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Hockey Great Gordie Howe Dead at 88 | (Jun 10, 2016 10:26 AM CDT) Hockey legend Gordie Howe is dead at age 88, the Detroit Red Wings confirmed to CBS Detroit Friday. His son, Marty Howe, tells CNN he died Friday morning. Howe, a Hockey Hall of Famer and six-time NHL MVP, had an incredible career that led to his nickname, Mr. Hockey : He started playing for the Red Wings in 1946 and won four Stanley Cups with them. He retired in 1971, but two years later started playing for the World Hockey Association's Houston Aeros—with his two sons. He retired again in 1980, but in 1997, he played one last time for the IHL's Detroit Vipers. He scored 801 goals during his 26 years in the NHL; his all-time leading scorer record in the NHL was eventually broken by Wayne Gretzky. Howe suffered a serious stroke in 2014, eventually traveling with his family to Mexico for a stem cell treatment that, they said, helped him recover. But the Los Angeles Times reports he later suffered several other strokes, had also endured spinal surgery, and suffered from dementia over the past few years. Even so, in March, he celebrated his 88th birthday at Joe Louis Arena with an enthusiastic sold-out crowd. When it comes to who was the best hockey player ever, don’t even go there with me, fellow hockey great Bobby Orr said of Howe in 2003. There is no question that Gordie is the best of all time. |
Man Goes on Trial for Wife's Murder, for 4th Time | (Mar 28, 2016 6:23 AM CDT) Michele Harris went missing on the morning of Sept. 12, 2001, at the age of 35, and hasn't been seen since. Her empty minivan, with her keys still in the ignition, was found at the end of her and her estranged husband's long driveway, but the mother of four had disappeared without a trace, reports the AP. Court papers show that her husband, Calvin Harris, whose family runs car dealerships, didn't want to share half his wealth in their divorce, but in spite of the possible motive he has survived three trials: one guilty verdict was overturned because of court errors, another was set aside when a witness belatedly came forward, and the third trial ended in a hung jury. Defense attorneys now hope that new evidence will help him survive a fourth trial that begins Monday. The alternate theory revolves around two other potential suspects and charred items, including a bra strap and fabric matching Michele Harris' waitress uniform that were found this past January in a burn pit 7 miles from the home, reports the Press & Sun-Bulletin. Juries tend to arrange evidence in the form of a story, and until now, there hasn't been a compelling alternate story, says a law professor at Cornell University Law School. Whichever story is most compelling should prevail. Meanwhile, a defense attorney says it's like the NFL's Giants and Cowboys playing twice in one season with different results. How's it going to play out this time? Well, we'll see. Such a drawn-out case is not unprecedented; Curtis Flowers in Mississippi was tried six times and ultimately sentenced to death for killing four people 14 years earlier. (Two brothers were sentenced to die 25 years and 600 miles apart.) |
Tainted Baby Formula Kills 2 in China | (Sep 15, 2008 1:51 PM CDT) Two Chinese babies have died, 53 are in serious condition and 1,253 others are sick from widespread milk powder contamination, the New York Times reports. The baby formula laced with melamine—the same additive behind last year’s US pet-food recall—was recalled just last week by Sanlu Group, though parents have been complaining since March. Inspectors have started a safety probe of dairy farms, but say the tainting likely happened at processing centers. Officials arrested two brothers today for allegedly adding the banned toxic, which makes products seem to have more protein, to diluted milk. As in the past, China's first inclination was to try and put a towel over it, New Zealand’s prime minister says. |
Pharmacy Behind Meningitis Outbreak to Pay $100M | (Dec 24, 2013 1:51 PM) The pharmacy most prominently linked to last year's national meningitis outbreak has reached a preliminary agreement on a settlement that would require it to create a $100 million victim compensation fund, attorneys for the company's creditors announced today. The Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Center has already given up its license and declared bankruptcy amid a flood of lawsuits spinning out of the outbreak. The settlement was reached between the creditors, the bankruptcy trustee, and the company's owners and insurers. A federal investigation is ongoing, but in more than a year it hasn't produced any criminal charges. The company's owners said in a press release that despite creating the fund it still denies any liability or wrongdoing. About 750 people in 20 states developed fungal meningitis or other infections due to the epidemic; 64 have died. Victims will have until Jan. 15 to file for compensation from the fund. |
Republicans Hope for 1994 All Over Again | (Feb 23, 2009 2:25 PM) Barack Obama is banking on change, but Republicans are betting things haven’t changed much at all. They’re hoping to bounce back from the political wasteland using the same playbook that swept them into power in 1994, Jeanne Cummings writes in Politico. The strategy: Unite against Democrats' economic policy, and campaign against health care reform and spending scandals. Democrats doubt the strategy will work. We are in a different game, and they are playing by the old rules, said one strategist. Health care reform, for example, is much less controversial now, with a recent poll showing it as the public’s third-highest priority. |
Sweden Busts 4 in Suspected Terror Plot | (Sep 11, 2011 10:29 AM CDT) Swedish police arrested four people on suspicion of preparing a terror attack and evacuated an arts center in Sweden's second largest city on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary, officials said today. The four were arrested in Goteborg, said a Swedish police spokeswoman, who wouldn't say whether they were linked to the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. Sweden's terror alert wasn't raised from its current elevated status. Our assessment is that there is no reason for public concern at the moment, she said. Police in Goteborg said they had evacuated the Roda Sten arts center, located beneath the city's landmark half-mile Alvsborg bridge, due to a threat deemed to pose serious danger for life, health, or substantial damage of property. The Alvsborg bridge runs over Goteborg's harbor to connect the mainland with the island of Hisingen. The six-lane passage is a vital link from the Norwegian capital Oslo to southern Sweden. |
Cain No. 1 in National Poll | (Oct 12, 2011 4:36 PM CDT) A new Public Policy Polling survey reflects the Herman Cain surge: While it does not take into account last night's debate, in which Cain was front and center, it shows him comfortably atop the latest national poll. Cain has 30%, followed by Mitt Romney (22), Newt Gingrich (15), Rick Perry (14), Michele Bachmann (5), and Ron Paul (5). The big caveat: Cain's support looks to be squishy, with only 30% of his backers saying they are solidly committed. Romney and Gingrich have similar percentages. Perry's slip to fourth behind Gingrich might look like another dose of bad news for him, but the Daily Intel blog at New York says not so fast. Consider that he has the highest percentage (48) of supporters who say they will definitely vote for him. The proportion of Republicans who don't want to vote for Romney seems very large and undeterred by the lack of credible alternatives, writes Jonathan Chait. Perry has money and at least the possibility of improving as a debater. If Republicans aren't flocking to Romney now, it's a sign they want to give every chance for somebody else to emerge. Full post here. |
Bailed-Out Bank Execs Made $1.6B Last Year | (Dec 21, 2008 3:45 PM) Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an AP analysis reveals. Benefits at bailed-out institutions like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and JPMorgan Chase included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships, and professional money management. The rewards came even at banks where poor results last year foretold the economic crisis that sent them to Washington for a government rescue. Barney Frank, the House Financial Services committee chair and a long-standing critic of executive largesse, said the bonuses amount to a bribe to get them to do the jobs for which they are well paid in the first place. |
Amtrak Death Toll Hits 6 | (Jun 26, 2011 2:04 PM CDT) The death toll from Friday's Amtrak accident is now at 6, and authorities say another 28 people are unaccounted for. But that may be because passengers left the scene without letting officials know, the AP reports. As the truck plowed into the train, two truck drivers watched helplessly from behind. The warning gates and lights were functioning, but for some reason the lead truck did not stop; authorities are still searching for clues as to why not. The semitrailer skidded 100 yards before plowing through the gates and into the train. The truck driver and the train conductor are both among the dead; the train's assistant conductor was among the approximately 20 people injured. The train engineer also watched the accident unfold, slamming on the emergency brakes as he saw the truck and realized a collision was imminent. The train was traveling around 78mph at the time, and went another half mile before stopping. The engineer watched the impact through a rearview mirror. |
High Tech Paints 3D Image of Ancient Beast of the Deep | (Dec 23, 2010 5:47 PM) The 50-foot monster was the terror of the Earth's oceans some 150 million years ago, with its giant head packing a crocodile-esque jaw and razor sharp teeth that savaged anything in its way. Or at least that's the picture that's emerging of the pliosaur, as imaging scientists and paleontologists use a powerful CT scanner to paint a 3D image of the beast, the BBC reports. The fossil being examined, an 8-foot skull, would have dwarfed other pliosaurs. This creature had an enormously powerful bite, it could have bitten a car in half, says a paleontologist. It's incredibly exciting, the paleontologist continues. Nobody has ever seen this fossil, so I get to see it as it is coming out of the rock—it is almost like magic. The scanner allows detailed information to be gathered from the fossil without risking damage to it. One of the first questions being examined is whether the fossil constitutes a new species, or merely an extremely large example of the pliosaur species—to that end, the brain-case and inner architecture of the skull is being closely scrutinized. |
Jon Borrowed $88K From Galpal... to Pay Kate | (Jun 10, 2010 10:40 AM CDT) Yes, Jon Gosselin is back in the news—and, not surprisingly, it’s for a quite pathetic reason. Remember when he took all that money out of his joint bank account with ex-wife Kate? Well, turns out when the judge ordered him to pay it all back, a totally broke Jon borrowed $88,000 from then-girlfriend Hailey Glassman to do just that. Radar even has a copy of the check. The gossip site also has two text messages related to the loan. I’m done. U owe me money. I’m done with ur abuse. U say ur done? I’m done. There’s nothing to discuss. U can call Robbie [Hailey’s uncle] to explain ur bulls***, Glassman texted on Dec. 16. Gosselin’s reply: don’t have the finances, sorry. Already explained it to Robbie. |
Prop 8 Foes Back Off 2010 Push | (Jul 27, 2009 8:04 AM CDT) California’s gay community may want to go straight back to the polls to have another run at Proposition 8, but top advocacy groups and donors aren’t on board, the New York Times reports. The only thing worse than losing in 2008 would be to lose again in 2010, explains one donor. While many expected Prop 8 anger to power a new campaign, polls haven’t moved at all since November. Big backers don't want to invest in a campaign that might be what one group called rushed and risky. More than $80 million was spent to pass Proposition 8, and $43 million to oppose it, the Times says. The money will come if you can show you can win, says one organizer. Others fear that without a decisive victory of around 60%, gay marriage opponents would just launch another assault. Still, grassroots groups and younger activists are primed for a 2010 fight. I find the language of some of the organizations really self-defeating, says the head of one group. We have a moral obligation to overturn this. |
