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Sarkozy Costs French Taxpayers $2.6M a Year | (Mar 18, 2013 8:52 AM CDT) French President Francois Hollande is trying to fix the country's debt problems—but he's being foiled just a bit by his predecessor. French taxpayers spend $2.6 million a year, possibly more, on Nicolas Sarkozy's upkeep, Bloomberg reports. That's because former French presidents are entitled to an office, staff, and security paid for with tax dollars and—unlike in the US—no law exists to cap those benefits. It must stick in Hollande's craw a bit, since his austerity measures have made him France's least popular president of the past three decades—and 53% of the country thinks Sarkozy would have done a better job. The other two living ex-presidents, Jacques Chirac and Valery Giscard d’Estaing, aren't cheap, either, costing taxpayers between $1.9 million and $2.6 million per year, according to one lawmaker's estimate. It would be considered stingy for a current president to crimp his predecessor’s lifestyle, notes one expert. Some of the perks granted to Sarkozy: A 3,230-square-foot office with at least eight staffers (including Carla Bruni's stepsister), 10 security guards (including two chauffeurs), and a monthly allowance of almost $7,800. Plus, he gets another monthly allowance of almost the same size because he's a lifetime member of the Constitutional Council. |
Post Office Days Away From 1st Default | (Jul 19, 2012 6:54 AM CDT) If Congress doesn't do something, the US Postal Service will default for the first time ever on Aug. 1. That's the day a $5.5 billion payment is supposed to be made into a benefits fund for future retirees; another legally-required payment of the same amount is due Sept. 30, and the USPS is poised to default on that one, too. And with the August recess looming, it's unlikely Congress will do anything in time, the Wall Street Journal notes. Even if it defaults, the USPS says it will still be able to pay its employees and deliver your mail, but a spokesperson noted that these ongoing liquidity issues unnecessarily undermine confidence in the viability of the Postal Service among our customers. In fact, the Postal Service lists the 2006 mandate requiring these future-retiree payments as one of the reasons it is struggling. More signs of that struggle: The USPS saw a second-quarter loss of $3.2 billion this year; third-quarter results will be announced Aug. 9. |
Bonds Ball Fetches $376K | (Apr 12, 2008 10:00 PM CDT) The last baseball Barry Bonds hit out of the park sold for $376,612 today, the winning bid coming from an anonymous buyer. There were a total of 13 bids on the baseball, caught by Jameson Sutton Sept. 5 at Coors Field in Colorado. Home run ball No. 762 is a bargain considering that SCP Auctions handled the sale of Bonds' record-breaking No. 756, which fetched $752,467. If Barry Bonds never plays again, whoever bought this ball has a valuable piece that's worth seven figures, said David Kohler, president of the auction house. Kohler said the uncertainty of whether Bonds will return to the field played a factor in the lower price. The San Francisco Giants did not bring back Bonds this season, and he's found no takers on the free agent market. |
300K Chickens Killed in Possible Revenge Attack | (Mar 5, 2015 6:24 PM) South Carolina authorities have a bizarre crime on their hands—involving the deaths of more than 300,000 chickens. The culprit or culprits broke into 16 commercial farms across the state over the last two weeks and killed the birds by manipulating the temperature in the chicken houses, reports the Charlotte Observer. All of the farms supplied birds to Pilgrim's Pride, a massive poultry producer, and a local sheriff thinks the killings are related to recent layoffs by the company, reports Reuters. Whoever did it had knowledge about how the chicken farms operate, says Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett; the suspect or suspects bypassed the alarm systems in order to change the chicken house temperatures. Young chicks need the temperature to be around 95 to 100 degrees; as they get older, that temperature drops to 65 to 70 degrees, the sheriff says. Depending on the age of the birds, they knew whether to jack the heat up or turn it down, he says. They had all that knowledge of the farms and how many weeks growth the chickens were. The alarm systems are set to control the temperature and ventilation and notify farmers via phone if the buildings get too hot or cold, but without the system working, chickens can die in as little as an hour, the sheriff says. They roasted them, says one farmer who lost 200,000 chickens. I hate for them to be destroyed like that. The employee who discovered the deaths first noticed steam coming from the chicken houses, and found the inside temperature at 115 degrees. The heat could have knocked you down, he says. It takes dirty people to do something like that. Pilgrim's Pride laid off 60 people prior to the killings, which have caused an estimated $1.7 million in losses to the farmers. (Click for another bizarre chicken-related crime.) |
Suicide Factory Hikes Wages 20% | (May 28, 2010 7:22 AM CDT) Foxconn, the electronics manufacturer hit by suicides of unhappy workers at its main plant in China, says it will raise wages by 20%. The company, which makes parts and assembles products for Apple, Sony, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, claims the raise has been in the works for months in response to a labor shortage. Still, after 10 suicides and three more attempts this year, an official expressed hope that the raises would boost morale. Feeling sad is contagious, and so is feeling happy, he told the AP. We hope the workers will have a positive attitude toward their lives. Labor activists have urged Foxconn to raise wages by at least 50%, which they say would enable workers to earn enough to make a living without having to do overtime, CNN reports; the base salary is currently about $130 a month. Foxconn's chairman said earlier this week that the mammoth factory's 30,000 employees were being divided into groups of 50 that would watch for signs of emotional trouble among their members. |
Key West Could Be Underwater by 2113 | (Jul 2, 2013 2:05 PM CDT) According to federal flood-planning directives, the ground floor of the Stock Island fire station in the Florida Keys should be built up 9 feet. Instead, county authorities went a foot and a half beyond that—just in case. Nearby parks, roads, and bridges also may be elevated. The sea level has risen 9 inches over the past 100 years, and it's expected to rise another 9 to 24 inches over the next half-century. As it rises, seasonal tidal flooding has worsened, and officials are trying to plan for it as best they can, the AP reports. Sea walls, like those New York is planning, won't really help because there are multiple factors at work, one Key West official explains. Our base is old coral reef, so it's full of holes, she says. You've got both the erosion and the fact that (water) just comes up naturally through the holes. Officials are also trying not to scare off tourists as they prepare, although some projections for the next 100 years are pretty dire: They show the Keys and other parts of coastal Florida sinking beneath the waves. Part of combating the problem is fighting climate change. Reads one county's set of plans: We clearly have the most to lose. If sea-level rise is not curtailed by immediate reductions in greenhouse gases, the Florida Keys may eventually become unlivable. |
Venture Capitalist Offers Startups ... $37 | (Dec 15, 2012 10:05 AM) A hot new startup fund is drawing dozens of applications from would-be companies hoping to be the next big thing, reports Wired. And what will the six winning applicants get from the Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Fund? All of $37. The idea by former Yahoo engineer Maciej Ceglowski is no joke. He's out to prove a point—that the actual money put up by venture capitalists in an age of inexpensive technology isn't as important as the clout they deliver, writes Wired's Ryan Tate. If this works, Ceglowski could help remake the tech investment pipeline from a glorified money hose into a system for primarily distributing social capital like prestige, attention, taste, and advice, he writes. In this case, the influential Ceglowski plans to pick his six winners and give them as much buzz as he can. I want to see if I can give people the social boost to get a chance to explain their idea and attract that initial group of customers, he says. Because once you have a handful of people who use your product you can kind of claw your way up from that. |
Elon Musk, Wife Split; She Gets $16M Cash | (Jan 1, 2015 2:09 PM) When Elon Musk split with wife Talulah Riley for the first time, he told the whole world. It was an amazing four years. I will love you forever, the entrepreneur tweeted to the British actress in January 2012. You will make someone very happy one day. Eighteen months later, that happy person apparently was him, as they tied the knot again in July 2013. The rekindled romance didn't last, however. Yesterday, Musk filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The couple said that they were splitting amicably and that Musk agreed to give Riley $16 million in cash and other assets as part of a financial settlement, according to a joint statement. A divorce filing said property would be split based on a prenuptial agreement. Musk made a fortune co-founding PayPal and has gone on to start SpaceX and Tesla Motors. Riley appeared in Pride & Prejudice, Inception, and St. Trinians. The couple first wed in 2010. They didn't have any children, but Musk has five sons from a previous marriage. |
Area 51 Gets 'Homey' Makeover | (Jan 23, 2008 11:30 AM) It’s been called Dreamland, Paradise Ranch, the Box and, of course, Area 51. Now the US Air Force’s Groom Lake, Nev., test site—possibly the least-secret top-secret base of all time—has a new name: Homey Airport. The facility now pops up on aviation software and GPS as Homey Airport, or its official designation, KXTA. (Could that stand for Extra-Terrestrial Airport? The military denied even the existence of the base until 1994, but now a spokeswoman was perfectly willing to confirm the name change for the Military Times, saying the new name had no effect on operations, and meant nothing she knew of. But for true conspiracy theorists, Area Homey is already old news—everyone knows they moved the aliens to Utah. |
Gadhafi Hires 200 Hot Italian Women, Tries to Convert Them | (Nov 16, 2009 2:23 PM) Moammar Gadhafi hired a couple of hundred attractive Italian women for the night, headed to the Libyan ambassador's place in Rome, shepherded them into a room, and ... tried to convert them to Islam. The Libyan dictator offered $75 for the evening, causing most of the women to assume they’d be working as hostesses. Instead, after several were rejected for dressing too suggestively or being too short, the remaining women got a private lecture in which Gadhafi exhorted them to convert. Gadhafi, in Italy for a UN summit, distributed copies of the Koran and his book, The Green Book. He told them that he knew Jesus was not crucified— they crucified someone who looked like him, he said. Most felt confused and dismayed. We were at least expecting a snack, an audience member told the Guardian. |
Bill Reaped $100K From Bizman Aided by Hillary | (Jan 4, 2009 9:28 AM) A New York developer donated $100,000 to Bill Clinton’s foundation about the same time Sen. Hillary Clinton pushed for millions in federal assistance that helped the developer, the New York Times reports. Robert J. Congel was building a mall that Clinton supported purely as part of her unwavering commitment to improving upstate New York’s struggling economy, insisted a representative for the senator. Both Congel and Clinton deny any quid-pro-quo. Only a few other projects qualified under the legislation Clinton backed in 2004, which offered financial perks for greener businesses. Thus far, Congel is the only American who has donated to the Clinton foundation and benefited from Hillary’s work. Congel has also been a major Republican donor. |
New Photos Show Bush's 9/11 Reaction | (May 9, 2016 3:12 AM CDT) George W. Bush appears anguished but determined in newly released photos of his reaction to the 9/11 attacks. The photos, released under a Freedom of Information Act request, document the president's reaction throughout the day, from an elementary school in Sarasota, Fla., where he first heard about the attacks, to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, and back to the White House, PBS reports. The pictures were taken by then-White House photographer Eric Draper, who says the day was just as emotional for Bush—and for him—as it was for other Americans. I was documenting a nightmare, Draper tells KOB. I used the camera to actually shield my tears. (Photos taken on 9/11 by Dick Cheney's staff photographer were released last year.) |
