Sabtu, 09 November 2013
Typhoon Haiyan’s death toll expected to rise sharply
>>>
out of typhoon-stricken
philippines
are staggering after one of the most powerful typhoons in history. tonight the
international red cross
estimates
typhoon haiyan
left more than 1,000 people dead. communications are difficult.
humanitarian relief
crews are slowly making their way into the hardest hit areas. wind gusts reached 175 miles per hour.
storm surges
as high as trees laid waste to
towns and villages
. speaking from the city of
tacloban
,
philippines
interior minister said, quote, all systems, all vestiges of modern living, communications, power, water, all are down. tonight the pentagon says it is dispatching
u.s. military forces
to the region to assist in the recovery.
tacloban
, the city hardest hit, is 360 miles from manila. that's where the
humanitarian response
is being coordinated. it's where we find correspondent angus walker now with the very latest. angus?
>> reporter:
as every hour passes we are getting a clearer picture of the devastation here as rescuers begin to make their way into the worst affected areas. tonight one thing is clear. the damage is far worse than people had feared. it's been
24 hours
since
super typhoon
haiyan roared ashore in the
philippines
with winds of more than 150 miles an hour. flattening entire cities.
>>
there were heavy winds, heavy rains. no power, no cell phones while the storm passed.
>>
we have so many
dead people
. we don't have bags. bags for the dead.
>> reporter:
the death toll stands now at
1200
but is expected to rise sharply as rescue teams reach remote villages.
>>
thousands of homes are completely wiped out. not only the rain. then the water sweeps in and it can take out entire
towns and villages
.
>> reporter:
one of the hardest hit areas, the city of
tacloban
home to 220,000 people. surrounded on three sides by water. surging
ocean waves
40 feet high submerged most of the city.
>>
the devastation is -- it's -- i don't have the words for it. it's really horrific.
>> reporter:
reporter ata marulo reported live as the typhoon beared down. later retreating to a second floor hotel as the streets quickly became rivers.
storm chaser
jim edds rode out the storm tweeting this picture as the storm was approaching. on facebook today he wrote, amount of casualties significant, so many bodies
left behind
from the surge. security becoming a concern with looting.
water supply
getting low. these satellite photos show the immense storm, the strongest ever to hit land, eclipsing the entire country as it moved over the
island nation
of nearly 100 million. the massive storm caused widespread flooding, triggered landslides and knocked out power and communication to large parts of the country. tonight, vietnam is now on alert as the storm pushes west forecast to hit sunday afternoon. more than half a million residents evacuated to shelter and higher ground. experienced
aid workers
say they haven't seen anything like this since the
asian tsunami
in
2004
. that's not a comparison that should be
Kidnapped woman rescued by cousin in Louisiana, police said
By Simon Moya-Smith, Staff Writer, NBC News
A woman who had been kidnapped two days earlier was found Friday with multiple stab wounds inside an abandoned house in Louisiana -- and freed by family members in a daring operation, police said.
The man who allegedly held her hostage for 30 hours in a vacant home in Ducson, La., was shot and killed by the woman's cousin as he rescued her, police said.
Authorities of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office had been searching for Bethany Arceneaux, 29, since late Wednesday, after her car was found abandoned outside her child's day care center, Capt. Kip Judice told NBC News.
Judice said police believed Scott Thomas, 29, who is the father of Arceneaux's son, was the abductor. The two had an ongoing domestic dispute, and Arceneaux had a restraining order against Thomas, Judice added.
The woman's family decided to look for Arceneaux themselves. On Friday, a group of about 20 relatives formed a search party and began to look for her on foot, Judice said.
While on the trail, Arceneaux's cousin allegedly heard cries coming from inside an abandoned home in a sugar field located about 10 miles from where the woman was last seen.
Armed with a gun, the man forced his way into the home. As he made his way through the house, Thomas allegedly began stabbing Arceneaux several times. The woman's cousin then fired several shots at Thomas and then fled the premises with Arceneaux, Judice said.
The woman confirmed to authorities that Thomas was shot by her cousin as Thomas was stabbing her.
Arceneaux is undergoing treatment at the Lafayette General Medical Center and is in good condition, Judice said.
When police entered the vacant home, Thomas was found dead.
He had allegedly held Arceneaux at knifepoint for 30 hours before she was rescued from the home, Judice added.
Arceneaux's cousin is not in police custody and has not been charged with a crime. He is cooperating with authorities, Judice said.