49 Bodies Dumped on Mexican Highway | (May 13, 2012 11:27 AM CDT) Mexico today made the latest grisly discovery in its drug war: 49 bodies, some of which were mutilated, were dumped along a highway connecting the northern city of Monterrey with the US border, reports the AP. The 43 men and six women were found early this morning in the town of San Juan; officials have the road blocked off and are still investigating. |
Screenings Slash Colon Cancer Rate 30% in a Decade | (Mar 18, 2014 9:58 AM CDT) The fight against colon cancer through screening is one of the great public health success stories of the decade, says a top figure at the American Cancer Society: In people over 50, colon cancer rates have dropped by 30% over the past decade, researchers say. That's mostly thanks to screening through colonoscopies, which aim to spot polyps before they become a problem, USA Today reports. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of 50- to 64-year-olds who have received the procedure has almost tripled. Among the 65-plus set, 64% had had a colonoscopy in 2010, compared to 55% in 2000. Between 2008 and 2010, colon cancer rates fell 7.2% per year, while death rates from the disease have dropped about 3% per year over 10 years. Still, it's the third leading cause of cancer death in the US, and the ACS expects 50,310 to die from the disease this year, with 136,830 new diagnoses. The progress is driving an effort to get 80% of those over age 50 screened by 2018, NPR reports. Some 23 million people between ages 50 and 75 still haven't been screened. Money stands in the way for many: Fewer than half of those who are uninsured or lack primary care health providers have been screened, NPR notes. |
Gates Foundation Gives $50M to Ebola Fight | (Sep 10, 2014 11:01 AM CDT) The fight to curtail the Ebola epidemic has more support—$50 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to finance supplies, drug and vaccine development, and diagnostics, as well as bolster emergency response, Reuters reports. We are working urgently with our partners to identify the most effective ways to help them save lives now and stop transmission of this deadly disease, says the foundation's CEO. Another $2 million will go to the CDC for treatment and incident management and to strengthen health care systems. The foundation has already devoted $10 million to fight the disease: $5 million to WHO and $5 million to the US Fund for UNICEF. |
Coal Pollution Burned 2.5B Years Off China Lifespans | (Jul 9, 2013 2:32 AM CDT) By giving free coal to everybody in the north of the country for decades, the Chinese government has inadvertently provided researchers with dramatic proof of the damage heavy air pollution does to health. A new study examining decades of data has found that life expectancy in southern China is 5.5 years longer than in northern China, and the difference is almost entirely the result of heart and lung diseases caused by particulate pollution from burning coal, reports the Los Angeles Times. The researchers estimate that the air pollution cut a staggering 2.5 billion years off the lives of the 500 million residents of northern China. It's a huge loss. Air pollution in China is really damaging people's health much more seriously than the findings in previous literature would suggest, says one of the study's authors. After this study, there should be no argument over whether we should take the air pollution issue seriously. The free coal policy ended in 1980, but northern China is still home to most of the country's coal-burning power plants and researchers believe life expectancies there will remain lower for decades to come, National Geographic reports. |
Obama Pulls Strings for 2010 Favorites | (Jan 12, 2010 12:33 PM) The White House is hard at work behind the scenes to put its preferred candidates in place for the 2010 elections. Obama’s team has quietly leaned on weak candidates to bow out and strong ones to bow in, the Wall Street Journal reports. When John Cherry withdrew from the Michigan gubernatorial race, for example, the White House leapt to recruit Denise Ilitch to replace him. Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Obama hadn’t pushed Cherry out, but hinted the White House was involved in the race. When Chris Dodd retired, Obama put in a personal call to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, urging him to run. He put in a similar call to John Hickenlooper in the Colorado governor race—a hint to Ken Salazar to stay out. Doesn't always work, though: The White House's stated preference for Kirsten Gillibrand apparently isn't keeping Harold Ford out of the picture in New York. |
Obama Plans to Stay in Afghanistan Past 2014 | (Nov 19, 2010 9:30 AM) As the NATO summit in Lisbon begins today, President Obama has a new plan for Afghanistan—and it calls for the US and others to stick around beyond 2014, the Christian Science Monitor reports. NATO forces, the plan says, will turn over the country to Afghan forces by 2014, but will keep a presence in the country long after that—meaning Obama will need to convince NATO allies to stick around, despite their war-weary public at home. Military officials will likely applaud the move, the Monitor notes, adding that they've long maintained that victory in Afghanistan would take time, a belief Obama hasn't publicly supported until now. The clock on Afghanistan has had quite a bit more time added to it, and that provides a lot more pressure on the Taliban psychologically and it will physically, says one official. But Taliban bosses say it won’t matter. If they kill one commander, we will get another who is even stronger than the other ones. |
2 Pieces of Debris 'Almost Certainly' From MH370 | (Mar 24, 2016 2:20 AM CDT) Australian officials say two pieces of debris recently discovered in Mozambique are highly likely to have come from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the AP reports. Transport Minister Darren Chester said in a statement Thursday that an analysis of the parts by an international investigation team shows both pieces are consistent with panels from a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft. The analysis has concluded the debris is almost certainly from MH370, he said. The dimensions, materials, and construction of both parts conform to those of a 777, and the paint and stenciling on both parts match those used by Malaysia Airlines, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a separate statement. The discovery of the two pieces bolsters authorities' assertion that the plane went down somewhere in the Indian Ocean. But whether the debris can provide any clues into exactly what happened to the aircraft and why is uncertain. One of the parts in Mozambique was discovered on a sandbank by American adventurer Blaine Gibson, who has been searching for Flight 370 over the last year. Soon after Gibson's find was publicized, a South African teenager realized a piece of debris he'd found on a beach during a family vacation in Mozambique might also be from the plane. Earlier this week, an archaeologist walking along South Africa's southern coast found a piece of debris with part of an aircraft engine manufacturer's logo, and authorities now plan to examine that part, too. |
GOPer Drafts $1.4T Proposal to Tweak Obama | (Mar 13, 2008 3:15 PM CDT) Some of Barack Obama’s boldest campaign-trail talking points are headed for a Senate vote—in the form of a budget amendment from a Republican. No, Wayne Allard isn't jumping GOP ship, but rather wrote the Obama-esque legislation to embarrass the Democratic candidate by pointing up his profligate ways, Martin Kady II writes in Politico. The proposal would cost $1.4 trillion over five years. But the Colorado senator—who faces no blowback for the stunt, as he’s retiring—will force a vote on the amendment to further his point, saying it needs to be a part of the process. Obama's response bears watching, and Kady notes that the Chicagoan never suggested he’d fund all of his domestic policy plans in one stab. |
Florida Politician's Deal: 1 Book, 1 Copy, $152K | (Mar 1, 2011 1:46 PM) Florida Democrats are having fun with an AP story noting that the Republican president of the state senate got the princely sum of $152,000 to write a book on politics for Brevard Community College. The kicker is that only one copy of Florida Legislative History and Processes exists—at the college's administration office. The AP also dug up emails suggesting a sweetheart deal: college administrators thought it would be wise to keep the well-connected senator, Mark Haridopolos, in its good graces. Haridopolos tells the Tampa Bay Times that his book is worthwhile and that it's easy to pull excerpts of any work to make it sound silly. (One widely commented upon snippet from his book advises that a cell phone will be essential for office-seekers.) I think as you read the whole book, you can see what it’s like to run for office and to be in office, he says. That’s the goal of the book, and to give some context to what committee chairman do, the process, and the political history of Florida. |
Casey Anthony Sentenced to 4 Years, But... | (Jul 7, 2011 8:41 AM CDT) Casey Anthony was sentenced to four years in prison today for lying to police—but she will be given credit for time served. She has already spent 997 days in jail, and CNN estimates that she could be out by the end of summer due to that and good behavior time. Judge Belvin Perry informed the court that they would figure out the exact amount of time served. Each of the four counts she was convicted on carried a maximum sentence of one year in prison. Inside the courtroom, Anthony appeared relaxed, reports the Orlando Sentinel, which notes that her hair, normally done up in a bun, was worn down. But the scene was one of trepidation outside the courthouse this morning, the Sentinel adds. At least two deputies were toting gas masks, fearing the crowd's reaction to today's sentencing. Other cops patrolled the scene on horses. (And a juror finally speaks. Click to read why the verdict made her sick. ) |
TSA Took $531K From Our Pockets Last Year | (Dec 6, 2013 8:43 AM) The change in your pockets is lining the TSA's, well, pockets. The Washington Post shares the results of the TSA's 2012 fiscal report, which shows that it made off with a record $531,395.22 in change that travelers forgot to collect from security bins. (From 2008 through 2011, the total was closer to $400,000.) The biggest take occurred at Miami International, where TSA workers collected $39,613; it's one of 13 airports where the annual haul was at least $10,000. Travelers are apparently more conscious at Guam’s Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, where the TSA's grand total was just $1.70. The Post notes that by law the TSA must use the jingling windfall on civil aviation security; to date, it's spent just $6,500 of 2012's change, largely on translating some airport security signs into other languages. |
Italy to Take 3 Gitmo Detainees | (Jun 16, 2009 8:54 AM CDT) Silvio Berlusconi, seeking to restore some shine to his tattered international image, yesterday agreed to take three detainees from Guantanamo Bay. The Italian PM praised President Obama for his deep knowledge after a 2-hour-plus meeting at the White House, the AP reports. The leaders discussed topics ranging from Gitmo to the agenda for July’s G8 summit in Italy. Obama said he thanked the prime minister for his support of our policy of closing Guantanamo, Reuters reports. This is not just talk. Italy has agreed to accept three specific detainees. Berlusconi lauded Obama for the precision and accuracy with which he discusses all of the issues. The EU said yesterday that its nations are ready to help with the Guantanamo closing, taking detainees on a case-by-case basis. |
Pushy Customer Misses $319M Lottery Jackpot | (Mar 31, 2011 5:05 PM CDT) How’s this for karma: A man in Albany pushed ahead in line for a Mega Millions lottery ticket—and the guy he shoved aside got the winning Quick Pick. The man actually cut in front of me to buy a ticket, said Mike Barth. I thought about saying something but let it slide. His coworkers are thanking him: Six of them bought the ticket as a group, so they’re due $19.1 million each after taxes, the Times Union reports. There is pretty much no better comeback than, ‘Thanks for the $319 million, jerkoff,’ notes the Daily Intel blog. The winners, all state IT workers, range in age from 29 to 63. Click here to read about the poor soul who decided not to go in on the ticket with the lucky six, even though he normally did. |