Mom Files $5M Suit Over 80-Cent Dispute | (Feb 17, 2011 2:43 PM) A New Jersey mom is suing a department store for $5 million, claiming she got ripped off 80 cents over a coupon, reports the New York Post. Tova Gerson used the $5 coupon to buy more than $100 worth of merchandise from Century 21, then returned one item. The store refunded her money, minus 80 cents from the pro-rated coupon. Gerson's lawsuit, filed by her lawyer-dad Harry Katz, says the store unjustly enriched itself with a coupon scheme. The Daily News notes that the pair has tried this tack before, suing Modell's sporting goods chain over a $25 coupon and a subsequent return. It's not clear how that lawsuit got resolved. Reached for comment and told a newspaper article was being written, Gerson responded, I'd really rather you didn't. |
One Dead, 4 Wounded in Ohio School Shooting | (Feb 27, 2012 8:37 AM) A student gunman shot and killed one student and injured four others at a northeastern Ohio high school this morning, sending the school into immediate lockdown. Police believe they've apprehended the lone shooter, saying they tracked him after he fled the building, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. The shooting occurred in the Chardon High School cafeteria before first period. According to a parent whose child witnessed it, a boy stood up and started shooting, and then it was chaos. Students fled the cafeteria, taking shelter in classrooms. The school went into lockdown mode, and students were evacuated to nearby Maple Elementary. A county SWAT team arrived a short while later. Of the four victims who were injured, two were airlifted to a Cleveland trauma center, while two others were driven to nearby Hillcrest Hospital. Of the latter two, a 17-year-old boy is in serious condition, and an 18-year-old girl is stable, according to WEWS 5. One student says that someone had tweeted that they would bring a gun to school, but that no one had taken it seriously. The parent of another student tells Fox 8 News that the shooter was going for certain people rather than attacking at random. |
Oregon State Stuns No. 1 USC | (Sep 26, 2008 8:01 AM CDT) USC can kiss its No. 1 ranking goodbye. The team some had dubbed the greatest ever was toppled 27-21 last night by Oregon State, a 25½-point underdog. The Beavers derailed the Trojans offense and ran over what had been the nation’s best defense. They just beat us up, plain and simple, said a USC fullback. A blocked field goal did give USC a last chance to win, but their final drive fizzled. |
Unemployment Falls to 2-Year Low: 8.8% | (Apr 1, 2011 7:53 AM CDT) The unemployment rate fell to a two-year low of 8.8% in March and companies added workers at the fastest two-month pace since before the recession began. The Labor Department says the economy added 216,000 new jobs last month, offsetting layoffs at local governments. Factories, retailers, education, health care, and an array of professional and financial services expanded payrolls. Private employers, the backbone of the economy, drove nearly all of the gains. They added 230,000 jobs last month, on top of 240,000 in February. It was the first time private hiring topped 200,000 in back-to-back months since 2006—more than a year before the recession started. The unemployment rate, which dipped from 8.9% in February, has fallen a full percentage point over the last four months, the sharpest drop since 1983. |
4 Days Later, No Sign of Boy Left in Woods as Punishment | (May 31, 2016 6:25 AM CDT) Not many people or cars pass by, and it gets totally dark as there are no lights. It’s not surprising to encounter bears anywhere in the area. That's one local's rather intimidating description of the Japanese mountain forest where a 7-year-old has now been missing since 4pm Saturday after his parents left him alone briefly as punishment for throwing rocks, reports CNN. Yamato Tanooka hasn't been seen since his parents say they left him for roughly five minutes in the woods and returned to find him gone. The Guardian reports that a 180-person search party on the northern island of Hokkaido was combing the area, which has been expanded; dogs and horses have joined the search as well. One thing that search teams did reportedly find: fresh bear droppings. Yamato had no food or water on him, and was wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and a jacket when he went missing, reports the AFP. Sunday night saw heavy rain and temperatures that fell to 44 degrees; Australia's ABC News says heavy rain is again expected Tuesday night. Whether the parents will be charged with neglect remains unclear. The boy's father, Takayuki Tanooka, tells TV reporters that what he and his wife did was an unforgivable thing ... I just hope he is safe. (This story of a missing boy had a happy ending.) |
Longest-Held Witness Finally Walks Free After 905 Days | (Mar 20, 2015 10:20 AM CDT) After 905 days in jail, the country's supposed longest-held witness is a free man and has been given $5,982 from the state of Oregon for his trouble. Police escorted Benito Vasquez-Hernandez, the prosecution's star witness in the murder trial of his son, from Washington County Jail yesterday, hours after he testified in the case, the Oregonian reports. Vasquez-Hernandez had been held at the jail for more than two years as a material witness because prosecutors feared he wouldn't turn up to his son's trial. During two hours in the witness box, Vasquez-Hernandez denied a prosecutor's claims that Eloy Vasquez-Santiago confessed to his father about killing 55-year-old Portland woman Maria Bolanos-Rivera in 2012, and that Vasquez-Hernandez had found blood on his son's clothes and in a van he drove. You told police he threw a bloody knife in the trash, prosecutor Jeff Lesowski said, per the AP. No, that's a lie, Vasquez-Hernandez testified through a Spanish translator. Sir, your voice is on a tape recording saying those words, Lesowski noted. But I didn't say anything regarding that, Vasquez-Hernandez said. I've just been saying the truth. He was taken back to jail, processed, and allowed to leave with a $5,750 check and $232 in cash. A material witness is to receive $7.50 per day in custody under Oregon law. He was given about $6.60 per day; it isn't clear if he'll receive further payments. Vasquez-Hernandez plans to return to California, where his family moved after Bolanos-Rivera's disappearance. Her body was never found. The murder trial is to be left with the jury today. |
Court Rejects $40B Suit from Enron Investors | (Jan 23, 2008 4:15 AM) The Supreme Court yesterday turned away an appeal from Enron investors seeking to sue banks that loaned the company money, Bloomberg reports. A lower court ruling had blocked the investors from organizing a $40 billion class-action suit against Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and other banks. The investors accused the banks of helping the energy trader disguise debt as loans and financing phony trades. Investors earlier won $7.3 billion in settlements from other Enron banks. The turndown followed last week’s Supreme Court ruling that limited shareholder suits against a company’s banks and partners. The investors hoped to distinguish their case by showing it came in the context of fraud perpetrated by financial professionals engaged in fraudulent dealings. |
Facebook Teen Sex Blackmailer Gets 15 Years | (Feb 25, 2010 11:12 AM) A Wisconsin teenager who used Facebook to blackmail fellow male students into sex acts has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Anthony Stancl, now 19, posed as a girl on the site and solicited nude photos from at least 31 young men. He then threatened to make them public unless the youths had sex with him. The judge imposed the tough sentence because he thinks Stancl is manipulative and remains a danger, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I'm afraid of what he can and might do. Stancl apologized for putting his victims through a terrible situation, but the judge still tripled the defense attorney's request of 5 years. He also tacked on an additional 13 years of supervision. |
Meet the 87-Year-Old With 86 Wives | (May 12, 2011 2:33 PM CDT) Bello Masaba demands absolute obedience from his wives—all 86 of them. The 87-year-old Nigerian faith healer has been marrying a woman every few weeks for decades, assembling an extended family of around 5,000 people, many of whom live in the sprawling compound around his house. That huge harem has gotten him in trouble with the law—Nigeria is run by Sharia law, and the Koran says a man should have at most four wives. But he got off after his wives protested on his behalf. Robyn Dixon of the LA Times talked to Masaba at his compound, where he typically sits in front of a microphone, his voice broadcast on loudspeakers. I get a revelation from God telling me any woman I’m going to marry, he says. Otherwise I wouldn’t have gone beyond two. He refuses to use medicine, and won’t let his wives or children use it, either. Coincidentally, around 50 of his 185 children are dead. I didn’t feel annoyed or upset when they died, he said, because it’s God who gave them to me, and it’s God who takes them away. |
Greek F-16 Crash in Spain Exercise Kills 10 | (Jan 26, 2015 1:21 PM) A Greek F-16 fighter jet crashed into other planes on the ground during NATO training in southeastern Spain today, killing at least 10 people, Spain's Defense Ministry says. Another 13 people were injured in the incident at the Los Llanos base, which sent flames and a plume of black smoke billowing into the air, a Defense Ministry official says. Seven were in serious condition, one person was treated and released from hospital, while the conditions of the five others were not disclosed. The two-seat jet was taking off but lost thrust and crashed into an area of the base where other planes involved in the NATO exercise were parked, the ministry said. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he was deeply saddened by the crash of a Greek fighter jet at the Los Llanos base in Spain, which has caused many casualties. He did not specify their nationalities in a statement, but called the crash a tragedy that affects the whole NATO family. Emergency crews were working to douse the blaze and determine how much damage there was to other planes involved in the NATO exercise. The Spanish ministry says the jet that crashed was taking part in a NATO training exercise called the Tactical Leadership Program. |
35-Pound Tumor Removed From Woman's Abdomen | (Feb 29, 2016 2:25 PM) For more than eight years, Irianita Rojas Rasma carried around a tumor in her abdomen that she never thought she'd get rid of. But doctors in Lima, Peru, finally removed the cancerous growth—which had developed into a 35-pound mass—from the 22-year-old woman during a Feb. 20 surgery, and they're optimistic she's well on her way to recovery, Reuters reports. The tumor was approximately [19.6 inches] in diameter, Dr. Luis Garcia Bernal, the director of Archbishop Loayza National Hospital, says of the growth removed during the 3-hour-plus procedure. It's as if she were pregnant, but twice the size. It was a day Rojas believed wouldn't ever come. I never thought I would be operated on, Rojas said in a Health Ministry statement, per CNN. I'm happy now because I'm recovering. And likely because she no longer has to lug around the abdominal ball and chain she discovered in her early teens, which has made everyday life no easy task. I couldn't work or study with the tumor, Rojas said, per Medical Daily. I just stayed at home. The moment that changed her fate: a chance meeting with the Peruvian health minister, who happened to visit the remote Peruvian town where Rojas lives and immediately had her taken to Lima once he found out about her situation. Garcia Bernal tells CNN that the tumor was a low-intensity ovarian tumor, meaning chemo won't be needed, and that 90% of his patients who have that kind of growth fully recover. So what are Rojas' plans now that she's been relieved of her cancerous burden? She hopes to study accounting, Fox News reports. (A football-sized tumor was removed from an 11-year-old Mexican boy.) |
Obama Up by 4 in Texas; Clinton Leads by 1 in Ohio | (Mar 2, 2008 10:46 AM) Hillary Clinton trails Barack Obama by 4% in Texas and holds a statistically meaningless 1-point lead in Ohio just two days ahead of what could be defining contests in both states, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Houston Chronicle poll released today. But it's way too close in both states to say either one has a significant advantage, pollster John Zogby said. Clinton lost 2 percentage points in Texas over yesterday's poll results and now lags 47% to 43%, but picked up 1 point in Ohio. Some 5% of Ohio Democrats are undecided, as are 7% in Texas. Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain holds huge leads over Mike Huckabee in both states. |
