pickup gave “conflicting statements” to investigators after the crash, which happened at about 8 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. Highway 10 and Sherburne County Road 11. Investigators early on identified Deven Michael Garlock, 18, as the driver. But the search warrants indicate that he told a trooper at St. Cloud Hospital that Bollig was actually driving. Investigators learned that the passengers were going to say Garlock was driving because he was the only one who had a valid driver’s license, according to the warrants. The other occupants of the pickup were identified by the Patrol as George Saldana, 18, and Caysi Jaronkie, 17. The warrants show that Jaronkie identified Bollig as the driver and told investigators that Bollig was “continuously on her cellphone and told her numerous times that she shouldn’t be texting and driving,” according to the warrants. Bollig yelled at Jaronkie and made a comment “that she didn’t care if she crashed,” according to the warrants. An initial review of Bollig’s phone showed that she was using Facebook Messenger to communicate with someone beginning at 7:49 p.m., about 12 minutes before the crash, according to the warrants. One of the search warrants seeks permission to further evaluate Bollig’s cellphone to see exactly how long Bollig might have used the phone before the crash. Bollig refused to speak to investigators when they came to St. Cloud Hospital to question her after the crash, according to the warrants. Follow David Unze on Twitter @sctimesunze or call him at 255-8740. Read or Share this story: http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2015/08/26/patrol-focuses-woman-driver-fatal-becker-crash/32418859/ ||||| A teen driver profanely rebuffed the pleas of a passenger to stop texting, and as screams of “red light! red light!” echoed in the pickup truck, she struck a van in Sherburne County and killed the other driver and his 10-year-old daughter, according to prosecutors. Once authorities had exposed as a lie the initial explanation that her boyfriend had been driving, Carlee R. Bollig, 17, of Little Falls, Minn., was charged last week in District Court with two counts each of criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation, texting and driving, and driving without a valid license. Killed in the July 21 crash were the van’s driver, Charles P. Maurer, 54, of Becker, and his daughter Cassy. The crash occurred about 8 p.m. at Hwy. 10 and County Road 11 between Becker and Big Lake. “It is an illusion to believe that texting while driving is not dangerous behavior,” State Patrol Lt. Tiffani Schweigart, the chief spokeswoman for the agency that led the investigation into the crash, said Saturday. “This behavior is just as dangerous as DWI in that lives can change or be lost in the fraction of a second.” Three people in Bollig’s pickup, all friends from Little Falls, also were injured but survived: Deven M. Garlock, 18, George E. Saldana, 18, and Caysi J. Jaronske, 17. The others in the van survived their injuries: Cassy’s sister Alenita, 16, and friend Alora K. Nelson, 15, of Becker. Jaronske told investigators that she implored Bollig on at least “eight or nine occasions” since they left St. Cloud to stop texting while driving, according to the allegations spelled out in a juvenile petition. Bollig, however, “refused to comply,” the juvenile petition read. Texting and driving is considered to be as dangerous as drunken driving. In response to Jaronske’s pleas to stop texting and driving, Bollig yelled and said she “didn’t care if she crashed,” and eventually she told her friend to “f — - off,” according to a search warrant affidavit filed in court three weeks after the crash. Just as the pickup was about to enter the intersection, the charging petition read, Jaronske said someone yelled, “red light, red light!” Bollig never applied the brakes, investigators determined, the pickup kept going on eastbound Hwy. 10 and it T-boned the van on the driver’s side as it traveled north on County Road 11, prosecutors allege. Analysis of Bollig’s cellphone found that she sent and received “multiple electronic messages” on Facebook for eight minutes leading up to the crash, the complaint read. Charles Maurer was pronounced dead that night at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. Cassy, in the same hospital with severe head injuries, died 10 days later. She would have been a fifth-grader at Becker School. Cassy was a member of St. Marcus Catholic Church in Clear Lake, where she was a mass server. She enjoyed playing cribbage, biking, fishing, reading and playing games on her iPad. A fundraising page at gofundme.com/8gg894ptg8 has exceeded its goal of $8,000 pledged on behalf of the family. Document: A lie is concocted At first, “information on the scene” pointed to Garlock as the driver of the pickup, according to a search warrant affidavit. However, he told a trooper soon after the crash that he was in the back seat behind his girlfriend, and when a state trooper questioned Bollig and her sister, they acted on the advice of their mother and an attorney and refused to answer questions, the affidavit continued. On July 31, Jaronske revealed to the trooper that Bollig and Saldana plotted to say Garlock was driving and ran the red light because he was the only one in the pickup with a valid license, the affidavit read. That same day, the trooper obtained DNA from Bollig and Garlock to help determine who was driving, the court document read. The affidavit said blood was left throughout the pickup’s seating area and hair was embedded in the shattered windshield on the passenger side, offering biological evidence about who was seated where at the time of impact. A search of the pickup also turned up a bag belonging to Bollig that held a small amount of synthetic marijuana, a digital scale and a smoking pipe, the court document read. Another pipe was discovered on the front passenger seat. The document also noted one more item spotted and collected, this one sitting near the brake pedal: a cellphone. Last year in Minnesota, 61 deaths and more than 7,000 injuries were attributed to either driver inattention or distraction, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Over the past five years, 19 percent of all traffic fatalities and serious injuries in the state were distraction-related, the agency added. A $225 increase in the fine for texting while driving went into effect in Minnesota in August. The increase is in addition to the current $50 fine and applies to second and subsequent convictions. According to the state, 3,200 texting-while-driving citations were issued in 2014, a 278 percent jump since 2010.

– As far as alleged texting-while-driving stories go, this one is particularly rough: A 54-year-old Minnesota man and his 10-year-old daughter were killed when a pickup T-boned their van on a July evening between the towns of Becker and Big Lake. The driver of the pickup was not 17-year-old Carlee Bollig's boyfriend, as initially believed, reports the Star-Tribune. It was Carlee herself, who was charged last week with six counts, including criminal vehicular homicide. The picture prosecutors are painting is one of total disregard: Carlee was in the truck with three teens who also survived; one was Caysi Jaronske, who told police that she told Carlee to stop texting at least eight or nine times that night. Carlee allegedly told Caysi she "didn't care if she crashed," and to "f--- off," and Caysi says that as the car neared the fatal intersection, someone in the truck screamed "red light, red light!" What investigators found in the weeks since, per prosecutors: Carlee never hit the brakes, and she used Facebook Messenger between 7:49pm and 7:57pm; the initial 911 call was logged at 7:59pm, reports the St. Cloud Times. The Star-Tribune reports that 10 days after the crash, Caysi told police Carlee and another passenger had agreed to say the boyfriend was behind the wheel because no one else in the car had a valid license. DNA evidence helped police make their determination. The St. Cloud Times in August cited search warrants stating that the truck's passengers had stopped in St. Cloud for the purpose of doing drugs; synthetic marijuana and a pipe were found in the truck. Killed were Charles Maurer and daughter Cassy, who would have been a fifth-grader this year; her 16-year-old sister and a 15-year-old friend survived. (A Michigan judge handed an unusual sentence to a texting driver who killed a cyclist.)

CLOSE San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputies arrested a pair of parents this week after finding their three children living in a plywood box, surrounded by trash, cats and feces, with no access to electricity or running water. By Brett Kelman, The Desert Sun Mona Kirk & Daniel Panico arrested for willful cruelty to a child after deputies discover the family’s living conditions in the 7000 block of Sun Fair Road in Joshua Tree. (Photo: San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department) Sheriff's officials in San Bernardino County say a Joshua Tree couple kept their three children malnourished and living in a room-sized box for the past four years. While conducting an area check Wednesday morning, deputies noticed a travel trailer that appeared to be abandoned and a large rectangular box made of plywood in the 7000 block of Sunfair Road in Joshua Tree. SIGN UP FOR FACEBOOK NEWS ALERTS: Message us here to get started The property has no electricity or running water, and deputies saw several holes, mounds of trash, human feces, and between 30 and 40 cats, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in a news release Thursday. MORE NEWS: The Turpin kids were starved captives, cops say. So what does freedom taste like? Lasagna The parents, Daniel Panico, 73, and Mona Kirk, 51, were arrested and booked into the Morongo Basin Jail on charges of willful cruelty to a child. Their bail was set at $100,000. The children, ages 11, 13 and 14, were found at the property. Deputies determined that for about four years the children had been living in the box, which is about 20 feet long, 10 feet wide and 4 feet tall. The children did not have enough food and were living in unsafe conditions, officials said. Mona Kirk & Daniel Panico arrested for willful cruelty to a child after deputies discover the family’s living conditions in Joshua Tree. (Photo: San Bernadino County Sheriff's Department) Children and Family Services responded to the property and took custody of the children. The structure where the children were living is on a mostly empty dirt road, two blocks off Highway 62, in the large span of open desert between Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms. Satellite imagery of the address shows a single white trailer, a few cars and what appears to be large piles of discarded trash surrounding the home. Most of the adjacent lots are empty, but it appears that at least one neighbor lives in a house, surrounded by a fence, directly across the street. The house is about eight miles from the front gate of Joshua Tree National Park and two miles east of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Station. Neighbor Mike Reynolds said the family moved in about four years ago. The father owned the land and the trailer and talked about building his dream home on the property, Reynolds said. “He was a regular retired guy, and an intelligent man,” Reynolds said. Several of his neighbors live “off the grid” so the family not having electricity or running water didn’t strike Reynolds as odd. The children seemed healthy and happy, Reynolds added. He noted he never saw any cats wandering around. He also suggested people wait for more information before passing judgment on the family. Reynolds believes the father kept the family from being homeless by building their home himself. “This guy was doing the best he could to raise his family,” Reynolds said. “If I was in his shoes and that’s all I could afford to raise my family and keep them alive — I have seen so much worse.” Reporter Brett Kelman contributed. Desert Sun breaking news reporter Barrett Newkirk can be reached at (760)778-4767 or barrett.newkirk@desertsun.com. MORE NEWS: Turpin home has become a tourist attraction six weeks after their children were rescued Read or Share this story: http://desert.sn/2FHiwaR ||||| The Joshua Tree parents of three children, who were found to be living in a large wooden box, were arrested Wednesday morning on suspicion of willful cruelty to a child. A deputy was patrolling the rural area in the 7000 block of Sun Fair Road in Joshua Tree, saw a travel-trailer on a property that appeared to be abandoned and the rectangular plywood box, and checked it out, according to a San Bernardino County sheriff’s news release. The three children, ages 11, 13 and 14, reportedly lived in the large rectangular box — which was approximately 20 feet long by 4 feet high by 10 feet wide — for about four years. They didn’t have adequate food and were living in an unsuitable, unsafe environment due to the property conditions, the news release stated. The mother, Mona Kirk, 51, slept in the box with her children, while the father, Daniel Panico, 73, lived in the trailer or a vehicle, said Cindy Bachman, a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman, in an email. It’s not known where the children were living prior to living in the box. The box was a shelter fabricated out of scrap wood and other material, Bachman said. A tarp on top of the wooden structure kept the rain out, but there was no heat, running water, electricity or bathrooms. Photos of the location show old furniture, broken children’s toys, storage containers and other assorted junk strewn about the property. Bachman said she doesn’t believe the children were regularly attending school. They were not being locked in or held captive in the box. Several large holes and mounds of trash and human feces were found on the property, and about 30-40 cats were roaming freely inside the trailer. Children and Family Service responded to the scene and took custody of the children. The parents of the children, Kirk and Panico, were arrested on suspicion of willful cruelty to a child and booked into the Morongo Basin Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail each. Anyone with information about the Joshua Tree investigation can call the sheriff’s station in Morongo Basin at 760-366-4175. To remain anonymous, contact WeTip at 888-78-CRIME (27463) or go online at www.wetip.com. ||||| "It's just tragic that these children were being raised in conditions like this," Bachman said. "There are services available to help these folks, and clearly they chose not to ask for any help."

– At first glance, authorities saw what they thought was an abandoned trailer and a large plywood box amid a sea of trash in Joshua Tree, Calif. On second glance, they realized this was the shelter of three children, ages 11, 13, and 14, and their parents. Mona Kirk, 51, and Daniel Panico, 73, were charged with willful cruelty to a child Wednesday after authorities came upon the remote property without running water, electricity, plumbing, or heating, reports the Los Angeles Times. According to officials, the family had been staying at the desert property for four years, with Kirk and the children living in the box—about 20 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 4 feet high—and Panico living in the trailer or a vehicle, reports the San Bernardino Sun. Panico reportedly owned the property and planned to build his dream home there, a neighbor tells the Desert Sun. But the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department called it "an unsuitable and unsafe environment" for the children, who didn't have an adequate amount of food. Authorities say the area, roamed by 30 to 40 cats, featured several feces-filled holes apparently used as toilets, and a rep for the sheriff's department says the kids weathered nights as cold as 20 or 30 degrees. Kirk and Panico are now in jail with bail set at $100,000 each. Their children, who weren't enrolled in public school, are in the custody of Children and Family Services and are in "good spirits," per officials.

Come da titolo e da buon intenditore di porno quale sono sempre stato mi sono recentemente posto delle domande. Sebra infatti che il predominio incontrastato di youporn, perlomeno in Italia, sia oramai giunto al termine e questo pare essere stato confermato anche dalle statistiche uffuciali sulle visite. Mi risulta infatti che il porno in rete sia oramai troppo e ogni giorno nascono nuovi siti porno sul modello dei più grandi e noti siti per adulti. Youporn ha perso lo scettro di siti porno più frequentato in Italia oramai da molto tempo e mi risulta che questo scettro sia ora conteso da altri tre nomi noti del settore. Di quali siti parlo nello specifico? Mi riferisco a Xvideos e Pornhub.com. Questi due siti hanno fatto la storia del porno nel mondo ed anche in italia sono conosciutissimi. Eppure più il tempo passa e più l’utente medio cerca contenuti specifici e localizzati in italiano per cui anche questi siti stanno perdendo visite. Questi siti sono infatti, si pieni di video hard di ogni tipo però quasi tutti sono in inglese e quindi per chi non lo mastica è piuttosto difficile godersi a fondo lo spettacolo. E poi diciamocelo nel sesso anche la parte parlata è molto importante ed eccitante. Ecco perchè gli utenti italiani sono sempre più orientati verso contenuti totalmente localizzati in italiano. Insomma ecco spiegato il perchè siti come Pornhub e Xvideos.com stanno perdendo visite e popolarità. Ma quali alternative ci sono? Esistono siti porno che forniscono contenuti prettamente in italiano? Purtroppo sembra di no. Ovvero, non ci sono siti con video porno al 100% italiani ma esistono numerosi siti che quantomeno traducono i titoli e le descrizioni dei video in italiano e vantano alcuni video hard interamente parlati in italiano. Di quali siti parlo? Il più conosciuto è senza dubbio Megasesso a cui si affianca digisesso e yuvutu. Su yuvutu è possibile fare ricerche per video girati da italiani e quindi parlati interamente in italiano eppure al momento sembra che il più apprezzato e frequentato sia Megasesso.com. Probabilmente cià è dovuto alla struttura del sito stesso, che si è recentemente trasformato in un vero e proprio portale del sesso (e quindi non solo in un sito di video porno per adulti) ma anche al numero di video presenti sul sito che sono tutti sapientemente riscritti in italiano e quindi comprensibili anche per chi l’inglese non lo conosce affatto. Insomma pare proprio che oltre ad una questione di guisti, il declino di Xvideos e Pornhub in Italia sia anche legato ad una questione di pura e semplice ignoranza. Megasesso sopperisce quindi ad una vera e propria lacuna culturale presentandosi come sito porno e portale del sesso pensato solo per italiani. Diciamo che anche io che l’inglese lo parlo perfettamente, nel mio periodo di fissa con i video porno, preferivo comunque megasesso a xvideo , youporn e i vari siti internazionali che certamente sono più popolari e conosciuti. Purtroppo in italia ancora manca un sito che offra al 100% video porno italiani in forma gratuita e quindi credo e spero che questa sia una lacuna che venga colmata al più presto. ||||| A pro-Gingrich “super PAC” is planning to air a blistering new attack video in South Carolina on Mitt Romney, depicting the GOP presidential front-runner as a corporate “raider” whose firm “destroyed the dreams of thousands of Americans” by buying up companies and firing its workers. The film, titled “King of Bain: When Mitt Romney Came to Town,” — was made by a former Romney advertising adviser. Its contents mirror attacks that have been made for months by political surrogates of President Barack Obama on Romney’s years as the chief officer of the Bain Capital investment firm. “For the first time, this film will show what Bain Capital actually did,” said Rick Tyler, a senior adviser to Winning Our Future, a pro-Gingrich super PAC that acquired the rights to the movie on Friday. The super PAC is posting a two-minute trailer from the 27-minute film on a website Saturday. “They targeted companies … they raided them … and thousands of workers lost their jobs. This is not capitalism. This is predatory,” Tyler said. Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, responded Saturday: “It’s puzzling to see Speaker Gingrich and his supporters continue their attacks on free enterprise. This is the type of criticism we've come to expect from President Obama and his left-wing allies at MoveOn.org. Unlike President Obama and Speaker Gingrich, Mitt Romney spent his career in business and knows what it will take to turn around our nation’s bad economy.” The pro-Gingrich super PAC’s plans to air excerpts from the movie in South Carolina represents a major escalation in the war of rival super PACs that is shaping the GOP race. The slickly made movie focuses on Romney’s years as the chief officer of Bain Capital, featuring interviews with workers who allegedly lost their jobs — and had their homes foreclosed — as a result of the firm’s corporate buyouts. “Then we have this company that comes in and destroys everything that we ever worked for,” says one woman talking about Bain Capital’s closure of plants run by American Pad & Paper Company in Florida. “He took away our livelihoods. He took away our future.” Interspersed are shots of Romney saying “corporations are people, my friend,” a photo of Romney’s “$12 million California beach house” and a photo of a smiling Romney in a business suit having his shoes polished on an airplane runway. Political payback In a sense, the hard-hitting ad is political payback. Gingrich saw his support in Iowa cut in half — from a front-running 26 percent in early December to a disappointing fourth-place finish with 13 percent in this week’s caucuses — after a three-week ad blitz by a pro-Romney super PAC that attacked him for ethics violations and political flip-flops. Gingrich lashed out at Romney for not stopping the ads and initially vowed to run a “positive” campaign, saying he would disown any political supporters that ran negative ads. But after watching his campaign derailed, Gingrich has sharpened his own attacks — and Tyler, a former Gingrich spokesman who says he is taking his “cue” from his candidate, now says his group needs to “define” Romney. "I think the voters will find this information very useful in making their decision and I think that's a positive thing," Tyler added when asked if we was now engaged in negative attacks. Unlike the "falsehoods" in the Romney super PAC attacks on Gingrich, the Bain Capital movie is "airtight, I've got all the documentation," he said. Read more reporting from Michael Isikoff in 'The Isikoff Files' The movie was made by Jason Killian Meath, a former associate in the firm of Stu Stevens, Romney’s longtime chief ad man. Meath worked on ads for Romney’s campaign in 2008. (Meith did not respond to a request for email comment Saturday.) As first reported Friday night by Peter Boyer of The Daily Beast, the movie was commissioned by Barry Bennett, a conservative activist who heads Alliance for America’s Future, a group whose principals include Mary Cheney, a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and which does not disclose its donors. A former associate of Meith, who asked for anonymity, said he was baffled by the ad man’s role in making the movie especially because, he said, Meith had previously expressed an interest in working on Romney’s 2012 campaign. “I have no idea what happened here,” said the former associate. Boyer reported that Winning Our Future, the Gingrich super PAC, won a bidding war for rights to the movie on Friday, outbidding a super PAC associated with Jon Huntsman. Tyler said he did not directly “broker” the deal, but confirmed that Winning Our Future plans a major advertising buy in South Carolina to run 30-second excerpts from the movie. But Tyler said he wants voters in New Hampshire — where Romney is the prohibitive front-runner — to see it as well. “I’m trying to save the people of New Hampshire from being embarrassed,” Tyler said. “When they see this movie, and see what a predator Romney is, they’re going to be embarrassed” for backing him. Tyler declined to discuss where the Gingrich super PAC came up with the funds to buy its South Carolina ad spots. (Like other super PACs, which can take unlimited funds from wealthy donors and corporations, Winning Our Future is not required to disclose its contributors until the end of this month, after the early primaries are over.) But several political sources say that the super PAC has been in regular talks with Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire Las Vegas casino magnate. Adelson has been the principal financial backer of Gingrich in recent years, having pumped more than $7 million into Gingrich's main political organization.

– Looks like it's "super-PAC" payback time for Newt Gingrich. A pro-Newt super PAC is planning to air a 27-minute video in South Carolina attacking Mitt Romney as a ruthless corporate raider whose firm put thousands of Americans out of work, NBC News reports. Titled "King of Bain: When Mitt Romney Came to Town," the film was produced by a former Romney adviser who had actually sought work on Mitt's 2012 campaign. “I have no idea what happened here,” a former associate says. As for the film, it talks to workers who lost their jobs and faced home foreclosures after Bain Capital—a private equity firm Romney helped start—acquired companies and forced layoffs. "This is not capitalism. This is predatory,” says a senior adviser of Winning Our Future, the PAC that won a bidding war for the film yesterday. A Romney rep calls it "puzzling to see Speaker Gingrich and his supporters continue their attacks on free enterprise."

Sen. Lindsey Graham said his bill would mandate that any special counsel established to investigate either a president or his staff can't be fired “unless you have judicial review of the firing.” | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Graham: Firing Mueller would be 'beginning of the end' of Trump's presidency Sen. Lindsey Graham sent a sharp warning Thursday to President Donald Trump that it “could be the beginning of the end” of his presidency if he makes moves to fire special counsel Robert Mueller. The South Carolina Republican, who in the late 1990s served as a House impeachment manager against President Bill Clinton, said Trump would be crossing a serious “red line” by ordering the ouster of the lead investigator who is probing his campaign’s ties to Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Story Continued Below “Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency unless Mueller did something wrong,” Graham told reporters on Capitol Hill, where he outlined plans to introduce legislation next week that would move to block any Trump attempts to fire Mueller. Graham said his bill — which he promised would have Republican support and “all the Democrats” — would mandate that any special counsel established to investigate either a president or his staff can't be fired “unless you have judicial review of the firing.” “We need a check and balance here,” Graham said. He is working on the legislation with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who in an MSNBC interview on Monday described the bill as an attempt to “try and make sure that the president can’t just fire a special prosecutor.” The most reliable politics newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. Trump, his lawyers and his surrogates have for weeks been publicly discrediting Mueller’s effort, in particular several attorneys he’s brought onto the task force who have made campaign contributions to Democrats. The Republican president’s lawyer has also questioned the scope of the Mueller probe as it reportedly looks into Trump’s business dealings dating back to well before he ran for the presidency. By questioning Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia probe, as well as other moves by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Trump has also sent signals he could be moving toward a much broader attempt to halt the Mueller probe. Procedurally, Trump could keep replacing his Justice Department leadership if they don’t follow his order to get rid of the special counsel — much as President Richard Nixon did in the “Saturday Night Massacre.” Trump last week sidestepped the idea of firing the special counsel in a New York Times interview. Asked directly whether he would consider firing Mueller, the president replied, “I can’t answer that question because I don’t think it’s going to happen.” The new White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in a Tuesday morning interview that the subject has come up with Trump. “I'll be on the record with this: In candid conversations with the president, I've said, 'Why would you fire him?'” Scaramucci said. Speaking with reporters Thursday, Graham also railed against Trump for his continued public humiliation of Sessions, repeating Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s comment on Wednesday night that there would be no confirmation hearings in 2017 for any Sessions replacement. “This effort to basically marginalize and humiliate the attorney general is not going over well with the Senate. I don’t think it’s going over well in the conservative world. If you believe Jeff Sessions should be fired, use the power you have and accept the consequences. I hope it stops,” Graham said, adding, “If Jeff Sessions is fired there will be holy hell to pay.” On Fox News the same morning, Graham appeared to speak directly to the president, who is known to watch the network: "I would suggest quit humiliating Jeff." Graham told reporters a Mueller firing would cause serious political and constitutional consequences for Trump. “The idea that the president would fire Mueller or have somebody fire Mueller because he doesn’t like Mueller, or Mueller is doing something he doesn’t like, then we become Russia,” Graham said. “So the red line should never be drawn. The president is not in the business of drawing red lines when it comes to the law. The law is above any presidential red line.” Negassi Tesfamichael contributed to this report. ||||| Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and others are standing up for Attorney General Jeff Sessions after President Trump suggested he wants Sessions to resign. (The Washington Post) For arguably the first time, Republicans are starting to draw red lines in an effort to save President Trump from himself. As Trump weighs firing one or both of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and special counsel Robert Mueller, a pair of GOP senators is promising measures to thwart or dissuade him. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said Wednesday that his panel would not confirm a new attorney general to replace Sessions this year. Then Thursday morning, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said he would introduce legislation to protect Mueller and warned it “could be the beginning of the end” of Trump's presidency if he tried to fire the special counsel. Everybody in D.C. Shld b warned that the agenda for the judiciary Comm is set for rest of 2017. Judges first subcabinet 2nd / AG no way — ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 27, 2017 Video: "Holy hell to pay" if Trump fires Sessions--> pic.twitter.com/DwZ3tmIIwm — Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) July 27, 2017 Both moves are unprecedented. For perhaps the first time, Senate Republicans with real sway are talking about concrete steps to counteract Trump's impulses and prevent constitutional crises. Republicans have spent plenty of time talking tough about Trump, mind you. Plenty of them said Trump's comments about women on that “Access Hollywood” tape were beyond the pale, and some even urged him to drop out of the presidential race. Many of these same members, such as Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), would later embrace Trump. (Chaffetz has since retired from Congress.) Like Graham, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been among the most vocal Trump critics in the GOP, including giving a brutal speech denouncing Trump's worldview in February in Munich. But even that speech didn't call out Trump by name, and McCain has frustrated Trump's opponents by not backing up his words with actions, such as voting against Trump's agenda. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), too, has been called upon to occasionally denounce Trump. And sometimes he has obliged. But he has also assumed a nonconfrontational approach to dealing with the president, repeatedly brushing off his tweets — including as recently as Thursday morning — in favor of trying to work with Trump to get things done. Reporter: "On the president's latest tweet..." Paul Ryan: "I don't read that stuff." — McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) July 27, 2017 There have been some threats of legislation or actions by Republicans to stop Trump. In January, for instance, GOP senators led by McCain threatened a bill to prevent Trump from lifting sanctions against Russia. Similarly, Graham in March suggested he might call for a special committee to look into Trump's baseless allegation that President Barack Obama wiretapped him. But this is the first time the stakes have been this high. And Grassley and Graham are going on-record with specific actions and threats. Look, politics is an inherently disingenuous business. Sometimes you say something with a little extra conviction to send a message, or you make threats that you're not 100 percent committed to backing up. Politicians also have to deal with the realities of alienating a president who has significant sway over whether they can pass their agenda. There is no doubt Republicans, after denouncing Trump repeatedly on the campaign trail and seeing him win anyway, have grown gun-shy. This is the moment he's gone too far and I can cut him off, they've thought so many times, only to be proven wrong in short order. I'm not one of those people who thinks McCain can't denounce Trump one day and vote for his agenda the next. McCain is a conservative Republican, so he tends to support Republican legislation. He wants to replace Obamacare, so he voted to move forward with a debate on doing just that this week, despite his reservations about the process. But at some point, Republicans who think Trump is truly flirting with a constitutional crisis will need to back up their tough rhetoric with actions. Grassley and Graham seem to be at least edging toward doing that — perhaps recognizing the uniquely fraught options Trump is apparently considering. We'll see how much follow-through there is. But at some point, the rubber must meet the road, or it just amounts to a bunch of talk. Update: Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) is also speaking out now, telling Trump not to plan on a possible recess appointment to replace Sessions. "Forget about it," Sasse said. Sasse didn't appear to threaten specific action, though Republicans as a whole could thwart a recess appointment. ||||| Washington (CNN) As President Donald Trump continues to publicly criticize Jeff Sessions, one of the attorney general's former colleagues is promising that if Sessions is fired, there will be "holy hell to pay." "I'm 100% behind Jeff Sessions," Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, told CNN's Manu Raju Thursday morning on Capitol Hill. "If Jeff Sessions is fired, there will be holy hell to pay." The Republican lawmaker also slammed Trump for what he views as an effort to "marginalize and humiliate" Sessions, adding that his Senate colleagues are also displeased with the recent barrage of attacks. "This effort to basically marginalize and humiliate the attorney general is not going over well in the Senate," Graham told CNN. "If you believe Jeff Sessions should be fired, use the power you have and accept the consequences." "I hope it stops," he added. Despite Trump's Twitter attacks, Sessions has no plans to resign , sources have told CNN. Instead, Sessions is moving ahead with his duties as attorney general, including routine meetings with administration officials at the White House on Wednesday. Graham then announced that he plans on introducing legislation next week to ensure that a special counsel cannot be fired if they are investigating the President, unless there is judicial review of the firing. "I'm going to try to come up with statutory language that would say, in the case of Bob Mueller and future special counsels, that if the attorney general fires that person who's been empaneled to investigate the President or their team, then judges will have to look and see if whether or not the reasons stated meet the statutory definitions," Graham told CNN. The South Carolina senator noted that this legislation is intended "not just for Trump, but for any future president," adding that "we need a check and balance here." So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2017 Trump has lambasted Sessions on Twitter over the past week, calling the attorney general "beleaguered" and slamming him for a "weak position" on former 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. "Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are emails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!" the President tweeted Tuesday. Trump also questioned why the attorney general and special counsel Robert Mueller were not looking into Clinton's deleted emails. "So many people are asking why isn't the A.G. or Special (Counsel) looking at the many Hillary Clinton or Comey crimes. 33,000 e-mails deleted?" Trump tweeted over the weekend. When asked whether he believes Donald Trump Jr. intentionally colluded with the Russians, Graham remains skeptical. Trump Jr., as well as then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner attended a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer who reportedly offered "compromising" information about Hillary Clinton. "I think Don Jr. thought the meeting was okay. I'm not saying he intentionally violated the law. I really believe he thought it was something that all campaigns should do," Graham said. But he cautioned that further investigations were necessary to determine the extent of the Trump team's contact with Russians. "The reason this won't end any time soon is because how can you say with 100% certainty, given all the players here, there was never any more contact?" Graham told CNN. "The likelihood that the Russians just quit after one meeting, once the Trump campaign expressed desire to be helped, is pretty hard to believe but that may be the facts." Attendees of the meeting have repeatedly said the June 2016 gathering was the only time they met. "As it ended, my acquaintance apologized for taking up our time," Trump Jr. said in a statement obtained by CNN on July 9. "That was the end of it and there was no further contact or follow-up of any kind. My father knew nothing of the meeting or these events."