Homeless Man Lived in Library for 2 Weeks | (Aug 19, 2010 3:52 AM CDT) A homeless man lived unnoticed in the basement of a New Jersey library for nearly two weeks. Police said a custodian saw Charles Jones Jr. peeking out a basement window of the Ocean Township library on Friday night. They discovered several books in the basement and found the 26-year-old had taken food from the employee break room. He's charged with burglary and theft, reports the AP. (Click here to find out why a NY library called the Ghostbust |
49ers' Crabtree Accused of Sex Assault | (Jan 19, 2013 7:11 AM) Police have interviewed 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree over allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman last week, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The 25-year-old has not been charged and is expected to play tomorrow against Atlanta in the NFC championship. The alleged assault occurred at a hotel after last week's victory over Green Bay. The 49ers take such matters very seriously, said a team statement. We will have no further comment at this time as the legal process is ongoing. |
'Difficult' Dow Ends Down 358 | (Jun 26, 2008 3:37 PM CDT) Stocks plunged today due to the convergence of bad news across all sectors of industry against the backdrop of oil’s first surge over $140 a barrel, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow plummeted to a 2-year-low, shedding 358.41 to 11,453.42. The Nasdaq fell 79.89, settling at 2,321.37, and the S&P 500 fell 38.82 to close at 1,283.15. Analysts said that the Fed’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged was weakening the dollar, which in turn sent oil and other dollar-denominated commodities higher. Unless something dramatic changes, either at the Fed or in housing or we get some relief from higher energy prices, there's no reason to believe this dynamic will not continue, one noted. This is a difficult environment. The lines of least resistance are down, not up. |
Ryan's 2011 Tax Rate: 20% | (Aug 18, 2012 5:23 AM CDT) Yesterday was Paul Ryan's turn to release his tax returns—just the last two years, of course—and they show that the veep candidate paid 15.9% of his income in taxes in 2010 and 20% last year, according to documents provided to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Ryan, together with his wife, Janna, paid $34,233 in federal taxes on $215,417 in gross income in 2010 and $64,764 in federal taxes on $323,416 in 2011. That's a pretty normal rate, said one tax expert. About half of their income came from his congressional salary, with most of the rest coming from rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, S corporations, trust, etc. One insider noted that most of Ryan's investment income came from holdings owned by his wife. At his lowest rate, though, Ryan's 15.9% in 2010 was still well ahead of Mitt Romney's 13.9% that year, as well as his estimated 15.4% last year—not to mention his never less than 13% over the past decade—notes the AP. President Obama paid $162,074 in federal taxes last year on $789,674 in gross income, or about 20.5%, after paying 26% in 2010. |
GM Issues 3 More Recalls | (Jun 27, 2014 6:13 PM CDT) General Motors extended its record-breaking string of safety problems today with three more recalls, including a large one involving its top-selling vehicle. The recalls, part of a top-to-bottom safety review, bring the company's total for the year to 48, covering more than 20 million cars and trucks. That beats GM's old full-year record of 10.75 million in 2004. Today's recalls cover 474,000 vehicles worldwide for a variety of problems. The largest affects almost 467,000 four-wheel-drive Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, as well as GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban SUVs. The Sierra is GM's top-selling vehicle. The company said a software glitch can cause the transmission transfer cases to shift into neutral on their own on 2014 and 2015 models. That can cause loss of power, or it can let the trucks roll away if parked. GM says it knows of no crashes or injuries. The other recalls are much smaller and also had no reported injuries. (Meanwhile, GM sales are up.) |
60 Killed in Iraq Car Bomb Wave | (Jun 7, 2014 5:00 PM CDT) A series of car bombs exploded across Iraq's capital today, killing scores of people in a day of violence that saw militants storm a university in the country's restive Anbar province and take dozens hostage, authorities said. Reuters puts the number dead at more than 60. The attacks in Baghdad largely focused on Shiite neighborhoods, underscoring the sectarian violence now striking in Iraq. With US troops gone, Iraq finds itself fighting on fronts across the country, as separate clashes in a northern city killed 21 police officers and 38 militants, officials said. All the bomb attacks happened in a one-hour period. The day began with militants killing three police officers on guard at the gates of Anbar University, an official said. The gunmen reportedly detained dozens of students inside a dorm. Shiite students at the school of 10,000 were terrified, one student who was taken hostage said, as the gunmen identified themselves as belonging to an al-Qaeda splinter group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. After several hours, gunmen left the university under unclear circumstances. We thank God that this crisis ended almost peacefully and no student was hurt, as far as I know, the student said. |
Stewart Pits '06 Giuliani Vs. '09 Giuliani | (Nov 17, 2009 4:44 AM) During last night’s Daily Show analysis of Khaled Sheikh Mohammed’s upcoming trial, Jon Stewart pointed out Rudy Giuliani’s blatant flip-flopping on the issue between 2006 and now. Though 2006 Giuliani believed that America is dedicated to the rule of law and We are a free society, we have respect for peoples’ rights, 2009 Giuliani says that This seems to be an over-concern with the rights of terrorists. I guess Giuliani from 2006 is saying that the rule of law is something either you have or you don’t, Stewart concludes. You can’t cover up the lack of rule of law with some thin strands of principle that you pull almost comically over giant, barren areas of… That was a bald joke. Watch the video above. |
Vatican: In 9 Days, Pope Will Tweet | (Dec 3, 2012 7:23 AM) Get ready for one of Twitter's newer handles, @Pontifex, which belongs to none other than one Pope Benedict XVI. The pontiff doesn't plan on using it until Dec. 12, the Vatican revealed today, but come next Wednesday, he'll begin tweeting in six languages. His first tweets will take a Q&A format, with the Qs being questions about faith, reports the AP. It won't be Benedict's first foray into the 140-character world, as he sent a tweet last year announcing the launch of a Vatican news portal. A rep says the pontiff will tweet as often as he wants, and he'll likely reach a sizable crowd: His tweetless account already claims 47,000 followers. |
Art Dealer Admits Her Role in 15-Year Scam | (Sep 17, 2013 7:34 AM CDT) An art dealer scored some $33 million selling works supposedly by 20th-century greats like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko—but yesterday she admitted they weren't real, the Wall Street Journal reports. In fact, they were all painted by a Chinese immigrant living in Queens; he hasn't been named or charged (and was reportedly often paid just a few thousand dollars per painting), but the same can't be said for dealer Glafira Rosales. She yesterday pleaded guilty in the 15-year scheme, which the New York Times notes was worth a total of $80 million. Rosales could theoretically face up to 99 years in jail, but she won't be sentenced until March. She pleaded guilty to nine charges, among them money laundering and wire fraud, in a plea bargain that may result in a lesser prison term. Her boyfriend was also implicated in the scheme but hasn't been charged. (Among his alleged roles: giving the paintings the false patina of age. ) Some 40 of the forgeries went to the Knoedler & Company gallery, another 23 were sold by dealer Julian Weissman; the two pocketed $47 million. Knoedler and Weissman are facing lawsuits, but they say they believed the paintings were real; the Times and Journal note Knoedler was forced to close in 2011 after 165 years in business. (Click to read about another wild scam.) |
Coming Soon: Anchorman 2 | (Mar 29, 2012 9:19 AM CDT) Ron Burgundy, aka Will Ferrell, stopped by Conan O'Brien's show last night to play a little jazz flute … and announce a little movie you might call Anchorman 2. It is official, there will be a sequel to Anchorman, Ferrell stated—after first insulting O'Brien for a few minutes. Deadline reports that Steve Carell and Paul Rudd will also return for the film. Later on Conan, Dana Carvey attempted to one-up Ferrell by announcing Wayne's World 3—click to see that video, including Carvey's rendition of Wayne and Garth as middle-aged men. |
Mystery Cloaks Loss of Records, Art on 9/11 | (Aug 1, 2011 8:23 AM CDT) Among the casualties of the Sept. 11 attacks: countless artworks and historical records. Among the wreckage were 21 libraries, letters written by Helen Keller, sculptures by Auguste Rodin and Alexander Calder, and 40,000 photographic negatives taken of John F. Kennedy by his personal cameraman, reports the AP in a look at the mystery surrounding the scope and specifics of the loss. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had much of its archives stored there, but did not have a detailed list of its holdings. More losses: The Cantor Fitzgerald brokerage owned a large collection of drawings and sculptures, including a cast of Rodin's The Thinker. The Ferdinand Gallozzi Library of US Customs Service had documents related to US trade dating back to the 1840s. The 6 World Trade Center building housed nearly 900,000 objects excavated from Manhattan's Five Points neighborhood. Like so many other residents of the seven-building trade center complex, a decade later the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has only a general idea of what was lost. |
American: I Escaped 7 Months' Captivity in Syria | (Aug 23, 2013 9:29 AM CDT) Matthew Schrier was a freelance photographer covering his first war when he was abducted by Syrian rebels. Now back in the US after seven months of captivity, Schrier, 35, gives a jarring and incredibly rare firsthand account of the dangers foreigners face among some anti-Assad forces. Schrier tells the New York Times his captors—who he believes were members of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front—took him as he attempted to leave the country on Dec. 31. They were initially gentle, he says. One who offered him a cup of tea even warned him the glass was hot. That didn't last long. He was soon accused of working for the CIA and tortured; in one instance, his feet were whipped with a metal cable until he couldn't walk. My socks don’t match and you think I'm in the CIA? he asked them. His captors drained his bank accounts, shopped under his name on eBay, and sent his mom emails under his name (sample: I'm working a lot here and having a lot of fun, think I’ll stay here for a while. ). He was moved from prison to prison, and in late January was put in a cell with a fellow American who, months later, would be his ticket to escape. In the early hours of July 29, boosted on the man's back, Schrier was able to squeeze through broken mesh in a cell window. He turned to pull his cellmate through, but the man got stuck. They tried again, to no avail. I'll get help, Schrier told him. He then wandered until he found other rebels who helped him get home. His fellow captive's whereabouts are unknown (the Times is withholding his name at his family's request). The full Times feature is worth a read. |
Treasury to Let 10 Banks Repay $68B in TARP Loans | (Jun 9, 2009 8:57 AM CDT) The Treasury Department has given 10 banks—including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, American Express, and Capital One—permission to repay their TARP loans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The government will recoup $68 billion faster than anticipated, but the money won’t go back into the public coffers; Tim Geithner intends to deploy it to assist other firms, including some that have already received TARP funds. The Treasury must now decide how to deal with the 10-year warrants it holds for the companies’ common stock. It must sell them, but it will have to decide at what price and to whom. Though the government hadn’t originally intended the money to be repaid so quickly, Congress passed legislation earlier this year requiring they be allowed to do so, provided they meet government criteria. |