Under Louisiana law, a justifiable homicide statute allows an individual to defend himself as well as others he feels are in danger, which includes great bodily harm or death, police said.
Venezuela releases Miami Herald reporter detained for two days
Miami Herald Andean Bureau Chief Jim Wyss
By Andrew Cawthorne, Reuters
CARACAS - Venezuelan authorities released a Miami Herald reporter on Saturday after detaining the American two days ago near the border with Colombia where he was researching a story ahead of next month's local elections, the paper said.
Jim Wyss was handed over unharmed and in good spirits to U.S. diplomats in Caracas, the Herald said.
"I'm very grateful for everybody who worked to help resolve this problem," Wyss said, according to a story on the newspaper's website. "And I'm thankful to the Venezuelan authorities for helping accelerate this process."
President Nicolas Maduro's government, which accuses Western media of fanning an international campaign to destabilize his socialist government, has not commented on the case.
The Herald said soldiers arrested Wyss on Thursday evening after he sought an interview with military officials in the Andean city of San Cristobal, where he was preparing a story on economic shortages and the December 8 municipal elections.
"Venezuelan authorities said Wyss was taken into custody because he did not have permission to report in the country," the paper added. Wyss is based in Bogota, Colombia.
Wyss quipped about tight living conditions, and his diet of ham sandwiches, in the Caracas detention center where he was held. "It's like living in a bar with bunkbeds," he said.
Since winning an election to replace Hugo Chavez in April, Maduro has leveled a stream of accusations of U.S.-inspired plots and sabotage against his socialist administration.
An American filmmaker was arrested and held for nearly two months on accusations of spying, while three U.S. diplomats were expelled in September on similar charges. Officials say foreign correspondents are complicit in the "silent war" against him.
The Maduro government is under pressure over Venezuela's economy, where inflation is running at an annual 54 percent and scarcity of basic goods are common. The opposition is hoping next month's nationwide municipal polls will turn into a protest vote against Maduro.
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Artist's career reaches from Garbage Pail Kids to museum walls
Nov. 8, 2013 at 1:51 PM ET
Copyright: Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman may have done more to popularize the term “graphic novel” than anyone. But he’s still not comfortable with it.
“I concede that it’s the best marketing phrase ever invented,” the 65-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner told TODAY.com, describing a New Yorker cartoon showing two businessmen looking into a bookstore window, with one saying, “I guess now we have to pretend to like graphic novels.” But, he added, “I’ve never been comfortable with any of the phrases” describing what he creates. “I’m most comfortable with ‘Co-Mix.’”
Which is the name of the retrospective of Spiegelman’s work opening Friday at New York City’s Jewish Museum, as well as a companion book fully titled “Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics and Scraps.”
Copyright: Art Spiegelman
A self-portrait of the artist by Art Spiegelman.
The name is apt, because Spiegelman’s career has been a colorful mix of high and low culture: everything from underground comics to New Yorker covers, from Garbage Pail Kids to “MAUS,” his acclaimed graphic novel about the Holocaust. But Spiegelman likes “Co-Mix” because it comes “without the thought that comics have to be comical – the idea of escaping the preconceptions.”
With “MAUS,” which depicted Auschwitz prisoners as talking mice and their Nazi captors as cartoon cats, Spiegelman not only escaped preconceptions about comics – he shattered them. “MAUS” attracted critical adulation and academic study, but not everyone got what Spiegelman was up to.
Copyright: Art Spiegelman
Spiegelman's "MAUS," which depicted Holocaust victims as cartoon mice, was the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize.
“Early on it seemed crazy to me that it would be put to a kind of secondary use that didn’t have anything to do with what I had in mind: a great way to teach people about the Holocaust,” he said. “I was trying to find a narrative, a long comic book that needed a bookmark. I needed a subject that required thinking deeply, that was the goal.” And so he turned to what he calls “the giant crater in the middle of the 20th century”: the Holocaust.
But some people didn’t see it that way. “Very early on, when every publisher on the planet was rejecting it, one letter said it was ‘too much like a sitcom,’” he recalled.
Still, “MAUS” not only went on to become the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize; it helped make comics downright respectable. “They’re now taught in universities,” Spiegelman pointed out. “Librarians love comics. Schools are beginning to look at them. There’s more happening than I can remember.”