– “Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency," Politico quotes Sen. Lindsey Graham as saying. The Republican senator says he's introducing a bipartisan bill that will subject any firing of a special counsel investigating a president—including a possible firing of Robert Mueller by President Trump—to judicial review. "We need a check and balance here," CNN quotes Graham as saying. Graham says Trump firing Mueller just because he doesn't like Mueller's investigation would be crossing a "red line" and cause the US to "become Russia." Graham also had strong words for Trump's badgering of Jeff Sessions—which some see as an attempt to get the attorney general to resign so Trump can replace him with someone who will end the Mueller investigation. Graham says he's "100% behind" Sessions and that "there will be holy hell to pay" if Trump fires him. Graham says Trump needs to stop trying to "marginalize and humiliate" Sessions or simply fire him and "accept the consequences." The Washington Post states with Graham's comments and proposed bill it appears GOP lawmakers may finally be ready to take concrete steps in "an effort to save President Trump from himself" and prevent a constitutional crisis.

CLEVELAND - Police are investigating the theft of seven guns swiped from a Cleveland home sometime early Tuesday morning. A mom and her two children were asleep upstairs when she said the thief or thieves broke into the home and cleaned out two gun cabinets. "They're ready for a war, we were ready for a war," said Teena Brayen Brayen and her family are doomsday preppers. "We're preppers, we believe in preparing for what could happen," said Brayen. Brayen said that her kids left the side door unlocked and the burglar walked right inside. Five shotguns, a high-powered rifle, and a pellet gun were all stolen. But, that's not all. A bug out bag was taken. That's a portable kit that contains items needed to survive a disaster. "Rice, beans, ammo, a thousand dollars worth of ammo, smoke grenades, 12 machete knives," were all taken said Brayen. A bullet proof vest was also taken. Brayen is concerned that the guns are now in the wrong hands. "I don't want to see people get hurt because of what people took out of my home, " she said. If you have any information about the crime, call the 5th District at 216-623-5500. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Thieves stole a high-powered rifle and 5 shotguns from the home of a family of doomsday preppers in Cleveland. https://t.co/GpRehDMFi0 pic.twitter.com/fGbEBFtorb — The Trace (@teamtrace) November 23, 2016 A brief glance at the robin’s egg blue, two-story home on the east side of Cleveland — complete with a low white fence around the raised porch and a grassy front yard covered by leaves — and you would not think it contained a small arsenal. Until, that is, you realized it was inhabited by members of the Three Percenters, a militia group, which named itself for the claim that only 3 percent of the population fought in the American Revolution. On its website, the group referred to itself as a “structured group of United patriots willing to protect our rights against a tyrannical government and foreign invaders.” The group seems particularly concerned with “Big Government,” a concept often associated with those identifying as liberal (a group toward which the Three Percenters show particularly animosity). As its website stated: The states are losing control, federal judges are overruling the people, liberals and democrats are determined to disarm citizens, and the political climate is aggressive and leaning toward socialism. Our founding fathers warned us about this with their intentional laws written into the constitution and the bill of rights. Three Percenters are ex and current military, police, and trained civilians that will stand up and fight if our rights are infringed in any way. To prepare for the explosive event of fighting for their rights, many affiliated with the movement stockpile everything from food and water (to prepare for doomsday) to weapons, ammunition and explosives (to prepare for battle). (For context, Jon Ritzheimer, who was a central figure in armed occupation of a wildlife refuge in Oregon, is a Three Percenter.) Teena Brayen, who recently moved with her family from New York to that azure home with her husband and two children, counts herself among this group. As such, she stocked up in preparation for anything she might have to do, from feeding a starving family if the supply chain gets cut to fighting off an invading force. In her own words, “We’re preppers, we believe in preparing for what could happen. … We were war-ready.” As Brayen explained to WJW-TV, “Should we be invaded by another country and not able to go get food or should something happen to where our food supply chain or our community would come into any type of harm’s way, we have a way to supply for ourselves and the community around us.” An inherent aspect of this belief system is that such weaponry is best handled by those in the militia, which is why Tuesday’s events have caused concern for Brayen. She may have been prepared for an attack by the government, but she was not prepared for a home burglary. When she went to sleep on Monday night, she thought the house was secure. But now she thinks one of her two young children had left the side door unlocked. That evening, she says she told police, the house was broken into, and the arsenal was raided. Police are investigating the burglary, the Associated Press reported, but they have not said much to the news media about it. Brayen, though, has been open with a few local TV stations. She said she is worried for her neighbors, as whoever broke into her home is now armed to the teeth with guns, knives and smoke grenades. “They have seven guns, seven,” Brayen told WJW. Among the stolen items: five shotguns, a high-powered rifle, a pellet gun, at least one bulletproof vest, a bugout bag containing rice and beans, more than $1,000 in ammunition, smoke grenades, and 12 machetes. Brayen told the station that one of those guns, which she said “looks like a sniper rifle,” is powerful enough to pierce not just body armor but the exterior of an automobile. Brayen was deeply shaken by the experience and was worried about what the weapons might be used for. She said she is particularly worried about “our military personnel, especially, and our police officers because they wear bulletproof vests.” “We have a gun out there that can pierce them and go through cars,” she told WJW. “All you have got to do is aim it. They took all of our ammo. With the ammunition that they’ve got, they’re good for a good year with that ammunition.” More generally, she simply does not want harm to befall anyone. “They’re ready for a war,” Brayen, nearly in tears, told ABC. “I don’t want to see anybody get hurt by what people took out of my home.” More from Morning Mix ‘After the beating’: Moroccan TV airs makeup tips for hiding domestic violence Wayne State University police officer dies after being shot in head Dalai Lama, long friendly with U.S. presidents, says he has ‘no worries’ about Trump ||||| Every damn day I talk to people who don’t understand what the 2nd Amendment means so I’m going to break it down for you, explain in terms even a Liberal can understand…whether they choose to admit it remains to be seen. The 2nd amendment. “A WELL REGULATED MILITIA,… (The first thing people need to understand is what “well regulated” meant in the 17 and 1800’s . It didn’t mean the same thing as to what people think it means now. Today, Regulated means, to control or direct according to rule, principle, or law. In the 17 and 1800’s Regulated meant, to put or maintain in order. So, when our founders wrote the 2nd Amendment and used “A Well Regulated” for the first 3 words, they were referring to “a well armed and well trained” militia, not that the government should, needs or has the authority to dictate what types of firearms we can and cannot KEEP, or where we have the right to BEAR them. People nowadays think it means that the government has the right to regulate our firearms but any rational intelligent person would understand that if it meant what they thought it meant back when our founders wrote it today it would contradict with the “shall not be infringed” part, right?… but we’ll get to that in a minute, but first lets discuss what an actual militia is and isn’t. The “militia” was not a standing army like the U.S. Army now or even the Colonial Army or Colonial Regulars during the revolution. They were every day ordinary citizens that could be called up at a moments notice in a time of need. They could fight with the regular Army or oppose them if they were ever to became tyrannical. The militias were all volunteer and were under no contractual obligation nor were they paid unless asked to stand or fight a long side the regular Army, but they could leave anytime and were under no oath or contract to stay. The Militias were not controlled by local, state or the federal governments, as I said, it was all volunteer but every citizens duty to be armed and ready. Now, Liberals/Democrats and those who oppose the second amendment would like everyone to believe that National Guard is the Militia…and they would be wrong. Why? Because one, the National Guard is in fact a Branch of the U.S. Army and they are under contract with their state governments, the federal government and receive a paycheck from the government which is the very definition of a “Standing Army”. Our founders intended for our militias to NOT be controlled by the government because if the government EVER became tyrannical they wanted a “citizens militia” to be able to take the power back, by force if necessary, and give it back to the people. …BEING NECESSARY TO THE SECURITY OF A FREE STATE THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE, TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS, SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.” Now the citizens, Well Armed and Well Trained, and uncontrolled militia was necessary for the security of a free state…even if that meant against our own government and in order for the security of a free state the “people” needed to be armed and be able to retain that “RIGHT” to be armed without any interference or infringement from the government…period… our founders knew and understood that if the people lost that right a free state was no longer guaranteed. Now to KEEP means in your home, to BEAR means wear it on your body…your chest, hip, leg, under your arm or even in your waist band, which I wouldn’t do, but hey to each his own….to bear means you can carry a gun in public…period! Last but not least is my favorite, those four little words gun grabbers, liberals and traitor politicians hate to hear…SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED! Politicians are always talking about how they can ratify any amendment in the Constitution and I don’t disagree…except for the 2nd Amendment. Why? Because it’s the only amendment in the Constitution that has those four words that makes Liberals cringe, SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED! Just like well regulated Liberals obviously don’t know what infringe[d] means either and the meaning of the word infringed hasn’t changed since the 1700’s but for the sake of argument here’s the definition so Liberals will better understand what infringed means. INFRINGED 1. To transgress or exceed the limits of; violate: infringe a contract; infringe a patent or a right. 2. To encroach on someone or something; engage in trespassing: 1. (tr) to violate or break (a law, an agreement, etc) 2. (intr; foll by on or upon) to encroach or trespass I honestly think no matter how many times we explain it to Liberals either their minds are so warped or they just don’t care so I really don’t think me explaining this to them really matters. They’re willing to give up all of their rights and ours, yes all of our rights, because they’re weak and scared…but they all love to point out that they have a First Amendment “right” to speak out against the Second Amendment but they’re too stupid to realize that the first amendment won’t last very long without the second amendment to protect it…nor will any other amendments. Sooooo….if this breakdown of the 2nd Amendment does anything or helps anyone to better understand it, maybe it’ll wake up all those intelligent and rational people who’ve been lied to, deceived and betrayed by the Main Stream Media, the sellouts who refer to themselves as journalist and our very own government. And if it doesn’t, well, there’s enough of us who do understand what the Second Amendment clearly states and those of us who will die defending it and have no problem making the other person(s) die who try to take it from us. Understand people, no man, group of men, organization, like the U.N….another country nor our own has the right to take, INFRINGE, on our right to KEEP and BEAR ARMS and anyone who tries will be met with deadly force. Your fear of us owning and carrying firearms does not trump our right to KEEP and BEAR them…understand, if the thought of us law abiding citizens owning and carrying firearms scares you, then what will happen if anyone tries to disarm us should terrify you. ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video CLEVELAND-- They call themselves doomsday preppers, but members of a Cleveland family were not prepared when burglars broke into their home early Tuesday morning. Teena Brayen and her husband are part of a militia group known at the Three Percenters. They consider it their duty to oppose any effort by the government to intrude on their personal liberties. They are also prepared for Armageddon. "Should we be invaded by another country and not able to go get food or should something happen to where our food supply chain or our community would come into any type of harm's way, we have a way to supply for ourselves and the community around us," Teena Brayen said. The family, who recently moved from New York to Cleveland, said burglars broke into their home off of St. Clair Avenue early Monday morning while they were asleep. The thieves cleaned out two of their gun cases. They also got away with a bag of machetes, ammunition and food rations. "These guys are prepared for war now, they have seven guns, seven," Brayen said. The Brayens said they believe when they moved on Oct. 28, the thieves saw them carrying the weapons inside. The burglars also took body armor. Now, the Brayens are worried that as a result of their doomsday preparations, others are in danger. "Our military personnel, especially, and our police officers because they wear bullet proof vests. We have a gun out there that can pierce them and go through cars. All you have got to do is aim it. They took all of our ammo. With the ammunition that they've got, they're good for a good year with that ammunition."

– A Cleveland couple was ready for the apocalypse—but apparently not for thieves. Teena Brayen says burglars broke into her home early Tuesday while her family was sleeping and made off with five shotguns, a high-powered rifle, a pellet gun, $1,000 worth of ammunition, 12 machetes, smoke grenades, a bulletproof vest, and food rations, reports ABC5. Brayen and her husband are members of militia group Three Percenters—a name based on the claim that just 3% of the US population fought in the American Revolution, per the Washington Post—and hoped to use the supplies to protect and provide for themselves in the event of catastrophe, or perhaps invasion by another country, Brayen tells Fox 8. Brayen, who believes thieves saw the family moving weapons into their Cleveland home when they moved from New York a month ago, says she fears for "military personnel, especially, and our police officers" as one of the weapons taken "looks like a sniper rifle" and can pierce bulletproof vests and even cars. "They're ready for a war," she says of the thieves. "We were war-ready." Brayen adds she believed the weapons and gear were secure when she went to sleep on Monday night, but now suspects one of her two children left a door to the home unlocked. "I don't want to see anybody get hurt by what people took out of my home," she says. Police are investigating, reports the AP.

Like us on Facebook Researchers at the University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB) have made a breakthrough discovery that the female sex hormone, estrogen, may be able to save the lives of wounded soldiers and trauma patients who have suffered up to 60 percent blood loss. Irshan Chaudry, director of the Center for Surgical Research at UAB, has spent 19 years on this sensitive research and recently received a $10 million U.S. Department of Defense contract to begin human safety testing trials of the synthetic estrogen, known as E2. Untreated blood loss is the primary cause of death for soldiers in battle, and is preventable in many circumstances. Indeed, between 2001 and 2011, more than 80 percent of U.S. soldiers’ deaths during combat resulted from preventable blood loss and septicemia. Often, soldiers are wounded in locations where they can’t be quickly transported to a field hospital, which leaves medics very little time to treat them. “The golden period after injury, when one needs transport to an ER to have a good benefit of surviving trauma, is one hour,” Chaudry tells mental_floss. “The longer you wait, the more deleterious the effects.” The goal of the treatment is to buy the soldiers enough time to make it alive to a field hospital. “Six hours should be more than adequate to get them to treatment,” he says. When a person or animal loses blood, minute blood vessels collapse, which results in decreased oxygenation to the tissues. If that is not corrected, the cells gradually die, the organs shut down, and then eventually, so does the entire organism. “Anything we can do to prevent that decrease of microcirculation is good,” Chaudry says. He paraphrases British trauma researcher Harry Berrington Stoner: “The body is like a swamp after blood loss, and anything that can turn it into a running brook is the answer.” What makes estrogen such a life-saving hormone? Surprisingly, estrogen receptors are found in every cell of the body, and in the mitochondria, in both males and females. “When estrogen receptors are active, they produce more ATP [the “energy currency” of cells], which we need for literally everything we do,” says Chaudry. “When we lose blood through trauma, the production of ATP decreases.” In 1997, Chaudry and his co-researcher Rene Zellweger discovered the immune-boosting and cardiovascular bolstering effects of estrogen by accident. They were using mice to study infections in trauma-hemorrhaged patients. Instead of male mice, the vendor accidentally sent female mice, which Zellweger did not want to use due to their fluctuating hormones. Yet Chaudry pushed ahead with the study and they found the females were more infection-tolerant—resisting septicemia—than Chaudry had predicted. Excited, Chaudry ordered more female mice and repeated the experiment. The second time around, the experiment failed. He wondered what was different. "We realized it may have been that we got the females at different points in their cycles,” he says. Sure enough, the first batch of infection-tolerant female mice had been at the proestrus phase of their menstrual cycles, just prior to ovulation, when estrogen levels are highest. Next, they tested the E2 on blood loss, a common trauma issue, and found that E2 significantly improved cardiovascular and liver function in patients who had lost up to as much as 60 percent of total blood volume; it worked by dilating blood vessels and moving fluid from tissues to blood more efficiently. It also reduced inflammatory cytokines and staved off death or organ failure by three hours. In 2005, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), held a competition seeking a treatment that would keep a soldier alive for at least three hours after significant, almost universally fatal blood loss [PDF]. Chaudry and his researchers stepped up. They used a version of E2 that was microencapsulated with cyclodextrin—a sugar-like compound—to make it water-soluble. Since then, Chaudry’s synthetic estrogen has been engineered, with the help of DARPA, to a variant called ethinyl estradiol-3-sulfate, or EE-3-SO4. A syringe of this version can buy mice and horses up to six hours before they show signs of organ failure or death. “There is a lot of edema after trauma, so if we can pull that fluid back from the tissue into blood circulation, it maintains a state of permissive hypotension, enough to sustain life and protect the animals,” he says. Meanwhile, EE-3-SO4 may have benefits for victims of brain trauma as well. In research, the estrogen also reduced cerebral edema, increased blood flow to the brain, and reduced brain cell death. Both estrogen variants have the potential for applications in civilian trauma in conditions where they can’t immediately get to a hospital. Currently waiting to begin the filing process for FDA approval, Chaudry is confident that within a year they will be approved to begin human safety trials. His hope is that eventually all emergency vehicles will carry pre-loaded estrogen syringes, ready at a moment’s notice to literally make the difference between life and death. ||||| Irshad Chaudry, Ph.D. ‘Wasting our time’ Click to enlarge Mechanistic studies Human trials Breakthrough research suggests a female sex hormone may be the key to saving lives on the battlefield, where between 2001 and 2011 more than 80 percent of potentially preventable U.S. war injury deaths resulted from blood loss.The hormone shows the promise of prolonged survival despite massive loss of blood and could be carried in a small autoinjector for use.In a landmark step – after 19 years of research by Irshad Chaudry, Ph.D. – the University of Alabama at Birmingham has received a $10 million U.S. Department of Defense contract funded by the Combat Casualty Care Research Program, US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick MD, to begin testing its potentially life-saving synthetic estrogen for safety in humans. The long path to this breakthrough for Chaudry, who is director of the Center for Surgical Research in the UAB School of Medicine , was prompted by a mistake; in 1997 he and postdoctoral fellow Rene Zellweger, M.D., received the wrong shipment of mice.Chances like that are a beguiling part of science. Alexander Fleming discovered the penicillin mold through fluke contamination in a Petri dish. Charles Goodyear created vulcanized rubber after accidental stove contact. The hint leading to the first microwave oven began when radar researcher Percy Spencer reached in his pocket and found his chocolate bar had melted.Chaudry and Zellweger’s spark of serendipity came during study of a serious complication seen in trauma-hemorrhaged patients – the bacterial blood infections that are called sepsis. These infections can strike days, weeks or months after severe trauma and blood loss, causing single or multiple organ failure, long hospital stays and death of patients. “The cost to society is substantial, and the onset of sepsis after trauma is a major, worldwide problem,” Chaudry said.Chaudry and Zellweger were examining the mechanism by which sepsis produces multiple organ failure and death in a murine model. But when Zellweger received a group of female, not male, mice, he told Chaudry they were unsuitable because female hormone levels vary too much.Chaudry told Zellweger to use the female mice, and the result was astonishing. All of the female mice resisted sepsis without any treatment.“I was excited,” Chaudry said, “and he was puzzled.” So they repeated the work with another group of female mice, but this time the untreated septic mice all succumbed to the infection — a seeming paradox.“See, we’re wasting our time,” said Zellweger. But the researchers solved the puzzle when they realized that the two groups may have been at different stages of their estrous cycles. By pure chance, the females of the first group had been at the proestrous phase, that moment when estrogen hormones levels are at their peak. In animal models, Chaudry and colleagues soon learned that a dose of the estrogen 17β-estradiol (E2) could protect males and females against septicemia, regardless of the female estrous phase. The estrogen affects the immune system and cardiovascular responses, which typically are profoundly depressed after trauma.Chaudry and his colleagues next tested E2 for another trauma problem — blood loss. They found that after massive blood loss, and an additional prolonged hypotensive period, followed by intravenous fluid resuscitation, E2 significantly improved heart performance, heart output and liver function. E2 also attenuated an increase in interleukin-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine.About this time, in 2005, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, announced a vital goal: finding a way to stretch the time that a severely wounded soldier with blood loss could stay alive. This would give the warfighter a better chance of reaching a field hospital for definitive surgical and medical care.The agency held a competition with a simple and unequivocal criterion – produce a treatment that enables survival at least three hours after significant, almost universally fatal blood loss. Any research programs that passed this first trial then would face a Phase II challenge of six-hour survival. Furthermore, the therapeutic material had to be deliverable in a small volume, for easy future inclusion in a battlefield pack.Chaudry and his colleagues discovered that E2 could allow survival for three hours without any fluid resuscitation, and long-term survival if fluid resuscitation was provided after 3 hours. The prolonged period of low blood pressure after blood loss significantly affects mitochondrial function, endoplasmic reticulum stress markers and inflammatory cytokine production, but E2 was able to diminish those changes. Low blood pressure reduces the delivery of oxygen to tissues and to the mitochondria, which voraciously consume oxygen to produce energy in the form of ATP. Thus, oxygen deprivation is a burden for tissues and mitochondria under low blood flow conditions.In the three-hour challenge, Chaudry and his colleagues used E2 that was microencapsulated within cyclodextrin to make it water soluble. For the six-hour challenge, with the help of DARPA, UAB had a synthetic estrogen variant called ethinyl estradiol-3-sulfate, or EE-3-SO4 synthetized by a pharmaceutical company. Six-hour survival rates of 50 and 80 percent were seen with EE-3- SO4 in porcine and murine models respectively, even in the absence of fluid resuscitation. These results from a multi-site study led by Chaudry, which were reported in 2014 and 2015, provided the needed proof of principle for initial clinical studies.Out of 10 initial Surviving Blood Loss programs funded by DARPA, UAB was the only one that met the challenge of 6 hour survival after 60 percent blood loss in the absence of fluid resuscitation.DARPA’s six-hour aim was solely survival, but Chaudry has continued mechanistic studies of how EE-3- SO4 produces beneficial effects. The estrogen appears to interact with the different types of estrogen receptors in all types of tissues in both men and women. Using selective estrogen-receptor antagonists or agonists for the different types of estrogen receptors, Chaudry’s research team continues to look at which type of receptor is important for EE-3- SO4 action in different tissues.Besides improved heart function, EE-3- SO4 appears to dilate blood vessels and speed the movement of fluid from the tissue compartment into the blood compartment (the interstitial fluid of the tissue compartment has about twice the volume compared to the average volume of blood in adult humans). Lowering this resistance to improve blood flow to vital organs hails back to the great challenge to trauma recovery seen by the noted English trauma researcher Harry Berrington “Berry” Stoner, M.D. He wrote that the body’s blood system is like a swamp after trauma, and anything that turns the swamp into a running brook is the answer for treating shock.DARPA was key to finding a company to manufacture pharmaceutical grade EE-3-SO4 under U.S. Food and Drug Administration Good Manufacturing Practice. Also, in preparation for an investigational new drug application to the FDA, some of the pre-clinical animal experiments have had to be done in institutions under FDA Good Laboratory Practice.UAB has applied for patent protection for EE-3-SO4. Beyond its battlefield potential, one important application could be domestic trauma patients, given that earlier E2 results that have shown reduced mortality and septicemia. Also, EE-3- SO4 may have a third beneficial effect – treatment after traumatic brain injury. In experiments, the estrogen is able to reduce cerebral edema, increase brain blood flow, increase cognitive function and memory, and lessen brain cell death. Thus, EE-3- SO4 may prove to be a triple boon for trauma victims.Trauma is the leading cause of U.S. deaths for people under 47 years of age, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because trauma hits all ages of people, it represents 30 percent of all U.S. life-years-lost each year, a far larger loss than cancer, 16 percent of all lost life-years, or heart disease, 12 percent.“If we can prevent sepsis and multiple organ failure after trauma,” Chaudry said, “insurance companies will gladly reimburse drug costs because there will be great cost benefits and the quality of life will be better.”“If these study findings translate to the battlefield,” Chaudry wrote in his recent paper last June, “additional time will be available for transport of the wounded to safer locations where standard resuscitation measures can be accomplished.”Likewise, the so-called “golden-hour” after injury for needed fluid resuscitation may be prolonged to 6 hours if small volume of E2 is administered shortly after injury in patients at the scene of an accident in rural areas where transportation to a Level 1 Trauma Center takes more than an hour.Chaudry’s 19-year study of the effect of estrogen began at the Shock and Trauma laboratories, Michigan State University, and at the Center for Surgical Research at Brown University School of Medicine. Chaudry moved to UAB in 2000. He has had many collaborators since his initial 1997 paper with Zellweger and other colleagues in the journal Critical Care Medicine.UAB’s B.L. Harbert Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship is managing two pending U.S. patent applications of EE-3-SO4, with Irshad H. Chaudry, William J. Hubbard and Zheng F. Ba listed as the inventors.The recent Chaudry papers on six-hour survival, published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and Journal of Surgical Research, include co-authors from UAB, the Keith Pharmacology Research Group, Andover, Massachusetts; Fast-Track Drugs and Biologics, North Potomac, Maryland; Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies, Texas A&M University; and NDA Partners, Falls Church, Virginia.Funding for this recent research came through DARPA grant #W911NF-07-1-0917.

– More than 80% of US soldiers' deaths between 2001 and 2011 were the result of blood loss and septicemia. There's limited time to save trauma victims experiencing significant blood loss—the so-called "golden hour"—and researchers at the University of Alabama have been working for 19 years on a way to extend that time so that wounded soldiers and remote trauma victims are more likely to survive the long trip to a hospital. They think they've hit upon the secret ingredient—a synthetic version of the female sex hormone estrogen, and they've received a $10 million Defense Department grant to test it on humans. The breakthrough dates back to 1997 and is actually the result of a mistake. Researchers got an order of female mice instead of males; they almost didn't use the mice because of how much female hormone levels fluctuate, but they went ahead and were astonished to find that all of them resisted sepsis without any other treatment. When they tried it again with another batch of females it failed—because the mice were in a different part of their estrous cycles with lowered estrogen. After further testing, they found that synthetic estrogen also improves heart and liver function, even after 60% blood loss, because it dilates blood vessels, moving fluid more efficiently, reports Mental Floss. The latest estrogen variant, EE-3-SO4, helps prolong life for up to six hours post-trauma and could help not just trauma victims in general, but especially those with traumatic brain injuries. (This form of estrogen fuels lust and racy behavior.)

A visitor takes a picture of the artwork entitled ''Travesty'' by Konstantin Altunin at an exhibition at the Muzei Vlasti (Museum of Authorities) in St. Petersburg August 15, 2013. Overnight on August 26 several art installations, including the ''Travesty'' that depicts... ST PETERSBURG, Russia Police seized a painting of Russia's president and prime minister in women's underwear from a gallery in St Petersburg, saying the satirical display had broken unspecified laws. The officers also removed a picture of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, his torso covered in tattoos, and two others poking fun at lawmakers who have backed legislation banning so-called gay propaganda, gallery staff said. The police service said it had taken paintings from the "Museum of Power" gallery - based in two rooms of a flat - late on Monday after receiving reports they were illegal. It gave no further detail but Russia does have a law against insulting authorities - an offence that carries a maximum one-year prison term. One painting showed president Vladimir Putin wearing a tight-fitting slip and brushing the hair of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is wearing knickers and a bra. St Petersburg deputy Vitaly Mironov, whose face was combined with the gay rights movement's rainbow flag in one of the paintings, told Reuters the images were inappropriate and "of a distinctly pornographic character". St Petersburg, which next week hosts world leaders at a G20 summit, was one of the first Russian cities to introduce a law banning the spread of "gay propaganda". The Russian parliament has also adopted similar legislation, prompting protests from abroad and calls for a boycott of the Winter Olympics which Russia will host in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in February. Gallery owner Alexander Donskoy said the officers had also shut down his establishment and have him no explanation for the removal of paintings from the exhibition, titled 'Leaders'. "This is an (illegal) seizure," he told Reuters. "We have been given no formal documents banning us from operating and no receipt confirming our petty cash was seized." (Reporting By Liza Dobkina, Writing by Alexei Anishchuk; Editing by Andrew Heavens) ||||| The Museum of Authority. Painting by Konstantin Altunin of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev in womens underwear. A painting depicting politicians Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev in women’s underwear was one of the items Russian authorities confiscated Monday upon raiding a newly-opened St. Petersburg art gallery that had shown solidarity with Russia’s gay-rights movement. The off-beat gallery, known as the Museum of Authority, opened on August 15 with an inaugural exhibit called “The Rulers” that featured paintings by artist Konstantin Altunin of public figures such as President Barack Obama, former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and Mr. Putin. The idea of the museum had been to put on exhibits relating to various authorities, said founder Alexander Donskoi. Much of the inaugural exhibit was raunchy or politically-charged. One painting depicted St. Petersburg politician Vitaly Milonov – who spearheaded a local “gay propaganda” law that became inspiration for similar national legislation – against a rainbow background. The law bans people from expressing support for “non-traditional” lifestyles in front of minors. A national version of it was signed into law in June.