Workers Laying Pipes Unearth Coins—1,300 Pounds of Them | (Apr 29, 2016 9:30 AM CDT) What should've been a simple maintenance project involving new water pipes in Spain has become something else entirely. Construction workers near Seville Wednesday stumbled upon about 1,300 pounds of bronze Roman coins from the third and fourth centuries crammed into 19 ancient amphoras, the AFP reports. The Washington Post reports that the workers noticed irregular terrain while toiling in a ditch a little more than 3 feet deep. Ana Navarro, head of the local museum that's now taken over the excavation project, didn't pin an exact number on the coins' value, simply stating they're worth certainly several million euros (which would equate to several million dollars) and that it's hard for her to assign a dollar amount because the value they really have is historical and you can't calculate that. Navarro tells a local paper that this find is extremely important, with very few similar cases, per RT.com. The coins features images of emperors Constantine and Maximian, and their mint condition indicates they likely weren't in circulation. Navarro speculates the money was used to pay government taxes or the armed forces, and that the amphoras were buried because of social conflicts, violence, [and other] threats of the time. Navarro also notes that because the coin-filled containers are so heavy, it's probable they weren't placed underground by one person alone, CNN reports. The country's cultural department says no such coins exist in the Seville Archaeological Museum's collection, per the AP. (Another recent find involved coins hailing from the Nazi era.) |
Senate Moves Up Final Vote to 8am Thursday | (Dec 22, 2009 3:27 PM) It looks like senators and their staffs will be home for Christmas Eve after all. The final vote on health care legislation has been moved up to 8am Thursday, reports the LA Times. Harry Reid and GOP leader Mitch McConnell announced the move today after a set of procedural votes cleared the Senate with the necessary 60 votes. Republicans could have delayed Thursday's action until 9pm, but McConnell chose not to do so, notes the Post. |
2014 Hottest Year in History | (Jan 16, 2015 10:48 AM) It's getting to be a familiar storyline of late: We've got a new hottest year on record in the books for planet Earth. Both NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agree that 2014 set the mark, though they differ slightly in the specifics—it was either 1.22 or 1.24 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average, reports AP. The record-keeping goes back to 1880, but the 10 warmest years have been logged since 1997, notes the New York Times. The record surpasses the previous mark set in 2010 and marks 38 straight years of above-average temperatures. Obviously, a single year, even if it is a record, cannot tell us much about climate trends, says an expert at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. However, the fact that the warmest years on record are 2014, 2010, and 2005 clearly indicates that global warming has not ‘stopped in 1998,’ as some like to falsely claim. The western half of North America, Europe, and eastern Australia were among the hot spots on land, reports LiveScience, while the northern Pacific in particular registered high ocean surface temperatures, reports the Guardian. |
Woman Faces 10 Years for Taking Chained, 'Dying' Dog | (Feb 19, 2016 6:30 PM) Bettina Cuce Rodriguez, a dog lover who volunteers in animal rescue, heard that a pit bill mix had been chained outside a mobile home in a rural community near Virginia Beach in bad weather and without food or water. The dog was said to be near death, and the county animal control was not responding to reports of the situation. So Rodriguez and two others took the dog—and got charged with dog larceny, a felony, after the dog was reported stolen on Jan. 11, 2015. Rodriguez's trial began Wednesday, the Virginian-Pilot reports, and she faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. But the trial was continued for a month after odd circumstances Thursday: The alleged owner of the dog showed up at the courthouse but left before it was his turn to testify, WAVY reports. Rodriguez and her cohorts were turned in by a passerby who saw three people take the chained dog, then flee when he confronted them. Animal lovers in Virginia Beach say this is just one of many incidents in which a dog is left in poor conditions. Have we reached the point where people from outside the area feel the need to come and steal a dog because they think things are that bad and that nothing is being done? says one man who formed a volunteer organization to help struggling pet owners after this incident. There’s a right way and a wrong way to rescue dogs, he adds. What Rodriguez allegedly did was the wrong way. The other two defendants, Charlene Boyajian and Gordon Shell, are scheduled to be tried in March and May, respectively. As for the dog, it's not clear what happened to it. |
Sinking 401(k)s Raise Debate on How to Save | (Oct 12, 2008 8:30 PM CDT) Tumbling stock markets have cracked open the piggy bank that many Americans use to store retirement savings—401(k) accounts—sparking fresh debate about how best to save money, the Washington Post reports. Supporters argue that 401(k)s offer bigger rewards than traditional pensions, which are less exposed to market turbulence. But they lose more on average too—between 7.2% and 11.2% over the last year. Critics argue that plummeting 401(k)s hurt the economy in other ways, like forcing people to work past age 65, freezing young people out of the job market. That has a perverse effect on the business cycle, one analyst said. Either way, experts advise against pulling out of your 401(k) unless you can't sleep at night. Hold on tight, they say, until you regain your losses. |
After 7 Years Behind Bars, Michael Douglas' Son Is Out | (Aug 1, 2016 10:14 AM CDT) Cameron Douglas, son of Michael, had been scheduled for release from prison in early 2018, but the New York Post reports he's out. What began in 2010 as a five-year sentence for dealing drugs was nearly doubled two years later when the actor's son confessed to having heroin and pills smuggled into the prison. Judge Richard Berman gave him another 54 months, three times what prosecutors had recommended, saying, I don't believe that I have had another case ever of a defendant who has so recklessly, and flagrantly, and wantonly and criminally acted in as destructive and manipulative a fashion. Things didn't exactly improve from there. He ended up in solitary for a period the Post describes as spanning from 2012 to 2014 after failing a urinalysis. He also ended up with a broken femur in what may have been an instance of prison justice. Following his early release from Maryland's Cumberland Federal Corrections Institute, he is living in a halfway house in Brooklyn, reports People. According to the Post's source, the 37-year-old is thinking of writing a tell-all about his time behind bars. He is staying low-key after his release and plans to spend time with his father and mother, says the source. Cameron is the only child Michael had during his 22-year marriage to Diandra Douglas. |
Toyotas Linked to 34 Deaths Since 2000 | (Feb 15, 2010 5:09 PM) Complaints of deaths connected to sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles has surged in recent weeks, with the alleged death toll since 2000 reaching 34, according to new data gathered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While the government typically receives a surge in complaints following a recall, reports about the popular Toyota Prius hybrid jumped by nearly 1,000 in just over a week. Toyota has recalled 8.5 million vehicles globally during the past 4 months. The new complaints reflect the heightened awareness among the public and underscore a flurry of lawsuits on behalf of drivers alleging deaths and injuries in Toyota crashes. In the past three weeks, consumers have told the government about nine crashes involving 13 alleged deaths between 2005 and 2010 due to accelerator problems, according to a NHTSA database. The latest complaints come on top of information from consumers alleging 21 deaths from 2000 to the end of last year. |
Burma Pledges Free Elections in 2010 | (Feb 9, 2008 4:00 PM) The military junta in Burma said today the nation will have multiparty, democratic elections in 2010, Reuters reports. Opposition leaders greeted the decision with a heavy dose of skepticism and charged that even if the vote goes through, the military will not release its grip on power. The regime has been under heavy international pressure for reform since its violent crackdown on protesters in the fall. The junta also announced that a referendum on the constitution would be held in May, and the timing puzzled critics. I was surprised that they announced an election date without knowing the referendum results, said one member of the NLD, the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest. Another democracy group dismissed the announcement as public relations spin. |
Got $2.5M? This Emerald Is for You | (Jan 25, 2012 2:54 PM) The biggest cut emerald in the world will be auctioned Saturday and is expected to go for up to $2.5 million. The gigantic green stone weighs 57,500 carats—or 25 pounds—and was discovered at an undisclosed location in Brazil, reports Pravda. The emerald, dubbed Teodora, meaning God's Gift, will be sold at the Western Star Auction in Kelowna, Canada. |
Tim Russert Dead at 58 | (Jun 13, 2008 4:04 PM CDT) Tim Russert, host of Meet the Press and longtime NBC News Washington bureau chief, died today after collapsing at work and apparently suffering cardiac arrest, MSNBC reports. He was 58. A 24-year NBC veteran, Russert was also the author of two New York Times best-sellers, Big Russ and Me and Wisdom of Our Fathers. In announcing his death on the air, Tom Brokaw called Russert one of the premier political journalists and analysts of his time. Network anchor Brian Williams, reporting from Afghanistan, broke down on the air when asked to describe the network's loss. It became the gold standard of political journalism, correspondent Andrea Mitchell said of Meet the Press. |
When It Comes to Global Competitiveness, US Is ... 4th | (Sep 9, 2010 9:15 AM CDT) Today is not a great day for US dominance: For the second year in a row we've taken a hit in the global competitiveness rankings, this time falling from second to fourth due largely to our government debt and weak economic outlook. In first place until two years ago, we've now fallen behind Switzerland, Sweden, and Singapore, the Washington Post reports. The US has very important strengths, but macroeconomic stability was a problem beforehand and the crisis exacerbated it, an economist from the World Economic Forum, which compiled the rankings, said. And while the US ranks first in innovation, of the 139 countries considered, we ranked 84th in the cost to business of crime and violence, and 125th in the business costs of terrorism. In terms of gains, Indonesia jumped from 54th to 44th, and Vietnam rose from 75th to 59th. |
NYC Cracks Open 1914 Time Capsule 40 Years Late | (Oct 9, 2014 3:48 AM CDT) A time capsule sealed with great fanfare in 1914 was finally cracked open yesterday—just over 40 years after the Lower Wall Street Business Men's Association had intended for it to be opened. The bronze box was forgotten amid the New-York Historical Society's archives for decades, but it was rediscovered in the '90s and for a time was thought to be the world's oldest unopened time capsule, reports the New York Times. But the contents turned out to be pretty dull: The now-defunct business organization had filled it with things like financial reports and company yearbooks that they apparently believed would be of great interest to the New Yorkers of 1974. While the 1914 capsule may have been a bit of a letdown, interns at the historical society have contributed items to a time capsule of their own, set to be opened in 2114, reports the Daily Beast. That capsule's contents will include an iPhone, a Kindle, a gay pride T-shirt, an Obama campaign button, subway maintenance signs, a ticket from a Lady Gaga concert, and even websites preserved on a flash drive. In Boston, meanwhile, a 113-year-old time capsule discovered in the head of a lion statue last month will be carefully removed today, the AP reports. A spokeswoman for the Bostonian Society says it may be opened today as well, although any documents inside will probably be too delicate to be removed immediately. (The Steve Jobs Time Capsule was also forgotten and only recently re-discovered.) |