Father of Kung Fu Movies Dead at 106 | (Jan 7, 2014 8:31 AM) Run Run Shaw might not be a household name, but these are: Chow Yun-fat and John Woo, who got their starts at his studio, and Quentin Tarantino, who was one of many filmmakers inspired by him. Shaw, the Hong Kong producer who is considered the father of the kung fu movie genre, died today at home in Hong Kong, aged 106. Shaw was born Shao Yifu; Run Run was a nickname. He and his older brother, the similarly-nicknamed Run Me, made their first film in 1924. By 1927, they had moved to Singapore and were producing movies as well as importing others to play in their theaters, the New York Times reports. After World War II, Run Run ended up in Hong Kong, where, by the late 1960s, he was enjoying great success making modern martial arts movies including Five Fingers of Death and Shaolin Avenger. The Shaw Bros. studio was the largest in Asia at that time, and produced the region's most popular films, the Los Angeles Times reports. We were like the Hollywood of the 1930s, Shaw once said; he had created Shaw Movietown, a huge complex where his employees both lived and worked. We controlled everything: the talent, the production, the distribution and the exhibition. But he lost out on one very big name: Bruce Lee. Lee wanted $10,000 per movie and a long-term contract, which Shaw rejected; a competing company, founded by a former Shaw employee, ended up backing Lee instead. But Shaw's success continued: In addition to the nearly 1,000 films his companies released, he eventually expanded into television, publishing, real estate, and more—he became one of Macy's biggest shareholders in the 1990s, to help save it from bankruptcy—and even co-produced US movies including Blade Runner. He was also a generous philanthropist who was eventually knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He is survived by his second wife and four children, the AP reports. |
Romney's 47% Needs a Revise | (Oct 7, 2015 8:42 AM CDT) Just when you thought Mitt Romney's 47% comment, which he said was the percentage of Americans dependent on the government and not paying income tax, had made way for a new election cycle's gaffes, that number now needs another revision. Per the Tax Policy Center, the percentage of US households that don't pay income tax is settled in at 45.3%, the Hill reports—nearly five percentage points more than 2013's 40.4%. Not that it looks like there's been anything significant causing the rise, the center notes. Instead, those additional non-payers were there all the time—we just failed to count them [accurately], the center's Sol Price Fellow says. It turns out the discrepancy can be partly attributed to individuals who never file returns, making it more difficult to gauge the accuracy of the stats, the Hill notes. (Romney's admitted his initial statement was wrong anyway.) |
Newest Beer Brand Is From ... 7-Eleven? | (Apr 20, 2010 4:08 PM CDT) After quaffing your Burger King mimosa, be sure to leave room for a 7-Eleven beer. The convenience store has begun selling its own brand, called Game Day. The chain is trying to take advantage of the rising demand for low-cost beer in the recession, writes Joshua M. Bernstein at Slashfood. Figure about $8 for a 12-pack, notes AP. Sometimes this gambit pays off, such as the medal-winning Mission Street pale ales and IPAs that California's Firestone Walker brews for Trader Joe's, writes Bernstein. But brand-wise, Trader Joe's sits on a slightly more elevated plane than a convenience store selling unnaturally glistening, endlessly rotating hot dogs. |
50K Mexicans Protest Peña Nieto's Win | (Jul 8, 2012 5:31 AM CDT) Upwards of 50,000 students, leftists, and unionists took to the streets in Mexico City yesterday, protesting last week's presidential election win by Enrique Peña Nieto and the resurgent Institutional Revolutionary Party, reports the AFP. Protesters, mostly young people, accused the PRI of buying the election through favorable TV coverage and gift cards slipped to poor people. Get out Peña, Mexico without the PRI! chanted protesters as they marched through the center of the city. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who placed second both last week and six years ago, said he was not behind the protests, though he led paralyzing protests in the wake of 2006's election. Protesters carried signs that read Peña, how much did it cost to become president? and Mexico, you pawned your future for 500 pesos. Giving away gifts is not illegal under Mexican election law, as long as the expense is reported and the gifts are not given to influence votes, notes the AP. This isn't going to stay like this, says a protester. There will be more marches. |
GOP Torn on 2012 Frontrunner | (Jun 3, 2009 4:44 AM CDT) A frontrunner has yet to emerge among Republican candidates for the 2012 presidential election, according to a new CNN poll. Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney are currently tied as the most popular potential candidate, each winning roughly 21% of support among those surveyed. They're trailed by Newt Gingrich with 13% and Jeb Bush at 6%. Romney said last week he wouldn’t close the door on a 2012 run. |
Lil Wayne Busts 1M Barrier | (Jun 18, 2008 9:20 AM CDT) Lil Wayne has become the first artist to sell more than a million albums in a week since 50 Cent in 2005, Billboard reports. Tha Carter III, the rapper's sixth album, exploded out of record stores last week, selling close to half a million its first day. The milestone sales are way ahead of the 238,000 Wayne's last release notched up in its best week. |
Hostage's Family Paid $250K Ransom, Got Nothing | (Apr 24, 2015 5:38 PM CDT) It's one more wrenching detail in the death of American hostage Warren Weinstein, who was killed in error by a US drone strike. It turns out that his family paid his abductors $250,000 in 2012 for his release, to no avail, reports the Wall Street Journal and Foreign Policy. (The Journal has the specifics on the amount, while Foreign Policy spells out that it was Weinstein's family who paid it.) The family worked with the Pakistan government to have the money delivered via an intermediary. The money was delivered, but he [Weinstein] didn’t show up, the intermediary tells the Journal. He turned over the money to the kidnappers in the form of $100 bills in the city of Peshawar. Before he did so, the kidnappers reportedly allowed Weinstein to speak on the phone with his wife, Elaine, to prove he was alive. (When the aid worker was abducted in 2011, Weinstein was just days away from returning to the US.) |
Cops Arrest 2 Teens in Georgia Baby-Killing | (Mar 22, 2013 4:08 PM CDT) Police arrested two teenage boys today in the killing of a baby shot point-blank in the face in his stroller, CNN reports. One is 17-year-old Demarquis Elkins, who is legally considered an adult; the other went unidentified because he's only 14. We are turning every stone to get a motive, said the police chief of Brunswick, Georgia. The toddler's mom, Sherry West, said the boys approached her and asked for money yesterday morning. She said she had none, and the bigger of the two boys shot her twice—a graze to the head and a bullet to the leg. And then, all of a sudden, he walked over and he shot my baby in the face, she said. She performed CPR on her child and was aided by police when they arrived, but we lost him, she said. Her take on the boys: If they can use a gun like an adult, then they can be charged like an adult. I want to see lethal injection or at least life in prison. This child did nothing to him. He was innocent and helpless. |
Glee Beats Elvis Presley's Record on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart | (Feb 17, 2011 10:32 AM) Between 1958 and 2003, Elvis Presley saw 108 of his songs land on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. But he's officially been bested ... by Glee. With six songs debuting on the Hot 100 released today, the cast of the Fox TV series has now logged 113 entries on the chart—since June 2009. But, Billboard notes, the King of Rock and Roll's songs had also scaled other Hot 100 charts in the two years before Billboard's debuted. |
Yankees Win 3-1, Pull Even | (Oct 29, 2009 10:27 PM CDT) Hideki Matsui’s sixth-inning home run off old pal Pedro Martinez held up as the winning run as the New York Yankees pulled even in the World Series with a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Yankees overcame an early 1-0 deficit on solo shots by Mark Teixeira and Matsui, with Jorge Posada adding an RBI single in the seventh. Martinez, well known to the Yankees after years with the rival Boston Red Sox and crosstown Mets, was charged with all three runs, striking out eight in six-plus innings. The best-of-seven series is tied 1-1 and moves to Philadelphia for Game 3, scheduled for Saturday night. |
Gas Line Explosion Leaves 60-Foot Crater in Kentucky | (Feb 13, 2014 8:29 AM) An underground gas line in rural southern Kentucky exploded early today, sending two people to the hospital and destroying two homes, a county official said. The explosion happened around 1am in a hillside about 100 feet off the road and left a crater 60 feet around. One person was hospitalized with burns and another was brought to the hospital for evaluation. In addition to the two homes that were destroyed, a third home was damaged by fire along with four or five vehicles. About 20 homes within a few miles of the blast site have been evacuated, but firefighters have the fire under control and are letting it burn itself out. The pipeline, which was about 20 feet underground, is owned by Columbia Gulf Transmission. Columbia Gulf said in a statement that gas flow to the damaged pipeline has been stopped and trained crews have been sent to the scene to work with emergency responders to secure the scene and help ensure the safety of people in the surrounding area. The cause of the explosion is not yet known. |
Montana May Be 1st to Make Suicide a Right | (Sep 1, 2009 11:15 AM CDT) The Montana Supreme Court tomorrow will take up the issue of—and likely affirm the right to—assisted suicide, the New York Times reports. The case is being brought on behalf of Robert Baxter, who died last year from leukemia after fighting for the right to end his own life. He yearned for death, his daughter says. Montana’s high court has a history of holding up rights to privacy and personal choice outlined in its 1972 constitution. If it does so here, it would make make Montana the first state to sanction assisted suicide in its constitution. Similar laws in Oregon and Washington came about through voter referendums. Arguments against assisted suicide in Montana are myriad—some say health care for underserved rural residents should be addressed first, and religious groups are up in arms. Though not all: I don’t think God created us to be string puppets, says one Episcopal deacon. |
2 Months Later, FBI Can't Unlock San Bernardino Terrorist's Phone | (Feb 10, 2016 12:28 PM) The FBI is still being thwarted by an encrypted phone in the San Bernardino terrorist shooting investigation. We still have one of those killers' phones that we haven’t been able to open, FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday, per the Los Angeles Times. It has been two months now and we are still working on it. That's making it difficult for investigators to track communication between Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik before they were killed in a police shootout after the Dec. 2 attack. The FBI said last month it was having trouble cracking encryption on multiple phones and hard drives in the case. It's not clear whose phone is still causing trouble. Comey said law enforcement is sometimes unable to unlock phones even after obtaining warrants ordering the phones be opened, the AP reports. The FBI is trying to retrace the couple's movements before and after the attack—last month, investigators said they couldn't account for an 18-minute stretch after the attack—and determine whether anyone else helped. At this time, the FBI still has no evidence the couple had outside direction or support, the Times notes, but other questions remain: Investigators don't know whether the couple planned other attacks, whether anyone knew about the plans for the Dec. 2 attack, or why Farook left a bag containing homemade pipe bombs in the conference room they attacked. The FBI's encryption struggle illustrates what law enforcement has been warning about for more than a year—advanced encryption methods on some newer phones often hinder investigations, particularly at the state and local levels. |
Bullied Teen, 14, Steps in Front of Tractor-Trailer | (Nov 10, 2010 1:29 PM) A 14-year-old boy stepped in front of a tractor-trailer in central Pennsylvania last week, and became the latest victim of school bullying to turn to suicide, the Patriot-News reports. Brandon Bitner, who had a close group of friends and a passion for the violin, wrote in his suicide note that he felt unable to stop the torment he faced for three years at school. Brandon's fate, along with others including Tyler Clementi, have prompted a wave of support from local and national anti-bullying groups like the It Gets Better Project. People have to know that this can happen to anyone, even people you don’t suspect, says Bitner’s cousin. Aside from an incident just prior to Bitner’s death, his difficulties were rarely reported to the school’s principal, but the fact they don’t report it doesn’t let us off the hook. We need to reach out to kids, he said. |
Habitat for Humanity Cracks Top 10 List of US Builders | (Jul 2, 2010 8:25 AM CDT) How badly are home builders hurting? Here's a hint: Habitat for Humanity has cracked the top 10 list of US builders for the first time. The nonprofit, which relies largely on volunteers to build homes for low-income people, ranked 8th in the Builder magazine list, ahead of some of the biggest names in the business, reports the Wall Street Journal. We're a lot less tied to the market as a whole, says a Habitat official. We've been able to keep chugging along at a pretty solid pace. Habitat closed on about 5,300 houses (new and rehabbed) last year. That's down 3%, but it's nothing compared to Ryland's 30% plunge in closings and Hovnanian's 50% drop. |