– Looks like Russian authorities will no longer allow mockery to be used as a weapon by those opposed to the country's anti-gay law. Police swooped on a newly opened art gallery in St. Petersburg yesterday and removed several paintings, including one depicting Vladimir Putin wearing a nightie as he brushes the hair of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is clad in a bra and panties, Reuters reports. Paintings poking fun at the anti-gay law and at the head of the Russian Orthodox church were also seized. The owner of the "Museum of Authority" says police officers shut down his gallery and didn't give him an explanation for the seizure—or a receipt for the petty cash they took. "I'm very afraid in this situation," he tells the Wall Street Journal. "Because today the authorities can do whatever they want." The police say they raided the gallery after receiving complaints about illegal paintings. It's not clear what laws were broken, although insulting the authorities is a crime that carries up to a one-year sentence in Russia.

Image caption Baby Nargis was born on Monday (Photo: Plan International) A baby born in India has been declared the world's seven billionth person by child rights group Plan International. Baby Nargis was born at 07:25 local time (01:55GMT) in Mall village in India's Uttar Pradesh state. Plan International says Nargis has been chosen symbolically as it is not possible to know where exactly the seven billionth baby is born. The United Nations estimated that on Monday 31 October, the world's population would reach seven billion. However, the UN itself has decided not to identify a specific child as the seven billionth person. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, told a news conference marking the occasion that the milestone was not about one newborn baby but about the entire "human family". He warned of rising public anger in the world's population and a loss of faith in governments and public institutions to do the right thing. "Our world is one of terrible contradictions," he said. "Plenty of food but one billion people go hungry. Lavish lifestyles for a few but poverty for too many others." He said he would take a message to the leaders of the G20 leading economies who are due to meet in Cannes later this week. "Think about our children, think about the future with vision and foresight." He said he would call for the world's poor not to be forgotten in a time of economic austerity and for women and young people to be given a proper voice in their future. In addition to baby Nargis in India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Cambodia have all identified seven billionth babies. 'Good luck' Every minute, 51 babies are born in India, 11 of them in the most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. Nargis was born to Vinita and Ajay Kumar on Monday morning in a small government-run hospital in Mall village, nearly 50km (31 miles) from the state capital, Lucknow, a Plan International official told the BBC. The daughter of a poor farmer, Nargis was chosen as the seventh billionth baby to focus attention on the ills of female foeticide and India's skewed sex ratio, the organisation said. Hundreds of thousands of female foetuses are aborted in India every year, even though sex-selective terminations and the use of ultrasound technology for foetal sex-determination are illegal there. Photos of baby Nargis were shown at a function attended by nearly 250 villagers at the hospital, the BBC's Ram Dutt Tripathi reports from Mall. Health officials presented the birth certificate to her father at the event. "We were praying all along for a daughter," Ajay Kumar said. "She is Lakshmi [Hindu goddess of wealth], she will bring us good luck," he said. A street play staged at the event on the importance of the girl child saw many moist eyes among the audiences, our correspondent says. The person chosen by the UN as the world's symbolic six billionth person, Adnan Mevic, is now 12 years old. He was photographed in hospital in 1999 with the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. His family are living in relatively poor conditions in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, and have expressed disappointment that since they were visited by Mr Annan, they have heard nothing more from the UN. It is thought that this could be one reason why the UN has decided not to name a seven billionth child. ||||| This article is over 7 years old Danica May Camacho, a girl born in Philippine capital Manila, is chosen by UN to symbolically mark global population milestone The world's seven billionth baby has been born in a packed government-run hospital in the Philippines. Weighing 2.5kg (5.5lb), Danica May Camacho was chosen by the United Nations to be one of several children around the world who will symbolically represent the global population milestone. She was delivered just before midnight on Sunday amid an explosion of press camera flashes at Manila's Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital. "She looks so lovely," her mother, Camille Dalura, whispered softly as she cradled her tiny newborn. "I can't believe she is the world's seven billionth." Danica's name means morning star. She is a second child for Camille Dalura and Florante Camacho. The parents and the baby were met by officials from the UN, which named 31 October Seven Billion Day, aiming to draw attention to the challenges of the world's growing population. The accuracy of the projection has been questioned, with some groups arguing that the figure is more likely to be reached next year. UN officials nevertheless presented the baby and her parents with a small cake as she lay on her mother's chest wearing a knitted red hat. The family also received a scholarship grant for Danica's education from wellwishers and some money to help them open a shop. Previous children picked out at birth by the UN to mark world population milestones have complained that the international body forgot about them later in life. Both 12-year-old Adnan Nevic of Bosnia Herzogovina, the sixth billionth baby, and Matej Gaspar from Croatia, who was number five billion, have complained that the UN chose them at birth then largely ignored them. "We saw Kofi Annan as almost like a godfather to him," Adnan's father, Jasminko, told the Guardian. Adnan said: "He held me up when I was two days old but since then we have heard nothing from them." The UN Population Fund hopes to raise awareness about reproductive health, women's rights and inequality through the campaign. Countries around the world have held celebrations to mark the occasion, including a song contest in Zambia and a concert in Vietnam. The Philippines has 94.9 million people, according to a UN report, and 10% of girls aged 15 to 19 have been pregnant. Enrique Ona, the country's health secretary, said the birth offered his country an opportunity to address population-related problems.

– The world’s 7 billionth baby has been born, and a number of infants are vying for the title. The UN has chosen Danica May Camacho—born in Manila, Philippines, just before midnight—as its symbolic No. 7 billion, the Guardian reports. UN officials offered Danica’s family a cake to celebrate, while other supporters gave the family a scholarship for her schooling. In India, kids' rights activists Plan International have chosen a girl named Nargis, born today in the country’s most populous state, to represent No. 7 billion. She was chosen to call attention to widespread, illegal sex-selective abortions of female fetuses, Plan International said. Some 250 villagers attended a hospital event celebrating her birth, which included a street play celebrating girls, the BBC reports. But the Guardian spoke to former milestone babies who say that once the hoopla passed, they felt discarded by the UN. "We saw Kofi Annan as almost like a godfather to him," says the father of 12-year-old Adnan Nevic of Bosnia Herzogovina, the sixth billionth baby. Says Adnan, "He held me up when I was two days old but since then we have heard nothing from them."

After spending two weeks on vacation in Mexico, Richard and Linda Bell were on a United Airlines flight home from Houston to Calgary on Sunday. They thought their adventure was over — until a scorpion fell from the overhead compartment and on to Richard. They didn’t immediately recognize the honey-colored, 1.5-inch animal until a passenger sitting next to them pointed out that it was probably a scorpion. Richard took the scorpion from his hair and dropped it onto his tray. When he picked it up again, the animal stung him. Bell told Global News Canada that it “felt like a wasp sting.” Another passenger took the scorpion, stomped it on the ground and then threw the remains in the toilet. Upon landing in Calgary, emergency personnel came onboard the plane to examine Richard. He showed “no sign of distress,” according to an EMS spokesperson, and declined medical attention. It is unclear how the scorpion got onto the flight, although the most likely scenario is that it snuck onboard inside someone’s luggage. United Airlines is investigating the incident. This is not the first time a scorpion had made its way onto the cabin and bit a passenger. In 2015, an Alaska Airlines flight was forced to return to its origin airport in Los Angeles after a woman onboard was stung by a scorpion. The woman declined medical attention upon arrival. ||||| A creature that appeared to be a scorpion fell from an overhead bin and stung a man on a United Airlines flight, the company confirmed to CNBC on Thursday. According to multiple reports, passenger Richard Bell was on a United flight from Houston to Calgary on Sunday, when the creature fell from an overhead bin and stung him. United told CNBC the airline crew immediately consulted with a physician on the ground who provided guidance throughout the incident. The company said the man's injuries were non-life threatening. "Medical personnel met the aircraft after it arrived in Calgary," United spokesman Charles Hobart told CNBC. The news came after United sparked outrage earlier this week when a video surfaced of a passenger being dragged off an overbooked United Express flight. United CEO Oscar Munoz at first supported the action. Later, he apologized "for having to re-accommodate these customers." On Tuesday, he issued a detailed apology. Watch: The latest on United's very bad week

– United Airlines stockholder: "Man, this week couldn't get any worse." Scorpion: "Hold my beer." CNBC reports a scorpion fell out of an overhead bin and stung a passenger during a United flight between Houston and Calgary on Sunday. Richard Bell was on his way home from a two-week vacation in Mexico when the scorpion fell onto his head, according to Travel and Leisure. After stinging Bell, the scorpion was crushed by another passenger and thrown in a toilet. Flight crew consulted with a doctor, and the sting was determined not to be life-threatening. Bell declined treatment upon landing in Calgary. It's unclear how the scorpion got on the flight.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Republican who lost a primary runoff election to Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran is taking the first step to challenge the outcome. Chris McDaniel's campaign said it believes it has found about 4,900 examples of improper voting in the June 24 runoff. Most were by people who apparently voted in the June 3 Democratic primary and the Republican runoff, the campaign said. Mississippi does not register voters by party, but state law bans a person from voting in one party's primary and another party's runoff in the same cycle. The McDaniel campaign did not release documents supporting its claim. McDaniel spokesman Noel Fritsch said the campaign served papers Thursday to Cochran's son, Clayton, giving notice of the intent to challenge based on allegations of improper crossover voting. Fritsch said the papers had to be served directly to Cochran or to a member of his family. Cochran received nearly 6,800 more votes than McDaniel in the June 24 runoff. The runoff came three weeks after tea party-backed McDaniel finished about 1,400 votes ahead of Cochran in a three-person primary that also included a first-time candidate who ran a low-budget campaign. Cochran campaign spokesman Jordan Russell said the campaign is aware of McDaniel's notice to challenge, and attorneys are discussing it. "This challenge is baseless. It's not going anywhere," Russell said. "The voters made a decision, and it's over." Cochran campaign adviser Austin Barbour said Wednesday that the McDaniel campaign needs to "put up or shut up" — either produce documents to support its claims or accept the loss. The election challenge will be filed with the state Republican Party executive committee, as required by law. If the committee rejects a request for a new election, McDaniel could file an appeal with a state circuit court in a county where the campaign believes it has found voting irregularities, said state Sen. Michael Watson, an attorney who is working with the McDaniel campaign. Fritsch said Thursday that any court filing could be a couple of weeks away. The Republican nominee will face two candidates in the Nov. 4 general election: Democratic former U.S. Rep. Travis Childers and the Reform Party's Shawn O'Hara. ____ Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus ||||| Story highlights McDaniel tells CNN he plans to file legal challenge "any day now" He says his team's found more than 5,000 voting irregularities in runoff vote McDaniel defends use of reward money, condemns any use of racist language The tea party-backed challenger who narrowly lost a Republican primary runoff in Mississippi to longtime Sen. Thad Cochran says he plans to file a legal challenge contesting those results "any day now." State Sen. Chris McDaniel said Friday on CNN's "New Day" that "the integrity of the process matters. We believe on that night of June 24 there were thousands of irregularities and we've already found thousands of irregularities in the process." McDaniel also defended his campaign's offer - announced Thursday - of rewards of $1,000 each for individuals providing "evidence leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in voter fraud." And McDaniel said "we condemn any racist comments what so ever," when asked by CNN anchor Kate Bolduan about a bizarre Cochran campaign conference call on Wednesday that included borderline racist comments by an unidentified caller who appeared to be a supporter of the challenger's campaign. Led primary, lost runoff McDaniel narrowly edged Cochran in a June 3 primary, but with neither man cracking the 50% threshold needed to win, the contest moved to the runoff three weeks later, which Cochran won by fewer than 7,000 votes. His victory was aided by votes from African-American Democrats, who were actively courted during the runoff by Cochran's campaign and allied groups. According to Mississippi law, voters are not required to register with a political party, and anyone who doesn't vote in a primary election can cast a ballot in either party's runoff. Since the runoff, McDaniel has refused to concede and has repeatedly vowed to use every legal maneuver available to fight the results. McDaniel alleges that some Democrats who voted in the runoff had previously cast a ballot in their party's Senate primary. "Right now, we have found we have found more than 5,000 irregularities. There are more than 19,000 absentee ballots we still haven't seen yet," McDaniel told CNN. Disputed claims The Cochran campaign disputes McDaniel's claims, and numbers. "The time has come now for the McDaniel campaign to put up or shut up. If they have hard evidence, bring it forward. But quit talking about exaggerated numbers that they know are not true," Cochran campaign spokesman and adviser Austin Barbour said Wednesday. After last week's runoff, McDaniel's campaign dispatched volunteers across Mississippi to investigate the results in the state's 82 counties. FreedomWorks, one of the anti-establishment groups that's been supporting McDaniel, dispatched activists to assist the campaign. Separately, a conservative outside group filed a lawsuit in federal court asking for full access to the voting records in the primary and runoff elections. Won't drag out McDaniel said on "New Day" that the process "won't drag out too much longer. We have our people in the field. They'll be working all next week to find the additional irregularities that we believe are out there." McDaniel added that "after that, we'll have our evidence together and move forward." And he defended his campaign's use of reward money, "if fraud was committed." He added, "If vote buying took place as alleged, we have an obligation to find it and root it out once and for all. There's nothing wrong with that process. It needs to happen for the integrity of the election process." McDaniel pushed back allegations that he's contesting the runoff results to further his political career and pay off campaign debts. "We don't have any primary debt, not one dime," McDaniel told Bolduan, adding that what he's now doing is "bigger than a campaign, it's bigger than a candidate, it's bigger than me." 'Join us in the process' And he urged the Cochran campaign to "join us in this process. Why not go out there hand and hand and lets find the corruption if it exists." But that offer didn't fly with the Cochran camp. "It's obvious that Chris McDaniel doesn't care about the integrity of the process or he wouldn't be offering thousand-dollar bounties in e-mail fundraising blasts and flat out stating that the election was stolen and the election was a sham without any proof," Cochran spokesman Jordan Russell told CNN. "So I think he needs to spare me the 'why won't they join us in protecting the integrity of the process.' Chris McDaniel doesn't care anything about the integrity of the process. Chris McDaniel cares about staying in the spotlight." McDaniel condemns race comments On Wednesday's Cochran campaign conference call, a person who appeared to be a McDaniel supporter asked "since black people harvested cotton, why is it OK to harvest their votes? Why is it OK to harvest the votes of black people?" Asked about those comments, McDaniel said "we condemn any racist comments what so ever. But bear in mind, we have no idea who that person is." He added, "You understand there are people out there we have no control over." If his legal challenge to the runoff results is turned down by the courts, McDaniel told CNN that "certainly we'll respect the court's decisions. As to endorsing or going forward with Thad Cochran or whoever else, I'm going to have to make that call after all this is said and done." 5 controversial moments in the Mississippi election Mississippi tea party leader tied to campaign smear dead in apparent suicide Blogger's arrest shakes up Mississippi Republican primary ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican who lost a primary runoff election to Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran said Friday he plans to challenge the results. Chris McDaniel said his campaign found at least 5,000 irregularities in voting and that he will mount a legal challenge "any day now." In an interview with CNN, McDaniel said what matters is that fraud be uncovered where it exists and that many Mississippi residents "are very angry" because they think their votes in the June 24 primary were nullified by fraud. Most of what McDaniel is describing as irregularities involved people who apparently voted in both the June 3 Democratic primary and the Republican runoff. Mississippi does not register voters by party, but state law bans a person from voting in one party's primary and another party's runoff in the same cycle. McDaniel said he's pressing the challenge because, "it's our responsibility ... if the corruption is out there, to end it once and for all." He did say that if the courts side against him, he would accept the outcome. But he would not say whether he would ultimately endorse Cochran for Senate in the general election. Asked if he had any regrets about the divisive primary campaign and aftermath, McDaniel said he regretted the last two and a half weeks of the campaign when "they called me a racist, they race-baited." He said Cochran's campaign engaged in "scare" tactics by saying that if McDaniel were to become the next senator, "welfare would be cut off." An election challenge will be filed with the state Republican Party executive committee, as required by law. If the committee rejects a request for a new election, McDaniel could file an appeal with a state circuit court in a county where the campaign believes it has found voting irregularities, said state Sen. Michael Watson, an attorney who is working with the McDaniel campaign.

– The man who lost a Mississippi primary challenge to Republican Sen. Thad Cochran—but hasn't conceded—has confirmed reports he'll challenge the results. "We believe on that night of June 24 there were thousands of irregularities," State Sen. Chris McDaniel tells CNN, noting that his legal challenge will come "any day now." His campaign yesterday offered $1,000 to anyone who can find "evidence leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in voter fraud," and he says his team has already found almost 5,000 irregularities, the AP reports. A campaign rep says the campaign yesterday officially notified Cochran's son of its plan to challenge the results.

Associated Press Apple announced a quarterly dividend of $2.65 a share and authorized a share buyback plan this morning. According to the release, it anticipates spending about $45 billion in cash over the first three years of the dividend and buyback plan. The buyback authorization is worth $10 billion and starts in fiscal 2013, which starts after September 30, 2012. (Important note: a buyback authorization doesn't mean Apple is going to rush out and buy stock, it just means it could buy stock.) The dividend starts in fiscal Q4, which is after July 1, 2012. The $45 billion Apple anticipates spending will be less than a third of the cash it will bring in over the next three years. (We anticipate it generating ~$150 billion in cash in the next three years.) Apple shares have been halted, and will start trading again at 8:50 eastern. Here's the release: Apple® today announced plans to initiate a dividend and share repurchase program commencing later this year. Subject to declaration by the Board of Directors, the Company plans to initiate a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share sometime in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2012, which begins on July 1, 2012. Additionally, the Company's Board of Directors has authorized a $10 billion share repurchase program commencing in the Company's fiscal 2013, which begins on September 30, 2012. The repurchase program is expected to be executed over three years, with the primary objective of neutralizing the impact of dilution from future employee equity grants and employee stock purchase programs. "We have used some of our cash to make great investments in our business through increased research and development, acquisitions, new retail store openings, strategic prepayments and capital expenditures in our supply chain, and building out our infrastructure. You'll see more of all of these in the future," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "Even with these investments, we can maintain a war chest for strategic opportunities and have plenty of cash to run our business. So we are going to initiate a dividend and share repurchase program." "Combining dividends, share repurchases, and cash used to net-share-settle vesting RSUs, we anticipate utilizing approximately $45 billion of domestic cash in the first three years of our programs," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. "We are extremely confident in our future and see tremendous opportunities ahead." ||||| NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Apple on Monday announced plans for much of the $97.6 billion in cash it has accumulated from massive iPod, iPhone, iPad and Macintosh sales. The company said it would begin giving shareholders a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share sometime its fiscal fourth quarter, which begins in July. Apple last offered a dividend in 1995. Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) will also buy back $10 billion of its own shares over three years, beginning in October. "We have used some of our cash to make great investments in our business through increased research and development, acquisitions, new retail store openings, strategic prepayments and capital expenditures in our supply chain, and building out our infrastructure," Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said in a prepared statement. "Even with these investments, we can maintain a war chest for strategic opportunities and have plenty of cash to run our business. So we are going to initiate a dividend and share repurchase program," he added. Stock repurchases generally help companies inflate their earnings per share because it reduces the number of shares outstanding. But profit growth has rarely been a problem for Apple, which routinely blows past Wall Street analysts' quarterly earnings forecasts. Apple said the share buybacks will help stave off earnings-per-share dilution from future employee stock grants and purchase programs. The company said it expects the dividend to cost the company $2.5 billion per quarter, making it one of the largest dividend payers in the United States. Combined with the repurchase program, Apple said it will likely utilize $45 billion of its domestic cash through 2015. It's significant that Apple is using its domestic cash, rather than the much heftier stockpiles it holds overseas, because foreign cash would be subject to a sizable "repatriation tax" if brought back into the United States. Cook said the company didn't want to pay that tax. Shares of Apple rose just less than 3% to close at an all-time high of $601.10. Growth at Apple has not been a problem: The company is on pace to become the largest technology company in the world by revenue, and during the holiday season it posted the second-most profitable quarter by any corporation in U.S. history. Nevertheless, Apple is actively looking for new investors. Some fund managers have stopped buying shares as Apple's stock price has soared. But many funds require a dividend from the stocks they invest in, so they have had to stay away from Apple. "Investors have been wresting with the question of, 'Who is left to buy the stock?'" said Alex Gauna, tech analyst at JMP Securities. Cook said he hopes the dividend will open up Apple's stock to a new investor base. Apple's dividend yield -- the percentage of a company's share price that it pays out in annual dividends -- is currently 1.8%. That's higher than the dividend yields of other technology giants, such as IBM (IBM, Fortune 500), Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500) and Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500), but it's lower than the yields of more direct rivals like Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500). Apple's dividend yield is nearly twice the average for the tech companies in the S&P 500, but a bit less than the 2.1% average for the overall S&P 500. ||||| Stock Chart for Apple Inc (AAPL) Apple Inc. (AAPL) will pay its first dividend in 17 years and buy back $10 billion in stock, heeding investors who urged it to return part of the $97.6 billion in cash amassed by robust demand for iPhones and iPads. Shareholders will receive a quarterly dividend of $2.65 a share starting in the period beginning July 1, Cupertino, California-based Apple said today in a statement. The buybacks will begin in the fiscal year starting Sept. 30 and happen over three years, the company said. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is showing more willingness than co-founder Steve Jobs to channel part of cash and investments directly to investors. The move will cost $45 billion over three years, Cook said, and may broaden Apple’s shareholding base by attracting fund managers who only hold dividend-paying companies. “It was high time to do this,” said David Rolfe, chief investment officer of Wedgewood Partners Inc., which holds Apple shares. The dividend will cost Apple about $10 billion a year and represents a yield of 1.8 percent on the stock’s closing price today. The company generated $16 billion in cash in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, which ended in December. Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., predicts that Apple will generate about $75 billion in cash this year. Apple rose 2.7 percent to $601.10, closing above $600 a share for the first time. Top 10 Yield “This is something that large shareholders have been asking for,” Wu said before the announcement. Including instances where a company has scrapped and re- established dividends, today’s was the largest initiation for a company in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, surpassing Cisco Systems Inc.’s announcement of a $1.3 billion dividend in March 2011. Apple’s move pushed the dividend yield of the benchmark gauge of American equities to 2.14 percent, from 2.06 percent, Howard Silverblatt, S&P’s senior index analyst, said in an interview. Apple’s dividend may provide a short-lived boost to some pockets of the economy, said Richard Sichel, CIO of Philadelphia Trust Co., which manages $1.6 billion and holds Apple in some funds. “More than anything, it’s a psychological boost,” Sichel said. At 1.8 percent, the yield on Apple’s dividend would be the tenth-highest among U.S. technology companies with market values larger than $10 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Intel, Microsoft Higher It’s lower than that offered by Intel Corp., which yields 3.03 percent, based on today’s closing price, and Microsoft Corp., which yields 2.48 percent on that basis. It tops Cisco’s dividend yield of 1.59 percent and International Business Machines Corp.’s 1.46 percent yield. After today’s announcement, Google Inc., owner of the most popular search engine, is now the only technology company with a market value of more than $100 billion that doesn’t offer a dividend. The growing amount of money on Apple’s balance sheet followed the introduction of the iPhone, the best-selling smartphone, and the iPad, the leading tablet computer. The company last week began selling a third-generation iPad, which comes with a high-definition screen and faster processor. Apple sold more than 3 million iPads on its debut weekend, a record, Apple said in a separate statement today. “It’s literally become a cash machine,” said Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Co. in New York. Contrast With Jobs Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos., said Jobs, who died in October, resisted efforts to get Apple to return money to shareholders. “It would have been unheard of under Jobs’s watch,” said Munster. “This is just finance 101, but it looks like rocket science next to what they’ve done in the past.” Of Apple’s $97.6 billion in cash and investments at the end of December, about $64 billion was overseas. Oppenheimer said Apple will only use money held in the U.S. for the dividend and buyback to avoid tax consequences. A dividend is a boon to shareholders, including Apple employees, who have already seen the company’s stock rise 48 percent this year. Fidelity Management, Apple’s largest shareholder, will make $128.81 million each quarter from the dividend, based on its holdings as of Dec. 31. Vanguard Group Inc., the second-biggest shareholder, will receive $98.54 million and State Street Corp. will make $92.12 million. ‘War Chest’ “We have used some of our cash to make great investments in our business through increased research and development, acquisitions, new retail store openings, strategic prepayments and capital expenditures in our supply chain, and building out our infrastructure. You’ll see more of all of these in the future,” Cook said in the statement. “Even with these investments, we can maintain a war chest for strategic opportunities and have plenty of cash to run our business.” On the conference call, Cook said adding a dividend will expand Apple’s investor pool. Some investors will only buy shares in companies that pay a dividend. Apple last paid a dividend in 1995, before Jobs returned as CEO and led the introduction of top-selling products including the iPod, iPhone and iPad. The final dividend, of 12 cents a share, was suspended amid leadership upheaval and dwindling computer-market share. According to a company filing, Apple’s cash, equivalents and short-term investments dropped by about half, to $491 million, in the year through Sept. 29, 1995. Highlighting its turnaround since that period, Apple has surpassed Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) as the world’s most valuable company. The iPhone maker’s market value is $560.4 billion, based on today’s closing price. That compares with $410 billion for Exxon Mobil. To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

– Apple shareholders ought to be even happier with the company than usual this morning, as the gadgets giant announced plans to spend $45 billion of its $97 billion in cash reserves on a buyback and a dividend program. Of that, $10 billion will go to a buyback authorization—though Business Insider cautions that Apple has merely given itself the option to buy back shares, not actually committed to doing so. The rest of the money will go to a $2.65-per-share quarterly dividend, which will start in its fiscal fourth quarter, which begins July 1. It's the first dividend Apple has offered since 1995, notes CNN. CEO Tim Cook promised that the plan wouldn't hurt Apple's investments in research and development, retail stores, and other companies. "Even with these investments, we can maintain a war chest for strategic opportunities and have plenty of cash to run our business," he said in a statement. On a conference call, Cook added that the moves would bring in new investors who only buy dividend-yielding stocks, according to Bloomberg.