As Flood Toll Hits 25, Chavez Opens Palace to Refugees | (Dec 2, 2010 11:22 AM) Hugo Chavez is letting dozens of people made homeless by Venezuelan flooding crash at his palace, and he told them yesterday—as the death toll hit 25—that they can stay there until the government finds them new homes. Visiting a slum, the AP reports that Chavez urged other residents to evacuate: They told me that you did not want to leave until Chavez came. Well, here I am. Chavez also said he’d call for military buildings to be evacuated for refugees’ use. Some 5,000 people are homeless thanks to torrential rain, and 33,000 have been placed in 259 shelters in case of further damage, said an official. A state of emergency has been declared in three states, as well as the capital. |
Everyone Wants This $19 Toy for Fidgeters | (Sep 18, 2016 9:11 AM CDT) If you can't stop fidgeting, Matthew and Mark McLachlan say they have just the thing for you: Fidget Cube, which an ad helpfully explains is a cube that you fidget with. The tiny desk toy—which has buttons to push, a ball to roll, a dial to spin, and a switch to flip—was Kickstarter's fifth-most lucrative project ever, though it's been open to backers for only two weeks, reports the Guardian. The McLachlan brothers originally planned to raise $15,000 for the cube—designed to satisfy common fidgety impulses like pen clicking and nail biting without driving your colleagues and loved ones away —but crushed that goal within a day. The project has now raised $4.6 million with 30 days left and the brothers are working overtime to figure out how to get the $19 product—complete with an indentation designed to reduce anxiety when rubbed —out to its first 100,000-plus backers by December, per CNET. There was once a time where we had planned on shipping your order personally using any family members who would accept payment in the form of pizza, the team writes in an update. This doesn't appear to be possible anymore. Orders placed now are expected to be delivered around March, the brothers say. (Backers also loved this jacket that charges your phone.) |
Divorcing Gibsons Separated in '06 | (Apr 14, 2009 8:32 AM CDT) Mel Gibson filed a response to his wife’s divorce papers yesterday, People reports, giving their official date of separation as Aug. 26, 2006—less than a month after his infamous Malibu DUI. The Gibsons attended church together four days before Robyn signed the divorce papers, but Mel was alone on Easter Sunday, and was overheard confiding the divorce news to parishioners. They’ll do this amicably, a source says of the couple, both age 53 and married 28 years. There’s a lot of mutual respect and they’ve worked hard on their marriage and worked hard on their separation. They’ll handle the divorce in the same respectful way. |
Americans Waste $4B to Run Dryers, Every Year | (Jun 12, 2014 1:18 PM CDT) Get our your clotheslines. Turns out your trusty dryer is one of the most energy-sucking appliances in your house—with a typical electric model using as much energy as an energy-efficient fridge, washing machine, and dishwasher combined, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Americans could save $4 billion of the $9 billion spent each year to run inefficient dryers if they switched from electric dryers to hybrid heat pump models popular in Europe, reports USA Today. Electric dryers—75% of all dryers in this country—also emit carbon dioxide. So why is the dryer lagging behind the fridge in energy efficiency? Dryers have gone largely unnoticed, an NRDC scientist explains. US efficiency requirements for dryers have been updated only three times since the 1970s while fridges have seen seven updates, cutting their (and washers’ and dishwashers’) energy use in half. The wheels are in motion to fix this. Vented dryers, the most popular model in the US, will face a new standard come next year, and the Department of Energy is improving testing of dryer efficiency in advance of another updated standard in 2017. For now, what can you do? Use the maximum spin speed on your washer and the low temperature setting on your dryer ... or go for the aforementioned line drying method. (For some entertainment, read about one man’s recent misadventure with a washing machine.) |
LiLo's Credit Card Debt: $600K | (Apr 19, 2010 9:57 AM CDT) We all know Lindsay Lohan's ability to shop outweighs her ability to get cast in movies these days, but now her debt has a number. And it's a big one: Lindsay owes credit cards $600,000, a source tells Radar, adding that one card even cut her off. Considering her last film went straight to DVD and she only makes $5,000 to $10,000 for club appearances…she probably has a lot of club appearances in her future. One credit card company is going to discuss a payment plan for Lindsay, but if she doesn't have the income and can't make her payments, they are prepared to sue her, the source continues. It's only a matter of time before all her other credit cards cut her off too. |
Obama Unveils $3.8T Budget, Targets Rich | (Feb 13, 2012 11:52 AM) President Obama officially unveiled his $3.8 trillion budget today, and as expected it draws a 2012 battle line, calling for higher taxes on the wealthy combined with spending measures intended to bolster the economy, the AP reports. We built this budget around the idea that our country has always done best when everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules, Obama said, according to CNN. This is not about class warfare. This is about the nation's welfare. |
Polanski Sexually Abused Me in 1982: Actress | (May 14, 2010 3:30 PM CDT) A British actress says Roman Polanski, who is currently under house arrest after raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977, forced himself on her in 1982 during the filming of Pirates. Polanski sexually abused me in the worst possible way when I was 16 years old, Charlotte Lewis said during a press conference at the office of her lawyer, publicity hound Gloria Allred. When a reporter asked whether Lewis is pursuing a book deal, Allred responded, next question, Radar reports. Lewis met with one of the prosecutors attempting to have Polanski extradited from Switzerland to Los Angeles in LA today, the AP reports. If Charlotte’s allegations are accepted as true; then Mr. Polanski was able to victimize another child while he was a fugitive from justice, said Allred. |
G20 Nations Brush Off Goals by Geithner | (Oct 21, 2010 1:19 PM CDT) G20 officials aren’t likely to accept US proposals to better monitor exchange rates along with trade deficits and surpluses, an insider tells Reuters. Timothy Geithner had hoped to set numerical targets for surpluses and deficits as well as norms on currency rate policy. Right now, there is no established sense of what's fair, he told the Wall Street Journal. But other members, among them India, China, and Germany, rejected the ideas. Macroeconomic fine-tuning and quantitative targets are not the right approach in our view, said Germany’s economy minister. I am not sure that this will be supported by very many emerging economies, noted an Indian finance official. A Russian finance minister, meanwhile, held that it was up to the US to first take action on its own deficit. |
4.4M Have Been Jobless for More Than a Year | (Jul 22, 2011 2:03 PM CDT) Some 30% of unemployed workers across the US—about 4.4 million people—had been jobless for more than a year as of last month, Labor Department data shows. Long unemployment periods were especially pronounced in New Jersey (37.1%), Georgia (36.8%), Michigan (36.0%), South Carolina (35.7%), North Carolina (33.8%), Illinois (33.8%), and Florida (33.6%), the Wall Street Journal reports. It really is going to take a concentrated effort of employers to give people a chance who haven't worked in a while, says a Labor Department official. I don't want us to say this is the new normal and move on. But those who are jobless for a long stretch often have a harder time getting back to work, the Journal notes, adding that older, highly educated Americans tend to experience the longest periods of joblessness. That could be part of the reason why New Jersey and Florida are struggling: Their populations are older than the national average. |
Lakers' Whining Won Game 5 | (May 28, 2009 12:15 PM CDT) The NBA fined Lakers coach Phil Jackson $50,000 for complaining about the officiating in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, but the frustrated Nuggets think it was money well spent. They got whistled 30 times in last night's Game 5, and they’re angry, reports Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post. Every player in my locker room is frustrated, said coach George Karl. The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game, complained one player. Kiszla agrees: Jackson yanked the NBA with his trademark manipulative tactics, and the refs jumped like puppets on a string. Asked if he had indeed been trying to plant seeds in the officials’ heads, Jackson laughed. I’m a gardener, he said. I like planting seeds … constantly. |
US Child Gun Deaths Rose 60% in 10 Years | (Oct 27, 2013 3:10 PM CDT) The number of US kids and teens who die from gunshot wounds in hospital has risen almost 60% in a decade, according to a new report. The study by two doctors looked at data from 1997 to 2009, and found the number of those hospitalized with gunshot wounds rose from 4,270 to 7,730, while the number of those that then died from them climbed from 317 to 503, NBC News reports. Eight out of 10 of the wounds came from handguns, says study author Arin L. Madenci. Furthermore, states with higher percentages of household firearm ownership also tended to have higher proportions of childhood gunshot wounds, especially those occurring in the home, he says. As a result of the findings, the authors say, perhaps the national conversation about gun control should move from larger semi-automatic weapons to limiting the number of smaller firearms in homes. While public health resources and policies have largely focused on military-style semi-automatic assault weapons, it may be more crucial to intervene on handguns, says Madenci, per Medical Daily. The director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research tells Discovery that research and data like this has been sorely lacking in the field since Congress stopped funding it in the 1990s. I see this as a huge step forward, he says. |
Ex-Olympian Gets 46 Months for Check Fraud | (May 17, 2008 6:13 AM CDT) Disgraced Olympic gold medalist Tim Montgomery was sentenced to 46 months yesterday for his part in a check-fraud scam, the Washington Post reports. Montgomery, who still faces heroin-dealing charges, once held the 100m world record but was stripped of it for doping. He has a son with Marion Jones, who is in prison for lying about doping and about her part in the scam. I've had everything I ever wanted in life. I've stood on the top of the mountain, Montgomery told the court. The gold medal, all those people cheering, that was part of another world. In jail, my status is gone. |
'09 Airline Losses Likely Worse Than Post-9/11 | (Mar 24, 2009 11:50 AM CDT) World airlines will lose $4.7 billion this year, and revenues will plummet $62 billion—worse than after 9/11, a top industry association said. The grim estimate is almost twice what it was in December and reflects the rapid deterioration of the global economic conditions, said the International Air Transport Association. But things look better in North America, the AP reports. North American carriers are expected to pull in a combined $100 million profit, with a 7.5% fall in demand matched by a 7.5% cut in capacity, the group said. Worldwide, demand has deteriorated much more rapidly with the economic slowdown than could have been anticipated even a few months ago, the group noted. Resizing the industry will be much tougher than the adjustments we saw after 9/11 or SARS. |