Comcast Just Bought DreamWorks for $3.8B | (Apr 28, 2016 10:44 AM CDT) In animating news for DreamWorks, Comcast's NBCUniversal will scoop up the studio, behind such films as Kung Fu Panda and Shrek, in a deal worth $3.8 billion, the AP reports. The acquisition, which the Los Angeles Times says came together with breathtaking speed, will result in DreamWorks Animation being absorbed into the Universal Filmed Entertainment group, with DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg taking on the role of chairman of DreamWorks New Media, as well as serving as a consultant to NBCUniversal. DreamWorks Animation is a great addition to NBCUniversal, Steve Burke, NBCUniversal's CEO, says. [Katzenberg] and the DreamWorks organization have created a dynamic film brand and a deep library of intellectual property … [and] will help us grow our film, television, theme parks, and consumer products businesses for years to come. CNNMoney notes the deal, though smaller, is akin to Disney's ambitions when it bought Pixar for $7.4 billion in 2006, with theme park and merchandising elements being key to the buy. Although Comcast has put out successful animated films, including Despicable Me and Minions, joining forces with DW could help it compete with Disney, the Wall Street Journal notes. Katzenberg launched DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen in 1994, per USA Today, and the animation studio branched off as a public company in 2004. I am proud to say that NBCUniversal is the perfect home for our company; a home that will embrace the legacy of our storytelling and grow our businesses to their fullest potential, Katzenberg said. The deal, which will pay DreamWorks investors $41 per share, is to close by year's end. (Katzenberg was so addicted to Breaking Bad he once offered to pay $75 million for three extra episodes.) |
Retail Gains Drive Dow Up 83 | (Aug 18, 2009 3:15 PM CDT) Positive retail reports helped get stocks back on track today after recent declines, the Wall Street Journal reports. Home Depot, Target, and Saks saw smaller-than-expected declines in quarterly profit, while discount chain TJX reported a 31% gain. The Dow rose 82.60 to close at 9,217.94. The Nasdaq gained 25.08, closing at 1,955.92, and the S&P 500 added 9.94 to settle at 989.67. |
Duggars Under Investigation Again; 911 Call Was Made | (Jun 11, 2015 9:34 AM CDT) In Touch continues to be at the forefront of the Duggar scandal it broke, reporting new details in an article yesterday that has gotten wide mainstream pick-up. According to the tabloid, the Arkansas Department of Human Services is again investigating the family, and an agency rep called 911 on May 27 (days after Josh Duggar's molestation allegations made headlines) because the family did not allow DHS to see a minor about whom the agency was concerned. The Duggars have not publicly revealed the current investigation, but the tabloid made a FOIA request to learn about the 911 call. In the call, the DHS rep gives the address to the 911 dispatcher, noting it's the Duggar's family home, then explains, We have an investigation and I guess they’re not being cooperative. We have to see the child to make sure the child is all right. So we just need police assistance or an escort. It's not clear what triggered this latest investigation—the Duggars were first investigated by police in 2006 for Josh's alleged molestation in 2002 and 2003, and were then investigated by DHS in 2007—but experts say a hotline complaint about child abuse, even if it's made anonymously, can lead to such investigations if the operator who answers thinks the allegations are serious. |
Apple: iPhone 6, 6 Plus Sales Break Record | (Sep 22, 2014 5:12 PM CDT) Apple says it sold more than 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, a record for a new model, in the three days after the phones went on sale. A year ago, Apple Inc. said it had sold 9 million of the then-new iPhone 5C and 5S models. The iPhone is available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and the UK. It will go on sale in 20 more countries on Sept. 26 and others by the end of the year. CEO Tim Cook said today that demand for the phones has exceeded the company's expectations. Basically, they hit a home run with this release and fulfilled an unmet need by releasing bigger-screen iPhones, analyst Gene Munster tells the Washington Post. But Apple didn't reveal how many of each new phone it sold, and crammed the number of phones sold to customers, to retailers, and in pre-orders under the 10 million umbrella. So it's unclear how many of those phones are actually being held by customers. According to Munster, about 2 million were likely sold to retailers—which is fewer than in 2013, and would mean that sales are up more than 40% from last year's launch of new iPhones. (See why Apple won't unlock its devices for law enforcement officials.) |
Mom, 62, Charged After Son Fatally Beats Her Newborn | (Aug 12, 2016 1:25 PM CDT) The fact that a 62-year-old woman recently gave birth to a daughter is newsworthy—as is the fact that she left that newborn and two sons, aged 3 and 6, alone in a locked van for 38 minutes while she was inside a store. But that's just the beginning of a sad tale out of Florida: Police say Kathleen Steele's 6-year-old son beat his 13-day-old sister to death Monday while his mom was inside a cellphone repair shop in St. Petersburg. The boy told officers that he punched his sister in the face, flipped her upside down, banged her head on the ceiling, then let her fall to the floor, reports the Washington Post—all because she wouldn't stop crying inside the van. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri blames Steele, who described her IVF treatments on a reality show, and is, by all accounts, ill-equipped to have a baby. When Steele returned to the van, she continued to run errands and called a neighbor who is a nurse only when she discovered her daughter blue and cold two hours later, police tell KTLA. The nurse called 911. By that point, the newborn looked like she'd been pummeled, with a skull that was essentially mush, Gualtieri says. As emergency personnel tried to revive the child, Gualtieri says Steele put away groceries. Authorities say the newborn suffered a minor brain bleed when she was days old—she reportedly fell out of a car seat—but Child Protective Services found no evidence of abuse. Steele, who police say wanted to have more kids, per the Tampa Bay Times, is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child. Her sons are now in foster homes. |
Finders Keepers: Artist Hides 7 Diamonds in Exhibit | (Nov 30, 2013 12:33 PM) Well, this is one way to get people to come to your exhibition: For the last week of his Bouncing Cars installation at New York's Ambassador Gallery, Jamison Ernest hid a diamond a day somewhere in the exhibit, the Wall Street Journal reports. Whoever finds that day's diamond keeps it—and you'd better hurry over if you want to try, because today is the last day. I've always hoped that somebody who needed it would find it, the Brooklyn artist says. But it's about appreciating the value of the challenge. Ernest partnered with Phantom Luxury Group to make the diamond scavenger hunt happen; the seven jewels are worth $77,777 total. I want to give people hope, Ernest explains to Examiner.com. As for all those 7s, he explains, Great foundations are built with the number 7. |
Kiefer Sutherland Opens Up About Julia Roberts, 25 Years Later | (Sep 27, 2016 10:15 AM CDT) Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Roberts had a whirlwind romance in the early '90s that crashed and burned when Roberts left Sutherland just days before their planned nuptials. There were rumors Sutherland was in some sort of relationship with a go-go dancer, and Roberts ultimately ended up with Sutherland's friend Jason Patric. Now, 25 years later, Sutherland is speaking out about the debacle. We were young and we were both very much in love, we had decided that we wanted to get married, but then this other thing kind of took over, Sutherland tells People. She was arguably the most famous woman in the world, and this wedding that was supposed to be something between the two of us became something so big. ... And I think it took a lot of courage, even amongst all of that other stuff, to be able to say, I can't do this. ' |
$6.5M Ranch Comes With ... Herd of Elk | (Dec 21, 2011 5:06 PM) A 13-bedroom lodge and 3,800-acre ranch in Utah is on the market for $6.5 million, and the sale offers a unique amenity: a herd of 50 elk. They contribute to the allure of the ranch as an upscale getaway for hunters, but the animals were not enough to keep the initial asking price of $10 million from plummeting in the dismal economy, reports KSL.com. The owners of the ranch descended into bankruptcy last year, and a Minnesota bank repossessed it and is now selling it at the slashed price. The ranch is replete with high-end comforts including an 11,000-square-foot lodge—decorated with hunting artifacts and filled with 13 master suite bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, two great rooms, and a high-tech conference center. |
Measles Outbreak Linked to Vaccinated Patient for 1st Time | (Apr 14, 2014 7:35 PM CDT) For the first time, US doctors have found a fully vaccinated person who transmitted measles to other people, Science reports. Now dubbed Measles Mary, the 22-year-old theater worker in New York City had been released without quarantine because she was fully vaccinated. Then four people she'd interacted with got sick—including, oddly enough, two who had been vaccinated and two who showed signs of earlier measles exposure, which should have protected them. In Measles Mary's case, her vaccine-given immunity had apparently declined. We all have natural IgM antibodies that protect us from microbial invasions, if imperfectly; a full vaccination or case of the measles should buttress that with stronger IgG antibodies. But an investigation found that Mary's IgG antibodies had lost their power to fight off measles. The prospect of waning measles immunity is unnerving as the disease makes a comeback in major US cities, Science notes. There were only 189 reported cases last year, reports The Week, but even a low failure rate could devastate a large high school, according to a vaccination expert. Still, he said, the worst failures occur when people refuse the vaccine in the first place. |
Schindler Saved 1,200 Jews in This Factory. Can It Be Saved? | (Oct 11, 2016 7:53 AM CDT) August brought the news that the Czech factory where Oskar Schindler famously saved the lives of 1,200 Jews had perhaps found a savoir of its own. In extreme disrepair since it ceased operations a dozen years ago, the Brnenec textile factory had after what the Telegraph describes as protracted negotiations been purchased by the Endowment Fund for the Memorial of the Shoah and Oskar Schindler. The goal is to build a true copy of the complex, foundation head Jaroslav Novak told CTK. But the money's not here yet, Novak told Pravo of the plan to turn the site into a Holocaust memorial. That doesn't mean that it won't be. Two months later, a slightly less hopeful picture. The Guardian reports the renovation costs are estimated at $5.5 million, with some of that needed quickly for pressing roof repairs. The local regional authority has pledged funding. But the paper describes the fate of the factory—where Schindler in 1944 relocated Jews working at his Krakow factory, claiming they were munitions experts vital to the Nazi war effort—as being met with Czech ambivalence. Indeed, people are just not interested in it, Novak tells the paper of the complex, which he describes as the only Nazi concentration camp in the Czech Republic that is still standing in its original building. The Guardian gives two reasons for the unimpassioned response: the complex relationship Czechs have with the memory of Schindler, who was himself a Nazi party member known for drinking and womanizing, and Prague's lack of a state-funded Holocaust memorial of its own. (The will of another Holocaust hero was recently found in a box.) |
Brown Widens Gap, Takes 9-Point Lead Over Coakley | (Jan 18, 2010 4:35 PM) Scott Brown is 9 points ahead of Martha Coakley in a poll released today, just 1 day before Massachusetts voters decide who will fill Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. New InsiderAdvantage numbers show Brown ahead 52% to 43% with likely registered voters. Among independents, Brown is ahead a staggering 41 points; the Republican also enjoys the support of 24% of Democrats. I actually think the bottom is falling out, of Coakley's Senate bid, InsiderAdvantage's CEO tells Politico. I think that this candidate is in freefall. Clearly this race is imploding for her. |