By MarEx 2014-06-09 10:52:00 In stunning rebuttal to the supposed finding of the Santa Maria by treasure hunter Barry Clifford, historian Manuel Rosa goes into great detail in his book “Columbus-The Untold Story.” Rosa contradicts recent news that the wreck found off the Northern coast of Haiti is Columbus’s famous Santa Maria flagship because, Rosa claims, the vessel did not sink, as Columbus declared, but was purposely dragged up onto the beach of Caracol, re-christened Natividad and ordered shot side-to-side by a cannonball on January 2, 1493. "This cannonball intentionally disabled and marooned the Santa Maria," claims Rosa. In his book that details allegedly how Columbus continuously lied to Queen Isabella, including detailed evidence from Columbus's logbook of how the Santa Maria never sank off the coast of Haiti, Rosa gives three reasons why Columbus allegedly had to maroon the Santa Maria: So that those left behind could not follow him home. So that Spain was forced to send a rescue fleet. Because the Santa Maria would have been highly dangerous to sail back through the winter seas of the Azores. Furthermore, the author alleges that the explorer made sure to take back all the pilots with him, so that, if those marooned could repair the hole in the ship’s hull, they would not know how to reach Spain. Documented in Rosa’s 480-page manuscript and accompanied by freehand illustrations drawn by Columbus himself is a map of Española during the first voyage of 1492. Rosa claims his diagrams clearly show the location of the ship, which Columbus called Natividad. When compared with Google satellite images of today, one can see how well the two maps match up. Contradictions and Discrepancies outlined by Manuel Rosa: 1. Columbus’s own Ship Log declares that the Santa Maria was “en tierra,” that is “on land,” on January 2, 1493. 2. The banks where the Santa Maria supposedly sank on Christmas Day, 1492, are 6 miles offshore. How did the supposedly sunken ship end up onshore 8 days later? "Was it all a ruse to trick the Spanish crown into sending him on a second voyage? Was the deception a pretense for marooning the Spanish crown's overseers because they could have blown Columbus's cover had they returned to court with him? Perhaps the truth is Christopher Columbus was not working for Spain, but against it. The totality of the evidence presented in 'Columbus-The Untold Story' suggests Columbus was a secret agent, fiercely loyal to Portugal’s king, Isabella’s nemesis. All of Columbus’s actions were calculated to prevent scrutiny, hide his tracks and allow for Portugal to control the spice trade of India, while denying Spain access to that same route. By marooning his own ship, Columbus was free to report to the court of Queen Isabella whatever lies he wanted without the court’s overseers from the 1492 voyage contradicting him, exactly as he did," alleges author Manuel Rosa. It is documented that Columbus’s advice to the Spanish Court culminated in the signing of the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, which gave Portugal free access to the Indian Spice Trade Route while at the same time denying Spain access to that profitable route. The author further claims, "In his logbook, Columbus recorded the ship lost on coral banks, located one and a half leagues (6 miles) offshore from the beach where the Santa Maria was shot on January 2. On January 2, the ship was safe and sound on today’s Caracol Beach. Columbus wrote, 'porque ella quedó sana como quando partió' because she was as sound as when she had left (Spain), as is written in Columbus's Ship Log. However, Columbus shot it with a cannonball. How could a ship that Columbus says sank six miles offshore, lying on its side and taking on water, as he cleverly described it in the logbook, succeed in reaching a sandy beach six miles away in order to be shot by a cannon? This feat would require a large crane and diesel powered tugboats available only some 400 years later. By locating the banks on Google maps and following details from the Ship Log, anyone can today clearly see Columbus’s deception." "Therefore," Rosa asserts, "the Santa Maria could only get to Caracol Beach under its own power and thus, it never sank or ran aground, as the explorer declared to the court. The whole report of the ship sinking on those banks off the coast of Haiti was a lie to not have to explain why he marooned the crew and why the court’s overseers did not return with him to Spain." One of the Santa Maria’s anchors, today in a Haitian museum at Port-au-Prince, was found at a plantation in Limonade, just 6 miles from Caracol. How could such a heavy anchor have floated to land from 6 miles offshore? Furthermore, the bell from the Santa Maria was found in 1994 off the coast of Portugal, near the ship San Salvador, which sank in 1555. Many puzzled over how the Santa Maria’s bell survived when the rest of the ship sank. The only answer is that the Santa Maria never sank, as Rosa claims to show. When the Haitian natives decided to burn the Santa Maria in late 1493, the bell survived because it was metal, and was recovered by Columbus upon his return to Natividad on November 28, 1493. The bell had been stored in Santo Domingo until it was shipped to Spain in 1555. "Anyone looking for the Santa Maria in the ocean has not fully understood Columbus’s Ship Log, nor the ruse he was taking part in, and is wasting their time since the ship was left on land and was later burned to ashes by the natives," reiterates Rosa. ||||| An 'X' marked the spot on the explorer's map – and the crowd grew wide-eyed in amazement at what they were told lies beneath. The 500-year-old diaries corroborated the find, said Barry Clifford, a marine archaeologist, standing at the front of the wood-panelled Explorer's Club in New York. The ballast found under the waves matched the profile of the ship, believed to have run aground half a millennia ago. The government of Haiti, the country on the map, was excited by the news. Mr Clifford thought he had found his treasure: the wreck of Christopher Columbus's ship, a prize 500-years in the searching. "I think the evidence is overwhelming that this ship is most probably the Santa Maria," he said last month. But after the triumphant announcement, Mr Clifford's find is now being called into question. A Portuguese-American historian, Manuel Rosa, has said that the discovery of the shipwreck is impossible – because the ship never sank. His theory, based on over two decades of research, is that the ship did not sink, as is widely believed, but was hauled onto the Haitian shore, used to house the sailors Columbus left behind on his return voyage, and eventually years later burned by the natives. He says that Columbus deliberately misled the world with his journals, because he was acting as a spy for the Portuguese king, rather than reporting to his Spanish paymasters. "He was the James Bond of his day," said Mr Rosa, speaking to The Telegraph from his home in New York. "It's unbelievable that he has managed to pull the wool over everybody's eyes for five centuries. "But the important thing to remember is that the whole mission was to trick the Spanish – and tell the Portuguese what was really going on. In this he succeeded. "Anyone who looks for a shipwreck off Haiti won't find the Santa Maria – because it never sank." The dispute over the Santa Maria is but the latest in a long line of arguments about Christopher Columbus's life and legacy. Even his nationality is disputed, with some historians claiming he was not from Genoa – as widely accepted – but actually Portuguese, or Catalan, or a Spanish Jew, or even Polish. What is uncontested is that Columbus set sail on the Santa Maria in August 1492, leaving behind Palos de la Frontera – the windswept Andalusian town near the Portuguese border – for what he hoped was India. The voyage had been funded by Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella – who were keen to find a westward route to the Indies and obtain their own slice of the lucrative spice trade, and replenish their coffers after the immensely expensive Reconquest of Spain from the Moors. The Santa Maria, a single-decked, triple-masted cargo vessel, was the largest of the three ships that set sail. The Pinta and Nina, the others in the fleet, were caravels – small, nimble sailing ships. After ten weeks at sea, the 90 men on-board the ships saw land – they had arrived at the Bahamas. The crew sailed around a series of other Caribbean islands, including Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. What is less clear is what happened next. Mr Clifford – one of America's top underwater explorers who has investigated wrecks including that of the pirate Henry Morgan's ship, a series of Spanish treasure galleons and the Boston Tea Party boats – began documenting the area off the coast of Haiti in 2003. He held strong suspicions that the site he was exploring was indeed the final resting place of the missing Santa Maria – but only decided to publicise the information last month, when he realised that he needed to highlight the importance of the possible site to prevent looting and damage. Last month Mr Clifford and his team returned to the site to explore it further. But a cannon – a key detail from the 2003 expedition – had been looted. So Mr Clifford felt that he needed to make public the site, in order to protect it. It is the right location in terms of how Columbus, writing in his diary, described the wreck in relation to his fort, Mr Clifford said. But Mr Rosa believes that therein lies the root of the mistake. "Columbus's diary was written in Spanish, as he knew that it would be read by the Court of his patrons, the King and Queen of Spain," he explained. "And in it he wrote of the Santa Maria being 'a tierra' when a cannonball was fired at the ship to demonstrate their weapons – which has been falsely translated as being aground. When it actually means 'on land'." Mr Rosa claims that the Christmas Eve sinking never happened – that instead the ship crossed the reef, and entered the Caracol Bay safely. It was then hauled ashore and used to house the sailors on land. In his logbook, Columbus writes how they showed Guacanagarí, the native Haitian ruler, the power of their weapons. "He also showed him the power of the lombards (cannon) and the effect they produced. He ordered a lombard to be loaded and fired at the side of the flagship (Santa Maria) which was on land. And he saw the range of the lombard and how the shot passed through the side of the ship and went into the sea some way beyond." Mr Rosa argues that a cannonball was fired through the ship not when it was on the rocks, but rather when it was on land, to deliberately render it unseaworthy. Columbus then sailed back to Spain on the Pinta and Nina – but he intentionally left behind 36 men including the three envoys from Ferdinand and Isabella, because they were the only ones who could have had access to the Court, and told the true story: that the ship never sank. "The men from the court are left behind with a marooned boat that had a hole in its hull," said Mr Rosa. "Even if they could repair the hole and get the Santa Maria afloat, they wouldn't have a single pilot to find their way back to Spain. Therefore, Colón was free to report to the court of Queen Isabel whatever lies he wanted, exactly as he did." In his book, Columbus – The Untold Story, which has been published in Portugal, Spain, Poland and Lithuania, Mr Rosa argues that an anchor from the Santa Maria, discovered in the Haitian town of Limonade, was documented to have been found on land in a plantation; impossible if the ship had sunk six miles off shore. He also says that the discovery of the Santa Maria's bell off the coast of Portugal in 1994 proves that the ship did not sink off Haiti: the bell was on land, and then carried to Portugal in 1555, in a ship which sank off the Portuguese coast. So why would Columbus want to fake the sinking, and lie in his logbooks? Mr Rosa claims that he has the answer: that Columbus was actually working for the King of Portugal, Joao II. "Columbus's advice to the Spanish Court culminated in the signing of the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, which gave Portugal free access to the Indian spice trade route while at the same time denying Spain access to that profitable route," he explained. The theory is certainly intriguing. Mr Rosa says he has no doubt that Mr Clifford has discovered remains of a 15th or 16th century galleon – just that it cannot be the missing ship of Columbus. How is it possible, though, that Mr Rosa has it right while the rest of the world is wrong – and has been wrong for 500 years? He laughed. "It's hard to go against that many years of misinformation," he conceded. "The world has been reliant on documents that appear to be accurate, reliable and truthful. But it's all based on a lie formed by Columbus himself. "Of course people think I'm left field. But I say: read the book, and tell me where I'm wrong." Laurence Bergreen, a historian whose book Columbus: The Four Voyages was a New York Times bestseller, is sceptical – about both Mr Rosa's claims and Mr Clifford's. "I have to roll my eyes every time these new theories emerge," he said. "There is no proof that Columbus deliberately faked his diaries. And there are survivors' accounts. The Spanish meticulously documented their voyages. "There is no proof either that he was a Portuguese spy. The Portuguese spurned him, which is why he went to the Spanish kings for support." And Mr Bergreen says that he is also unconvinced that the Santa Maria has been found. "Barry Clifford says the 'smoking gun' was the cannon – but then that was lost. Nothing else ties the evidence to Columbus." Mr Clifford is currently in Haiti, intent on proving his disbelievers wrong. "After half a millennia, the timbers have rotted, the coastline altered, and the rocks been subjected to batterings from endless hurricanes and currents," said Mr Bergreen. "Maybe he has found something. But it's way too early to claim victory."

– Last month brought the news that the wreck of a ship that changed the course of history may have been found after more than 500 years: Barry Clifford announced that he believed he'd uncovered the wreck of Christopher Columbus' flagship, the Santa Maria, off Haiti. Now, a Portuguese-American historian is saying such a feat just isn't possible—because the Santa Maria never met a watery grave. Manuel Rosa explains his theory to the Telegraph: That the ship was actually pulled ashore in Haiti, where it was occupied by sailors and later burned by the natives. And as for Columbus' journal about the sinking that Clifford relied on? Rosa says Columbus intentionally lied. Rosa's take is that Columbus, whose expedition bill was footed by Spain, was spying on behalf of Portugal (Rosa goes so far as to call him "the James Bond of his day"), and that he used his diary as a way to throw people off. "Columbus' diary was written in Spanish, as he knew that it would be read by the Court of his patrons, the King and Queen of Spain," says Rosa. In his read of the journal, which describes a cannonball being fired at the ship during a weapons demo, the ship was hit while it was on land, not offshore, and was done on Columbus' orders so that many of his men would be marooned on the island—including three envoys for Ferdinand and Isabella. The Maritime Executive notes Rosa also claims Columbus left behind no pilots, as a way to ensure that even a repaired ship wouldn't make its way back to Spain. Of course, Rosa has his own motivations: He's written a book on the topic, Columbus—The Untold Story. (Meanwhile, has a long-sought relic been found in the Puget Sound?)

We use investigative research and strategic organizing to counter racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, nativism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry. More | Get our app ||||| The Tea Party movement has extensive links to white supremacist groups, a report published by the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights today has alleged. The report lists incidents, individuals and websites it claims demonstrate the links, and also expresses concern that Tea Party meetings are used as recruiting grounds for racist groups. The movement has repeatedly denied it is racist. In the foreword to the report, Benjamin Todd Jealous, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), said: "We know the majority of Tea Party supporters are sincere, principled people of good will." But he added that the report "exposes the links between certain Tea Party factions and acknowledged racist hate groups in the United States. These links should give all patriotic Americans pause". He called on the leadership and members of the Tea Party movement to take more steps "to distance themselves from those Tea Party leaders who espouse racist ideas, advocate violence or are formally affiliated with white supremacist organisations." The NAACP and other organisations such as La Raza, which represents Latinos in the US, were present for the report's launch. The document comes after the NAACP national convention, in July, passed a resolution condemning what it said were outspoken racist elements within the Tea Party. One of the concerns in the report is the portrayal of Barack Obama as non-American. "Consider, for example, the incessant depiction of President Obama as a non-American," it says. "The permutations go on from there: Islamic terrorist, socialist, African witch doctor, lying African etc. If he is not properly American, then he becomes the 'other' that is not 'us.'" Prominent Tea Party organisers said the report was a politically-motivated distortion of the truth. Sal Russo, a Sacramento-based Republican political consultant who created the Tea Party Express, described the report "patently ridiculous". He said the Tea Party had brought millions of people into the political process because of their worries about what was happening economically to the US. "The claim of racism is so stupid it defies response. The movement has nothing to do with race whatsoever," he added. Russo was travelling on the Tea Party Express bus in Nevada, where Harry Reid, the top Democrat in the Senate, is fighting for his political life against the Tea Party-backed Sharron Angle. "We are not opposing Harry Reid because he's black, but because he's wrong," Russo said. On the specific accusation in the report that posts and comments on Tea Party Express partner websites were racist, he added: "What websites? People claim affiliations that don't really exist." The report also cites racist comments about Obama's family on the Free Republic website. A photograph of Michelle Obama had the caption: "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds." Gary Dunn, a contributor to the Free Republic website, said it had a policy of always removing racist comments as quickly as possible. It uses up to eight moderators to filter offensive posts, and repeat offenders were had their access withdrawn, he said.

– Tea Party gatherings are being used by white supremacist and other hate groups to recruit members and spread their ideas, according to a new study by the NAACP. The "links between certain Tea Party factions and acknowledged racist hate groups in the US should give all patriotic Americans pause," warns the reports by the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights. The head of the NAACP in a forward to the report called on the party's leadership to "distance themselves" from those within the party who "espouse racist ideas, advocate violence or are formally affiliated with white supremacist" organizations. "The danger is not that the majority of Tea Party members share their views, but that left unchecked, these extremists might indirectly influence the direction of the Tea Party and therefore the direction of our country," writes Ben Jealous. Tea Party representatives blasted the findings. "The claim of racism is so stupid it defies response," said Sal Russo, a Sacramento-based Republican political consultant who created the Tea Party Express. "The movement has nothing to do with race whatsoever." Gary Dunn, a contributor to the party's Free Republic website, said moderators quickly remove any posted racist comments, reports the Guardian.

Can the eyes of photographed crime victims help authorities spot their victimizers? According to new research published Thursday in the journal PLOS One, high-resolution photographs can be "mined" for hidden information. Specifically, the authors said that photographs of faces can reveal enough visual information on bystanders to identify them. In a small sampling of 32 study participants, test subjects were able to spot familiar faces reflected in the pupils of someone who was photographed 84% of the time, researchers said. When the reflected images were of unfamiliar people, observers were able to match the person to a second mug shot with 71% accuracy. "Criminal investigations often use photographic evidence to identify subjects," wrote study authors Rob Jenkins, a psychologist at the University of York in England, and Christie Kerr of the University of Glasgow in Scotland. "By zooming in on high-resolution face photographs, were were able to recover images of unseen bystanders from reflections in the subject's eyes.... For crimes in which the victims are photographed (e.g. hostage taking, child sex abuse), reflections in the eyes of the photographic subject could help to identify perpetrators," the authors wrote. 2013: The Year in Science The study notes that the word pupil comes from the Latin word pupilla, which can mean young girl or doll, and conveys the idea that when one looks into someone else's eyes, they see a tiny doll-like version of themselves reflected back. In the study, Jenkins and Kerr photographed eight individuals, who were themselves looking at four people who were behind the camera. Study subjects were asked to either match the images to a series of mug shots, or to identify people who were familiar to them in the eye reflections. The study authors said that humans were extremely adept at identifying human faces, even if the images were very poor. In the portrait photographs, the person's face occupied about 12 million pixels, while the images of bystanders in the person's eye accounted for just 54,000 pixels, less than 0.5% of the portrait subject's facial area. Jenkins, who studies facial recognition, described the portrait photographs used as passport-type photos. The authors noted also that there were limits to the forensic use of such photographs. Namely, they must be shot in high resolution and the subject must be looking directly at the camera. "For now, our findings suggest a novel application for high-resolution photography: for crimes in which victims are photographed, corneal image analysis could be useful for identifying perpetrators," authors wrote. ||||| Scientists have developed a new technique which can recover the faces of bystanders from reflections in the eyes of photographic subjects, a development that could help identify criminals. As the most commonly photographed objects are faces, there is potential in mining detailed facial images for hidden information, researchers said. Until now, photographers might reasonably have assumed that their own face was absent from the image. But research, led by Dr Rob Jenkins from University of York overturns this assumption. By zooming in on high-resolution passport-style photographs, Jenkins and co-researcher, Christie Kerr from the University of Glasgow were able to recover the faces of bystanders from reflections in the eyes of photographic subjects. The recovered bystander images could be identified accurately by observers, despite their low resolution. To establish whether these bystanders could be identified from the reflection images, the researchers presented them as stimuli in a face-matching task. Observers who were unfamiliar with the bystanders' faces performed at 71 percent accuracy while participants who were familiar with the faces performed at 84 percent accuracy. In a test of spontaneous recognition, observers could reliably name a familiar face from an eye reflection image. "The pupil of the eye is like a black mirror. To enhance the image, you have to zoom in and adjust the contrast. A face image that is recovered from a reflection in the subject's eye is about 30,000 times smaller than the subject's face. Our findings thus highlight the remarkable robustness of human face recognition, as well as the untapped potential of high-resolution photography," Jenkins said. The researchers say that in crimes in which the victims are photographed, such as hostage taking or child sex abuse, reflections in the eyes of the photographic subject could help to identify perpetrators. Images of people retrieved from cameras seized as evidence during criminal investigations may be used to piece together networks of associates or to link individuals to particular locations. The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE. ||||| Abstract Criminal investigations often use photographic evidence to identify suspects. Here we combined robust face perception and high-resolution photography to mine face photographs for hidden information. By zooming in on high-resolution face photographs, we were able to recover images of unseen bystanders from reflections in the subjects' eyes. To establish whether these bystanders could be identified from the reflection images, we presented them as stimuli in a face matching task (Experiment 1). Accuracy in the face matching task was well above chance (50%), despite the unpromising source of the stimuli. Participants who were unfamiliar with the bystanders' faces (n = 16) performed at 71% accuracy [t(15) = 7.64, p<.0001, d = 1.91], and participants who were familiar with the faces (n = 16) performed at 84% accuracy [t(15) = 11.15, p<.0001, d = 2.79]. In a test of spontaneous recognition (Experiment 2), observers could reliably name a familiar face from an eye reflection image. For crimes in which the victims are photographed (e.g., hostage taking, child sex abuse), reflections in the eyes of the photographic subject could help to identify perpetrators. Citation: Jenkins R, Kerr C (2013) Identifiable Images of Bystanders Extracted from Corneal Reflections. PLoS ONE 8(12): e83325. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083325 Editor: Matthew Longo, Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom Received: June 17, 2013; Accepted: November 2, 2013; Published: December 26, 2013 Copyright: © 2013 Jenkins, Kerr. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, UK. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Experiment 1: Face matching To determine whether the eye reflection images could support identity discrimination, we paired each image with a standard photo of the same face or a similar-looking face in an identity matching task. Observers made ‘same person’ or ‘different person’ judgments for each pair. We predicted that observers would be able to distinguish bystanders from similar-looking foils, especially when they were familiar with the bystanders' faces. Method Design and materials. Corneal reflection images for each of the 8 bystanders were paired with comparison photographs of i) the same person (8 Same Person pairs) and ii) a different person (8 Different Person trials), resulting in 16 image pairs in total. Note that chance performance was 50% in this task. The comparison photos were University enrollment photographs that were taken under homogeneous studio conditions approximately 14 months before the experimental photo session (Figure 5). For Different Person pairs, the foil was always the most similar looking person in the cohort of 108 undergraduate students, as determined by three independent raters. Note that each foil met the same general description as target with which it was paired (e.g. young Caucasian male, medium build, short black hair). This ensured that same/different identity judgments required rather subtle perceptual discriminations. The recovered bystander images and comparison photographs were color printed into response booklets at a height of 10.5 cm (width varied between 6.4 cm and 7.6 cm). PPT PowerPoint slide PowerPoint slide PNG larger image ( ) larger image ( ) TIFF original image ( ) Download: Figure 5. Example pairs from the face matching task in Experiment 1. (a) Example Same Person pair. (b) Example Different Person pair. For Different Person pairs, basic level descriptors of the foil (e.g. gender, ethnicity, hair color, build, approximate age) matched those of the target, making the task perceptually demanding. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083325.g005 Participants. Two groups of volunteers took part in the matching task. The Unfamiliar group comprised 16 undergraduate students drawn from non-Psychology departments (10 female, 6 male; mean age 23.3 years). As these Unfamiliar observers were from different departments than the match targets, they were unlikely to have encountered the targets previously. The Familiar group comprised 16 classmates of the targets (14 female, 2 male; mean age 22.5 years). These Familiar observers were drawn from the same final-year undergraduate cohort as the match targets, and were likely to have encountered the target individuals frequently in daily life. Observers' actual familiarity with each face was assessed at the end of the experiment. Procedure. All 16 face pairs (8 Same Person pairs; 8 Different Person pairs) were presented to participants in a random order. Printed task instructions were provided as follows: “In this experiment you will be shown pairs of face photographs. In each pair, the photo on the left will be poor quality, and the photo on the right will be good quality. For each pair, your task is to decide whether the two photos show the same person or two different people. Please indicate your decision by ticking the appropriate box. This is a difficult task. Don't worry if you find it hard - just try your best. There are 16 pairs in total. Please work through these in order, without going back to change your previous answers. There is no time limit for the task. Please take as long as you need for each decision.” After completing the matching task, participants were presented with an array containing all 16 studio quality comparison photographs (8 targets and 8 foils), and were asked to indicate any individuals whose faces were already familiar to them before the experiment. Results To ensure that the familiarity manipulation was not compromised by items from the opposite category, any faces that were unknown to an observer in the Familiar group (<11%) or known to an observer in the Unfamiliar group (<2%) were excluded from analysis. Accuracy in the Unfamiliar condition was well above chance level of 50%, despite the demanding nature of the matching task [n = 16; mean = 71%; s.d. = 11.1; two-tailed t(15) = 7.64, p<.0001, d = 1.91]. Accuracy in the Familiar condition exceeded both chance performance [n = 16; mean = 84%, s.d. = 2.1, two-tailed t(15) = 11.15, p<.0001, d = 2.79] and performance in the Unfamiliar condition [two-tailed t(30) = 3.02, P<.01, d = 1.10], confirming that bystanders' faces could be reliably distinguished from similar foils. Experiment 2: Spontaneous recognition Previous studies have shown that face matching accuracy is a reliable proxy for face recognition accuracy [11]–[13]. Here, we had the opportunity to test recognition directly, by presenting eye reflection images in a face naming task. This experiment was motivated by an anonymous reviewer who reported recognizing author RJ from Figure 2b. To test spontaneous recognition more formally, we presented eye reflection images of RJ and 5 other males in a lineup-style array. Observers who were familiar with the face of RJ, and unfamiliar with the other faces, were asked to name anyone in the array whom they could identify. We expected that if eye reflection images can be spontaneously recognized, then i) the hit rate (correct naming of RJ) should be high, and ii) the false positive rate (mistaken identification of unknown faces) should be low. Method Design and materials. Corneal reflection images for each of the 5 male bystanders from Experiment 1, plus author RJ (6 images in total), were used to construct a lineup-style array, which was presented onscreen at 204 pixels high ×745 pixels wide (see Figure 6). Array items were arranged in different random orders for different participants. PPT PowerPoint slide PowerPoint slide PNG larger image ( ) larger image ( ) TIFF original image ( ) Download: Figure 6. Example face array from the spontaneous recognition task in Experiment 2. (a, c–f) Corneal reflection images showing bystanders AS, CK, AC, MA, and PD from Experiment 1. (b) Corneal reflection image showing author RJ. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083325.g006 Participants. Ten new volunteers (2 female, 8 male; mean age 36.9) who were naive to the purpose of the experiment participated. All of these participants were familiar with the face of RJ (mean acquaintance 18.2 years), and unfamiliar with the faces of the bystanders (zero acquaintance; none had visited the University of Glasgow where the bystanders studied). Procedure. The face array was presented to participants with the following printed task instructions: “For any face that you can identify, please write in the person's name. Please also indicate your confidence in each decision (i.e. whether or not you know each face) by providing a confidence rating on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = guessing, 10 = completely certain). This is not a trick question, we are just trying to establish how useful images like this might be.” No time limit was imposed for completing this task. Results Correct naming of the familiar face was frequent (hits 90%), and mistaken identification of the unfamiliar faces was infrequent (false positives 10%). In addition, confidence ratings were higher for hits (M = 7.89, SD = 1.36) than for false positives (M = 4.80, SD = 3.11), though false positives were too infrequent to allow statistical analysis (n = 5). Discussion By zooming in on high-resolution passport-style photographs, we were able to recover images of bystanders from reflections in the eyes of photographic subjects. Performance in the face matching task (Experiment 1) and the spontaneous recognition task (Experiment 2) indicate that these bystander images were not merely informative about facial appearance, they were properly identifiable to viewers who knew the faces. This is perhaps a surprising result, given the very unpromising source of these images. However, it is consistent with previous evidence that familiar face recognition is extremely tolerant of poor image quality [16]. We note that the reflection images also contain cues to bystanders' emotional state and interest, via facial expression [17], gaze direction [18], and posture [19], although we did not explore those cues here. One possible extension of this technique would be to combine pairs of images recovered from the subject's two eyes. In principle, these images contain the stereo disparity information required to reconstruct a 3D representation of the environment from the viewpoint the photographic subject [20]. Since corneal reflections extend beyond the aperture of the pupil, such reconstructions could capture a wider angle of the scene than was visible to the subject at the time (see [21] for a related technique). For now, our findings suggest a novel application of high-resolution photography: for crimes in which victims are photographed, corneal image analysis could be useful for identifying perpetrators. As with other sources of forensic evidence (e.g. fingerprints), corneal reflection images may not always be readily available. In particular, clear corneal reflections require the subject's face to be in focus, and viewed from a roughly frontal angle under good lighting. They also require high image resolution in order for bystanders' faces to be properly resolved. We note that pixel count per dollar for digital cameras has been doubling approximately every twelve months [22] [23]. This trajectory implies that mobile phones could soon carry >39 megapixel cameras routinely. However, as the current study emphasizes, the extracted face images need not be of high quality in order to be identifiable. For this reason, obtaining optimal viewers - those who are familiar with the faces concerned - may be more important than obtaining optimal images. Supporting Information Movie S1. Animated zoom on the cornea of a high-resolution photographic subject. The zoom begins with a passport photo-style framing of the subject, and ends with a full face close-up of a bystander captured in the subject's corneal reflection. Successive movie frames represent a linear magnification of 6%. Each frame was resized to 720 pixels wide ×540 pixels high using bicubic interpolation to reduce high spatial frequency noise. Contrast was enhanced separately for each frame using the Auto Contrast function in Adobe Photoshop to improve definition. The image sequence was then converted to movie format for viewing. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083325.s001 (AVI) Acknowledgments We thank Stuart Campbell at the Photographic Unit at the University of Glasgow for high resolution photography, Llian Alys at the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA UK) for pointing out forensic applications, and an anonymous reviewer for inspiring Experiment 2. Original high-resolution photographs and performance data are available from the corresponding author.

– Humans are extremely good at identifying faces, even when they're tiny—and that fact could help police solve future crimes. Researchers showed 32 participants high-resolution photo portraits of faces, and the participants were asked to identify people reflected in the subjects' pupils—often the photographer or someone standing next to the photographer. When the reflected person was a familiar one, participants could identify him or her 84% of the time, the Los Angeles Times reports. When the reflected figures weren't familiar, participants were still able to ID them 71% of the time based on comparisons to mugshots. Such identification is an impressive feat: The portraits were some 12 million pixels, and the reflections in the pupils made up less than 0.5% of the face's area—about 54,000 pixels. "The pupil of the eye is like a black mirror," says a researcher, per NDTV. "For crimes in which the victims are photographed (e.g. hostage taking, child sex abuse), reflections in the eyes of the photographic subject could help to identify perpetrators," write the authors of the British study in PLoS One. (Maybe that newly discovered extra layer in the cornea helps.)