Sid Caesar Dead at 91 | (Feb 12, 2014 2:48 PM) One of TV's very first stars is dead at age 91, reports Variety. Sid Caesar hosted the groundbreaking variety program Your Show of Shows beginning in 1950 and, later, Caesar's Hour. As most of his obituaries quickly point out, among the writers who got their start with him were Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Rob Reiner, and Larry Gelbart, the latter of whom adapted MASH for TV. News of Caesar's death first came via tweet by Larry King. Caesar was at once one of the greatest improvisors and one of the most rigorous sketch-comedy artists in television history, writes Ken Tucker at Entertainment Weekly. The New York Times echoes the sentiment in its obituary, calling him a comedic force of nature. And the AP calls him an innovative, influential comedy genius whose sketches lit up 1950s television with zany humor. But it came at a price: Caesar famously admitted to a 20-year blackout thanks to alcohol and drugs. When I was awake I’d think of nothing but ‘I must do it faster, kill myself faster, he wrote in his autobiography Where Have I Been. I’d get up to take pills just to go back to sleep. I had no friends. My life was over. He kicked his addictions in the 1980s. |
Want a Cambodian Wife? Tough Luck if You're Over 50 | (Mar 22, 2011 11:16 AM CDT) If you're an American looking for a wife and happen to be, well, broke and old, there's no point in looking in Cambodia. Under Cambodian law, it's now illegal for the country's women to marry foreigners who are age 50 and up, or who make less than $30,960 a year. Officials say the intention is to stamp out fake marriages and human trafficking. There is one loophole: Said couples can bypass the law by getting married outside the country. Over-50 foreign women are free to snag a young Cambodian hubby, adds the AFP. Writing for Global Post, Patrick Winn notes that Cambodia has made attempts to diminish its reputation as a hub for child brides before; in 2008, authorities briefly banned all foreign marriages. |
California Cutting Off 40K State Workers' Cell Phones | (Jan 11, 2011 7:01 PM) Here's one more reason California finds itself with a $25 billion budget deficit—it was handing out cell phones to state employees like candy. Nearly 100,000 state workers—about 40% of the workforce—have phones on the taxpayers' dime. New Gov. Jerry Brown is ordering that half of them be turned in, for an estimated savings of about $20 million a year, reports the Los Angeles Times. It is difficult for me to believe that 40% of all state employees must be equipped with taxpayer-funded cellphones, said the governor. Some state employees, including department and agency executives who are required to be in touch 24 hours a day and seven days a week, may need cellphones, but the current number of phones out there is astounding. |
NYPD: Man Kills 3 Who Threw Him Out of Band | (Nov 11, 2013 9:11 AM) Four people are dead in Brooklyn today, and sources are pointing the finger at a musician who they say was out for revenge. The New York Post reports that the gunman arrived at a Bushwick building around midnight and began shooting a semi-automatic weapon; police describe a scene littered with spent shells and note there was no indication of forced entry. Two people were murdered on one floor, and a third was killed in bed on a separate floor; a fourth was wounded. The shooter ultimately went to the building's roof and took his own life with a gunshot to the head, reports NBC New York. The NYPD says the victims were the man's bandmates, and confirmed the shooter had been booted from the band; they could not verify that was the motive. The New York Times digs up a few details on the unnamed men, who are thought to mostly be in their 20s and members of a band called the Yellow Dogs. The Post's law enforcement sources described the men as Iranians who had been here for some time and were hoping to be granted asylum. |
2 Tibetans Set Selves on Fire in Capital | (May 28, 2012 12:08 PM CDT) Tibet has seen at least 34 self-immolations since March of last year—but two incidents yesterday were the first to occur in the region's capital. Two men set themselves on fire in a busy area of Lhasa in a protest against Chinese rule; police put out the flames within minutes, according to Chinese state news. One died, while the other was gravely wounded, Reuters reports. The self-immolations are all aimed at separating Tibet from China, says an official quoted by Xinhua. China has labeled the perpetrators terrorists. Now, Lhasa is filled with police and paramilitary forces, according to Radio Free Asia. The situation points to a spreading movement, says an expert, and could lead to an increased severity of restrictions and controls by China. A major Chinese microblogging site today had blocked searches for Jokhang Temple, near which the self-immolations occurred. |
Cops Won't Reopen 1972 Rape Case Against Garrido | (Sep 3, 2009 7:00 PM CDT) Police in Antioch, Calif., said today they won’t reopen a child-rape case against Phillip Garrido that was dropped in 1972 when the 14-year-old girl refused to testify, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The woman contacted authorities last week after seeing Garrido’s name in connection with the abduction and imprisonment of Jaycee Lee Dugard, but only to make them aware of his 1972 arrest. In the 1972 case, Garrido, then 21, was arrested on charges of suspicion of rape, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing drugs to a minor after the girl told police she and a female friend met Garrido and a second man at a public library and accompanied them to a motel, where she was drugged and raped. |
Dems Seek $1T 'Swan Song' Budget | (Nov 15, 2010 12:17 PM) An uproar over spending may have spurred a midterm drubbing for Democrats, but they still aim to push through a $1 trillion budget bill during the lame-duck session that begins today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Washington is currently operating on a temporary budget that expires Dec. 2; Democrats hope to follow it with a budget that maintains current spending. Dems aren’t going to let Republicans follow through on their budgetary goals—to cut domestic programs by $100 billion to bring the budget back to 2008 levels—before the new Congress begins. The 2011 budget they've been working on comes in at $1.108 trillion, the figure Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said he’d back. That’s $20 billion less than what President Obama wanted, but less than 1% more than last year’s budget. Meanwhile, Obama is hoping to encourage GOP cooperation at a White House dinner this week. |
Thieves Steal $1K of Ben & Jerry's—and It Melts | (Aug 21, 2013 9:40 AM CDT) Now we all love Phish Food, but this is a step too far: Two men recently stole $1,380 worth of Ben & Jerry's ice cream from a truck sitting outside a wholesale center in Sweden, reports the Local. Unfortunately for the sweet-toothed Swedes, they were caught in the act by a security guard, who started chasing them. They ended up ditching their bounty, which had melted during the getaway and had to be thrown away, says a police spokesperson. One of the robbers, 18, was caught in the chase, but the other escaped and is still at large. |
Couple Wins $1M for 'Unrelenting' BofA Robocalls | (Dec 12, 2014 10:44 AM) Nelson and Joyce Coniglio begged Bank of America to stop calling them about late loan payments, but the calls kept on coming: 700 of them over a four-year period, the Florida couple claims in a lawsuit that describes a huge mortgage-induced headache, ABC News reports. The bank was ordered by a judge to pay the Coniglios $1,051,000 for patterns of outrageous, abusive, and harassing conduct by a BofA subsidiary, which also sent them threatening collection letters, the suit alleges. They treated us very badly, no two ways about it, Nelson tells WTSP. Unrelenting, adds Joyce. Those unrelenting calls, which were typically automated calls that left the same recorded message, would take place up to five times a day, even after the Coniglios had an attorney send letters asking Bank of America to quit it. That refusal to restrain the robocalls is why the Tampa judge who ruled in this case tripled the initial recompense from $500 per call to $1,500, WTSP notes. BofA wouldn't comment initially, but late yesterday it sent a statement to ABC saying the calls were to help the Coniglios prevent foreclosure, not to harass them for money owed. Because our calls were not answered and our efforts to help the Coniglios … were urgent, these calls continued, the statement says. The Coniglios have a different perspective: If I did what Bank of America did, I'd probably be behind bars, Joyce tells WTSP. The Coniglios aren't alone in how they feel: In 2013, BofA settled a $32 million class-action lawsuit with more than 7 million consumers for the same type of calls, ABC notes. (BofA reached a $17B settlement with the feds over the summer for its role in the 2008 financial crisis.) |
4-Year-Old Girl Found a Silver Ball; It Was a Bomb | (Oct 6, 2016 10:11 AM CDT) Children in war zones are still wont to play, and when 4-year-old Iman spotted what she thought was a silver ball, she picked it up—only to become the latest victim in the savage civil war raging in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo. The ball was a cluster bomb and its explosion wracked Iman's tiny body, CNN reports. ITN video footage shows Iman lying in a hospital bed on Sunday tethered to machines. She died on Tuesday. I thought that she was going to live, Baraa Omar, a nurse who treated her, told ABC News. I was very shocked. I didn’t know what to do. It was a very difficult day. Iman was playing with her two sisters when she found the bomb. The two older girls were wounded in the blast. Their family had recently moved to the al-Zebdieh district of Aleppo after their house was bombed, Omar said. And now this happened to them. More than 100 countries have signed a treaty to ban cluster bombs, which are packed with smaller bomblets, yet they have been used by Syrian and Russian forces since a ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia came to an end on Sept. 19, reports ABC. The rules of war are just not being abided by, a doctor told ITN. (Syrian doctors have called on President Obama to stop attacks on hospitals there.) |
Sadr City Fight Kills 13; Insurgents Vow to Fight On | (Apr 12, 2008 12:57 PM CDT) US and Iraqi forces clashed with Shiite insurgents in fierce fighting overnight near Baghdad’s Sadr City, Reuters reports, as authorities lifted a blockade in some areas that had been stifling the region. At least 13 militiamen loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr were killed in the clashes in the Iraqi slum, but no American or Iraqi troops were seriously injured. US jets patrolled the night skies, while insurgents prowled the streets carrying rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. Residents described this latest skirmish as among the worst since last week, and many militiamen insist fighting isn’t over: We will not allow the Americans to enter the city whatever happens, some shouted over loudspeakers, even if we lose our lives and sons. |
54 Countries Aided CIA in Post-9/11 Interrogations | (Feb 5, 2013 7:23 AM) The US was far from alone in its controversial counterterror practices after 9/11: More than a quarter of the world's countries helped the agency, a new report says. Some partners hosted secret interrogation prisons; some arrested suspects; others let the CIA refuel its planes at their airports, the New York Times reports. The moral cost of these programs was borne not just by the US but by the 54 other countries it recruited to help, says Amrit Singh, who wrote the Open Society Justice Initiative report. The document contains the longest list yet of those detained or transferred by the CIA: some 136 people. The report describes extraordinary rendition, in which prisoners are denied legal procedures as they're moved between countries. Some were shipped to countries that regularly torture prisoners, the Times notes. Countries involved ranged from Pakistan and Afghanistan to the UK and Spain, the Guardian notes; even Iran and Syria lent a hand, with Syria one of the most common destinations for rendered suspects. But former CIA boss Michael Hayden recently pointed to double standards: We are often put in a situation where we are bitterly accused of not doing enough to defend America when people feel endangered, he said. And then as soon as we’ve made people feel safe again, we’re accused of doing too much. |