Herman Cain Returns, With 9-9-9 Bus Tour | (Jan 5, 2012 7:05 AM) He’s baaaaack. Ripping a page directly out of Sarah Palin’s playbook, Herman Cain is launching a quasi-campaign tour in a bus with a giant picture of his face on the side, he announced yesterday in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. Cain says the road trip is part of his new Solutions Revolution movement, in which he’ll barnstorm for his various policy ideas. First up? You guessed it: 9-9-9. The thing that didn’t happen in Iowa … is not enough is discussed about solutions, Cain said. We’re gonna make the solutions the star. He intends to pressure congressional candidates to pledge support for 9-9-9, and his other policy solutions, before the election. Cain also said that he’d endorse a GOP presidential contender if they totally endorse 9-9-9, his energy plan, and his sound money plan. What about 8-8-8? Hannity quipped. 8-8-8 wouldn’t work, Cain said, Not enough money! More at CainConnections.com. |
Al-Qaeda: US Killed No. 2 | (Jun 16, 2015 2:27 AM CDT) Once again, an American drone strike has apparently created some room at the top in al-Qaeda. The group's Yemen branch, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has confirmed that its leader, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, was killed in a strike last week, reports the Washington Post. Wuhayshi, who was reportedly groomed by Osama bin Laden, became al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader when he took charge of the highly active—and dangerous—Yemen franchise in 2013. He was filmed calling for attacks on the US at a large gathering of militants last year. We must eliminate the cross, he said, and the bearer of the cross is America. The SITE Intelligence Group describes the death as the biggest strike on al-Qaeda since the 2011 killing of bin Laden, the BBC reports. The possible death of the leader of an al-Qaeda-affiliated group in Libya in a US airstrike over the weekend makes this a very bad week for the group's leadership, former CIA analyst Bruce Riedel tells the Post. The men were among the few left with strong ties to the group's founders, but the ideology, the message, and the mythology they created now outlives them, and I don't think their passage is really going to be the end of this problem, he says. (Jihadi scholars say al-Qaeda is on the verge of collapse, though they blame the decline on ISIS, not the US.) |
2012 Spectacular but Stupid | (Nov 13, 2009 6:50 AM) Critics agree that world-destroying disaster epic 2012 boasts some stunning special effects, but they're split on whether that makes up for the cheesy script—and the run time of 2 hours, 38 minutes. |
Sarah Silverman: Fox Is a 24-Hour 'Racism Machine' | (Jun 3, 2010 5:18 AM CDT) Racists in today's mainstream media don't go around praising the Klan, they appear on Fox News saying President Obama was born in Africa, according to Sarah Silverman. The entire Fox News Channel is a 24-hour-a-day racism engine, but it’s all coded, all implied, she writes in her new book, Bedwetter. Lou Dobbs used to scream on CNN about ‘immigration,’ not ‘filthy Mexicans.’ Silverman slams the Tea Party movement and says the coded nature of racism in the right-wing media makes it harder to combat, Newsbusters reports. But Silverman's not the only one taking potshots, reports Mediaite. Sarah’s anger is understandable having recently lost her television show, responded a Fox spokesman. We sympathize with her need for attention considering her book is languishing near 300 on Amazon.com. |
GM Recalls SUVs Over Issue First Reported in 2010 | (Jul 10, 2015 1:20 PM CDT) General Motors is recalling nearly 780,000 crossover SUVs mainly in North America because the rear power lift gates can suddenly fall and hit people. The company said today that it has 56 reports of injuries caused by the problem. The recall covers the Buick Enclave from 2008 to 2012; the Chevrolet Traverse from 2009 to 2012; the GMC Acadia from 2007 to 2012; and Saturn Outlook from 2007 to 2010. GM says in documents posted today by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that dirt can get into the gas struts that hold up the power rear hatches, causing them to wear and fail. A rod system designed to close the hatches slowly if struts fail may not work because the software controlling it may not detect the problem, GM said. Dealers will replace faulty struts and update lift gate control motor software to prevent rapid closing. The company has not yet come up with a schedule for when the recall will begin. The problem first surfaced in September of 2010 when a company driver reported a lift gate failure. GM investigated, but because the rate of incidents was low at the time, decided to continue monitoring the problem. Last November, GM got two more reports and opened another investigation. This time, it decided a recall was needed, according to documents GM filed with NHTSA. The 56 injury reports were discovered during the second investigation by checking complaints. GM says struts on SUVs built after March 1, 2012, were installed differently and are less vulnerable to dirt particles. |
Major Va. Paper Endorses 3rd-Party Candidate | (Sep 5, 2016 1:26 AM CDT) The Richmond Times-Dispatch, which has been endorsing Republican presidential candidates since at least 1980, thinks its readers should avoid both major parties this time around. Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton meets the fundamental moral and professional standards we have every right to expect of an American president, the paper's editorial board writes in a ringing endorsement of Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson— the most capable and ethical candidate running this year. We endorse him and look forward to a rejuvenating surprise in November—a new birth of freedom, the board writes. The paper made the endorsement after the optimistically, realistically presidential Johnson, who governed New Mexico as a Republican, met with the editorial board, Politico notes. Johnson’s clear and consistent support for limited government, free enterprise, social tolerance, and individual freedom appeals to our own philosophical leanings, the board writes. The board urges voters to reject the binary choice between Clinton and Trump that was created by our two-party system —and urges the debate commission to perform a real service to its country by allowing Johnson to join the presidential debates. (Johnson says it could be game over if he's not allowed to debate.) |
States' Flu Readiness Comes Up 10M Doses Short | (May 1, 2009 1:37 AM CDT) Dozens of states have failed to stockpile enough medication to treat a full-blown flu outbreak, the Washington Post reports. The federal Strategic National Stockpile program has vast amounts of antiviral medication stashed in secret locations around the country, but records show that state governments have 10 million fewer dosages than emergency plans require they provide. The federal government has met its targets for antiviral stockpiles, and officials say deliveries of extra doses to states are going smoothly. Crisis plans updated last year requested federal agencies to have their own stockpiles, but records show the response has been uneven. The Defense Department has 8 million doses stockpiled, but the postal service—expected to play a vital role in delivering medications in the event of a pandemic—has none. |
Florida Moves to Ban Under-16 Marriages | (Mar 19, 2014 1:17 AM CDT) Floridians too young to drive should be considered too young to get married, even if they're not too young to have made a baby, a Florida lawmaker says. Rep. Cynthia Stafford, a Democrat, has introduced a bill to scrap a law that allows people 15 or younger to marry if they have a baby or are expecting one, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Marriage is an adult responsibility, she says. We don't want them to vote, we don't want them to drink alcohol, they can't drive a car, and we allow them to marry under 16. You may say, 'this does not happen nowadays,' but in 2012 we had a 13-year-old groom in the state of Florida, Stafford told a House subcommittee. State records show that there were 110 marriages of children 16 and younger in the state last year, though the statistics don't reveal how many of them were 15 or younger. The bill would still allow 16- and 17-year-olds to marry with parental consent. If it becomes law, Florida will join Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin in banning under-16 marriages under all circumstances. |
After 75-Car Crash, Maine Mulls End of Seat Belt Law | (Mar 1, 2015 3:04 PM) It's an effort that even the bill's sponsor acknowledges is poor timing. Just two days after a 75-vehicle pileup injured at least 17 people in the state, lawmakers in Maine are considering legislation that would allow adults to opt out of wearing seat belts. Sen. Eric Brakey told lawmakers on Friday that it's too bad they're considering his bill so close to Wednesday's crash on Interstate 95, which is thought to be the largest in Maine history but had no fatalities. It's very unfortunate timing that we're discussing this particular legislation two days after the 75-car pileup that took place on I-95, Brakey says. The Republican from Auburn acknowledged that people should wear seat belts and said he hopes the accident serves as a reminder of the importance to do so. But said he believes the mandate infringes on people's freedom to make personal decisions. Government exists to protect us from each other, not to protect us from ourselves, Brakey told the Transportation Committee, which also examined measures Friday that seek to crack down on people who talk on their cellphone while driving. Opponents of the seat belt repeal—including the Maine Sheriffs' Association, Maine Chiefs of Police Association, the Maine Medical Association, and several trauma surgeons—argued that repealing the law would be a dangerous move that would inevitably lead to more highway deaths. We're asking people to swap an immediate lethal risk for the threat of a small fine, says a surgeon. If that helps keep a few dozen per year out of my trauma room, I'll take the governance. |
Koreas Exchange Fire for 2nd Time in 10 Days | (Oct 19, 2014 6:27 AM CDT) Border guards of the rival Koreas exchanged gunfire today along their heavily fortified border in the second such shootout in less than 10 days, South Korean officials said. The shootout occurred after South Korean soldiers broadcast warning and fired warning shots against about 10 North Korean soldiers who were approaching the military demarcation line inside the Demilitarized Zone that bisects the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. Two shots believed to have been fired by those North Korean soldiers were found at a South Korean guard post and South Korean soldiers fired toward the North, the statement said. South Korean defense officials say the North Korean soldiers returned to the North after the incident and there have been no reports of casualties. The two Koreas also traded gunfire along the border on Oct. 10, after South Korean activists floated balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets. There were no reports of casualties from that incident either. North Korea has warned it would take unspecified stronger measures if leafleting continues, but South Korean activists said they won't yield to the North's threats and vowed to float more leaflets across the border. |
5 Dead in Canary Islands as Cruise Ship Drill Goes Awry | (Feb 10, 2013 9:35 AM) Spanish officials say five people have been killed and three injured when a lifeboat fell into the sea off a cruise ship that was tied up at the port of Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands. A government statement said rescue personnel were called dockside at 7:05am EST today after a lifeboat with occupants had fallen overboard from a cruise ship docked at the pier of Santa Cruz port in La Palma. The BBC adds that the ship involved was the British-flagged Thomsen vessel Majesty, and that those killed were crew members participating in a safety drill. Britain's Foreign Office said it was urgently investigating the incident. |
Cops: Husband Kills 3, Calls His Mother, Kills Self | (Jul 22, 2015 3:34 PM CDT) Four people, including two children, are dead outside Atlanta in an apparent murder-suicide. Police in Forsyth County say Matthew Fields, 32, fatally shot his wife and her two sons before killing himself, reports MyFox Atlanta. The victims are Rebecca Manning, 37, and Jared and Jacob Smith, ages 8 and 9. Fields also shot his father-in-law, 75-year-old Jerry Manning, who is in critical condition. After shooting his four victims, police say Fields called his mother to tell her what he'd done and to say he was about to kill himself, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She tried to talk him out of it and began driving to the home, but it was too late. As the investigation goes on, of course, we hope to find some type of motive, says Forsyth Sheriff Duane Piper. There’s no reason that any of us are ever going to understand to wipe out an entire family. We have absolutely no clue at this moment what precipitated it. |
Hack Reveals Identities of 791K Porn Watchers | (Sep 6, 2016 3:49 PM CDT) Hackers may not just know the identities of nearly 800,000 people with accounts on the porn site Brazzers, but also their thoughts on particular scenes and actors, Motherboard reports. Hackers made public the email addresses, usernames, and passwords of 790,724 Brazzers members. A spokesperson for Brazzers tells Motherboard the breach wasn't with the website itself but with its Brazzersforum, which runs on third-party software called vBulletin. And while that spared some Brazzers users from having their information revealed, one security researcher argues it's actually worse. The forum was used by members to discuss porn videos and suggest future videos, which is potentially some highly embarrassing information to have out there. Brazzersforum is currently offline. |