The U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war, Rolling Stone has learned – and when an officer tried to stop the operation, he was railroaded by military investigators. The Runaway General: The Rolling Stone Profile of Stanley McChrystal That Changed History The orders came from the command of Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, a three-star general in charge of training Afghan troops – the linchpin of U.S. strategy in the war. Over a four-month period last year, a military cell devoted to what is known as "information operations" at Camp Eggers in Kabul was repeatedly pressured to target visiting senators and other VIPs who met with Caldwell. When the unit resisted the order, arguing that it violated U.S. laws prohibiting the use of propaganda against American citizens, it was subjected to a campaign of retaliation. "My job in psy-ops is to play with people’s heads, to get the enemy to behave the way we want them to behave," says Lt. Colonel Michael Holmes, the leader of the IO unit, who received an official reprimand after bucking orders. "I’m prohibited from doing that to our own people. When you ask me to try to use these skills on senators and congressman, you’re crossing a line." Photos: Psy-Ops and the General The list of targeted visitors was long, according to interviews with members of the IO team and internal documents obtained by Rolling Stone. Those singled out in the campaign included senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Jack Reed, Al Franken and Carl Levin; Rep. Steve Israel of the House Appropriations Committee; Adm. Mike Mullen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Czech ambassador to Afghanistan; the German interior minister, and a host of influential think-tank analysts. The incident offers an indication of just how desperate the U.S. command in Afghanistan is to spin American civilian leaders into supporting an increasingly unpopular war. According to the Defense Department’s own definition, psy-ops – the use of propaganda and psychological tactics to influence emotions and behaviors – are supposed to be used exclusively on "hostile foreign groups." Federal law forbids the military from practicing psy-ops on Americans, and each defense authorization bill comes with a "propaganda rider" that also prohibits such manipulation. "Everyone in the psy-ops, intel, and IO community knows you’re not supposed to target Americans," says a veteran member of another psy-ops team who has run operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. "It’s what you learn on day one." The Kill Team: How U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan murdered innocent civilians and mutilated their corpses – and how their officers failed to stop them. Plus: an exclusive look at the war crime photos censored by the Pentagon When Holmes and his four-man team arrived in Afghanistan in November 2009, their mission was to assess the effects of U.S. propaganda on the Taliban and the local Afghan population. But the following month, Holmes began receiving orders from Caldwell’s staff to direct his expertise on a new target: visiting Americans. At first, the orders were administered verbally. According to Holmes, who attended at least a dozen meetings with Caldwell to discuss the operation, the general wanted the IO unit to do the kind of seemingly innocuous work usually delegated to the two dozen members of his public affairs staff: compiling detailed profiles of the VIPs, including their voting records, their likes and dislikes, and their "hot-button issues." In one email to Holmes, Caldwell’s staff also wanted to know how to shape the general’s presentations to the visiting dignitaries, and how best to "refine our messaging." King David's War: How Gen. Petraeus Is Doubling Down on a Failed Strategy Congressional delegations – known in military jargon as CODELs – are no strangers to spin. U.S. lawmakers routinely take trips to the frontlines in Iraq and Afghanistan, where they receive carefully orchestrated briefings and visit local markets before posing for souvenir photos in helmets and flak jackets. Informally, the trips are a way for generals to lobby congressmen and provide first-hand updates on the war. But what Caldwell was looking for was more than the usual background briefings on senators. According to Holmes, the general wanted the IO team to provide a "deeper analysis of pressure points we could use to leverage the delegation for more funds." The general’s chief of staff also asked Holmes how Caldwell could secretly manipulate the U.S. lawmakers without their knowledge. "How do we get these guys to give us more people?" he demanded. "What do I have to plant inside their heads?" According to experts on intelligence policy, asking a psy-ops team to direct its expertise against visiting dignitaries would be like the president asking the CIA to put together background dossiers on congressional opponents. Holmes was even expected to sit in on Caldwell’s meetings with the senators and take notes, without divulging his background. "Putting your propaganda people in a room with senators doesn’t look good," says John Pike, a leading military analyst. "It doesn’t pass the smell test. Any decent propaganda operator would tell you that." At a minimum, the use of the IO team against U.S. senators was a misuse of vital resources designed to combat the enemy; it cost American taxpayers roughly $6 million to deploy Holmes and his team in Afghanistan for a year. But Caldwell seemed more eager to advance his own career than to defeat the Taliban. "We called it Operation Fourth Star," says Holmes. "Caldwell seemed far more focused on the Americans and the funding stream than he was on the Afghans. We were there to teach and train the Afghans. But for the first four months it was all about the U.S. Later he even started talking about targeting the NATO populations." At one point, according to Holmes, Caldwell wanted to break up the IO team and give each general on his staff their own personal spokesperson with psy-ops training. The Insurgent's Tale: A Soldier Reconsiders Jihad It wasn’t the first time that Caldwell had tried to tear down the wall that has historically separated public affairs and psy-ops – the distinction the military is supposed to maintain between "informing" and "influencing." After a stint as the top U.S. spokesperson in Iraq, the general pushed aggressively to expand the military’s use of information operations. During his time as a commander at Ft. Leavenworth, Caldwell argued for exploiting new technologies like blogging and Wikipedia – a move that would widen the military’s ability to influence the public, both foreign and domestic. According to sources close to the general, he also tried to rewrite the official doctrine on information operations, though that effort ultimately failed. (In recent months, the Pentagon has quietly dropped the nefarious-sounding moniker "psy-ops" in favor of the more neutral "MISO" – short for Military Information Support Operations.) Under duress, Holmes and his team provided Caldwell with background assessments on the visiting senators, and helped prep the general for his high-profile encounters. But according to members of his unit, Holmes did his best to resist the orders. Holmes believed that using his team to target American civilians violated the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which was passed by Congress to prevent the State Department from using Soviet-style propaganda techniques on U.S. citizens. But when Holmes brought his concerns to Col. Gregory Breazile, the spokesperson for the Afghan training mission run by Caldwell, the discussion ended in a screaming match. "It’s not illegal if I say it isn’t!" Holmes recalls Breazile shouting. In March 2010, Breazile issued a written order that "directly tasked" Holmes to conduct an IO campaign against "all DV visits" – short for "distinguished visitor." The team was also instructed to "prepare the context and develop the prep package for each visit." In case the order wasn’t clear enough, Breazile added that the new instructions were to "take priority over all other duties." Instead of fighting the Taliban, Holmes and his team were now responsible for using their training to win the hearts and minds of John McCain and Al Franken. On March 23rd, Holmes emailed the JAG lawyer who handled information operations, saying that the order made him "nervous." The lawyer, Capt. John Scott, agreed with Holmes. "The short answer is that IO doesn’t do that," Scott replied in an email. "[Public affairs] works on the hearts and minds of our own citizens and IO works on the hearts and minds of the citizens of other nations. While the twain do occasionally intersect, such intersections, like violent contact during a soccer game, should be unintentional." In another email, Scott advised Holmes to seek his own defense counsel. "Using IO to influence our own folks is a bad idea," the lawyer wrote, "and contrary to IO policy." In a statement to Rolling Stone, a spokesman for Caldwell "categorically denies the assertion that the command used an Information Operations Cell to influence Distinguished Visitors." But after Scott offered his legal opinion, the order was rewritten to stipulate that the IO unit should only use publicly available records to create profiles of U.S. visitors. Based on the narrower definition of the order, Holmes and his team believed the incident was behind them. Three weeks after the exchange, however, Holmes learned that he was the subject of an investigation, called an AR 15-6. The investigation had been ordered by Col. Joe Buche, Caldwell’s chief of staff. The 22-page report, obtained by Rolling Stone, reads like something put together by Kenneth Starr. The investigator accuses Holmes of going off base in civilian clothes without permission, improperly using his position to start a private business, consuming alcohol, using Facebook too much, and having an "inappropriate" relationship with one of his subordinates, Maj. Laural Levine. The investigator also noted a joking comment that Holmes made on his Facebook wall, in response to a jibe about Afghan men wanting to hold his hand. "Hey! I’ve been here almost five months now!" Holmes wrote. "Gimmee a break a man has needs you know." "LTC Holmes’ comments about his sexual needs," the report concluded, "are even more distasteful in light of his status as a married man." Both Holmes and Levine maintain that there was nothing inappropriate about their relationship, and said they were waiting until after they left Afghanistan to start their own business. They and other members of the team also say that they had been given permission to go off post in civilian clothes. As for Facebook, Caldwell’s command had aggressively encouraged its officers to the use the site as part of a social-networking initiative – and Holmes ranked only 15th among the biggest users. Nor was Holmes the only one who wrote silly things online. Col. Breazile’s Facebook page, for example, is spotted with similar kinds of nonsense, including multiple references to drinking alcohol, and a photo of a warning inside a Port-o-John mocking Afghans – "In case any of you forgot that you are supposed to sit on the toilet and not stand on it and squat. It’s a safety issue. We don’t want you to fall in or miss your target." Breazile now serves at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he works in the office dedicated to waging a global information war for the Pentagon. Following the investigation, both Holmes and Levine were formally reprimanded. Holmes, believing that he was being targeted for questioning the legality of waging an IO campaign against U.S. visitors, complained to the Defense Department’s inspector general. Three months later, he was informed that he was not entitled to protection as a whistleblower, because the JAG lawyer he consulted was not "designated to receive such communications." Levine, who has a spotless record and 19 service awards after 16 years in the military, including a tour of duty in Kuwait and Iraq, fears that she has become "the collateral damage" in the military’s effort to retaliate against Holmes. "It will probably end my career," she says. "My father was an officer, and I believed officers would never act like this. I was devastated. I’ve lost my faith in the military, and I couldn’t in good conscience recommend anyone joining right now." After being reprimanded, Holmes and his team were essentially ignored for the rest of their tours in Afghanistan. But on June 15th, the entire Afghan training mission received a surprising memo from Col. Buche, Caldwell’s chief of staff. "Effective immediately," the memo read, "the engagement in information operations by personnel assigned to the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan is strictly prohibited." From now on, the memo added, the "information operation cell" would be referred to as the "Information Engagement cell." The IE’s mission? "This cell will engage in activities for the sole purpose of informing and educating U.S., Afghan and international audiences…." The memo declared, in short, that those who had trained in psy-ops and other forms of propaganda would now officially be working as public relations experts – targeting a worldwide audience. As for the operation targeting U.S. senators, there is no way to tell what, if any, influence it had on American policy. What is clear is that in January 2011, Caldwell’s command asked the Obama administration for another $2 billion to train an additional 70,000 Afghan troops – an initiative that will already cost U.S. taxpayers more than $11 billion this year. Among the biggest boosters in Washington to give Caldwell the additional money? Sen. Carl Levin, one of the senators whom Holmes had been ordered to target. ||||| The U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war, Rolling Stone has learned – and when an officer tried to stop the operation, he was railroaded by military investigators. The Runaway General: The Rolling Stone Profile of Stanley McChrystal That Changed History The orders came from the command of Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, a three-star general in charge of training Afghan troops – the linchpin of U.S. strategy in the war. Over a four-month period last year, a military cell devoted to what is known as "information operations" at Camp Eggers in Kabul was repeatedly pressured to target visiting senators and other VIPs who met with Caldwell. When the unit resisted the order, arguing that it violated U.S. laws prohibiting the use of propaganda against American citizens, it was subjected to a campaign of retaliation. "My job in psy-ops is to play with people’s heads, to get the enemy to behave the way we want them to behave," says Lt. Colonel Michael Holmes, the leader of the IO unit, who received an official reprimand after bucking orders. "I’m prohibited from doing that to our own people. When you ask me to try to use these skills on senators and congressman, you’re crossing a line." Photos: Psy-Ops and the General The list of targeted visitors was long, according to interviews with members of the IO team and internal documents obtained by Rolling Stone. Those singled out in the campaign included senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Jack Reed, Al Franken and Carl Levin; Rep. Steve Israel of the House Appropriations Committee; Adm. Mike Mullen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Czech ambassador to Afghanistan; the German interior minister, and a host of influential think-tank analysts. The incident offers an indication of just how desperate the U.S. command in Afghanistan is to spin American civilian leaders into supporting an increasingly unpopular war. According to the Defense Department’s own definition, psy-ops – the use of propaganda and psychological tactics to influence emotions and behaviors – are supposed to be used exclusively on "hostile foreign groups." Federal law forbids the military from practicing psy-ops on Americans, and each defense authorization bill comes with a "propaganda rider" that also prohibits such manipulation. "Everyone in the psy-ops, intel, and IO community knows you’re not supposed to target Americans," says a veteran member of another psy-ops team who has run operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. "It’s what you learn on day one." The Kill Team: How U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan murdered innocent civilians and mutilated their corpses – and how their officers failed to stop them. Plus: an exclusive look at the war crime photos censored by the Pentagon When Holmes and his four-man team arrived in Afghanistan in November 2009, their mission was to assess the effects of U.S. propaganda on the Taliban and the local Afghan population. But the following month, Holmes began receiving orders from Caldwell’s staff to direct his expertise on a new target: visiting Americans. At first, the orders were administered verbally. According to Holmes, who attended at least a dozen meetings with Caldwell to discuss the operation, the general wanted the IO unit to do the kind of seemingly innocuous work usually delegated to the two dozen members of his public affairs staff: compiling detailed profiles of the VIPs, including their voting records, their likes and dislikes, and their "hot-button issues." In one email to Holmes, Caldwell’s staff also wanted to know how to shape the general’s presentations to the visiting dignitaries, and how best to "refine our messaging." King David's War: How Gen. Petraeus Is Doubling Down on a Failed Strategy Congressional delegations – known in military jargon as CODELs – are no strangers to spin. U.S. lawmakers routinely take trips to the frontlines in Iraq and Afghanistan, where they receive carefully orchestrated briefings and visit local markets before posing for souvenir photos in helmets and flak jackets. Informally, the trips are a way for generals to lobby congressmen and provide first-hand updates on the war. But what Caldwell was looking for was more than the usual background briefings on senators. According to Holmes, the general wanted the IO team to provide a "deeper analysis of pressure points we could use to leverage the delegation for more funds." The general’s chief of staff also asked Holmes how Caldwell could secretly manipulate the U.S. lawmakers without their knowledge. "How do we get these guys to give us more people?" he demanded. "What do I have to plant inside their heads?" According to experts on intelligence policy, asking a psy-ops team to direct its expertise against visiting dignitaries would be like the president asking the CIA to put together background dossiers on congressional opponents. Holmes was even expected to sit in on Caldwell’s meetings with the senators and take notes, without divulging his background. "Putting your propaganda people in a room with senators doesn’t look good," says John Pike, a leading military analyst. "It doesn’t pass the smell test. Any decent propaganda operator would tell you that." At a minimum, the use of the IO team against U.S. senators was a misuse of vital resources designed to combat the enemy; it cost American taxpayers roughly $6 million to deploy Holmes and his team in Afghanistan for a year. But Caldwell seemed more eager to advance his own career than to defeat the Taliban. "We called it Operation Fourth Star," says Holmes. "Caldwell seemed far more focused on the Americans and the funding stream than he was on the Afghans. We were there to teach and train the Afghans. But for the first four months it was all about the U.S. Later he even started talking about targeting the NATO populations." At one point, according to Holmes, Caldwell wanted to break up the IO team and give each general on his staff their own personal spokesperson with psy-ops training. The Insurgent's Tale: A Soldier Reconsiders Jihad It wasn’t the first time that Caldwell had tried to tear down the wall that has historically separated public affairs and psy-ops – the distinction the military is supposed to maintain between "informing" and "influencing." After a stint as the top U.S. spokesperson in Iraq, the general pushed aggressively to expand the military’s use of information operations. During his time as a commander at Ft. Leavenworth, Caldwell argued for exploiting new technologies like blogging and Wikipedia – a move that would widen the military’s ability to influence the public, both foreign and domestic. According to sources close to the general, he also tried to rewrite the official doctrine on information operations, though that effort ultimately failed. (In recent months, the Pentagon has quietly dropped the nefarious-sounding moniker "psy-ops" in favor of the more neutral "MISO" – short for Military Information Support Operations.) Under duress, Holmes and his team provided Caldwell with background assessments on the visiting senators, and helped prep the general for his high-profile encounters. But according to members of his unit, Holmes did his best to resist the orders. Holmes believed that using his team to target American civilians violated the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which was passed by Congress to prevent the State Department from using Soviet-style propaganda techniques on U.S. citizens. But when Holmes brought his concerns to Col. Gregory Breazile, the spokesperson for the Afghan training mission run by Caldwell, the discussion ended in a screaming match. "It’s not illegal if I say it isn’t!" Holmes recalls Breazile shouting. In March 2010, Breazile issued a written order that "directly tasked" Holmes to conduct an IO campaign against "all DV visits" – short for "distinguished visitor." The team was also instructed to "prepare the context and develop the prep package for each visit." In case the order wasn’t clear enough, Breazile added that the new instructions were to "take priority over all other duties." Instead of fighting the Taliban, Holmes and his team were now responsible for using their training to win the hearts and minds of John McCain and Al Franken. On March 23rd, Holmes emailed the JAG lawyer who handled information operations, saying that the order made him "nervous." The lawyer, Capt. John Scott, agreed with Holmes. "The short answer is that IO doesn’t do that," Scott replied in an email. "[Public affairs] works on the hearts and minds of our own citizens and IO works on the hearts and minds of the citizens of other nations. While the twain do occasionally intersect, such intersections, like violent contact during a soccer game, should be unintentional." In another email, Scott advised Holmes to seek his own defense counsel. "Using IO to influence our own folks is a bad idea," the lawyer wrote, "and contrary to IO policy." In a statement to Rolling Stone, a spokesman for Caldwell "categorically denies the assertion that the command used an Information Operations Cell to influence Distinguished Visitors." But after Scott offered his legal opinion, the order was rewritten to stipulate that the IO unit should only use publicly available records to create profiles of U.S. visitors. Based on the narrower definition of the order, Holmes and his team believed the incident was behind them. Three weeks after the exchange, however, Holmes learned that he was the subject of an investigation, called an AR 15-6. The investigation had been ordered by Col. Joe Buche, Caldwell’s chief of staff. The 22-page report, obtained by Rolling Stone, reads like something put together by Kenneth Starr. The investigator accuses Holmes of going off base in civilian clothes without permission, improperly using his position to start a private business, consuming alcohol, using Facebook too much, and having an "inappropriate" relationship with one of his subordinates, Maj. Laural Levine. The investigator also noted a joking comment that Holmes made on his Facebook wall, in response to a jibe about Afghan men wanting to hold his hand. "Hey! I’ve been here almost five months now!" Holmes wrote. "Gimmee a break a man has needs you know." "LTC Holmes’ comments about his sexual needs," the report concluded, "are even more distasteful in light of his status as a married man." Both Holmes and Levine maintain that there was nothing inappropriate about their relationship, and said they were waiting until after they left Afghanistan to start their own business. They and other members of the team also say that they had been given permission to go off post in civilian clothes. As for Facebook, Caldwell’s command had aggressively encouraged its officers to the use the site as part of a social-networking initiative – and Holmes ranked only 15th among the biggest users. Nor was Holmes the only one who wrote silly things online. Col. Breazile’s Facebook page, for example, is spotted with similar kinds of nonsense, including multiple references to drinking alcohol, and a photo of a warning inside a Port-o-John mocking Afghans – "In case any of you forgot that you are supposed to sit on the toilet and not stand on it and squat. It’s a safety issue. We don’t want you to fall in or miss your target." Breazile now serves at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he works in the office dedicated to waging a global information war for the Pentagon. Following the investigation, both Holmes and Levine were formally reprimanded. Holmes, believing that he was being targeted for questioning the legality of waging an IO campaign against U.S. visitors, complained to the Defense Department’s inspector general. Three months later, he was informed that he was not entitled to protection as a whistleblower, because the JAG lawyer he consulted was not "designated to receive such communications." Levine, who has a spotless record and 19 service awards after 16 years in the military, including a tour of duty in Kuwait and Iraq, fears that she has become "the collateral damage" in the military’s effort to retaliate against Holmes. "It will probably end my career," she says. "My father was an officer, and I believed officers would never act like this. I was devastated. I’ve lost my faith in the military, and I couldn’t in good conscience recommend anyone joining right now." After being reprimanded, Holmes and his team were essentially ignored for the rest of their tours in Afghanistan. But on June 15th, the entire Afghan training mission received a surprising memo from Col. Buche, Caldwell’s chief of staff. "Effective immediately," the memo read, "the engagement in information operations by personnel assigned to the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan is strictly prohibited." From now on, the memo added, the "information operation cell" would be referred to as the "Information Engagement cell." The IE’s mission? "This cell will engage in activities for the sole purpose of informing and educating U.S., Afghan and international audiences…." The memo declared, in short, that those who had trained in psy-ops and other forms of propaganda would now officially be working as public relations experts – targeting a worldwide audience. As for the operation targeting U.S. senators, there is no way to tell what, if any, influence it had on American policy. What is clear is that in January 2011, Caldwell’s command asked the Obama administration for another $2 billion to train an additional 70,000 Afghan troops – an initiative that will already cost U.S. taxpayers more than $11 billion this year. Among the biggest boosters in Washington to give Caldwell the additional money? Sen. Carl Levin, one of the senators whom Holmes had been ordered to target.

– In an illegal effort to build support for the war, a top US general in Afghanistan ordered troops trained in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting lawmakers, reports Michael Hastings for Rolling Stone. Over a four-month period last year, Gen. William Caldwell reportedly pushed the psy-ops team to focus their work on lawmakers—the list of targets included John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and Sen. Carl Levin, who was a key backer of Caldwell’s request last month for another $2 billion to train Afghan troops. But when the leader of Caldwell's "information operations" unit tried to oppose the plan, he later found himself the subject of a military investigation accusing him of unrelated inappropriate conduct. "My job in psy-ops is to play with people’s heads, to get the enemy to behave the way we want them to behave," said IO leader Lt. Colonel Michael Holmes. "I’m prohibited from doing that to our own people." (Rolling Stone notes that federal law explicitly prohibits the military from practicing psy-ops on its own citizens, and every defense authorization bill features a "propaganda rider" that bars such manipulation.) Holmes says Caldwell wanted his team to provide a "deeper analysis of pressure points we could use to leverage the delegation for more funds." He says the general’s chief of staff wanted to know how Caldwell could secretly manipulate lawmakers without them knowing, asking him, "How do we get these guys to give us more people? What do I have to plant inside their heads?" Caldwell "categorically denies" the claim, says a rep. Click to read the entire piece, which certainly isn't Hastings' first piece to make waves.

Excavation of two quarries in Wales by a UCL-led team of archaeologists and geologists has confirmed they are sources of Stonehenge’s ‘bluestones’– and shed light on how they were quarried and transported. New research by the team published today in Antiquity presents detailed evidence of prehistoric quarrying in the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, helping to answer long-standing questions about why, when and how Stonehenge was built. The team of scientists includes researchers from UCL, University of Manchester, Bournemouth University, University of Southampton, University of Leicester, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, and Dyfed Archaeological Trust. The very large standing stones at Stonehenge are of ‘sarsen’, a local sandstone, but the smaller ones, known as ‘bluestones’, come from the Preseli hills in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Geologists have known since the 1920s that the bluestones were brought to Stonehenge from somewhere in the Preseli Hills, but only now has there been collaboration with archaeologists to locate and excavate the actual quarries from which they came. Director of the project, Professor Mike Parker Pearson (UCL Institute of Archaeology), said: “This has been a wonderful opportunity for geologists and archaeologists to work together. The geologists have been able to lead us to the actual outcrops where Stonehenge’s stones were extracted.” The Stonehenge bluestones are of volcanic and igneous rocks, the most common of which are called dolerite and rhyolite. Dr Richard Bevins (Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales) and Dr Rob Ixer (UCL and University of Leicester) have identified the outcrop of Carn Goedog as the main source of Stonehenge’s ‘spotted dolerite’ bluestones and the outcrop of Craig Rhos-y-felin as a source for one of the ‘rhyolite’ bluestones. The research published today details excavations at Craig Rhos-y-felin specifically. The special formation of the rock, which forms natural pillars at these outcrops, allowed the prehistoric quarry-workers to detach each megalith (standing stone) with a minimum of effort. “They only had to insert wooden wedges into the cracks between the pillars and then let the Welsh rain do the rest by swelling the wood to ease each pillar off the rock face” said Dr Josh Pollard (University of Southampton). “The quarry-workers then lowered the thin pillars onto platforms of earth and stone, a sort of ‘loading bay’ from where the huge stones could be dragged away along trackways leading out of each quarry.” Professor Colin Richards (University of Manchester), an expert in Neolithic quarries, said: “The two outcrops are really impressive – they may well have had special significance for prehistoric people. When we saw them for the first time, we knew immediately that we had found the source.” Radiocarbon-dating of burnt hazelnuts and charcoal from the quarry-workers’ camp fires reveals that there were several occurrences of megalith-quarrying at these outcrops. Stonehenge was built during the Neolithic period, between 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. Both of the quarries in Preseli were exploited in the Neolithic, and Craig Rhos-y-felin was also quarried in the Bronze Age, around 4,000 years ago. “We have dates of around 3400 BC for Craig Rhos-y-felin and 3200 BC for Carn Goedog, which is intriguing because the bluestones didn’t get put up at Stonehenge until around 2900 BC” said Professor Parker Pearson. “It could have taken those Neolithic stone-draggers nearly 500 years to get them to Stonehenge, but that’s pretty improbable in my view. It’s more likely that the stones were first used in a local monument, somewhere near the quarries, that was then dismantled and dragged off to Wiltshire.” Professor Kate Welham (Bournemouth University) thinks that the ruins of any dismantled monument are likely to lie somewhere between the two megalith quarries. She said: “We’ve been conducting geophysical surveys, trial excavations and aerial photographic analysis throughout the area and we think we have the most likely spot. The results are very promising – we may find something big in 2016.” The megalith quarries are on the north side of the Preseli hills, and this location undermines previous theories about how the bluestones were transported from Wales to Stonehenge. Previous writers have often suggested that bluestones were taken southwards from the hills to Milford Haven and then floated on boats or rafts, but this now seems unlikely. “The only logical direction for the bluestones to go was to the north then either by sea around St David’s Head or eastwards overland through the valleys along the route that is now the A40” said Professor Parker Pearson. “Personally I think that the overland route is more likely. Each of the 80 monoliths weighed less than 2 tons, so teams of people or oxen could have managed this. We know from examples in India and elsewhere in Asia that single stones this size can even be carried on wooden lattices by groups of 60 – they didn’t even have to drag them if they didn’t want to.” Phil Bennett, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority’s Culture and Heritage Manager, said: “This project is making a wonderful contribution to our knowledge of the National Park’s importance in prehistory.” The new discoveries may also help to understand why Stonehenge was built. Parker Pearson and his team believe that the bluestones were erected at Stonehenge around 2900 BC, long before the giant sarsens were put up around 2500 BC. “Stonehenge was a Welsh monument from its very beginning. If we can find the original monument in Wales from which it was built, we will finally be able to solve the mystery of why Stonehenge was built and why some of its stones were brought so far”, said Professor Parker Pearson. Further excavations are planned for 2016. Craig Rhos-y-felin: a Welsh bluestone megalith quarry for Stonehenge’ is published in the journal Antiquity on Monday 7th December 2015. Links Image Excavations at Craig Rhos-y-felin (Courtesy of Adam Stanford © Aerial-Cam Ltd) Media contact Siobhan Pipa Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9041 Email: s.pipa [at] ucl.ac.uk

– Researchers in London think they have solved one of the most enduring mysteries of Stonehenge: How did a bunch of prehistoric Britons haul massive stones from a quarry in Wales to the site of the monument more than 100 miles? "The answer," per the Telegraph, "is surprisingly simple." By mounting a giant stone on a wooden sleigh and dragging it along a track of timbers, a team from University College London found that just 10 people were able to move a more than 2,000-pound stone at a rate of about 1mph. “We were expecting to need at least 15 people to move the stone so to find we could do it with 10 was quite interesting,” doctoral student Barney Harris tells the Telegraph. The rocks in question, the ones at the center of the monument known as bluestones, were quarried in Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, Wales, according to a separate study last year. They were laid at Stonehenge, some 140 miles away in Wiltshire, around 2400 BC, according to Seeker.com. The larger stones around the perimeter, called sarsens, are local sandstone and were laid during a second phase of construction about 500 years later. The sleigh-and-track method, if that's what Stonehenge's architects used, is not unique, Harris tells the Telegraph. “We know that pre-industrialized societies like the Maram Naga in India still use this kind of sledge to construct huge stone monuments, he says, adding that the Japanese are known to have used similar sleighs thousands of years ago. Could oxen have been used to pull the stones along the track? "Oxen are quite belligerent and difficult to control," Harris says. "This experiment shows that humans could have carried out the task fairly easily." (A century ago, Cecil Chubb bought Stonehenge on a whim.)