Madoff's Money Man Sells Rothkos for $310M | (Jul 1, 2009 7:53 AM CDT) Ezra Merkin, the financier who pumped billions of his clients' money into Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, is selling more than 10 paintings by Mark Rothko and two sculptures by Alberto Giacometti for $310 million, reports the Wall Street Journal. Some of the proceeds may go to his defrauded investors, who include charities and nonprofits. The sale was announced by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is suing Merkin and has frozen his assets. The price tag on the paintings is surprisingly high, and the identity of the buyer is unknown—but many in the art world think the Rothko family may have acquired the works. The family told associates they wanted to buy back the paintings after the Madoff scandal broke. |
What This Man Learned in Letting 83 Insects Sting Him | (Jun 12, 2016 1:32 PM CDT) If you ever get stung by a tarantula hawk, Justin Schmidt has some advice: Lie down and scream. The entomologist has endured the sting of that wasp, along with the stings of 82 other insects from around the world, as part of what FiveThirtyEight describes as an obsession with codify[ing] the pain associated with various stinging insects. He's even come up with the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, which is included in his recently released book, The Sting of the Wild. The index runs from one to four; the aforementioned wasp's sting comes in at a four, and Schmidt likens it, per NPR, to this scenario: A running hair dryer has just been dropped into your bubble bath. Compare that with the mud dauber wasp, whose sting is akin to jalapeno cheese when you were expecting Havarti ; it registers as a one, to the common honeybee's two. In addition to providing colorful, connoisseur-grade descriptions of the pain caused by stings, the Sting of the Wild provides all sorts of information about stinging insects. For instance, stingers evolved from the tubes through which eggs are laid, ovipositors, so only female insects can sting. Male insects fake it, Schmidt tells National Geographic, by curling their abdomen around and jamming it into you, in hopes you'll let them go. Butterflies, moths, and other insects that don't sting don't need to, another entomologist tells National Geographic. They lay their eggs on the surface of plants, in a process that doesn't require an ovipositor, hence, no stinger. When asked whether he wants to be stung, Schmidt tells NPR, Want is kind of a dual word. I want the data, but I don't want the sting. (Another researcher has determined the most painful spot to get a bee sting.) |
Women Won't Ski Jump in 2010 Olympics | (Jul 11, 2009 12:48 PM CDT) A Canadian judge says the International Olympic Committee is clearly discriminating against female ski jumpers by not including their event in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics—but there’s nothing she can do about it, NPR reports. A group of women jumpers had sued the organizing committee, hoping to have their event added. I'm shocked and disappointed, a jumper said, but there is a moral victory here. The IOC made a decision that discriminates against the plaintiffs, the judge wrote. But only the IOC can alleviate that discrimination, as Canada has no jurisdiction. Don't look for the IOC to budge: Our decision was based on technical issues, without regard to gender, it said in a statement. But if the IOC had applied the same criteria to men’s jumping, which is grandfathered in, the judge said, neither group would be competing in the 2010 Games. |
Cust, A's Rout Angels 15-8 | (May 2, 2008 12:53 AM CDT) Jack Cust went 4-for-4 with a go-ahead homer that triggered an eight-run fifth inning, while Emil Brown added another four hits and an RBI as the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 15-8 last night to gain a split of the four-game series. The A's, who beat the Halos 14-2 in Monday's series opener, had 20 hits. Justin Duchscherer (2-1) allowed six runs - only one earned - and six hits over five innings with six strikeouts in his 200th major league game and eighth career start. The right-hander, making his second start after missing three weeks with a biceps strain, ran his career record against the Angels to 6-0 - although four of those wins came in relief. |
Gentleman's Agreement Star Holm Dead at 95 | (Jul 15, 2012 12:42 PM CDT) Celeste Holm, a versatile, bright-eyed blonde who soared to Broadway fame in Oklahoma! and won an Oscar in Gentleman's Agreement, but whose last years were filled with financial difficulty and estrangement from her sons, died today, a relative said. She was 95. Holm had been hospitalized two weeks ago with dehydration after a fire in Robert De Niro's apartment in the same Manhattan building. She had asked her husband, Frank Basile, on Friday to bring her home, and spent her final days with relatives and close friends by her side, said her great-niece. In a career that spanned more than half a century, Holm played everyone from Ado Annie—the girl who just can't say no in Oklahoma!—to a worldly theatrical agent in the 1991 comedy I Hate Hamlet to guest star turns on TV shows such as Fantasy Island and Love Boat II to Bette Davis' best friend in All About Eve. She won the Academy Award in 1947 for best supporting actress for her performance in Gentlemen's Agreement and received Oscar nominations for Come to the Stable (1949) and All About Eve (1950). In her early 70s, an interviewer asked if she had ever thought of retiring. What for? she replied. If people retired, we wouldn't have had Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud ... I think it's very important to hang on as long as we can. Holm was married five times and is survived by two sons and three grandchildren. |
Dow Ends Solid Week Up 32 | (Jul 17, 2009 3:17 PM CDT) Stocks were generally flat today as investors stepped back from a 4-day rally. IBM boosted the Dow, rising 4.3% after reporting strong quarterly profits, the Wall Street Journal reports. GE and Bank of America both trended lower after reporting declining earnings. Housing data showed home construction rose in June, contrary to forecasts. The Dow closed up 32.12 points at 8,743.94. The Nasdaq gained 1.58 to close at 1,886.61, while the S&P 500 sank just 0.36 to 940.38. |
Drew Barrymore: My Mom Institutionalized Me at 13 | (Oct 27, 2015 10:46 AM CDT) Drew Barrymore opens up about her troubled childhood in a candid new interview with the Guardian, from her first days as a party girl at age eight to her time at age nine at Studio 54 with her mom, doing drugs and dancing with men, to her first stint in rehab at age 12. But she relapsed the following year ( When I was 13, that was probably the lowest point in her life, she says), leading to 18 more months in a hospital. [My parents] were pretty out there, Barrymore says. But I realized, honestly, yeah, my mom locked me up in an institution. Boo hoo! But it did give an amazing discipline. It was like serious recruitment training and boot camp, and it was horrible and dark and very long-lived, a year and a half, but I needed it. I needed that whole insane discipline. She clarifies that, yes, it was an institution for the mentally ill. The 40-year-old Barrymore—while sipping a Corona—notes that at 14, I was so scared of not knowing where I was going. I really had a fear that I was going to die at 25, but that no matter how dark shit got, I always had a sense that there should be goodness. I never went all the way into darkness. Her mother occasionally visited her at the hospital, she says, but when she got out at 14, she became legally emancipated from her parents, at the institution's suggestion. It was a very important thing to experience for me, she says of her hospitalization. It was very humbling, very quieting. Maybe it was necessary, because I came out of there a more respecting person. And my parents didn’t teach me that, and life wasn’t teaching me that. I came out in a very different way ... but I still was me. Click for the full interview. (Barrymore also recently opened up about postpartum depression.) |
Dick Van Dyke, 86, Weds Girlfriend, 40 | (Mar 9, 2012 3:46 PM) Dick Van Dyke is a married man again: The 86-year-old wed 40-year-old makeup artist Arlene Silver at the end of last month, he tells RumorFix. The two met six years ago, and a smitten Van Dyke hired her to do his makeup. The last couple of years we kind of fell in love, he says. I found the perfect one. The actor's first marriage ended in divorce, and he later lived with partner Michelle Triola for more than 30 years before her death, notes People. |
Suicide Bomber Kills 25 at Iraqi Banquet | (Aug 25, 2008 3:22 AM CDT) At least 25 people were killed in Abu Ghraib yesterday when a suicide bomber attacked a banquet where relatives were celebrating the release of a sheikh's son from US detention. Women, children and men from a US-supported neighborhood patrol were believed to be among the victims. The smoke was everywhere mixed with blood. I went unconscious after that, said a guest. US helicopters were flown in to evacuate some 32 wounded. |
20 Children Ditched by Smugglers Perish in Sahara | (Jun 17, 2016 7:49 AM CDT) A group of nearly three dozen migrants, most of them kids, paid smugglers to whisk them out of Niger and Nigeria and to a new life to the north—but instead paid the ultimate price. The five men, nine women, and 20 minors were found dead Sunday in the Sahara, per Niger's Ministry of Interior, apparently ditched by those they'd hoped would save them and likely victims of extreme thirst, ABC News reports. The interior minister said the migrants had perished between June 6 and June 12 near Assamaka, per the BBC, with the Guardian noting that temps in the desert can soar upward of 105 degrees Fahrenheit. What transpired isn't an uncommon consequence: Thousands of people have lost their lives as a result of the indifferent or even deliberate actions of migrant smugglers, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says on its website, noting that as borders have become more tightly policed, migrants have become more wary of trying to cross over on their own. Which often leads to a highly profitable endeavor for the smugglers, who enjoy low risk of detection and punishment, and tragedy for the smuggled, who may pay upward of $345 each for the chance to escape, per an International Organization for Migration report. The IOM notes that Niger is a waypoint for escapees on their way to Algeria and Libya (and Europe after that), with migrants usually hailing from Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea-Bissau. What made this group of doomed deserters unusual: the number of children. Per the IOM report, a tracking tool showed that between February and April, the 60,000-plus migrants who passed through Niger were overwhelmingly male and between the ages of 18 and 59. (A drowned baby has become a crushing symbol of Europe's migrant crisis.) |
2 Park Rangers Stabbed on Boston Common | (Oct 14, 2014 5:04 PM CDT) A Boston park ranger suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed on the Boston Common this afternoon, reports the Boston Globe. Another ranger was injured in the attack inside what the AP calls the nation's oldest public park. Police say a homeless man with a very violent, assaultive history lunged at the pair with a knife when they approached him as he sat by a statue. Authorities identified the suspect as Bodio Hutchinson, 34. The rangers haven't been identified. The more seriously injured one, who was stabbed in the abdomen, is 46. The other is 23. Police said witnesses followed the suspect and helped identify him with cellphone video. Officers found the knife believed used in the attack in a pond. |
Teen Who Tried to Burn Parents Alive Gets 9 Years | (Jun 11, 2014 2:14 AM CDT) An Ohio teen who tied his parents' door shut and set his house on fire has been spared the maximum sentence after pleading guilty to arson and attempted murder. Mitchell Simon, who was 16 when he tried to kill his parents last fall after they disciplined him for skipping band practice and making inappropriate posts on Facebook, will serve nine years in prison, followed by five years of probation, the New York Daily News reports. His parents told the judge they didn't want their son sent to prison and they don't believe he belongs there. Mitchell's father—who broke an ankle when he jumped out a second-story window to escape the blaze—said he feared his son would be killed or sexually assaulted in prison, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. I feel like there's two hats I'm wearing today—a parent and a victim, he said. It's been very confusing to me these past seven months as to which one I should be wearing. A psychiatrist testified that the teen, who faced a maximum of 33 years, had made progress in therapy but he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't try to harm his parents again if he was set free. The judge said it was particularly troubling that the teen had planned the fire in his journal, writing that he wanted his mother to burn in hell. (In Virginia, another teen boy has pleaded guilty to killing his parents because they took his iPod away.) |