Fire Kills 26 in Peru Drug Rehab Center | (Jan 28, 2012 3:05 PM) A fire swept through a two-story private rehabilitation center for addicts in a poor part of Peru's capital today, killing at least 26 people as firefighters punched holes through walls to rescue residents locked inside. The Christ is Love center for drug and alcohol addicts was unlicensed and overcrowded and residents were apparently kept inside like prisoners, Health Minister Alberto Tejada said. Officials said most of the victims died of asphyxiation and the cause of the fire was under investigation. The doors were locked, there was no way to get out, said one resident. An AP journalist at scene said all the windows of the building he was able to see were barred. This rehabilitation center wasn't authorized. It was a house that they had taken over ... for patients with addictions and they had the habit of leaving people locked up with no medical supervision, said Tejada. |
Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 36 at Pakistan Funeral | (Mar 9, 2011 10:42 AM) A suicide bomber struck a funeral attended by anti-Taliban militiamen in northwestern Pakistan today, killing at least 36 mourners and wounding more than 100 in the deadliest militant attack in the country this year. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. Police said about 300 people were attending the funeral for the wife of a militiaman in the Matani area when the bomber struck. TV footage showed men picking up bloodied sandals and caps from a dusty, open space where mourners had gathered. Witnesses said the bomber, who appeared to be in his late teens, showed up at the funeral just as it was about to begin. We thought this youth was coming to attend the funeral, but he suddenly detonated a bomb, one survivor said. Others complain that there was no police security at the funeral. The militia's commander says that his group might cease fighting the Taliban, because the government has not provided it with the resources it needs. |
Future Sentences Could Last 1K Years —in Prisoners' Minds | (Mar 15, 2014 5:24 PM CDT) We could someday see prison sentences radically altered—in the prisoner's own mind, the Telegraph reports. An Oxford philosophers are considering how future technology could, for instance, make a jail sentence feel as though it lasted 1,000 years, they tell Aeon magazine. After all, there are already a number of psychoactive drugs that distort people’s sense of time, and existing interrogation scenarios tinker with lighting to prevent subjects from knowing the time, says Rebecca Roache. In a blog post, Roache advances an even more mind-bending idea: Some point to a future in which brain scans allow us to upload the human brain onto a computer (there's even a Wikipedia page about it). If that happens, we could perhaps speed up a prisoner's mind. Uploading the mind of a convicted criminal and running it a million times faster than normal would enable the uploaded criminal to serve a 1,000 year sentence in eight-and-a-half hours, Roache writes. That would, she notes, be much cheaper for the taxpayer. But, she points out, the goal isn’t simply to imagine a bunch of futuristic punishments—the goal is to look at today’s punishments through the lens of the future. |
6.3 Earthquake Hits Mexico City | (Apr 2, 2012 1:14 PM CDT) A strong earthquake has been felt in Mexico City. Buildings rocked back and forth for several seconds in the center of the city this afternoon, but the mayor says no severe damage has yet been reported. The US Geological Survey reports a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 and says the epicenter was near the border of Guerrero and Oaxaca states, very close to the epicenter of a strong quake nearly two weeks ago. |
Food Prices Will Double by 2030: Oxfam | (May 31, 2011 6:00 AM CDT) The cost of food staples is set to more than double over the next two decades, Oxfam says, as we enter a permanent food crisis. World hunger had steadily decreased for decades, the Guardian reports, but with demand exceeding production, the numbers of hungry people are once again on the rise. Climate change, loss of natural resources, the burgeoning global population, and biofuels are to blame as agricultural yields’ average growth rate will likely drop to less than 1% in the next 10 years. We are sleepwalking towards an age of avoidable crisis, said Oxfam’s chief executive. One in seven people on the planet go hungry every day despite the fact that the world is capable of feeding everyone. The food system must be overhauled. The group is urging G20 leaders to set up new rules for food markets; it also says food reserves must be boosted and western governments should halt biofuels programs. |
Al-Qaeda No. 2: 'Hey Pakistanis, Spare a Dime?' | (Jul 15, 2009 9:05 AM CDT) Al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader warns the Pakistani people in a new audio message that the US poses a grave danger for Pakistan's future, and asks if they could help financially. It is the individual duty of every Muslim in Pakistan to join the mujahedeen, or at the very least, to support the jihad in Pakistan and Afghanistan with money, Ayman al-Zawahri said in English. Otherwise, we shall deserve the painful punishment of Almighty Allah. The tape, whose authenticity could not immediately be verified, was released by the al-Qaeda media wing As Sahab on the usual Islamic websites. The current ruling class in Pakistan is lining up under the cross of the modern Crusade and competing for American bribes, Zawahri said. Hence, the actual ruler of Pakistan is the American ambassador, who pays the bribes and issues the orders. |
NYC Businessman Plotted Post-9/11 Attacks | (Apr 26, 2011 3:20 PM CDT) Al-Qaeda operatives pushed for a series of attacks following 9/11, but the plans were foiled following the capture of leading figures, WikiLeaks documents say. Among the plots discussed were attacking West Coast aircraft, blowing up a gas-filled apartment and gas stations, and cutting cables on the Brooklyn Bridge, the New York Times reports. One key planner: a 63-year-old longtime New York travel agent. According to the documents, Saifullah Paracha—possibly the oldest prisoner at Guantanamo— desired to help Al Qaeda ‘do something big against the US,’ said a co-conspirator. To that end, he collaborated with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, looking into smuggling explosives into the country or using biological weapons. But an ACLU rep says the documents’ material is rife with uncorroborated evidence, information obtained through torture, speculation, errors and allegations that have been proven false. Click through for more on Paracha’s reported family links to terrorism. Or read more about Gitmo revelations. |
Microsoft to Ax Up to 18K Jobs | (Jul 17, 2014 7:55 AM CDT) Microsoft has announced what will be the heftiest round of job cuts in its 39-year history: As many as 18,000 positions, or roughly 14% of its workforce, will go. The move follows the company's Nokia acquisition, which inflated its ranks to 127,104 workers. Re/code reports on the timeline: Microsoft is moving now on 13,000 cuts; the cuts should be fully completed by June 30, 2015, according to Bloomberg. About 12,500 positions will be deleted from the Nokia Devices and Services unit, roughly halving it. Bloomberg notes that Microsoft vowed to achieve $600 million in annual costs savings in the year and a half following the close of the deal, which happened in April. It anticipates charges of $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion over the next four quarters, which includes $750 million to $800 million for severance and related benefit costs, notes the AP. Re/code has CEO Satya Nadella's full memo to staff. |
50 Cent Sues Ex for $20M | (Jun 21, 2008 7:55 AM CDT) 50 Cent has slapped the mother of his 11-year-old son with a $20 million defamation lawsuit, the New York Daily News reports. The rapper's ex has publicly accused him of being behind the blaze that forced her out of the home they once shared. 50 Cent—barred from contacting his ex by a restraining order issued yesterday—denies the allegations and complains she hasn't let him see his son since the fire. |
8th Graders on Field Trip Stop for Lunch at Hooters | (Jun 1, 2011 12:45 PM CDT) One group of eighth-graders experienced a different kind of lunch lady on their recent field trip to Baltimore: a Hooters girl. The Pennsylvania middle school students embarked on a visit to the National Aquarium last week. Chaperones (who the AP describes as coed ) took them to various restaurants for lunch because the group of 100 was too large for a single place ... and one group of 15 to 20 students ended up at Hooters. The superintendent says that while he wishes the group's chaperones had chosen another restaurant, no parents have complained. |
Girl, 13, Recounts How Dad Lost His Life to Save Her | (Dec 5, 2013 1:40 PM) A 13-year-old girl who survived a rockslide that killed her parents, her sister, and two cousins says she's alive today for one reason: her self-sacrificing dad. I did cover myself, but I was just standing in the open, Gracie Johnson said on the Today show. He did push me to a rock that was bigger than I was, and he just saved me. Despite losing her parents, Gracie has been able to keep living in the small town of Buena Vista because an aunt and uncle moved there after the tragedy. I'm doing really well, and I'm healing a lot, says Gracie. It's a lot different. Nothing is going to be the same for me. She suffered a broken leg in the Sept. 30 rockslide but was able to ditch her crutches this week, notes the Denver Channel. Her uncle, Daryle Johnson, says the small town has stepped up. We got just everybody supporting us up there, he says. You don't know how many times you hear, 'Anything we can do for you, just give us a call.' |
Cops: Girl, 8, Makes Fuss, Escapes From Abductor | (Oct 29, 2013 1:45 PM CDT) Police in Aurora, Colorado, say an 8-year-old girl may have saved herself by not going along quietly with a man who abducted her from her home, reports the Denver Post. The girl screamed and escaped on her own after an apparent stranger cut through a screen of her bedroom window after midnight and forced her outside, say police. The girl's father heard the commotion, ran outside, and found his daughter running home to safety from a nearby alley. This young girl immediately cried out, immediately put up a fuss and struggled, says the local police chief. Who knows if that may have saved her life. Authorities released a sketch of a suspect and have offered a $20,000 reward, reports AP. There is nothing to suggest that this family was targeted in particular, which in some ways make it even more chilling, says the chief. |
Houston Family's College Bill: $1.5M | (May 17, 2012 4:41 PM CDT) Good thing he wrote a bestseller. Houston dad Marc Ostrofsky has tallied up his family's college costs, and we’re looking at roughly $60,000 to $70,000 per child per year, he tells KHOU. A total of about $1.5 million after tax dollars. Ostrofsky has five daughters and stepdaughters; the oldest just graduated Berklee School of Music, while the youngest is about to start at Boston University. There's a pair of twins, one of whom is graduating from Duke while the other graduates from Washington University in St. Louis. And there's one more at the University of Denver. I think in the future it’s going to be different. I don’t think a lot of people are going to play that game, says Ostrofsky, an online entrepreneur and author of Get Rich Click! He expects a combination of online and traditional classes to take over. Should kids stay in school? Be careful what you wish for, he says. |
Roommates Return $40K Found in Old Sofa | (May 16, 2014 2:25 AM CDT) A 91-year-old widow in New York state has been reunited with her life savings thanks to the honesty of three young roommates who found the cash in a beat-up sofa they bought from the Salvation Army. Months after buying the couch, the trio were astonished to discover $40,000 stashed in the arm cushions, the AP reports. After finding a name written on an envelope, they contacted the sofa's former owner and discovered she had stored her savings in it for more than 30 years. While the elderly woman was in hospital after an operation on her back, her daughter unknowingly got rid of the couch her mother slept on and replaced it with a full-sized bed. After the find, we had a lot of moral discussions about the money, one of the roommates tells Little Rebellion. We all agreed that we had to bring the money back to whoever it belonged to. It's their money—we didn’t earn it. They say that after they handed the money back, she cried in gratitude, and rewarded them with $1,000. (A homeless man recently did something similar—for a second time.) |