This paper argues that studying why and when people call certain actions stupid should be the interest of psychological investigations not just because it is a frequent everyday behavior, but also because it is a robust behavioral reflection of the rationalistic expectations to which people adjust their own behavior and expect others to. The relationship of intelligence and intelligent behavior has been the topic of recent debates, yet understanding why we call certain actions stupid irrespective of their cognitive abilities requires the understanding of what people mean when they call an action stupid. To study these questions empirically, we analyzed real-life examples where people called an action stupid. A collection of such stories was categorized by raters along a list of psychological concepts to explore what the causes are that people attribute to the stupid actions observed. We found that people use the label stupid for three separate types of situation: (1) violations of maintaining a balance between confidence and abilities; (2) failures of attention; and (3) lack of control. The level of observed stupidity was always amplified by higher responsibility being attributed to the actor and by the severity of the consequences of the action. These results bring us closer to understanding people's conception of unintelligent behavior while emphasizing the broader psychological perspectives of studying the attribute of stupid in everyday life. ||||| Whether it's your sibling, best friend, parent or even your boss, you've called someone stupid at some point in your life. But how do we even define "stupid" behavior, and what can we do to avoid acting stupidly? A new study offers a scientific answer. "Although calling something stupid is a frequent everyday behavior," Balázs Aczél, a psychology professor at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest and a co-author of the study, told The Huffington Post in an email, "there has been no psychological study to understand why and when people use this label to describe the observed actions." Aczél and his colleagues gathered 180 pieces of writing from the news, blog sites, and social media that might be deemed as "stupid." The pieces were then presented to 154 adults who were asked to fill out a survey about each story. The study participants answered whether they thought the behaviors and actions in the writing clips were stupid, and how stupid they considered them to be on a scale from one to 10. The researchers found that, despite the ambiguous definition of "stupid," there was a 90 percent rate of agreement between participants in which actions were seen as stupid. The researchers also noticed that there were three different types of behaviors, which were most often deemed as stupid. "In our statistical analysis of the data we found that people regard stupid action in three different categories: (1) violations of maintaining a balance between confidence and abilities; (2) failures of attention; and (3) lack of control," Aczél said. Here are examples of the three categories: 1. Overconfidence Aczél described it as "confident ignorance," or when someone is overconfident about their ability to do something. An example of this behavior is when a driver refuses to ask for directions, and might end up lost. "What that tells us is that you don’t have to have a low IQ, in people’s eyes, to act stupidly. You just have to misperceive your abilities,"Aczél told The Washington Post. 2. Lack of control A lack of willpower or control might be when your friend is on a diet but buys cookies in the grocery store "just in case." 3. Absent-mindedness Absent-minded behavior could be described as when someone who buys a car doesn't know how to change the oil, and thus, the vehicle breaks down on the side of the road. The researchers noted that more research is needed to determine how much of their findings are influenced by culture and shared expectations. But for now, "these results bring us closer to understanding the rationalistic norms that people use in monitoring and evaluating behavior," they concluded. The study was published in the November-December 2015 edition of the journal Intelligence. Also on HuffPost: ||||| Forrest Gump once said, "Stupid is as stupid does." Turns out, he was right. New research finds that people judge actions as stupid for three primary reasons: The actions reflect a foolhardy level of risk, an absent-mindedness and lack of practicality, or an impulsive lack of control. And though stupid is a bit of a catchall term, the researchers found that people are very quick to identify it. "People don't spend time on judging if something is stupid or not," study researcher Balazs Aczel told Live Science. "It comes instantaneously, and as our results showed, they have high agreement. If one person calls something stupid, there's a high likelihood others will do the same thing." Ways to be stupid At first glance, it might seem odd to investigate how people decide that something is "stupid." Stupidity is, after all, an intuitive concept. But researchers who study decision-making had no information, beyond anecdotes, as to how people decide whether an action is stupid. [Understanding the 10 Most Destructive Human Behaviors] The team collected news stories and anecdotes online that someone had described as "stupid." One example was a news story about a robber who set out to steal cellphones, but lifted GPS devices instead — and failed to switch the devices off, allowing the police to discover them (and him) immediately. The researchers also asked students to gather examples of stupidity in day-to-day life. Next, they asked 154 different students to read the stories of stupidity they'd gathered and asked them whether each qualified as "stupid." The students (who were all Hungarian) then chose possible reasons from a long list as to why they'd decided each example was stupid. The reasons fell into three categories. The first, dubbed "confident ignorance," is when someone tackles something high-risk without the proper skills. The cellphone/GPS caper was an example of this kind of stupidity. The next category was "absent-mindedness," which applied to situations where people knew the right thing to do, but weren't paying close attention. One example would be walking out of the store without paying for your groceries, Aczel said. The third kind of stupidity was typified by lack of control, and occurred when people knew they shouldn't do something but couldn't fight their impulse to do it anyway. Reaching for a third slice of cake when you know you'll get a stomachache later is an example of this kind of stupidity, Aczel said. Why stupid matters Stupidity is an interesting concept because it doesn't always track with intelligence, Aczel said. Very high-IQ people can make extremely bone-headed moves. The new research reveals that judging a behavior "stupid" reveals the observer's expectations of how someone should behave, he said. But the person doing the stupid thing might be operating according to a different set of expectations or goals. On a practical level, understanding why people call something stupid might provide better ways to call out dumb behavior, Aczel said. It might be more helpful to tell someone they're being overconfident than that they're being stupid, for example. The researchers now plan to concentrate on the cognitive mechanisms people use to monitor others' behaviors. One mystery, Aczel said, is why people find stupidity so amusing, a fact that drives any number of Hollywood comedies and even widespread kudos (think the Darwin Awards). "People want to watch other people doing something stupid as a source of amusement," he said. Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

– How’s this for a stupid study: Researchers at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, set out to discover the criteria people use when determining that a particular behavior is, well, stupid, Live Science reports. It turns out it doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist: Judging whether something is stupid "comes instantaneously," researcher Aczél Balázs says. "If one person calls something stupid, there's a high likelihood others will do the same thing." In fact, the rate of agreement was 90%, the Huffington Post notes. Researchers found that behaviors deemed stupid stem from three primary conditions: Overconfidence: You thought you could, but you couldn’t. Lack of control: You knew you shouldn't, but you did. Absent-mindedness: You weren't paying attention. In the study, researchers gathered online anecdotes describing behaviors that had been called stupid. They asked 154 students to read them and determine if they were, indeed, stupid. Then, the students chose reasons why a behavior was stupid from a list. Some interesting takeaways: People with high intelligence aren't necessarily immune to doing stupid things. A determination of stupidity is based on the observer’s expectations for a person’s behavior; the person engaged in stupid behavior may have different expectations. Understanding the causes of stupid behavior may help people warn others from engaging in it—rather than saying, "You’re being stupid," one can say "You’re being overconfident." No matter what, Balázs tells Live Science, we not only recognize stupidity when we see it, we love to "watch other people doing something stupid as a source of amusement." (Stupidity may have thwarted a Nazi invasion of Britain. Can't get enough stupidity? Here.)

Planned Parenthood filed a racketeering lawsuit against anti-abortion activist David Daleiden and his Center for Medical Progress group on Thursday, calling the group "a complex criminal enterprise conceived and executed by anti-abortion extremists." In July, the CMP began releasing edited videos of conversations with Planned Parenthood doctors, secretly recorded by anti-abortion activists posing as medical tissue firm officials. The videos claimed they exposed illegal sales of fetal tissues by Planned Parenthood to a tissue bank called Stem Express, as well as illegal abortion procedures. Planned Parenthood denied the claims, which sparked Congressional hearings and investigations in 10 states, and released a report calling the videos deceptive. Now the women's health organization, which performs about one-third of all abortions nationwide, is filing suit in the Northern California federal district against the CMP. "The express aim of the enterprise — which stretched over years and involved fake companies, fake identifications, and large-scale illegal taping — was a to demonize Planned Parenthood," the lawsuit says. "Planned Parenthood provides high-quality compassionate care and has done nothing wrong," said Kathy Kneer, president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, in a briefing on the lawsuit. "Game on," Daleiden told BuzzFeed News by email. "I look forward to taking the depositions of all the Planned Parenthood CEOs who profited off of their business relationship with StemExpress." Racketeering lawsuits typically ask for triple damages, and the lawsuit asks for payments for Planned Parenthood's increased security costs and penalties for violation of confidentiality agreements. Three people died in a shooting at a Colorado clinic in November, and Planned Parenthood cited death threats as a result of the videos. In addition to Daleiden, Planned Parenthood named prominent anti-abortion activist Troy Newman of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue in the suit, as well as some CMP activists whose names were previously undisclosed by the group. ||||| Planned Parenthood filed a federal court lawsuit Thursday alleging extensive criminal misconduct by the anti-abortion activists who produced undercover videos targeting the handling of fetal tissue at some Planned Parenthood clinics. "The people behind this fraud lied and broke the law in order to spread malicious lies about Planned Parenthood," said Dawn Laguens, the organization's executive vice president. "This lawsuit exposes the elaborate, illegal conspiracy designed to block women's access to safe and legal abortion." The anti-abortion activists, who named their group the Center for Medical Progress, began releasing a series of covertly recorded videos in July alleging that Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue to researchers for a profit in violation of federal law. Planned Parenthood has denied any wrongdoing, saying a handful of its clinics provided fetal tissue for research while receiving only permissible reimbursement for costs. The lawsuit says the videos were the result of numerous illegalities, including making recordings without consent, registering false identities with state agencies and violating non-disclosure agreements. The civil lawsuit was filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as legal fees. A Planned Parenthood lawyer, Beth Parker, declined to estimate how much money would be sought, but it said the amount would include extra money spent since the videos' release on additional security for Planned Parenthood clinics. David Daleiden, a founder of the Center for Medical Progress who oversaw the video operation, said he looked forward to confronting Planned Parenthood officials in court. "My response is: Game on," he said in an email. "I look forward to deposing all the CEOs, medical directors, and their co-conspirators who participated in Planned Parenthood's illegal baby body parts racket." The lawsuit alleges that Daleiden and several collaborators, including longtime anti-abortion activist Troy Newman, "engaged in a complex criminal enterprise to defraud Planned Parenthood." The suit contends that the Center for Medical Progress violated the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organization Act (known as the RICO Act), engaging in wire fraud, mail fraud, invasion of privacy, illegal secret recording and trespassing. According to the suit, Daleiden, Newman and other defendants used aliases, obtained fake government IDs and formed a fake tissue procurement company, Biomax, in order to gain access to private medical conferences and health care centers, and to tape private professional conversations of medical providers. The videos provoked an outcry from the anti-abortion movement, and prompted numerous investigations of Planned Parenthood by Republican-led committees in Congress and by GOP-led state governments. Thus far, none of the investigations has turned up wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood in regard to fetal tissue research, but Republicans in Congress and in several states are seeking to cut off government funding to the organization. The videos created a "poisonous environment" in which Planned Parenthood staffers were targeted with hate mail and death threats, said Parker, the organization's lawyer. She cited the attack in November on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado in which three people were killed; the man arrested in the shooting depicted himself in court as a "warrior for the babies." Planned Parenthood is the leading abortion provider in the United States, and also provides a range of other health services, including cancer screenings, contraceptives and testing for sexually transmitted diseases.

– The undercover "sting" videos targeting Planned Parenthood were part of a "complex criminal enterprise" created by "anti-abortion extremists," according to a federal lawsuit filed by the organization. The lawsuit filed Thursday against an anti-abortion group called the Center for Medical Progress accuses the group of committing fraud and breaking racketeering laws to obtain videos of Planned Parenthood employees discussing the transfer of organs from aborted fetuses, Reuters reports. The lawsuit states that the group's activities lasted years and involved the use of fake government IDs, the creation of a fake company, and "large-scale illegal taping" as part of an effort to "demonize Planned Parenthood." "The people behind this fraud lied and broke the law in order to spread malicious lies," Planned Parenthood executive vice president Dawn Laguens tells the AP. "This lawsuit exposes the elaborate, illegal conspiracy designed to block women's access to safe and legal abortion." She says no Planned Parenthood staff were involved in any wrongdoing. "My response is: Game on," Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden tells BuzzFeed, adding that he is looking forward to "taking the depositions of all the Planned Parenthood CEOs" that he claims profited from tissue sales. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, and Planned Parenthood lawyer Beth Parker tells the AP that the amount will include the cost of extra security for clinics.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The referendum is over but the debate over the future of UK politics is just beginning. Ben Wright reports Scotland has voted "No" to independence in the historic referendum on the nation's future. For now, that means it will continue to form an integral part of the UK - but for Scottish devolution, the process of granting powers from Westminster to the Scottish parliament, it's far from business as usual. The focus will now be on how the UK government delivers its promise of more powers for the Scottish parliament, based at Holyrood, Edinburgh. Here's what's likely to happen next. More power The three biggest UK-wide political parties - The Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats - agree that further devolution of powers to Holyrood must take place. During the referendum campaign, the parties signed a pledge to devolve more powers to Scotland, if Scots rejected independence. A timetable to deliver change was set out by former prime minister - and Scottish MP - Gordon Brown. It was quickly endorsed by the UK-wide parties. Immediately after the result became clear, Prime Minister David Cameron aimed to show the UK government was grabbing the initiative by announcing Lord Smith of Kelvin, a former BBC governor, to oversee the implementation of more devolution on tax, spending and welfare. He said draft legislation would be ready by January, as per the timetable laid out by Brown. Under the former PM's proposals, a "command paper" would be published by the present UK government setting out all the proposals by the end of October. A white paper would be drawn up by the end of November, after a period of consultation, setting out the proposed powers. A draft new "Scotland Act" law would be published by Burns Night (25 January) 2015 ready for the House of Commons to vote on. However, with a UK general election due in May 2015, the legislation would not be passed until the new parliament began. Party differences The Scottish Parliament is currently funded through a block grant and the amount it gets is defined by the Barnett Formula - an arrangement for adjusting funds to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to spend on devolved policy areas, on the basis of population . All three parties are committed to preserving the essence of this mechanism in some form. And in proposals set out by the parties earlier this year, each offered Holyrood considerably more income tax-raising powers than the Scottish parliament has at present. However, there were significant differences between the parties in the proposed extent of those changes. What the 'No' vote means for Scotland and rest of the UK Labour wants to give Holyrood the power to vary income tax by 15p in the pound - but not the power to cut the top tax rate on its own. The Conservatives propose to give Scotland total control over income tax rates and bands. Holyrood would also be accountable for 40% of the money it spent. The Liberal Democrats propose giving Scotland power over income tax, inheritance and capital gains tax. The party has also touted scrapping the Act of Union between Scotland and England and replacing it with a declaration of federalism. None of this will suffice for the Scottish National Party, but just as the Edinburgh Agreement, committed Prime Minister David Cameron to honouring the referendum result, the same is true for the Scottish first minister. The Scottish government is expected to fight for a "devo max" - essentially far-reaching devolution - package of powers, likely to include total control over income tax, corporation tax, and air passenger duty, and extensive control over welfare. The negotiations UK political parties will have to work through their differences, and come up with a single proposal. But others will also be involved. In the lead up to the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the UK government laid out its devolved responsibilities in a White Paper in July 1997, before they were backed by voters and put into legislation. Credit for paving the road towards Scottish devolution was given to the Scottish Constitutional Convention, an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups set up in 1989. Lord Smith's new body on finalising Holyrood's new powers could in some ways be seen as a modern-day version of the organisation. SNP future Image copyright AFP Image caption Nicola Sturgeon could be in the running to take over from Alex Salmond So what now for the SNP? In the immediate future, it's back to government - the job to which the SNP was elected by a landslide at the last Scottish Parliament election. But, following the "No" vote, Mr Salmond announced he would step down as SNP leader and first minister at the SNP's annual conference in November. There will now be an SNP leadership contest - these are known for being interesting - with Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon the clear frontrunner. But might we see former leadership challengers Mike Russell, Alex Neil and Roseanna Cunningham - all now members of the Scottish government - also throw their hats in the ring? John Swinney though, Scotland's finance secretary, has ruled out a return to the leadership, a job he held between 2000 and 2004. And, for a party which hasn't always had the most harmonious existence, the SNP's shown a remarkable level of discipline since winning office in 2007 - but could that now be in jeopardy? However, given the scale of the SNP's last election victory, it is quite possible the party will win the next Scottish parliament election, especially if voters feel Labour has not done enough to win back their trust as a party of government. Rest of the UK With increased devolution of powers to Holyrood, many will want to address the so-called West Lothian question: is it fair that English MPs have no say on devolved issues in Scotland, but Scottish MPs at Westminster can still vote on the same issues as they affect England? A recent poll by YouGov for the Herald suggested 62% of English people believe Scottish MPs should be banned from voting on England-only laws. Many in Wales and Northern Ireland will also ask whether they should be getting more powers too. The other issue for Wales is the continuation of the Barnett funding formula, which sees Scotland get more spending per head than the UK average. Plaid Cymru says the arrangement would leave Wales £300m poorer each year, while Labour has promised to address the issue if it wins the 2015 UK election. ||||| Story highlights Scotland votes "no" in referendum about whether to leave the United Kingdom Final polls showed a narrow race after years of campaigning on either side Failure of "yes" vote saves UK Prime Minister from humiliating defeat Oakley: Cameron will breathe a sigh of relief at a partial reprieve David Cameron has had the narrowest of political escapes. Success for the "Better Together" campaign has saved him from catastrophe: he will not, after all, live on in history as the Prime Minister on whose watch the Scottish nation chose to leave the United Kingdom. But serious questions will now be asked in his party and in the country about his future. Cameron will also face an almighty battle in Parliament to deliver the consolation prize of greatly enhanced powers for the Scottish Parliament, the so-called "Devo Max" package, which he was forced to concede in the panicky latter stages of the No campaign. On Friday morning, the tired but relieved-looking Premier told reporters at 10 Downing Street that it would have broken his heart to see Scotland leave the UK. "The people of Scotland have spoken," Cameron said. "They have kept our country of four nations together, and like millions of other people, I am delighted." Cameron called on the country to move forward with a "balanced settlement, fair to the people of Scotland -- and importantly, to everyone in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well." JUST WATCHED Cameron 'delighted' with Scotland vote Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Cameron 'delighted' with Scotland vote 01:56 PLAY VIDEO JUST WATCHED British media: Scotland votes no Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH British media: Scotland votes no 01:15 PLAY VIDEO JUST WATCHED First Minister of Scotland concedes Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH First Minister of Scotland concedes 01:01 PLAY VIDEO JUST WATCHED Scotland and England's rocky relationship Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Scotland and England's rocky relationship 01:54 PLAY VIDEO But although Scottish voters ultimately rejected independence by a margin of 55% to 45%, this story is far from over for Cameron. READ: Scotland decides: The final count Did Gordon Brown save it? Cameron and his party were not the only ones to blame for a referendum campaign that so nearly led to the break-up of the United Kingdom. But he is being widely blamed for a variety of tactical and strategic errors. Many members of Parliament (MPs) will say that he and the "Better Together" campaign were only rescued by the campaigning fervor and passion of the former Labour Party leader and Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Cameron had sought to detach the questions of Scottish independence and his own future. Warning the Scots that what they were walking into was not a trial separation but a final break, he pleaded with them not to throw away the union in a protest vote just because they disliked him and his party. (Of the 59 Scottish seats in the Westminster Parliament only one is held by a Conservative MP). QUIZ: How Scottish are you? Insisting on the finality of a constitutional divorce was probably his best card. But in emphasizing that the question on the ballot paper was not his future but the future of the union, Cameron was also acknowledging that he is held to blame by many for boosting the nationalist vote. Where Cameron went wrong He is blamed firstly for the terms he agreed on the staging of the referendum. Critics lambast Cameron now for giving Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond two years to build momentum for his cause, and for opening the vote to 16 year olds. They blame him for agreeing to a ballot paper question which meant that the supporters of independence were the ones campaigning for a "Yes" while their opponents were bound to look negative in seeking a "No." They blame him for agreeing to let one vote decide the issue: when a Labour government in the 1970s agreed to a referendum on setting up a Scottish Parliament it insisted that 40% of those voting must approve the change. There was a majority for the Parliament but the 40% margin was not achieved and the Scots had to wait another 20 years for their own Parliament. Above all, the critics insist Cameron was wrong to exclude from the ballot paper the compromise option of the so-called "Devo Max" — a huge extension in the tax-raising and spending powers of the Scottish Parliament. This devolution of power from London to Edinburgh appealed to many as an achievable compromise which would have taken the steam out of the separatist case. But Cameron overruled such advice, only to find that he and the other Westminster party leaders were forced to concede Devo Max anyway — win or lose the vote — as the campaign threatened to run away from them. Even during the lead-up to the vote, when many Conservative MPs kept quiet for fear of making things worse for the Better Together campaign, some were warning that the concessions on Devo Max wrung from Cameron by Gordon Brown might not be deliverable. What comes next? Conservative MPs are already vociferously demanding that any concessions to the Scottish Parliament must be balanced by greater powers for the English regions -- namely, by reducing the number of Scottish MPs in the Westminster Parliament and by ending the process whereby Scottish MPs at Westminster can vote on English-only matters while English MPs have no say in matters delegated to the Scottish Parliament. As a moderate and pragmatic politician, Cameron has had an uneasy tenure already over a right-leaning party growing ever more Euro-skeptic as it faces the rise of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). The further difficulties he will face in pushing through legislation to honor his commitments to the Scots will do nothing to add to his authority. But Cameron will breathe a sigh of relief at a partial reprieve: had he seen the Scots depart from the UK he might well have faced a rebellion in his party which could have gone as far as the tabling of a vote of no confidence in his leadership -- a process which requires 15% of his MPs (46 of them) to sign up to the proposition. For the moment at least he soldiers on. But there is further trouble looming. Opinion polls indicate that next month his party will lose its first Parliament seat to UKIP in a by-election caused by the defection of former Tory MP Douglas Carswell. READ: 5 inspired secessionist movements ||||| Hurrah - Scotland has voted No. The United Kingdom will remain intact, backed by a wide margin of around 55-45pc against independence. Here are seven ways in which the Scotland vote will impact investors, business and the economy. 1. Sterling has already bounced back, recouping all of the losses since the one poll a few weeks ago that showed a slim lead for the Yes vote. The wobble has already been forgotten. The stock market - the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 -- has bounced this morning. It is even possible that the FTSE 100 breaks its all time high last reached at the end of 1999. Beware, though: by the end of yesterday, the markets had priced in an easy win for the No camp, which means that market reaction won’t be as violent as it could otherwise have been. Crucially, investors will also pile into gilts, which will push up their prices and lower their yields. 2. The government has been saved, at least for now; the immediate constitutional crisis has been avoided. But investors and markets will now start to think about the May 2015 General Election in earnest, and focus on the fact that all of the polls show that Labour is on course for victory. But the massive change announced by David Cameron this morning is that he also wants the English and others to be given the same powers as Scotland - ie English votes for English laws. Left-wing Scottish MPs will no longer be able to decide on English matters, just in the same way that English MPs can no longer decide on Scottish matters. This is a constitutional revolution - and it means that even a Labour takeover of the House of Commons could still mean Tories in charge in England, preventing some of the worst UK-wide anti-business excesses. The devil will be in the detail, however. 3. In the long-run, the chances of a Brexit - a UK exit from the EU - are now higher than they were, though not as high as if Scotland had voted Yes. It is clear that campaigners can make huge headway even if the establishment is against them. Expect the Out campaign to use a similar strategy to that embraced by Salmond - though with actual facts and genuine arguments this time, rather than bluff, bluster and denial. 4. What will happen now to Scottish financial institutions and others that had made provisions to shift their headquarters south of the border in the event of a Yes? Of course, they won’t now relocate - but their confidence in Scotland has undoubtedly been badly, if not irreparably damaged. Alex Salmond said that the matter is settled “for now” - in other words, not for ever. Even if tax and spend policy doesn’t now change in Scotland, we can expect to see far less foreign direct investment and a slow migration of good jobs to England. 5. In practice, of course, everything will now change. Scotland will have far greater powers - and it is likely to use them to impose social-democratic policies, which will make Scotland less competitive. Meanwhile, an English parliament could do the opposite. Arguably, therefore, the City of London could become more competitive as a result of this vote and the accompanying, as yet unpredictable constitutional revolution that is unfolding. But Labour and the Lib Dems could still manage to sabotage English devolution. It’s a key question. 6. Betting markets are very good predictors of electoral outcomes. They very rarely, if ever, get it wrong; the weight of money is far more powerful a barometer of public opinion than the analysis of many specialist pundits. The wisdom of the crowd - at least the cash-rich, lets put our money where our mouth is variety -- does work. Polls are also much more precise than they used to be - their average tends to be right within 2-3 points and get the direction right. 7. Over all, the UK economy won’t be affected noticeably in the short-term: at worst, uncertainty will have shaved a tiny bit of one quarter’s GDP, all of which will be recouped. The big effect will come from the long-term tax, spending and governance impact of a wholesale, UK-wide constitutional revolution. ||||| Image copyright PA Image caption Lord Smith of Kelvin was involved Glasgow's Commonwealth Games Lord Smith of Kelvin was appointed to oversee the process of devolving more powers to Scotland. But who is he? Robert Haldane Smith was born in 1944 in Glasgow - Scotland's biggest city to vote "Yes" in the Scottish independence referendum. When his home city was selected to host the Commonwealth Games, the Scottish government asked him to be chairman of the organising company. First Minister Alex Salmond said at the time that Lord Smith had a "proven track record" and "tremendous" experience. He attended the all-boys Allan Glen's School in Glasgow and after leaving education he entered accountancy, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1968. Lord Smith worked at the Royal Bank of Scotland and held senior positions at Charterhouse Development Capital; Morgan Grenfell Private Equity and Deutsche Asset Management. For more than a decade he was chairman of global engineering company the Weir Group until stepping down in 2013. The businessman has also held numerous non-executive directorships at MFI, Stakis and Network Rail. He also chairs energy giant SSE. Two years ago he made the headlines when he was appointed the first chairman of the UK's Green Investment Bank, based in Edinburgh. In 1999, Lord Smith was knighted and then in 2008 he was given a peerage, becoming an independent cross-bencher in the House of Lords. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Lord Smith has an interest in breeding Highland cattle He has been chairman of National Museums Scotland and described the opening of the new Museum of Scotland as one of the proudest days of his life. Lord Smith is also a former BBC governor, head of the Broadcasting Council for Scotland and chairman of the BBC's Children in Need. In 2003, he was invested as chancellor of Paisley University, which became the University of the West of Scotland, and held the role until September last year. He was installed as chancellor of the University of Strathclyde in October 2013. The 70-year-old is married with two daughters. Lord Smith owns Inchmarnock, a small uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland where he breeds Highland cattle. He bought it in March 1999 and partnered with Headland Archaeology to carry out a seven-year investigation into the island, covering pre-history, early Christian, medieval and modern times. At the end of the process, Lord Smith said: "The discoveries have exceeded all my expectations, as has the quality of this scholarly work. "I have learned a very great deal about the history of Inchmarnock, and grown to love it and respect it and its former inhabitants even more, if that is possible."

– Scotland voted to remain part of the United Kingdom, but that doesn't mean there are no changes in store. The BBC, Telegraph, USA Today, and CNN run down what's next for the country and the UK: Scottish Parliament will get more power. That's something the three biggest political parties in the UK agreed upon if Scotland rejected independence, and as soon as the results were announced, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the process would begin. He named Lord Smith of Kelvin to oversee the process of devolving powers related to tax, spending, and welfare to Scotland, with draft legislation ready by January. USA Today notes that the increased powers will amount to "a version of home rule in all matters of state save for certain key areas such as defense and monetary policy." It's good news for David Cameron. As USA Today notes, he can expect greater job security since he avoided becoming "the prime minister who lost Scotland." But CNN points out that it was "the narrowest of political escapes." And as for the credit for keeping the UK together, many are giving that to former PM Gordon Brown. Other parts of the UK could follow Scotland's lead. With Scotland being granted "much more constitutional freedom," an expert tells USA Today that Wales and Northern Ireland could seek the same additional legislative powers. And there's the "West Lothian" question: The issue of whether it's fair that Scottish MPs can vote on England-only issues, but English MPs can't similarly vote on devolved issues in Scotland will likely heat up as more powers are devolved to Scotland, making for more areas that English MPs can't weigh in on. And "Brexit" is still a possibility. USA Today predicts the UK's relationships with the European Union, NATO, and other international organizations will not see major upheaval. But the Telegraph paints a different picture, saying the chances of the UK exiting the European Union are "now higher than they were, though not as high as if Scotland had voted Yes." "All eyes" will be on the SNP's annual conference. The Perth meeting will be held in November, and the BBC notes that there could be some contention among the ranks, with rival politicians likely to try and paint leader Alex Salmond as a "lame duck." What about the emotional aftermath? The debate has been heated, so on Sunday, the Church of Scotland will hold a "reconciliation service" in Edinburgh as a first step toward bringing the nation back together.