Obama to Leave Trail for 2 Days, Visit Sick Grandma | (Oct 20, 2008 8:24 PM CDT) Barack Obama is canceling nearly all his campaign events Thursday and Friday to fly to Hawaii to visit his suddenly ill 85-year-old grandmother, his spokesman said today. Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, who helped raise him, was released from the hospital late last week. But he said her health had deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious. Obama was expected to resume campaigning on Saturday, though Gibbs was unsure where. Obama events originally planned for Madison, Wis., and Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday will be replaced with one in Indianapolis before he makes the long flight to Hawaii, the AP reports. Gibbs said it was still being decided whether surrogates would fill in for Obama. His wife, Michelle, for instance, was not accompanying him to Hawaii. |
Competition Spurs Amazon to Slash Kindle 2 Price | (Jul 9, 2009 3:05 AM CDT) Amazon has lopped $60 off the price of its Kindle 2 ebook reader in a move that looks like an effort to gain iPod-like dominance in an increasingly crowded market, Melissa Perenson writes in PC World. The Kindle is way ahead of the competition, but Sony's ereaders are gaining traction, and rivals are emerging at the lower end of the market. The $299 price is likely to spur sales, but the dedicated ebook reader may never be more than a niche market, she argues, noting that many users—including herself—increasingly use their iPhone 3Gs to read Kindle content. The more frequently I do so, he more I wonder about the future of the ebook I have sitting at home, she concludes. |
Disney to Buy Marvel for $4B | (Aug 31, 2009 8:35 AM CDT) The Walt Disney Co. says it is acquiring Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man into the Disney family. Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own, Disney reports. The boards of Disney and Marvel have both approved the transaction, but it requires an antitrust review and the approval of Marvel shareholders. |
Band Bills Military $666K for Using Its Song at Gitmo | (Feb 6, 2014 10:47 AM) Some bands are proud when their music is used to interrogate Guantanamo Bay detainees; other bands, not so much. You can count Skinny Puppy among the latter group. The Canadian industrial rock band says it has invoiced the US military for $666,000 after finding out its music was used at the naval base prison without permission. Gitmo used our music without our knowledge and used it as an actual weapon against somebody, keyboardist Cevin Key tells CTV. I wouldn’t want to be subjected to any overly loud music for six to 12 hours at a time without a break. He says the band learned its music was used from a Skinny Puppy fan who used to work as a guard at the prison. The Defense Department tells Politico it has not received the invoice. I’m not even sure how, functionally, such a process of billing based on a hunch might work, says a spokesperson. To be sure, the United States is committed to ensuring that individuals detained in any armed conflict are treated humanely in all circumstances, consistent with US treaty obligations, domestic law, and policy. Key says the band has been coached on potentially suing the Defense Department, and learned that a lawsuit is possible. |
Twinkies' $400M Savior Is Near | (Jan 29, 2013 12:52 PM) Goodbye Hostess Twinkies, hello ... Apollo Twinkies? Or maybe PBR Twinkies? The Wall Street Journal reports that two private-equity companies—Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos—are close to a deal worth more than $400 million to buy the brand from bankrupt Hostess. The bid would serve as the one to beat in an upcoming bankruptcy-court auction, and it now seems unlikely any other suitor would do so. Metropoulos, Time notes, already owns Pabst Blue Ribbon. Both are iconic legacy brands that were once very much in demand, writes Josh Sanburn. PBR has been revived. Twinkies ain’t doing so well. Meanwhile, the AP reports that the maker of Little Debbie (McKee Foods) is the lead bidder for the Drake's brand, which includes Devil Dogs and Ring Dings. The offer is $27.5 million. |
World's Oldest Person Dies Weeks After 117th Birthday | (Apr 1, 2015 9:33 AM CDT) The world's oldest person, a Japanese woman, died today, a few weeks after celebrating her 117th birthday. Misao Okawa died of heart failure and stopped breathing as relatives and nursing home workers stood by her side and praised her long, healthy life, said Tomohiro Okada, an official at her Osaka nursing home. She went so peacefully, as if she had just fallen asleep, Okada says. We miss her a lot. A 116-year-old American woman, Gertrude Weaver of Arkansas, is now the world's oldest person, according to Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which keeps records of supercentenarians. She was born July 4, 1898. Okawa, born in Osaka on March 5, 1898, was recognized as the world's oldest person by Guinness World Records in 2013. She lost her appetite about 10 days ago. Until then, she had been eating well, enjoying her daily cup of coffee and her favorite dishes, including ramen. Okawa, the daughter of a kimono maker, said at her recent birthday celebration that her life seemed rather short. Asked for the secret of her longevity, she responded nonchalantly, I wonder about that, too. She married her husband, Yukio, in 1919, and they had two daughters and a son. She is survived by four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; her husband died in 1931. Japan's oldest person is now a 115-year-old Tokyo woman. Japan has the most centenarians in the world, with more than 58,000, per its government. About 87% are women. |
Colo. Fire Forces Evacuation of 900 Prisoners | (Jun 12, 2013 10:09 AM CDT) Wildfires are raging in Colorado, and one of them caused more than 900 prisoners to be evacuated from a state prison early today. The medium- and low-risk prisoners were taken by bus to other prisons, a spokesperson tells the AP. The fire hasn't actually reached the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility, but this was done as a precaution because it takes a lot of time to move the prisoners, she explains. But dozens of homes have been destroyed, according to the AP, which puts the number of blazes in the Front Range area at four. The Black Forest Fire is burning in a residential area, and has burned as many as 60 homes since starting yesterday; 6,400 have been forced to evacuate, but no injuries have been reported. (The AP earlier reported that the area has large homes sitting on two to five acres each, some of them worth more than $1 million.) Record temperatures and strong winds were driving the fires quickly, and NBC News reports that fire departments are stretched thin. |
Afghan Bomber Kills 21 Cops | (Feb 2, 2009 6:39 AM) A suicide bomber blew himself up inside an Afghan police station, killing at least 21 policemen in an attack claimed by the Taliban, reports the BBC. The attack in the south of the country is the deadliest in months. A police spokesman in Uruzgan said the bomber wore a police uniform and infiltrated a group of reservists. Three men were arrested wearing suicide belts in the neighboring province. |
In Your 20s? Here's How to Get a Fatter Salary at 40 | (Nov 8, 2014 7:14 AM) A new study has a message for twentysomethings: To land a better-paying job that you love when you're older, it's healthy to job-hop now. It seems that frequent job-switchers boost their odds of having higher-paying, more satisfying jobs in their 30s and 40s, the Atlantic reports. While the cause isn't certain, a researcher has a theory: When people job-hop, they end up with better matches—their true calling. The findings shine a light on misconceptions about young people and unemployment, the Atlantic notes. Yes, youngsters are more likely than older people to be unemployed, but it's not because they can't get hired; it's because they're more likely to quit. In fact, those in the 20-24 set were almost three times as likely to leave their job within a year as those ages 45 to 54. A 2012 study found that the average American has more than 11 jobs between the ages of 18 and 46, and they hold half of those positions before 25, Yahoo Finance reports. But frequent quitting doesn't appear to be a Millennial thing: Today's young people don't quit at a higher rate than young people did three or four decades ago. They are, however, more likely to switch job fields entirely when they do quit. That means more exploration, which, as the study suggests, could be helpful for the future. As the worker samples more occupations and accumulates knowledge about her occupational fit, the probability of finding her true calling rises, the researchers say, per FiveThirtyEight. (In more bizarre job news, this woman was denied an interview because she's Irish.) |
Jackson Drug Cocktail: 3 Painkillers, 2 Anti-Depressants | (Jun 27, 2009 3:07 AM CDT) The Sun gets the details on the potentially lethal cocktail of prescription drugs Michael Jackson was on in the months before his death. Jackson took addictive narcotic painkillers Demerol and Diluadid daily, the Sun's sources say, and had recently added Vicodin to the mix. He also took a muscle relaxant called Soma, a sedative (Xanax) and two anti-depressants (Zoloft and Paxil, which is prescribed for social anxiety). The Sun says he got 3 injections of Demerol a day—one just before his collapse Thursday. The LA County coroners office says it will take weeks to determine whether the drugs caused his death. Jackson had insisted on bringing his personal physician on his upcoming London tour, the promoter tells the Sun: He just said, 'Look, this whole business revolves around me. I'm a machine and we have to keep the machine well-oiled,' and you don't argue with the King of Pop. |
Cheney Daughter, Partner Expecting Baby No. 2 | (Oct 7, 2009 6:56 AM CDT) Dick Cheney’s daughter Mary is braving another conservative firestorm after confirming she and long-time partner Heather Poe are expecting their second child in November. Cheney plans to take maternity leave, then start a consulting firm with sister—and rising GOP star—Liz. Cheney told friends about her pregnancy four months ago, sources tell True/Slant. Her first pregnancy, in 2006, created quite a stir in the conservative community, though she's been politically invisible since 2004. |
1 in 4 Americans Lives Alone | (Aug 28, 2013 7:03 AM CDT) In 1970, roughly one in every six Americans lived alone. That number now stands at slightly more than every one in four, according to a new Census Bureau report out yesterday. Some 27.5% of American households are solo households, reports USA Today, which notes that the figure stood at 5.1% in 1900 and 17% in 1970. Researchers are in part blaming the rise on the habits of the young, who are waiting longer to get married, thereby extending the years of bachelor/bachelorette living. To wit, 71% of households were married in 1970; last year, 49% were. Reason No. 2 has to do with the elderly: They're living longer and they're healthier, allowing them to spend more years in their own home, rather than with a family member or in an adult-care facility. If you're thinking, the economy stinks, shouldn't people be bunking up? you're not, well, alone. The Los Angeles Times notes that the increase might seem puzzling in light of the recession and its enduring effects. To that end, it shares a Pew report that found there was indeed a slight dip in the percentage of people ages 18 to 31 living alone (from 8% in 2007 to 7% in 2012). |
Nader 'Almost 100%' Certain Obama Will Face Primary | (Aug 5, 2011 1:16 PM CDT) The debt ceiling deal has so inflamed liberals that the chances of there being a challenge to Obama in the primary are almost 100%, Ralph Nader said yesterday in an interview with the Daily Caller. Nader has said for a while that he’s trying to get someone to run against Obama, and after last week, he's sure a Democrat will step up to the plate. He’s just not sure who yet, but he says there will be another chapter of this effort in about a week and a half. Nader said the candidate could be an ex-senator or an ex-governor or an intellectual leader or an environmental leader. One thing’s for sure though, the candidate won’t be Nader himself. I’ve done my rounds, he said. |