200 Firefighters Have Spent 10 Hours Battling NYC Warehouse Blaze | (Jan 31, 2015 5:15 PM) A fire took hold at a Brooklyn warehouse at 6:20 this morning, and as of late afternoon, the seven-alarm blaze is still going strong, the New York Times reports. Smoke can be seen from outside the city. Some 200 firefighters have been at the scene; none have been injured in the lengthy effort. But the contents of the warehouse—loads of New York City records—might not have fared so well. The company in charge of the facility, CitiStorage, hosts some four million boxes of records on hospitals, courts, and children's services in two warehouses, the New York Daily News reports. To make matters worse, the firefighters are dealing with terrible cold. They’re extremely, extremely exposed, says the department chief. The cold can be painful; it’s going to hurt you. The conditions are as bad for the firefighters as they are good for the fire, he tells the Times. Teams will likely be needed in the area for weeks. The fire comes after an earlier small blaze at the same building, which firefighters were able to put out quickly. The causes of both fires are under investigation, the Times notes. |
7 Teens Come Home Pregnant From School Trip | (Dec 22, 2014 11:18 AM) Parents are blaming the teachers; at least one health official is blaming the parents. But no matter how many fingers are pointed, it doesn't change the fact that there are seven young teen girls who went on a five-day school trip to Sarajevo and then reportedly came back pregnant, the InSerbia Network Foundation reports. Twenty-eight schoolgirls from Banja Luka went to the Bosnia-Herzegovina capital to sightsee and museum-hop; shortly after the girls got back home, it was discovered that seven of them (said to be ages 13 and 14) were with child. Parents are enraged and asking what kind of adult supervision was provided on the trip, the Daily Mail reports, but Nenad Babici, the national coordinator for reproductive health, has a different take. Parental neglect is partly responsible for what happened to the girls, Babici tells InSerbia, as well as inadequate sex ed in the schools. InSerbia's report doesn't specify when the trip happened (it's a little light on specifics in general), but it relays a stat from the Clinical Center of the University in Sarajevo, which reports 31 girls between ages 15 and 17 (older than the students in question) gave birth last year. It is obvious that children do not have enough of health education, so they engage in such activities, not knowing the consequences, a Serbian gynecologist tells InSerbia. It must not be allowed that [the] street teaches children about intimate matters, and that they are later slapped by life. |
Stress Kills 600K Chinese Yearly: Report | (Jul 1, 2014 8:51 AM CDT) Brutal work schedules and stressful lifestyles have put China in the midst of what Bloomberg calls an epidemic: China Youth Daily has reported that some 600,000 people die every year due to overwork, while China Radio International has put the figure at 1,600 a day. Bloomberg zeroes in on the story of Li Jianhua, a banking regulator who always put the cause of the party and the people first, according to his boss. He began working for the government in 1985, traveling and toiling even when he was ill; he skipped a recommended hospital visit because he didn't have time. This month, he died in the midst of overnight work at age 48. His bosses applauded his efforts in a statement, calling him a model for party members and cadres of the China Banking Regulatory Commission and urging others to be like him, always firm in ideals and beliefs, the broader interest, loyal to the cause of the party and the people, unremitting struggle, sacrificing everything. His case mirrors those of other white-collar workers in a culture that puts community first, says an expert. In China, notes another: Any job worth doing is worth doing excessively. Japan has grappled with similar issues, but the country's affluenza (has) led to questioning … of norms and values. China, on the other hand, is still a rising economy, and people are still buying into that hardworking ethos. Click for the full piece. |
Taylor Swift Just Gave Kesha $250K | (Feb 22, 2016 5:00 AM) Taylor Swift is helping out Kesha's court battle in a big way: The singer has donated $250,000 to help with any of her financial needs, her rep tells E! News. Kesha is fighting to get out of a contract with a music producer she accuses of raping her, and her mom calls Swift's gesture amazing. Not quite as wowed is singer Demi Lovato. Take something to Capitol Hill or actually speak out about something and then I'll be impressed, she tweeted minutes after Swift's donation was announced, per the New York Daily News. On Instagram, she added she would rather start a dialogue ... than throw money at one person, and denied she was throwing shade at Swift, per ET. I'm just tired of seeing women use 'women empowerment' and 'feminism' to further brands. |
The Army Wants You. 30,000 More of You. | (Dec 25, 2008 5:39 AM) The US Army wants you, and about 30,000 of your friends, if it's going to fight effectively in Afghanistan and Iraq and complete other missions around the world, reports the Washington Post. Increased demands are being made on troops in places like Africa, Korea, and cyberspace, and while the down economy is boosting recruiting efforts, officials say current growth plans are insufficient. We are already stretched now. You can't do what we've been tasked to do with the number of people we have, says the undersecretary of the Army. You can see a point where it's going to be very difficult to cope. Logistics issues in Afghanistan are just stunning. |
25 Years Later, We Still Need Oprah | (May 24, 2011 1:57 PM CDT) Oprah Winfrey’s TV tenure can be summed up in a single word: miraculous, writes Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon. Winfrey's entire empire is built on the idea that miracles—not just good fortune or persistence or community but honest-to-God miracles—are within our reach every day, she notes. And those miracles can range from amaaaaazing pants to the sister you never knew you had. Sure, she’s manipulative; her show’s formulaic and self-aggrandizing. She could make Bono think, ‘Now there's somebody with a messiah complex.’ But we still need Oprah, because she traffics in just one commodity: happiness. That’s how she remains relevant, even when daytime talk shows are fading. Life hands us wars and floods and sick children. Oprah hands us car keys and money for schools and stories about people who are trying to do good in the world, Williams writes. Those aren't crazy dreams that seemed interesting in 1986; they're what get us the hell out of bed in the morning. Click for the full column. |
Spurs Rally, Stun Heat in Game 1 | (Jun 7, 2013 1:33 AM CDT) The San Antonio Spurs still have that winning NBA Finals formula of good defense and a little luck on offense. Tim Duncan overcame a slow start to finish with 20 points and 14 rebounds, Tony Parker banked in a desperation jumper on a broken play with 5.2 seconds left, and the Spurs withstood LeBron James' triple-double to beat the Miami Heat 92-88 on Thursday night in a thrilling Game 1. Parker ended up with 21 points after referees reviewed his shot to make sure it just beat the shot clock, giving San Antonio a four-point edge in the game that was close the whole way. We got a little bit lucky, Parker said. Sometimes that's what it takes to win games. Playing for the championship for the first time since sweeping James' Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007 for their fourth title, the Spurs improved to 5-for-5 in Game 1s, hanging around for three quarters and then blowing by the defending champions midway through the fourth. Manu Ginobili, the third member of San Antonio's Big Three that has combined for 99 postseason victories together, finished with 13 points, and Danny Green had 12. It doesn't matter how we're categorized—old, veterans, whatever you call us, we're in the mix, the 37-year-old Duncan said. |
Obama Wins in Guam by 7 Votes | (May 3, 2008 7:09 PM CDT) Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton in Guam's caucuses today by a mere seven votes, Reuters reports. With four pledged delegates and five superdelegates at stake, more than 4,500 Democrats voted—despite the candidates' MIA status and residents’ inability to vote in the November elections. Presidential contests are usually low-key in Guam, an island 8,000 miles from Washington, but it’s a historic event for Guam, one 19-year-old voter told Reuters. I want to do my part. In interviews, Obama has emphasized his Hawaiian roots, while Clinton reminded voters of her visits during her husband’s presidency. |
UN: Cancer Cases to Jump 50% by 2030 | (Feb 3, 2014 10:44 AM) Disturbing news on World Cancer Day: Cases are poised to surge in the coming years, jumping 50% by 2030, according to a UN report. That means 21.6 million cases per year, compared to a rate that was 14 million in 2012, AFP reports. By 2035, we're likely to see 24 million new cases a year. Deaths from cancer are set to climb to 13 million per year, versus 8.2 million in 2012. A key reason for the upswing: lung cancer that's inextricably linked to Big Tobacco sales efforts. Developing countries will face the greatest danger as wealthier people increasingly smoke, drink, and eat processed foods while getting less exercise. But while more than 60% of cases and 70% of deaths took place in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America, the percentage of populations affected were higher in wealthier countries, including western countries and Japan and South Korea. Lung cancer was responsible for 19.4% of deaths, the highest of any cancer. While it's implausible to treat our way out of cancer, says a UN official, the report finds that about half of all cancers could be avoided by focusing on prevention and early treatment. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization finds that just one in 10 people needing palliative care are getting it; a third of those are people with cancer. |
Baby-Snatching Grandma, Boy Found After 13 Years | (Sep 23, 2013 2:13 AM CDT) A teenage boy who was kidnapped as an infant has been reunited with his father thanks to a school official's suspicion. When Sandy Hatte, 60, tried to enroll the boy at a school in northern Missouri, the official contacted police and discovered the boy had been abducted 13 years ago. Hatte—the boy's paternal grandmother, according to WDAF—has been charged with felony child abduction. Investigators say she had no legal rights to the child but had attempted to portray herself as his mother, the St. Joseph Post reports. One day in 2000, the boy's father was working, came home from work, and [Hatte] was gone with the baby, a police spokesman tells ABC. He hasn't been able to find them since. Investigators believe that Hatte and the boy spent the last 13 years moving around different cities, counties, and states, and were homeless at least once over the period. When the boy met his father again, it was a good reunion, the police spokesman says. You could tell within the first three minutes they hit it off pretty well. Since then, I've been on the phone with the dad and from what I'm understanding, it's going pretty well. (Click for the story of a 1964 kidnapping that made headlines ... this summer.) |
Child-Abuse Injuries Up 5% | (Oct 1, 2012 10:16 AM CDT) Hospitalizations from child-abuse injuries climbed 4.9% between 1997 and 2009, a national study finds, with deaths before discharge also increasing. The data runs in sharp contrast to data from child protective services, say the study's authors. Those groups found that substantiated child abuse dropped 55% between 1992 and 2009, ABC News reports, while another report, required by Congress, found a 23% decline. The discrepancy may partially be the result of differences in the specifics of what's being studied: The child protective services study didn't take age or severity of abuse into account. Some 54% of hospitalizations in the new study were of kids less than a year old. Perhaps all physical abuse is decreasing in the United States, but injuries in very young children have not followed this overall trend, the authors say. |
Company That Ruined Water for 300K People Fined $11K | (Jul 9, 2014 2:26 AM CDT) A West Virginia company that leaked a chemical into the Elk River at the start of this year has been punished with an $11,000 fine—which amounts to about 27 cents for each of the 300,000 people left without water for days. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Freedom Industries $7,000 for not having a liquid tight wall around tanks containing the coal-cleaning chemical Crude MCHM, and another $4,000 for failing to have the proper railings on an elevated platform at the site, reports the Charleston Gazette. Despite the large number of people affected when 10,000 gallons of the chemical seeped through the containment wall, only 78 claims have been filed against the company, a number that surprised a federal bankruptcy judge, the Charleston Daily Mail reports. It’s amazing that there have not been an overwhelming number of spill claims, he said at a hearing yesterday. I don’t know whether that’s because they don’t think there’s enough money to pay claims or there’s not significant damage. The company listed around $10 million in assets and $10 million in liabilities when it filed for bankruptcy soon after the spill. |