Tiny as a sparrow, fierce as an eagle, Lisbeth Salander is one of the great Scandinavian avengers of our time, an angry bird catapulting into the fortresses of power and wiping smiles off the faces of smug, predatory pigs. The animating force in Stieg Larsson ’s “Millennium” trilogy — incarnated on screen first by Noomi Rapace and now, in David Fincher ’s adaptation of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” by Rooney Mara — Lisbeth is an outlaw feminist fantasy-heroine, and also an avatar of digital antiauthoritarianism. Her appeal arises from a combination of vulnerability and ruthless competence. Lisbeth can hack any machine, crack any code and, when necessary, mete out righteous punitive violence, but she is also (to an extent fully revealed in subsequent episodes) a lost and abused child. And Ms. Mara captures her volatile and fascinating essence beautifully. Hurt, fury and calculation play on her pierced and shadowed face. The black bangs across her forehead are as sharp and severe as an obsidian blade, but her eyebrows are as downy and pale as a baby’s. Lisbeth inspires fear and awe and also — on the part of Larsson and his fictional alter ego, the crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist (played in Mr. Fincher’s film by Daniel Craig) — a measure of chivalrous protectiveness. She is a marvelous pop-culture character, stranger and more complex than the average superhero and more intriguing than the usual boy wizards and vampire brides. It has been her fate, unfortunately, to make her furious, inspiring way through a series of plodding and ungainly stories. The Swedish screen version of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” directed by Niels Arden Oplev, often felt like the very long pilot episode of a television crime show, partly because of Larsson’s heavy-footed clumsiness as a storyteller. Despite the slick intensity of Mr. Fincher’s style, his movie is not immune to the same lumbering proceduralism. There are waves of brilliantly orchestrated anxiety and confusion but also long stretches of drab, hackneyed exposition that flatten the atmosphere. We might be watching “Cold Case” or “Criminal Minds,” but with better sound design and more expressive visual techniques. Hold your breath, it’s a time for a high-speed Internet search! Listen closely, because the chief bad guy is about to explain everything right before he kills you! It must be said that Mr. Fincher and the screenwriter, Steven Zaillian, manage to hold on to the vivid and passionate essence of the book while remaining true enough to its busy plot to prevent literal-minded readers from rioting. (There are a few significant changes, but these show only how arbitrary some of Larsson’s narrative contrivances were in the first place.) Using harsh and spooky soundtrack music (by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) to unnerving and powerful effect, Mr. Fincher creates a persuasive ambience of political menace and moral despair. He has always excelled at evoking invisible, nonspecific terrors lurking just beyond the realm of the visible. The San Francisco of “Zodiac” was haunted not so much by an elusive serial killer as by a spectral principle of violence that was everywhere and nowhere, a sign of the times and an element of the climate. And the Harvard of “The Social Network,” with its darkened wood and moody brick, seemed less a preserve of gentlemen and scholars than a seething hive of paranoia and alienation. Mr. Fincher honors Larsson’s muckraking legacy by envisioning a Sweden that is corrupt not merely in its ruling institutions but in the depths of its soul. Lisbeth and Mikael — whose first meeting comes around the midpoint of the movie’s 158-minutes — swim in a sea of rottenness. They are not quite the only decent people in the country, but their enemies are so numerous, so powerful and so deeply entrenched that the odds of defeating them seem overwhelming. Mikael, his career in ruins and his gadfly magazine in jeopardy after a libel judgment, is hired by a wealthy industrialist, Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), to investigate a decades-old crime. Dysfunction would be a step up for the Vanger clan, who live on a secluded island and whose family tree includes Nazis, rapists, alcoholics, murderers and also, just to prevent you from getting the wrong impression, Stellan Skarsgard, the very epitome of Nordic nastiness. The Vangers are monstrous, with a few exceptions, but far from anomalous. The gruesome pattern of criminality that Lisbeth and Mikael uncover is a manifestation of general evil that spreads throughout the upper echelons of the nation’s economy and government. The bad apples in that family are just one face of a cruel, misogynist ruling order that also includes Bjurman (Yorick van Wageningen), the sadistic state bureaucrat who is Lisbeth’s legal guardian. And everywhere she and Mikael turn there are more bullying, unprincipled and abusive men. ||||| You can’t take your eyes off Rooney Mara as the notorious Lisbeth Salander, in the American movie version of Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (opening December 21st). Slender, sheathed in black leather, with short ebony hair standing up in a tuft, her fingers poking out of black woollen gloves as they skitter across a laptop keyboard, Mara (who played Mark Zuckerberg’s girlfriend at the beginning of “The Social Network”) cuts through scene after scene like a swift, dark blade. Salander is a twenty-four-year-old hacker with many piercings, of herself and of others. She’s both antisocial and intensely sexual—vulnerable and often abused but overequipped to take revenge. She lives in an aura of violence. Salander obviously accounts for a big part of the success of Larsson’s crime novels—both men and women are turned on by her—and Mara makes every scene that she appears in jump. She strips off and climbs right onto Daniel Craig, as Mikael Blomkvist, the investigative journalist who takes Salander on as a partner, and whom she makes her lover. Craig looks a little surprised. In this movie, he is modest, quiet, even rather recessive. It’s Mara’s shot at stardom, and he lets her have it. Much of the movie is set on a private island controlled by the Vanger clan, a wealthy Swedish industrial family peopled with criminals, perverts, solitaries, exiles, dead Nazis, and a grieving old man, Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), who has never got over the disappearance of his grandniece, forty years earlier. In one last attempt to find her, he hires Blomkvist, who has been temporarily discredited in a libel suit, and sets him up as an investigator on the island, a place that no American one-per-cent family would ever dream of owning. It’s way up north, windy, snowy, and treacherously beautiful; once you cross the bridge to this enclave, you enter an icy hell. Blomkvist and Salander, warming each other, conduct their investigation from the island, hacking into whatever files they need; they leave only when they have to, with Mara, head down in the wind, tearing around Sweden on a motorcycle like—well, like a bat out of hell. The movie zips ahead, in short, spiky scenes punctuated by skillfully edited montages of digitized photographs and newspaper articles. David Fincher, who directed the picture (working with Steven Zaillian’s screenplay), moves at a much faster pace than he did in “Zodiac,” his 2007 movie about a murder investigation. In “Zodiac,” every time a piece of evidence trembles into view, it quickly recedes again. That movie is an expression of philosophical despair: the truth can never be known. “Dragon Tattoo” says the opposite: it celebrates deduction, high-end detective work—what Edgar Allan Poe called “ratiocination.” Everything can be known if you look long and hard enough, especially if you have no scruples about hacking into people’s bank accounts, e-mails, and business records. Salander is a criminal, but she’s our criminal. At heart, of course, the material is pulpy and sensational. The Vanger men committed atrocious crimes against women in the past, and Salander, who is a ward of the state, is twice brutalized by a smarmy social worker who controls her money. There are certainly lurid moments, but I wouldn’t say that Fincher exploits the material. When Salander is raped, the scene registers as a horror; it’s prolonged and discomforting. And her revenge, however justified, and however much it may amuse the audience, is another horror. This is a bleak but mesmerizing piece of filmmaking; it offers a glancing, chilled view of a world in which brief moments of loyalty flicker between repeated acts of betrayal. In “The Adventures of Tintin,” Steven Spielberg, working with 3-D animation and motion-capture techniques, produces the cohesion of a superbly made real-life movie (also opening December 21st). There are closeups, overheads, point-of-view sequences, a moving camera within the frame, and the shots—if that’s what you call them—flow smoothly from one to the next. Visually, the movie has ease and speed and lift, and, for about an hour, it’s an exhilarating ride. The screenwriters, Steven Moffat and the team of Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, pulled the story together from three of the classic Tintin books, written by the Belgian comic-book artist Hergé: “The Crab with the Golden Claws,” “The Secret of the Unicorn,” and “Red Rackham’s Treasure.” The plot is standard boy’s-book adventure stuff. Tintin (Jamie Bell), the young reporter with an orange-brown quiff and insatiable curiosity, pursues a buried treasure, journeying to the far corners by ship, plane, and motorcycle. He’s accompanied by the bearded, alcoholic sea captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), and both of them are menaced by the vicious Sakharine (Daniel Craig, again). The opera diva Bianca Castafiore, a coiffed and generously bosomed regular feature of the books, makes a guest appearance and warbles Rossini, shattering every wineglass, fish tank, and chandelier in sight—which is special fun in 3-D. These characters have enough temperament to keep the story scurrying. “The Adventures of Tintin” is a virtual non-stop scramble of running, jumping, swinging, dangling, plunging, and flying. All the characters have smooth skin that looks like brushed rubber; they’re halfway between puppets and humans in appearance. As they move, they seem to float slightly, as if, like ballet dancers, their momentum carried them past ordinary human ability. Yet they aren’t completely unfettered, like the hand-drawn characters in an old cartoon or the digitally enhanced, real-life figures in a schlock spectacle like “Green Lantern.” Tintin doesn’t possess supernatural powers: the ground exists, though he doesn’t stay on it for long; the walls remain impenetrable. The play between fantasy and realism is what gives the film its special look. Spielberg and his collaborators (Peter Jackson was the producer) have come up with the equivalent of Hergé’s clean-limbed, lean-forward manner (the characters in Hergé’s comic books seem always to be moving into the next panel). The animators labored for two years establishing settings—a street, a ship, a Moroccan city—and then the actors worked in a featureless room with reflectors attached to their bodies while dozens of digital cameras all around them picked up their movements. The animators used the movements—shrugs, strains, thrusts—to build the animated version of the characters, and added the completed figures to the preset backgrounds. The technique is similar to the one that James Cameron used for “Avatar,” but the look is drier, plainer, airier. ||||| Still © 2011 Columbia TriStar Marketing Group. All rights reserved. Stieg Larsson’s global best-seller The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was, to this reader, an insurmountable ziggurat of featureless prose, a run-of-the-mill serial-killer whodunit spiked with generous doses of nasty sexual violence. But if the book’s massive success remains perplexing, its appeal to director David Fincher—who has remade the workmanlike 2009 Swedish adaptation as a slick and somber Hollywood entertainment—is perfectly understandable. Fincher’s earlier serial-killer films, Se7en and Zodiac, evince a scholarly fascination with the infinite varieties of human depravity, along with an unapologetically sick imagination (remember Brad Pitt’s FedEx delivery at the end of Se7en?). Dana Stevens Dana Stevens is Slate’s movie critic. But even Fincher’s elegantly gruesome style can’t turn this Swedish noir into the meditation on evil and corruption that it fancies itself to be. The villains—aged Nazi partisans, unscrupulous industrialists, and slaveringly lecherous state-appointed guardians—are just too villainous, and the heroes—a muckraking journalist and an emotionally disturbed computer genius—too heroic. Fincher is a master of mood and atmosphere, but this chilly, efficient movie never transcends the shallowness of its source material. Fans of the Larsson franchise often explain the books’ success by pointing to the intriguingly bizarre heroine Lisbeth Salander (here played by Rooney Mara, last seen wearing a Fair Isle sweater as Mark Zuckerberg's disenchanted ex in Fincher's The Social Network.) A bisexual hacker with multiple piercings, a dyed-black Mohawk, and a sullen, almost autistic lack of visible affect, Lisbeth is a feminist revenge fantasy personified, a perfect victim turned perfect executioner. A ward of the state for reasons that remain vague until late in the film, she’s forced by the man who controls her financial disbursements (Yorick van Wageningen) to perform humiliating sex acts in exchange for the money. When she takes her revenge on him, it’s swift, sudden, and seriously hard-core. This early scene sets the tone for what’s to come: Fincher wants us to be horrified by people who treat other people like pieces of meat, but he’s not above taking us on a guided tour of the abattoir. Advertisement The film’s other main thread, which takes a while to join up with Lisbeth’s, concerns Mikael Blomkvist (an even-more-muted-than-usual Daniel Craig), a reporter who’s gone on leave after being publicly disgraced in a libel suit. (Thankfully, this dull legal subplot has been whittled way down—the aftermath of the lawsuit played a large role in the book and always felt suspiciously like autobiographical score-settling on the part of the author, a former reporter himself.) Get Slate in your inbox. Because of his mad research skills (in Larsson’s world, crusading journalists enjoy a James Bond level of notoriety), Blomkvist is called in by Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), the wealthy patriarch of a Northern Swedish family, to investigate a 40-year-old cold case. After a family gathering in 1966, Vanger’s teenage great-niece Harriet abruptly vanished, never to be seen again. Vanger offers Blomkvist the use of a rustic cottage on his property and pays him handsomely to sort through old files, trying to find something the police may have missed. The Vangers are an unpleasant lot—dour, unforthcoming, and, at least in the older generation, disturbingly prone to neo-Nazi affiliations. Blomkvist spends a long winter in mostly fruitless conversation with Harriet’s brother Martin (Stellan Skarsgård) and her cousin Anita (Joely Richardson), who’s moved to London with a secret of her own. But the investigation starts to pick up when Lisbeth, who was initially contracted by the Vangers to investigate Blomkvist’s background, joins him in his frigid cabin for some inspired Internet research and grimly unfun-looking sex. The film’s strongest section centers on a series of photographs taken a few hours before Harriet’s disappearance. There’s some nifty Blow-Up-style business here as Blomkvist strings together these images, reconstructing the events of her last known day on earth. But these scenes hint at a satisfyingly moody procedural that this movie never quite becomes. When the truth about Harriet’s disappearance does emerge, it’s lurid without being particularly surprising, and the last quarter of the movie goes by in a blur of sensationally icky flashbacks and ickier comeuppances. Advertisement Noomi Rapace, who played Lisbeth in the 2009 Swedish version, was wiry but sturdily athletic; Mara’s Lisbeth is wraithlike and skeletal, with invisible bleached-out eyebrows and livid-white skin. It’s hard to tell whether Mara is really good in the role, or just looks good. Her Lisbeth is a triumph of freaky-Goth styling and attitude, but when, for example, she unsmilingly mounts the diffident Blomkvist, we have no idea why she suddenly wants to jump his bones (or why he lets her; given the wretched treatment this woman has received at the hands of men her whole life, wouldn’t the kindest reaction be one of polite deferral?). To Fincher’s credit, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo does look and sound stunning, with its stark Scandinavian snowscapes crisscrossed by sleek black motorcycles (Lisbeth’s preferred mode of transportation), and a tense, discordant score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails. The opening credit sequence, with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O growling a Led Zeppelin song over the repeated image of thick black oil pouring over naked bodies, could stand alone as a killer music video. Fincher’s decision to have his actors speak with faint Scandinavian accents adds to the subtle sense of displacement—this is a universe where no one is at home, where something is slightly, unsettlingly off.

– David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a mostly faithful retelling of Stieg Larsson's novel: A young hacker and a journalist team up to solve the mystery of a girl's disappearance. The film is visually impressive, and Rooney Mara is compelling—but the movie as a whole isn't particularly profound. In Slate, Dana Stevens calls the film an "insurmountable ziggurat of featureless prose, a run-of-the-mill serial-killer whodunit spiked with generous doses of nasty sexual violence." Sure, "Fincher is a master of mood and atmosphere, but this chilly, efficient movie never transcends the shallowness of its source material." Peter Travers sees the film as a "letdown"—"a faithful adaptation that brings the dazzle but shortchanges on the daring." It may be "gloriously rendered," but it's "too impersonal to leave a mark." Still, "Mara is astonishing," he writes in Rolling Stone. "There are waves of brilliantly orchestrated anxiety and confusion but also long stretches of drab, hackneyed exposition that flatten the atmosphere," notes AO Scott in the New York Times. "We might be watching Cold Case or Criminal Minds, but with better sound design and more expressive visual techniques." The New Yorker is less down on the film (though the review itself sparked controversy). David Denby calls the movie "a bleak but mesmerizing piece of filmmaking; it offers a glancing, chilled view of a world in which brief moments of loyalty flicker between repeated acts of betrayal."

Nasal gene spray inspired by llama antibodies could prevent all types of flu Four llama antibodies and a harmless virus: This outlandish recipe could be the basis of a nasal spray designed to foil infection from all strains of influenza. The spray, containing a virus engineered to make a protein derived from the llama antibodies, has passed its first animal test, protecting mice from every known flu strain that infects humans, a research team reports. Although the strategy must go through more testing before human trials can begin, researchers who have struggled to develop a "universal" vaccine against the highly mutable flu virus say it merits serious attention. The nasal spray could prove a boon to the elderly, who typically suffer most from flu and get only weak protection from existing vaccines. And unlike traditional influenza vaccines, which are tailormade each flu season to match the viruses in circulation, it could be stockpiled as protection against a flu pandemic. "This is a great story and shows the power of antibody engineering," says immunologist Antonio Lanzavecchia, a leading flu vaccine researcher at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Bellinzona, Switzerland. Antibody engineer Joost Kolkman at Janssen Infectious Diseases in Beerse, Belgium, and his colleagues thought an unusual class of antibodies made by llamas and their camel cousins might serve as a weapon against flu. These antibodies are unusually small because they lack the "light" peptide chain that normally bulks up each arm of the Y-shaped proteins. Researchers can further pare down the remaining "heavy" chains to create so-called nanobodies, able to reach into crevices of viruses that their full-size counterparts can't touch. To create nanobodies against the flu, the Janssen group injected llamas with a vaccine containing three different influenza viruses, as well as the viral surface protein, hemagglutinin, from two other flu strains. They then harvested four antibodies that each neutralized many flu strains. Ultimately, the team was able to engineer a gene that expressed a protein made up of nanobodies derived from all four antibodies. "It's very easy to link the domains together into one single molecule," Kolkman says. They spliced the gene into a benign adenovirus-associated virus (AAV) that's used in gene therapy experiments. Test tube studies showed the four-in-one antibody prevented infection by 60 different influenza viruses from both the type A and B groups that infect people. "It's been quite hard to find an antibody that neutralizes both A and B," says Ian Wilson, a structural biologist at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, California, who helped work out how the nanobodies bound to the virus. Mice given the synthetic antibody—delivered either by squirting the doctored virus into their noses of the mice or by infusing the protein directly into their circulation—had significantly higher survival rates than untreated rodents when injected with a variety of influenza strains. Wilson, who has published more than 50 papers on influenza antibodies, says he's never seen one with greater breadth and potency. Because AAVs can persist for months, the strategy could offer extended production. "Hopefully it would last the entire flu season in humans," Wilson says. Immunologist James Crowe, an influenza antibody specialist and vaccine developer at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, cautions that human immune systems may see the llama-derived proteins as foreign and develop antibodies against them. He also notes that although AAV-based treatments are being tested for life-threatening diseases, giving the virus as a flu preventive would face more intense scrutiny from regulators. "The bar for putting AAV in a healthy individual is going to be very high," Crowe says. ||||| The oncoming flu season has claimed its first lives, among them a child in Florida who had not gotten a flu shot. This year’s vaccine significantly reduces the odds of getting sick — and you should get one now if you haven’t already — but it’s far from perfect. For one thing, its effectiveness fluctuates from year to year. At best, the vaccine may reduce the risk of illness by about 60 percent. Last year, during one of the worst flu epidemics in recent memory, that figure was just 40 percent. And if a new strain of the flu were to strike, it might take months to develop an effective vaccine — plenty of time for the virus to sweep the globe, claiming hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of lives. ||||| If the dominant strain in a given season were to suddenly change, these antibodies would be ready for the unwelcome guest. If a flu strain came out of nowhere and threatened a population with no immunity to it — the nightmare scenario of pandemic flu — this supercharged defender would recognize that flu and counter it. If health officials guessed wrong about what flu strain was coming and ordered up a vaccine that would be largely ineffective — a scenario that played out last flu season — this package of antibodies could save the day.

– The flu season is upon us, with the usual reminders to get your shot and the usual caveat that the vaccine is just a best guess—scientists' hope that it will match up well against the strains that actually surface. Now, however, a new study suggests that the guessing game could someday end, and it's all thanks to llamas, reports Science. Researchers say their work is a genuine step toward the creation of a universal vaccine, one that would be delivered through a nasal spray and prove far more effective in protecting humans from the ever-changing virus—and potentially from a pandemic, reports the Los Angeles Times. The technique, which the New York Times calls "a sophisticated combination of immunotherapy and gene therapy," worked extremely well in mice. The next step is to move on to other animals and ultimately to clinical trials for humans. So why llamas? They have unusually small antibodies that can nimbly fight invading viruses. The researchers vaccinated the llamas against several flu strains, causing their immune systems to produce antibodies that were then harvested. As the LAT explains, four of those antibodies were "uniquely" tiny and seemed potent against a variety of flu strains. Those four were used to create what the NYT calls a single "mega-antibody." Another novel step followed: They injected into it the mice via a harmless virus used in gene therapy, a way of side-stepping the immune system, which the NYT reports would be unable to produce "this artificial creation." When sprayed into the noses of mice, the new defense worked—the virus penetrated cells in the nasal cavity, and they started to pump out the mega-antibody. (One stat may help explain last year's brutal flu season.)

The biggest visual difference between damselflies and dragonflies are their wing positions when resting. Dragonflies hold their wings open, while damselflies close them above their backs. This Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly ( Calopteryx maculata ) was found on a Beltsville, Md. stream. Centris bees, like this one, make their homes in holes, either in trees or in the ground. Deer flies like this one, despite their groovy eyes, deliver a ferocious bite. And no wonder: when the female bites (males don't bite), she lacerates the skin and when the blood flows, sponges it up with her mouth. There are over 110 species of deer fly. Caterpillar to Butterfly in 3D: Photos Lycaeides melissa samuelis , is endangered. Karner blue butterflies feed on nectar from many different types of flowers, but their larvae can survive on the leaves of only one specific plant, which has been decimated by habitat loss or change. 7 Insects You'll Be Eating in the Future Eggplant Tortoise Beetles like eggplants (go figure), eating holes in the plants' leaves. From the underside, the insects look quite queenly, with their ruffled collars. This one was gathered at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, in Anne Arundel County, Md. Grab-and-Go Beetle Hoards Poo and Gallops is a type of jumping spider. This one was found in Beltsville, Md., but Phidippus clarus lives in fields and prairies across North America. It feeds on seasonal plants. Animal Superpower -- The Eyes Have It: Photos Megachile integrella from the sandhills of North Carolina. Leafcutter bees are so called because they cut plant leaves to create the cells in their nests. The bees tend to build their homes in rotted wood or in the strong stems of plants. Cockroaches: The Ultimate Survivors: Photos View Caption + #6: One species of the rarely seen leafcutting bee, this is This is an unknown species of Robber Fly from Charles County, Md. Robber flies, a very large and widespread type of fly, feed on many different kinds of insects, making them a key player in maintaining the insect balance in different environments. SEE ALSO: Scary Fly, Dragon, New Dolphin in Week's Animals Hoplitis fulgida ), a female from Grand Tetons National Park, was collected as part of a study of climate change. Most species in this genus are black , but a few, like this one, are as the Latin in name implies, glittering jewels. Bugs Make Art: Photos This Agapostemon bee species is one of the most common native bees in the eastern United States. In almost any field there can be hundreds, if not thousands, of these bees visiting a wide variety of blooming plants. One of the largest of the sweat bees, it still goes undetected if you don't get down on your knees, face close, among the flowers. This one was collected at Colorado National Monument, Mesa County, Colo. Animals and Bugs That Look Like Flowers The U.S. Geological Survey is posting photos of insects on its Flickr page , offering a macro look at this hidden world. First up, this Festive Tiger Beetle ( Cicindela scutellaris ) was found on top of a butte in Badlands National Park that had ancient windblown sand at its crest. Here, this sand specialist can build its long burrows. SEE ALSO: Bug Photos to Haunt Your Dreams Flies likely feel fear similar to the way that we do, according to a new study that opens up the possibility that flies experience other emotions too. The finding further suggests that other small creatures — from ants to spiders — may be emotional beings as well. Top 10 Most Intelligent Animals “No one will argue with you if you claim that flies have four fundamental drives just as humans do: feeding, fighting, fleeing, and mating,” lead author William Gibson said in a press release about the study published in the Journal Current Biology. “Taking the question a step further — whether flies that flee a stimulus are actually afraid of that stimulus — is much more difficult,” added Gibson, who is a Caltech postdoctoral fellow. Such a “stimulus” could be an annoyed person chasing the fly with a swatter, or even a creepy shadow that could mean a threat is imminent. The researchers used shadows to study how flies reacted to something that could be fear inducing. Gibson and his team enclosed flies in an arena where the buzzing insects were exposed repeatedly to an overhead shadow. The flies looked startled and, if flying, increased their speed. Occasionally the flies froze in place, a defensive behavior also observed in the fear responses of rodents. Video: What Makes Flies the Greatest Flyers The shadows even caused hungry flies to leave a food source, when that was presented during another phase of the experiment. It then took time before those same flies would return to their food, suggesting a gradual diminishment of the insects’ internal, defensive state. Importantly, the more shadows the flies were exposed to, the longer it took for them to “calm down” and return to the food. In other words, when flies flee in response to a shadow, it’s more than a momentary escape. It’s a lasting physiological state comparable to how we experience fear. Naysayers could claim that this was all just instinctual behavior with no real underlying depth to it. But even for humans and other higher-on-the-food chain animals, feelings fall into what the researchers call “emotion primitives.” These have to do with how nerves, biochemistry and other underlying factors work. For fear, the first basic characteristic is that the fear is persistent, Gibson said. For example, if a person hears the sound of a gun, the feeling of fear that it provokes will continue for a period of time. The second is that fear is scalable; the more gunshots a person hears, the more afraid he or she will become. The third, according to the researchers, is that fear is generalizable across different contexts, but it is also (the fourth) “trans-situational.” Once you’re afraid, you’re more likely to respond in fear to other triggers: the clang of a pan, for instance, or a loud knock at the door. Flies Use Fighter Pilot Maneuver to Avoid Swatting Gibson and his colleagues determined that all of these applied to the flies in the study, strongly suggesting that they do indeed feel the emotion fear as we do. On then might wonder: what other emotions do they experience? Happiness, sadness, anger? And there’s more to such research than just learning about flies. They are helping the scientists to understand, in a very fundamental way, what constitutes fear and other emotions in all animals, including humans. “The argument that this paper makes is that the Drosophila (a type of fly) system may be an excellent model for emotion states due to the relative simplicity of its nervous system, combined simultaneously with the behavioral complexity it exhibits,” Gibson explained. He continued that such a system “may make it possible to identify new molecular players involved in the control of emotion states.” Those, in turn, could lead to better treatments for people suffering from nervous disorders, depression and much more. ||||| A fruit fly starts buzzing around food at a picnic, so you wave your hand over the insect and shoo it away. But when the insect flees the scene, is it doing so because it is actually afraid? Using fruit flies to study the basic components of emotion, a new Caltech study reports that a fly's response to a shadowy overhead stimulus might be analogous to a negative emotional state such as fear—a finding that could one day help us understand the neural circuitry involved in human emotion. The study, which was done in the laboratory of David Anderson, Seymour Benzer Professor of Biology and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, was published online May 14 in the journal Current Biology. Insects are an important model for the study of emotion; although mice are closer to humans on the evolutionary family tree, the fruit fly has a much simpler neurological system that is easier to study. However, studying emotions in insects or any other animal can also be tricky. Because researchers know the experience of human emotion, they might anthropomorphize those of an insect—just as you might assume that the shooed-away fly left your plate because it was afraid of your hand. But there are several problems with such an assumption, says postdoctoral scholar William T. Gibson, first author of the paper. "There are two difficulties with taking your own experiences and then saying that maybe these are happening in a fly. First, a fly's brain is very different from yours, and second, a fly's evolutionary history is so different from yours that even if you could prove beyond any doubt that flies have emotions, those emotions probably wouldn't be the same ones that you have," he says. "For these reasons, in our study, we wanted to take an objective approach." Anderson and Gibson and their colleagues did this by deconstructing the idea of an emotion into basic building blocks—so-called emotion primitives, a concept previously developed by Anderson and Ralph Adolphs, Bren Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and professor of biology. "There has been ongoing debate for decades about what 'emotion' means, and there is no generally accepted definition. In an article that Ralph Adolphs and I recently wrote, we put forth the view that emotions are a type of internal brain state with certain general properties that can exist independently of subjective, conscious feelings, which can only be studied in humans," Anderson says. "That means we can study such brain states in animal models like flies or mice without worrying about whether they have 'feelings' or not. We use the behaviors that express those states as a readout." Gibson explains by analogy that emotions can be broken down into these emotion primitives much as a secondary color, such as orange, can be separated into two primary colors, yellow and red. "And if we can show that fruit flies display all of these separate but necessary primitives, we then may be able to make the argument that they also have an emotion, like fear." The emotion primitives analyzed in the fly study can be understood in the context of a stimulus associated with human fear: the sound of a gunshot. If you hear a gun fire, the sound may trigger a negative feeling. This feeling, a primitive called valence, will probably cause you to behave differently for several minutes afterward. This is a primitive called persistence. Repeated exposure to the stimulus should also produce a greater emotional response—a primitive called scalability; for example, the sound of 10 gunshots would make you more afraid than the sound of one shot. Gibson says that another primitive of fear is that it is generalized to different contexts, meaning that if you were eating lunch or were otherwise occupied when the gun fired, the fear would take over, distracting you from your lunch. Trans-situationality is another primitive that could cause you to produce the same fearful reaction in response to an unrelated stimulus—such as the sound of a car backfiring. The researchers chose to study these five primitives by observing the insects in the presence of a fear-inducing stimulus. Because defensive behavioral responses to overhead visual threats are common in many animals, the researchers created an apparatus that would pass a dark paddle over the flies' habitat. The flies' movements were then tracked using a software program created in collaboration with Pietro Perona, the Allen E. Puckett Professor of Electrical Engineering. The researchers analyzed the flies' responses to the stimulus and found that the insects displayed all of these emotion primitives. For example, responses were scalable: when the paddle passed overhead, the flies would either freeze, or jump away from the stimulus, or enter a state of elevated arousal, and each response increased with the number of times the stimulus was delivered. And when hungry flies were gathered around food, the stimulus would cause them to leave the food for several seconds and run around the arena until their state of elevated arousal decayed and they returned to the food—exhibiting the primitives of context generalization and persistence. "These experiments provide objective evidence that visual stimuli designed to mimic an overhead predator can induce a persistent and scalable internal state of defensive arousal in flies, which can influence their subsequent behavior for minutes after the threat has passed," Anderson says. "For us, that's a big step beyond just casually intuiting that a fly fleeing a visual threat must be 'afraid,' based on our anthropomorphic assumptions. It suggests that the flies' response to the threat is richer and more complicated than a robotic-like avoidance reflex." In the future, the researchers say that they plan to combine the new technique with genetically based techniques and imaging of brain activity to identify the neural circuitry that underlies these defensive behaviors. Their end goal is to identify specific populations of neurons in the fruit fly brain that are necessary for emotion primitives—and whether these functions are conserved in higher organisms, such as mice or even humans. Although the presence of these primitives suggests that the flies might be reacting to the stimulus based on some kind of emotion, the researchers are quick to point out that this new information does not prove—nor did it set out to establish—that flies can experience fear, or happiness, or anger, or any other feelings. "Our work can get at questions about mechanism and questions about the functional properties of emotion states, but we cannot get at the question of whether or not flies have feelings," Gibson says. The study, titled "Behavioral Responses to a Repetitive Stimulus Express a Persistent State of Defensive Arousal in Drosophila," was published in the journal Current Biology. In addition to Gibson, Anderson, and Perona, Caltech coauthors include graduate student Carlos Gonzalez, undergraduate Rebecca Du, former research assistants Conchi Fernandez and Panna Felsen (BS '09, MS '10), and former postdoctoral scholar Michael Maire. Coauthors Lakshminarayanan Ramasamy and Tanya Tabachnik are from the Janelia Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). The work was funded by the National Institutes of Health, HHMI, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

– Does the tiny-brained fruit fly experience emotions like fear? New research published in the journal Current Biology suggests that the insects at the very least enter a fear-like state, demonstrating all of the so-called emotion primitives associated with fear—including persistence (the response continues after the threat has passed, such as a fearful human's heart continuing to beat rapidly even after he is no longer in danger), context generalization (the threat distracts you from whatever you were previously doing), and scalability (the greater the threat, the greater the response). "No one will argue with you if you claim that flies have four fundamental drives just as humans do: feeding, fighting, fleeing, and mating," the lead author says in a California Institute of Technology press release. "Taking the question a step further—whether flies that flee a stimulus are actually afraid of that stimulus—is much more difficult." To test this, the researchers gave hungry fruit flies access to food and then passed a shadow over that food repeatedly. The flies, in turn, jumped and flew away—jumping and flying faster when more shadows passed, and continuing to respond even after the last shadow passed. Still, these displays of context generalization, scalability, and persistence don't quite solve the riddle, one author tells the New York Times: "We can only know that by verbal report. So we can’t scientifically study feelings in any creature but a human." Still, he says in the press release, the research suggests "that the flies' response to the threat is richer and more complicated than a robotic-like avoidance reflex." And if researchers can "identify new molecular players involved in the control of emotion states," as another author puts it, researchers may be able to develop better treatments for humans who are suffering from nervous disorders, reports Discovery. (Check out what male fruit flies get up to when deprived of sex.)

FILE In this file photo taken on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006, President Vladimir Putin wears headphones as he tests a pistol in a shooting range as he visits the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate... (Associated Press) FILE In this file photo taken on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006, President Vladimir Putin wears headphones as he tests a pistol in a shooting range as he visits the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate... (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Was Russia listening, after all? In a July 27, 2016, speech, then-candidate Donald Trump called on Russian hackers to find emails from Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent in the U.S. presidential campaign. "Russia, if you're listening," Trump said, "I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing." Hours later, the Main Intelligence Directorate in Moscow appeared to heed the call — targeting Clinton's personal office and hitting more than 70 other Clinton campaign accounts. That's according to a grand jury indictment Friday charging 12 Russian military intelligence officers with hacking into the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party as part of a sweeping conspiracy by the Kremlin to meddle in the 2016 U.S. election. The indictment says July 27 was the first time Clinton's personal office was targeted. The attempt to penetrate Clinton's campaign began March 10, 2016, and hit a significant success on March 19 when the Russian intelligence officers busted open the email account of John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman, an AP investigation last year found. They "phished" intensively and repetitively. Throughout at least March and April there were repeated efforts to break into about 120 Democratic National Committee, Clinton and left-leaning activists' accounts across the country. Then they brought Clinton's personal office into their scope, the indictment says — the very evening Trump appeared to beckon Russians to do just that. ||||| (CNN) It is tough to believe that any President other than Donald Trump would hold a summit with Russia days after special counsel Robert Mueller delivered a sensational indictment that accuses the Kremlin of a deeply penetrating attack on American democracy. It's even less probable that another commander-in-chief would take the meeting without administering a very public dressing down of Russian President Vladimir Putin before the cameras over accusations of a staggeringly broad election-meddling operation in 2016. Yet Trump is planning to go ahead with the talks in Helsinki on Monday despite the charges against 12 Russian intelligence officers handed down by Mueller on Friday. And if the President's own comments during his current trip to Europe or his past behavior is any guide, he will make only a ritual complaint to a leader he has often treated as a hero. Speaking to reporters Friday before the indictment became public, Trump pledged to raise election meddling on Monday -- almost as a favor to the press -- but gave the impression that he was unlikely to do too much to challenge Putin's certain denials. "I don't think you'll have any 'Gee, I did it, I did it, you got me,' " Trump said in Britain. "There won't be a Perry Mason here, I don't think. But you never know what happens, right? But I will absolutely firmly ask the question." Expectations that Trump will take on Putin publicly over the election meddling -- as French President Emmanuel Macron did when he blasted the influence of Russian propaganda outlets last year only a few weeks into his mandate -- were also undercut by the White House's reaction to the indictment. "The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration. Why didn't they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?" Trump tweeted Saturday from his property in Scotland. The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration. Why didn't they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2018 "These Russian individuals did their work during the Obama years. Why didn't Obama do something about it? Because he thought Crooked Hillary Clinton would win, that's why," Trump continued in another Twitter post hours later. "Had nothing to do with the Trump Administration, but Fake News doesn't want to report the truth, as usual!" On Friday, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters pointed out that there was no allegation in the document unveiled by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that any Americans knew they were corresponding with Russians or that any US citizen had committed a crime. She also said there was no indication that the conspiracy had changed the result of the election. "Today's charges include no allegations of knowing involvement by anyone on the campaign and no allegations that the alleged hacking affected the election result. This is consistent with what we have been saying all along," Walters said. There was, however, a glaring absence of any condemnation of Russia's action by Trump, despite the fact that his job primarily involves the defense of American sovereignty and democracy. Perhaps the administration will move in the coming days, for instance by sanctioning the GRU intelligence officers named in the indictment, who are highly unlikely to ever travel to the United States for a day in court. But the administration's tepid initial reaction hardly heralds a showdown between Trump and Putin in Finland. Such low expectations mean that a summit that was always going to be mysterious -- given the oddness of Trump's relationship with Putin and the suspicion of critics that he is beholden to the Russian leader in some way -- is now going to be deeply surreal. Trump has chased summit too long to cancel it Despite demands by critics to ditch the talks, Trump, who has chased a stand-alone meeting with Putin for months, simply has too much invested in the encounter to cancel it. JUST WATCHED Trump explains what he thinks of Putin Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump explains what he thinks of Putin 00:52 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on his flight back from Mexico Friday night that Trump should proceed with the summit, saying, "I think it's very important that they meet." "I am confident that President Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin will put America in a better place," Pompeo said. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed Friday evening that the summit was on -- surprising no one. Going against the counsel of his advisers, the President has pursued a lonely quest to improve relations with Russia, and rarely criticizes Putin, despite much of the rest of his administration adopting an authentically hard line toward Russia. The President, who spent the last week castigating NATO allies and dividing the alliance in a way that will certainly have appealed to Putin, knew about the impending indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers before he left the United States earlier this week. In hindsight, therefore, his comments at a news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May suggest the indictment -- which comprehensively debunks claims by Trump supporters that there was no election meddling -- will do nothing to purge his suspicion of the Mueller probe. "I think that we're being hurt very badly by the, I would call it, the witch hunt -- I would call it the rigged witch hunt," Trump said at Chequers, May's official country residence. "I think that really hurts our country and it really hurts our relationship with Russia. I think that we would have a chance to have a very good relationship with Russia and a very good chance -- a very good relationship with President Putin," Trump added. When Russia responded to Friday's indictment alleging a broad effort to hack the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee as well as some state election infrastructure, it mirrored Trump's own rhetoric in a way that is unlikely to have been a coincidence. "Washington is struggling to reanimate old 'fake news' about alleged 'Russian interference in the US presidential election in 2016,' " said a statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry. "Obviously, the purpose of this bogus story is to spoil the atmosphere before the Russian-American summit," the statement said, before adding with a Machiavellian twist that instigators of the intrigue would sooner or later be held accountable for the damage they "continue to inflict on American democracy." Putin will presumably offer a similar approach to Trump on Monday, empathizing with his complaints that the Mueller investigation, which has now laid 191 criminal charges against 32 people and three companies, is nothing but "fake news" and a "witch hunt." That's one reason why so many of Trump's critics are worried about the summit -- which includes a one-on-one session with only interpreters present -- going ahead. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Trump to cancel. "Glad-handing with Vladimir Putin on the heels of these indictments would be an insult to our democracy," the New York Democrat said. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who's a longtime Putin antagonist, said Trump should not go to Helsinki unless he is ready to show the Russian leader that "there will be a serious price to pay for his ongoing aggression towards the United States and democracies around the world." JUST WATCHED Warner: Trump-Putin summit should be canceled Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Warner: Trump-Putin summit should be canceled 01:56 It would not be unprecedented for a US president to cancel a summit with Putin. Barack Obama did so in 2013 after Russia granted asylum to fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. The optics of going ahead with such talks in the circumstances would have been terrible. The White House also said at the time that there was not sufficient progress in US-Russia relations to justify a summit. The case for canceling this summit would be that it is inappropriate for the President of the United States to grant Putin the legitimacy of a meeting on such a grand stage at a time when Washington is accusing the Kremlin of an audacious assault on the integrity of a US election. And given the evidence of the Russian assault, the idea that an American president could trust Putin is highly improbable. "I would not have the summit," Tom Donilon, an Obama administration national security adviser, said Friday on CNN. "The President has never really come to grips with the entire list of active hostility against the United States by the Russian Federation directed by President Putin," Donilon said. "I would not go forward with this thing," But former CIA Director Michael Hayden told CNN's Jake Tapper that the summit should happen -- with one big proviso. "This is your chance, Mr. President, you have got a document beyond speculation. ... Here we have got solid, detailed forensic evidence that the President can make use of. "As a citizen now, I would say let's do it and then I want to watch what the President does."

– Was Russia listening after all? In a July 27, 2016, speech, then-candidate Donald Trump called on Russian hackers to find emails from his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the US presidential campaign. "Russia, if you're listening," Trump said, "I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing." Hours later, the Main Intelligence Directorate in Moscow targeted Clinton's personal office and hit more than 70 other Clinton campaign accounts, per the AP. That's according to a grand jury indictment Friday charging 12 Russian military intelligence officers with hacking into the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party as part of a sweeping conspiracy by the Kremlin to meddle in the 2016 US election. The indictment says July 27 was the first time Clinton's personal office was targeted. The attempt to penetrate Clinton's campaign actually began March 10, 2016, and hit a significant success on March 19 when the Russian intelligence officers busted open the email account of John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman, an AP investigation last year found. The Mueller team's bombshell indictment dropped Friday just days before Trump's scheduled meeting with Putin. CNN reports the president knew about the impending indictment before he left the US as part of a multi-country tour, and the meeting is expected to go on as planned.

Authorities thwart 'beheading' plot in Australia's biggest ever counter-terrorism raids Updated The emerging reality of terrorism in Australia struck home just before dawn on Thursday when more than 800 police launched synchronised raids on houses and vehicles across Sydney's west and north-west, and Brisbane's south. The raids foiled a plot involving a man believed to be Australia's most senior Islamic State member who called contacts in Australia and asked them to carry out a campaign of random public beheadings in Sydney and Brisbane, the ABC understands. Mohammad Ali Baryalei, a former Kings Cross bouncer and part-time actor, is understood to have made the instruction to kidnap people in Brisbane and Sydney and have them executed on camera. That video was then to be sent back to IS's media unit, where it would be publicly released. Omarjan Azari, 22, from the western Sydney suburb of Guildford, was one of 15 people detained during the operation in Sydney and is accused of conspiring with Baryalei and others to act in preparation or plan a terrorist act or acts, court documents show. Commonwealth prosecutor Michael Allnutt told Sydney's Central Local Court the alleged offence was "clearly designed to shock, horrify and terrify the community". Mr Allnutt said there was "a plan to commit extremely serious offences" that involved an "unusual level of fanaticism". He said the plot involved the "random selection of persons to rather gruesomely execute" and said there was an "irrational determination to commit that plan" because those allegedly involved continued to plot the attacks even though they knew they were under police surveillance. The court was told the charges against Azari stemmed from a single phone call intercepted earlier this week and police made their move this morning to disrupt a group of mostly Afghan Australians 48 hours after that phone call, concerned at how close it was to going ahead. "It's been an immediate reaction to a clear, imperative danger," Mr Allnutt said. "There is still an enormous amount of material for police to assess." There was heightened security at the court for Azari's appearance. The prosecution opposed bail, saying the unusual level of fanaticism meant Azari would be unlikely to adhere to any court orders. His barrister Steven Boland told the court police have very little evidence to support the charge, except for one phone call. Azari did not apply for bail and the case was adjourned until November 13. A 24-year-old man from Merrylands, who was charged with possessing ammunition without licence and unauthorised possession of a prohibited weapon, has been bailed to appear in Fairfield Local Court on September 24. Two others remain in police custody and two women were issued Future Court Attendance Notices. Nine other people detained on Thursday have been released as investigations continue. Brandis says authorities became aware of plot in May The charge relates to activity from May this year, well before the Federal Government publicly spoke about sending troops to fight IS in Iraq. "The law enforcement authorities became aware of information in May of this year that a group of people in Sydney were at least talking about plans to carry out random attacks on individuals in Australia and they were kept under surveillance," Federal Attorney-General George Brandis told Macquarie Radio. "I want to stress that the AFP acted at the earliest opportunity that they could when they had sufficient evidence to charge an individual." He said despite today's raids he wants people to continue with their normal way of life, but be more aware of the heightened threat. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was briefed on Wednesday night about the operation, adding that the intelligence received by police gave "not just suspicion" but "intent". "The exhortations, quite direct exhortations, were coming from an Australian who is apparently quite senior in ISIL to networks of support back in Australia to conduct demonstration killings here in this country," he said, using another acronym for IS. "That's why the police and security agencies decided to act in the way they have. "There are, I regret to say, networks of people here in this country who, despite living here, despite enjoying the Australian way of life, they would do us harm and it's very important that our police and security organisations be one step ahead of them and I think this morning they were." Investigations involving federal, state police, ASIO continuing Federal Police said they do not want to alarm people, but they are concerned about the momentum the Islamic State group seems to be gaining in Australia. AFP Acting Commissioner Andrew Colvin said Azari was the ringleader of a bigger group that planned to commit violent acts in Sydney and Brisbane. He said the young age of the accused man and others under investigation was of particular concern. "I think it's fair to say we are concerned, now I don't want to unnecessarily alarm the public but we have seen the reach of ISIL, the reach of the conflicts in the Middle East into countries like Australia, in through our communities ... it's quite strong and it's concerning," he said. "We are seeing that younger and younger men are deciding to take up arms or wanting to participate or in some way contribute to the cause." Acting Commissioner Colvin said the investigation was ongoing. "We'll continue to collect evidence, we won't stop here. This is the first of a new phase of the investigation and we do anticipate further arrests and further charges." NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said the raids reflected "the reality of the threat we actually face". "You know it is of serious concern that right at the heart of our communities we have people that are planning to conduct random attacks," he said. "Today we work together to make sure that didn't happen. We have disrupted that particular attack. "Our police will continue to work tirelessly to prevent any such attacks but certainly can I stress that right now is a time for calm. We don't need to whip this up." A man who has previously been accused of recruiting people to fight in Syria is among those detained in the Sydney raids. The ABC has confirmed a house being searched at Revesby, in Sydney's south-west, is the part-time home of Hamdi Al Qudsi. The 39-year-old was charged last December with recruiting people to fight in the hostilities in Syria. Federal Police and detectives with shovels, suitcases and what is understood to be metal detectors spent several hours searching the public housing property. It is understood officers were also inspecting chemicals found at the house. Al Qudsi is yet to enter a plea to the recruitment charges and will face court again next month. Queensland operation linked to raid on Islamic bookstore Queensland Police said Thursday's operation has links to last week's raids centring on an Islamic bookstore in Logan, to Brisbane's south. Two men were arrested in those raids and charged with recruiting and funding foreign fighters with Al Qaeda-linked terrorist organisation Jabhat al-Nusra. There were no arrests in today's raids. At the time, police said there was no evidence they were involved in any domestic terror plot. But today it emerged new information had come to light. "It may now be alleged that at least one individual was contemplating onshore terrorist action," Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said. Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said the "information that has been gathered, particularly in the last week, has been very, very concerning". He said police are on high alert and officers have been ordered to wear their guns and carry Tasers as a precaution. Heightened security is also in place for government buildings and religious centres. "So that we are more prepared to deal with any eventuality," Mr Stewart said. "Now I want to stress there is no current information about an imminent attack on any particular Queenslander or group of Queenslanders. I want to stress that. "We are continuing to monitor the intelligence that's coming nationally about the activities of individuals." Meanwhile a Brisbane man accused of supplying funds to a terrorist organisation in Syria has been denied bail. Omar Succarieh, 31, is charged with collecting or making funds available to Jabhat al-Nusra between August 2013 and September 2014. He has also been charged with preparing for incursions into a foreign state between February and March this year. It was claimed police recordings show he favours Jabhat al-Nusra executions because they put a grave in front of their victim and the victim dies without struggle. Islamic groups fear arrests could prompt backlash About 200 people from Sydney's Muslim community held a protest against the raids outside Lakemba station on Thursday night. The group heard claims of police brutality and political hysteria, and the speakers included children who said they witnessed one of the raids. One said he and his mother were assaulted. Uthman Badar from the Islamic Hizb ut-Tahrir movement said the Muslim community was "not new to these sort of heavy-handed raids", which he described as "politicised counter-terrorism". However, Muslims Australia vice-president Ikebal Patel said the terrorism threat was a reality. "We actually have to deal with that and the Government has to deal with it in a fair manner and a just manner," he said. "But also the communities involved in this, and indeed the Australian Muslim community, has to rise to the challenge to attend to this matter ... to reject terrorism, radicalisation." Earlier he said he was shocked to hear of the raids and would not prejudge those arrested. "The premise of innocent until proven guilty stands, but having said that, for the police to take such a strong action, we of course are concerned that there could be some untoward thoughts and ideas amongst the community," he said. "We'd like to ask for calmness from within both the Muslim community as well as the greater community whilst the investigations are actually carried out fully. Silma Ihram from the Australian Muslim Women's Association said she was concerned the arrests could prompt retaliation against Muslim men and women. Sorry, this video has expired Video: Terror raids prompt mixed response from Muslim community (7pm TV News NSW) "We have some criminals in our society at all times, be they Muslim or not Muslim," she said. "But if you target a whole community as being part of the same grouping, simply because of the way they look or the hijab that they wear, this is going to isolate a whole community, this is going to cause long-term problems for everybody. "We are all, all those people who are Australian citizens, who are committed Australian citizens against the ... very, very few people that are under surveillance by the Government and who are threatening our security and our safety. "And I say our because they don't distinguish between Muslims and non-Muslims, unfortunately, as we've seen overseas. "So to isolate and to react negatively against a whole community on the basis of a few isn't going to be helpful to anybody. I understand where it's coming from, but it's not going to provide a solution." Topics: terrorism, unrest-conflict-and-war, law-crime-and-justice, guildford-2161, nsw, australia, logan-central-4114 First posted ||||| SYDNEY Militants connected with radical group Islamic State were planning to behead a member of the public in Australia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Thursday, after hundreds of police raided homes in a sweeping counter-terrorism operation. Abbott said there was a "serious risk from a terrorist attack" days after Australia raised its national terror threat level to "high" for the first time, citing the likelihood of attacks by Australians radicalized in Iraq or Syria. Australia is concerned over the number of its citizens believed to be fighting overseas with militant groups, including a suicide bomber who killed three people in Baghdad in July and two men shown in images on social media holding the severed heads of Syrian soldiers. More than 800 police were involved in the pre-dawn security operation in Sydney and Brisbane, which was described as the largest in Australian history and resulted in the detention of 15 people, police said. Abbott told a news conference that members of the radical group had planned to conduct a public beheading. "That's the intelligence we received," he said. Media reported that the plans included snatching a person at random in Sydney, Australia's largest city, and executing them on camera draped in the group's black flag. "The exhortations, quite direct exhortations, were coming from an Australian who is apparently quite senior in ISIL to networks of support back in Australia to conduct demonstration killings here in this country," Abbott said, referring to the group otherwise known as Islamic State that has seized large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq. Sydney man Omarjan Azari, 22, appeared in court after the raids. He has been charged with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and will remain in custody until a hearing in November, authorities said. Prosecutor Michael Allnutt told the court in Sydney that an attack was being planned that "was clearly designed to shock and horrify, perhaps terrify" the community, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Azari's lawyer, Steven Boland, did not apply for bail. Boland told the court the allegation was based on one phone call, according to media reports. Boland was not available for comment. MORE POLICE ON THE STREETS Police said the raids were focused in western Sydney and the Queensland state capital of Brisbane, where two men were arrested on terrorism-related charges last week. About half of Australia's population of roughly 500,000 Muslims lives in Sydney, with the majority in the western suburbs where the raids occurred. New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said he had ordered more police onto the streets after the raids to prevent "troublemakers" taking advantage of the tension. But In western Sydney's Lakemba neighbourhood, which is home to one of the country's largest Muslim populations, there was little sign on Thursday of any increased security presence. Several residents interviewed by Reuters said they had not heard about the raids and expressed disbelief about the plot. Osama Farah, a 40-year-old university student, said the raids were part and parcel of the Australian media's unfair portrayal of Muslims as fanatics. "There are idiots everywhere. Jews, Christians, Muslims, everywhere. They must take things to the extreme because they are sick in their heart," he said. "But to take this tiny portion of the population ... it's unfair." Samier Dandan, president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, one of the country's most influential Muslim organisations, told Reuters that the raids had the potential to inflame relations between the authorities and the community. "I hope they have very solid facts, because if they don't, this is going to be the basic platform from which the community engages with law enforcement moving forward from here," he said. Treasurer Joe Hockey insisted that the necessary precautions had been put in place for a G20 leaders summit Australia is set to host in November, and dismissed concerns the raids could disrupt a meeting of G20 finance ministers this weekend in the tropical northern city of Cairns. DISTRACTING ATTENTION? Australia had been at the "medium" alert level since a four-tier system was introduced in 2003. A "high" alert level is used when officials believe an attack is likely, while a "severe" level means they believe an attack is imminent or has occurred. Abbott, whose conservative Liberal-National coalition has struggled in the polls since winning elections last year, is pursuing an increasingly muscular foreign policy that has moved him closer to the United States on crises like Iraq and Ukraine. Voter support for the coalition tanked after introducing an unpopular budget in May, but his tough stance over the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines plane in Ukraine in July boosted its popularity. Lakemba resident Yussuf Badreddine, 39, told Reuters he suspected the raids and terror threat level rise were aimed at distracting attention from welfare cuts in the budget. "If you see now, nobody talks about the budget. Nobody talks about the cuts to Medicare. They want to cover up what they've done? Terrorism," he said. But Attorney General George Brandis dismissed the suggestion the government would rather be talking about terrorism. "Well, I wouldn't rather be talking about this. I would rather that this not be happening," he told ABC Radio. Up to 160 Australians have either been involved in fighting in the Middle East or actively supporting it, officials have said. At least 20 are believed to have returned to Australia and pose a security risk, the head of the national spy agency said last week. Highlighting the risk of homegrown militants returning from the Middle East, Abbott pledged on Sunday to send a 600-strong force as well as strike aircraft to join a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq. (Additional reporting by Lincoln Feast and Thuy Ong; Writing by Paul Tait; Editing by Dean Yates and Robert Birsel) ||||| Australian Federal Police Acting Commissioner Andrew Colvin, left, and New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, right, describe how 800 federal and state police officers raided more than two... (Associated Press) SYDNEY (AP) — Police said they thwarted a plot to carry out beheadings in Australia by supporters of the radical Islamic State group by detaining 15 people and raiding more than a dozen properties across Sydney on Thursday. The raids involving 800 federal and state police officers — the largest in the country's history — came in response to intelligence that an Islamic State group leader in the Middle East was calling on Australian supporters to kill, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said. Abbott was asked about reports that the detainees were planning to behead a random person in Sydney. "That's the intelligence we received," he told reporters. "The exhortations — quite direct exhortations — were coming from an Australian who is apparently quite senior in ISIL to networks of support back in Australia to conduct demonstration killings here in this country." ISIL refers to the al-Qaida splinter group leading Sunni militants in Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which now calls itself simply Islamic State. "This is not just suspicion, this is intent and that's why the police and security agencies decided to act in the way they have," Abbott said. The raids came just days after the country raised its terrorism threat to the second-highest level in response to the domestic threat posed by supporters of the Islamic State group. At the time, Abbott stressed that there was no information suggesting a terror attack was imminent. Later Thursday, Attorney General George Brandis confirmed that a person born in Afghanistan who had spent time in Australia and is now working with the Islamic State group in the Middle East ordered supporters in Australia to behead people and videotape the executions. "If the ... police had not acted today, there is a likelihood that this would have happened," Brandis told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Abbott and Brandis did not name the Australian. But Mohammad Ali Baryalei, who is believed to be Australia's most senior member of the Islamic State group, was named as a co-conspirator in court documents filed Thursday. Police have issued an arrest warrant for the 33-year-old former Sydney nightclub bouncer. One of those detained, 22-year-old Omarjan Azari of Sydney, appeared briefly in a Sydney court on Thursday. Prosecutor Michael Allnutt said Azari was involved in a plan to "gruesomely" kill a randomly selected person — something that was "clearly designed to shock and horrify" the public. That plan involved an "unusual level of fanaticism," he said. Azari is charged with conspiracy to prepare for a terrorist attack. The potential penalty was not immediately clear. In court documents, Azari was accused of conspiring with Baryalei and others between May and September to prepare for a terrorist attack. Allnutt said the charge stemmed from the interception of a phone call a couple days ago. Azari did not apply for bail and did not enter a plea. His next court appearance was set for Nov. 13. Dozens of police spent Thursday searching Azari's home and a car parked across the street from his house. One officer pulled a memo out of the car from the Australian National Imams Council outlining concerns about Australia's new anti-terrorism proposals. The council did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. The Australian Security Intelligence Organization's director-general, David Irvine, said the threat of terrorism in the country had been rising over the past year, mainly due to Australians joining the Islamic State movement to fight in Syria and Iraq. "Police believe that this group that we have executed this operation on today had the intention and had started to carry out planning to commit violent acts here in Australia," said Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Andrew Colvin. "Those violent acts particularly related to random acts against members of the public." Police declined to reveal exact details of the attack they believe was being plotted. New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said only that it was to be carried out against a member of the public on the street and was at "a very high level." "Right now is a time for calm," Scipione said. "We need to let people know that they are safe, and certainly from our perspective, we know that the work this morning will ensure that all of those plans that may have been on foot have been thwarted." A separate series of raids was conducted Thursday in the eastern cities of Brisbane and Logan. Last week, Australian police arrested two men in Brisbane for allegedly preparing to fight in Syria, recruiting jihadists and raising money for the al-Qaida offshoot group Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the Nusra Front. Colvin said the raids conducted in Brisbane on Thursday were a follow-up to that operation. Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said the operations in Sydney and Brisbane were linked, but declined to release details. Police said at the time there was no terrorist threat to the Group of 20 leaders' summit to be hosted by Brisbane in November that will bring President Barack Obama and other leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies to the Queensland state capital. Australia has estimated about 60 of its citizens are fighting for the Islamic State group and the Nusra Front in Iraq and Syria. Another 15 Australian fighters had been killed, including two young suicide bombers. The government has said it believes about 100 Australians are actively supporting extremist groups from within Australia, recruiting fighters and grooming suicide bomber candidates as well as providing funds and equipment. A Sydney money transfer business owned by the sister and brother-in-law of convicted terrorist Khaled Sharrouf, an Islamic State fighter, had its license suspended this week on suspicion it had been sending 1 million Australian dollars ($900,000) a month to the Middle East to finance terrorism, said John Schimdt, chief executive of the industry regulator and corruption watchdog AUSTRAC. Sharrouf gained international notoriety this year after he posted online a photograph of his 7-year-old son in Syria holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier. AUSTRAC had discovered a AU$9 million discrepancy over the past nine months in the financial reporting of the business, Bisotel Rieh. Schimdt said the business had until Friday to answer questions about the missing money and could have its registration canceled. ___ Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report.

– Fifteen people have been detained in Australia, and police there say that in so doing, they have thwarted a plot to carry out a random beheading in Sydney. More than a dozen properties across Sydney were raided today by a force of 800 federal and state police officers, making it the largest such effort in Australian history, reports the AP. The raids came in response to intelligence that an ISIS group leader in the Middle East was calling on Australian supporters to kill, says Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Reuters reports on the specifics of the alleged plot: Grab a person at random in Sydney, drape them in the black flag of ISIS, and kill them on camera. Australia's ABC News reports that people in Brisbane were also to be targeted, and that any video was to be handed over to an ISIS media unit that would disseminate it. Attorney General George Brandis confirmed that a person born in Afghanistan who had spent time in Australia and is now working with ISIS in the Middle East ordered supporters in Australia to behead people and videotape the executions. Abbott and Brandis did not name the Australian. But Mohammad Ali Baryalei, who is believed to be Australia's most senior member of ISIS, was named as a co-conspirator in court documents filed today. Police have issued an arrest warrant for the 33-year-old former Sydney nightclub bouncer, who ABC News reports allegedly handed out the orders.