Rock Star Jet Crash Kills 4, Injures 2 | (Sep 20, 2008 9:24 AM CDT) Two music stars were the only survivors of a Learjet crash late last night, NBC reports. The small jet crashed while taking off from a South Carolina airport. Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, are in critical condition at a Georgia burn center; the other four people aboard the jet, including two passengers and two crew, were killed. Before the flight, Barker and DJ AM had performed with former Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell and Gavin DeGraw. Neither performer was on the plane, notes MTV News and the Times Herald-Record. Barker also starred in the MTV reality series Meet the Barkers. |
Mexico Gunmen Kill 35 | (Jun 12, 2010 10:43 AM CDT) At least 30 gunmen burst into a drug rehabilitation center in a Mexican border state capital and opened fire, killing 19 men and wounding four people, police said. Gunmen also killed 16 people in another drug-plagued northern city. The killings—in Chihuahua city and in Ciudad Madero—marked one of the bloodiest weeks ever in Mexico and came just weeks after authorities discovered 55 bodies in an abandoned silver mine, presumably victims of the country's drug violence. More than 60 people have died in mass shootings at rehab clinics in a little less than two years. Police have said two of Mexico's six major drug cartels are exploiting the centers to recruit hit men and drug smugglers, often threatening to kill those who don't cooperate. Others are killed for failing to pay for drugs or betraying a dealer. |
Wanted: Stonehenge General Manager; Salary: $99K | (Apr 24, 2013 7:30 AM CDT) This has got to be one of the weirder job openings you'll see: Stonehenge is looking for a general manager. This person will lead the ancient monument into a new era, ABC News reports. And, obviously, be responsible for excellent customer service, oversee 80 workers and 100 volunteers, be in charge of the new visitor center, and plan summer and winter solstice events, according to a statement from English Heritage, the organization that manages Britain's historic assets. The role, newly created, pays $99,229 a year. You have until May 5 to apply and should, per the job ad, be an exceptional individual. The job isn't the only reason why the stones are in the news: An ancient hunting ground has been found just a mile from the sacred site, and it may explain why Stonehenge is there, LiveScience reports. Researchers found fragments of flint tools, the bones of the ancestor to today's cattle, evidence of fires, and indications that people from different areas all came together there. They believe the site may have been considered a sacred hunting ground due to a nearby stream that the beasts may have flocked to—some 5,000 years before Stonehenge was constructed. The place was obviously considered special, says the lead researcher. We may have found the cradle of Stonehenge. (Click to read about a mystery even bigger than Stonehenge.) |
Anheuser-Busch Might Owe You $50 | (Jun 25, 2015 10:47 AM CDT) If you've enjoyed even one Beck's beer since May 2011, you could be eligible for a refund. Though the Beck’s label clearly says the beer originated in Bremen, Germany, the small print notes it’s actually made in the USA. The resulting confusion spawned a class-action lawsuit that argued maker Anheuser-Busch was duping US customers into paying a premium for what they thought was an import beer. The company has since settled, and anyone with a receipt could get 10 cents back per bottle, for a maximum of $50, reports the Wall Street Journal. No receipt? You could still get $12—even if you knew the beer was made here at home. Anheuser-Busch will make its made in the USA statement more visible, according to the agreement, which was given preliminary approval this week in Miami. If final approval is granted in October, customers will be able to access an online form to snag a refund. Anheuser-Busch—which must pay $3.5 million in attorneys' fees to four law firms, plus $5,000 to each of three plaintiffs, reports the St. Louis Post Dispatch—followed several other beer makers when it moved production of Beck’s from Germany to St. Louis in 2012. MillerCoors, for instance, moved production of its Foster’s beer from Australia to Fort Worth in 2010. Court documents show Anheuser-Busch's move reduced costs and delivered a fresher beer. But whereas Foster's began importing its yeast from Australia and hired an Australian brewmaster, Beck’s gave up some of its German ingredients in favor of domestic ones, including water and hops, according to the suit. We've looked at other cases, and don't think they have the same merit we brought here, a lawyer says. We hope the change we have brought through this settlement leads to better practices throughout the market. (MillerCoors’ Blue Moon faces a similar suit.) |
Colo. 13-Year-Old Latest Victim of 'Choking Game' | (Dec 22, 2015 7:44 AM) Whether it's called suffocation roulette, cloud nine, or simply the choking game, it's a dangerous activity that's been around for millennia, the Washington Post notes—and it's just resulted in another teen death. Memphis Burgess, a 13-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colo., was found by his dad Dec. 10 kneeling against his closet wall with a soft rope nearby, KKTV reports. I thought he was messing with me and I shook his shoulder, Brad Burgess tells the station. That's when he turned around [and] I noticed he was all blue and not breathing. The choking game creates a sense of euphoria by cutting off the brain's oxygen supply, typically by tightening an item like a tie or scarf around a person's neck, then loosening it right before the participant passes out. It's thought to have resulted in at least 1,000 deaths since 1934, according to GASP stats cited in the Post, and was documented in medical journals at least as far back as 1951. Many of these deaths are thought to be suicides by parents and cops who may never have heard of the game, per the Post. And it's a type of recreation that's alluring to certain teens, the Post adds: It's known as the good kids' high, per Salon, appealing to children who wouldn't normally drink or do drugs, and a slew of YouTube videos showing other kids taking part makes it seem innocuous. This is the age where kids are engaging in high-risk behaviors, an Ontario pediatrician who co-authored a study on YouTube and asphyxiation games tells the Post. That's just what they do. It's an activity that Memphis' parents wish he had never heard of. I [feel] robbed, his mom, Annette, tells KKTV. He brought joy to everyone he met. She adds that her son had a cognitive delay that may have prevented him from realizing the possible consequences, and that she hopes parents broach the subject with their kids so no other parent has to go through what we're going through right now. (Chicago police once issued an alert about the dangerous game.) |
iPhone 5, iPad Mini to Debut Sept. 12 | (Jul 30, 2012 10:01 AM CDT) Get ready for a big Apple event on Sept. 12: That's when the company will announce the iPhone 5 and iPad mini, sources tell iMore. The new iPhone will be available on Sept. 21, reports have said; it's not clear when the scaled-down tablet will be out. That release date is just 11 months after the iPhone 4S was released, compared to 16 months between the 4 and the 4S. If you're wondering what it'll look like, you're in luck: Leaked video purports to show its casing. It looks a lot like the 4S, notes Henry Blodget at Business Insider, and that's a problem for Apple. While Samsung's Galaxy feels like a next-generation phone, the iPhone looks small and old. The September event will also likely debut the new iPod Nano and perhaps the next iPod Touch, and it will probably include a presentation of the previously-announced iOS 6. |
In 25% of Fatal Crashes, Dead Drivers Used Drugs | (Jun 23, 2011 8:40 AM CDT) One fairly obvious way to lessen your chances of dying in a car crash: Don't take drugs before getting behind the wheel. Researchers found that a full 25% of drivers who died in single-vehicle accidents between 1999 and 2009 tested positive for drugs, USA Today reports. Of those studied, 22% tested positive for stimulants, 22% for marijuana, and 9% for narcotics. Alcohol doesn't help either: 37% of the dead drivers studied had blood alcohol levels over the legal limit of .08. And though combining drugs and alcohol is certainly not recommended, researchers found that it made no difference in the drivers' level of impairment: When a driver is drunk, it doesn't matter what drugs are in their system. The alcohol takes over, says a co-author. Even so, one activist points out that more attention should be paid to drugged driving separate from the alcohol problem. Only 19 states prohibit any amount of drugs while driving. |
11K Serbians Trapped by Snow | (Feb 2, 2012 7:50 AM) Eastern Europe's week-long cold snap shows no sign of relenting, with increasingly tragic consequences: The death toll has risen to 114, and some 11,000 Serbians living in remote villages are trapped, reports the AP. Heavy snow and blizzards have made the roads impassable, stranding those living in some 6,500 homes tucked into in country's mountains—and more snow is expected. The situation is dramatic, the snow is up to five meters (16.5 feet) high in some areas, you can only see rooftops, said one Serbian. Things are equally extreme elsewhere: Temps hit a brutal low of minus 26.5 degrees in some parts of the region, and 16 Bulgarian towns experienced their coldest temps in the 100 years since record-keeping began. In a rare occurrence, Croatia's islands in the Adriatic actually saw snow, and parts of the Black Sea near the Romanian coastline froze. Ukraine and Poland both saw new deaths yesterday, many of them homeless people. In Ukraine alone, almost 1,000 people have been hospitalized with hypothermia and frostbite. |
White House Seeks $1.2T Hike in Debt Limit | (Dec 27, 2011 1:04 PM) The Obama administration will ask Congress to raise the nation's borrowing limit by $1.2 trillion this week, marking the third and final increase from a deal negotiated over summer. Treasury officials said the increase is necessary because the government will be within $100 billion of its current limit by Friday. The debt limit is the amount the government can borrow to finance its operations, and the latest increase will boost that limit to $16.4 trillion. Officials say that should be enough to allow the government to keep borrowing until the end of 2012—just after the presidential election. Congress can reject the request, although Obama can veto its objection. If Congress doesn't act by Jan. 14, the increase will take place automatically. In August, Congress and the administration agreed to raise the borrowing limit by $2.1 trillion in three steps: by $400 billion in August and by another $500 billion in September. House Republicans voted against the second increase, but they failed to block it because the Senate approved it. The increases are scheduled to take effect unless both chambers vote against them. |
Obama's $40M in March Doubles Clinton's Take | (Apr 3, 2008 4:53 PM CDT) Barack Obama raised $40 million in March to Hillary Clinton’s $20 million, and, Chris Cillizza writes in the Washington Post, financial perceptions could spell doom for the former first lady. While Clinton appears to have the money to compete right now, she’ll only keep raking it in if fence-sitting donors believe enough in her viability to make the investment. Clinton's camp points out that she handily won the Texas and Ohio primaries despite being roundly outspent; Cillizza reminds that poverty revelations in February brought in big bank. But, Cillizza concludes, Clinton cannot afford to have stories about outstanding debts, staff not being paid or gross differential between what she and Obama are spending on television in the remaining 10 contests. |
4 Killed in Egypt Clashes | (Jun 30, 2013 5:19 PM CDT) Officials say three anti-government protesters have been killed in the southern Egyptian city of Assiut, after suspected Islamists riding a motorbike fired on protesters outside a local government building. One was killed and seven injured, prompting protesters to march on the local office of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, where at least two more were shot by gunmen inside the building, the AP reports. Another protester was killed outside Freedom and Justice party headquarters in Beni Suef. The country is gripped with anti-government protests today, with hundreds of thousands massing in Cairo's Tahrir Square and other cities around the country to call for the removal of President Mohamed Morsi, the AP reports. Today is the Brotherhood's last day in power, says one protestor at Tahrir. I came here today because Morsi did not accomplish any of the [2011] revolution's goals ... the needs of the poor were not met. But Morsi, who has three years left in office, remains defiant in the face of growing opposition and calls for an early election. If we changed someone in office who [was elected] according to constitutional legitimacy—well, there will be people opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later they will ask him to step down, he told the Guardian. |