It’s a far cry from Spiegelman’s youth, heyday of Mad magazine creator Harvey Kurtzman, whom Spiegelman cites as a key influence “at the moment I was trying to find myself as a cartoonist.” Other influences include classic newspaper comics “Krazy Kat” (“it has poetic interpretations, but there’s also a cat that gets hit with a brick”), “Little Nemo in Slumberland,” “Dick Tracy” and “Little Orphan Annie.”
“’Annie’ was an important influence on ‘MAUS’ because of the blank eyeballs that allowed you to enter emotionally,” Spiegelman explained.
Copyright: Art Spiegelman
One of Art Spiegelman's often controversial New Yorker covers.
But there’s much more than “MAUS” to the “Co-Mix” retrospective, including "In the Shadow of No Towers," Spiegelman's reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, near which he lived in 2001 with his wife, editor and fellow artist Francoise Mouly. And then there are the often controversial covers he drew for the New Yorker, such as his depiction of a kiss between a black woman and a Hasidic Jew. And though he hasn’t worked for the New Yorker since 2001, Spiegelman drops smoothly into gear when challenged to imagine what he’d draw for next issue’s cover.
“Let’s see, we’re near Thanksgiving,” he said. “Maybe a bunch of Indians sitting around McDonald’s, looking at the wrappers.”
But instead of drawing for the New Yorker, Spiegelman has a different project these days: "My wife and I are launching Toon Books," hardcover books for early readers aged 4 and up featuring comics of the same high caliber he and Mouly showcased in their groundbreaking 1980s magazine RAW.
"People say Kindles and iPads are going to make paper obsolete, which is crazy," he said. "The book as an object is becoming more and more grounded."
Chris Hondros / Getty Images
Spiegelman created Garbage Pail Kids, irreverent spoofs of the Cabbage Patch Kids craze of the 1980s.
But Spiegelman is just as enthused about Garbage Pail Kids, gross-out parodies of Cabbage Patch dolls that he created to the delight of kids and disgust of parents in the 1980s. “I feel a total continuity with them,” he told TODAY.com. “I’m very proud that the exhibit starts with a wall of Garbage Pail Kids and leaps into the rest.”
In contrast, when “Co-Mix” was shown at the Pompidou Centre in Paris earlier this year, “it was a very small space” that started with a giant sketch from “MAUS,” Spiegelman recalled. “As we walked in, Francoise said, ‘You’re the only one who could get away with it.”
Read an excerpt from “Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics and Scraps.”
Negotiations resume in Iran nuclear talks
>>>
we head to switzerland. talks between secretary of state
john kerry
and several
foreign ministers
from several other countries.
ann curry
is live in geneva with more. good morning to you, ann.
>>
good morning to you, craig.
>> reporter:
six of the world's
foreign ministers
have unexpectedly gathered among strong signs a nuclear deal with
iran
may be near. the this morning the
french foreign minister
broke ranks and said publicly that france won't accept what he called a sucker's deal. he also revealed the debate is over the way to reduce
iran
's capability to make atomic reps use maria tone yum and rish uranium. so far no word from the other
foreign ministers
but
john kerry
did meet with a foreign minister after his meeting. nbc news has learned that
iran
is ready to sign the current draft on the table of the first step agreement and waiting for the diplomats in the
rest of the world
to sort out their differences. china's foreign minister is reportedly on his way, which would bring the seven the number of the world dop diplomats here to try to hammer out this deal.
>>
what are the chances that we have a deal by the
end of the day
?
>> reporter:
well, insist a serious setback. these
foreign ministers
scheduled to leave at the end of this day. they have all day to work out a deal and they are very close, but there is a real chance that they could all leave without having made a deal.
>>
ann curry
in geneva for
Utah doctor Martin MacNeill guilty of killing wife, leaving her in tub
Al Hartmann / AP
Martin MacNeill listens to evidence during his murder trial in this file photo.
By Paul Foy, The Associated Press
PROVO, Utah - A jury convicted a doctor of murder early Saturday in the death of his wife six years ago, bringing an end to a trial that became the nation's latest true-crime cable TV obsession with its tales of jailhouse snitches, forced plastic surgery, philandering and betrayal.
Martin MacNeill was accused of knocking out Michele MacNeill with drugs after cosmetic surgery, then leaving her to die in a tub like one that was displayed during the trial.
Prosecutors asserted that he may have held her underwater for good measure and that he did it to take up a new life with another woman.
Michele MacNeill's daughters and other relatives let out a loud yelp before dissolving in tears as the jury delivered its verdict to the tense, packed courtroom.
"We're just so happy he can't hurt anyone else," said Alexis Somers, one of his older daughters. "We miss our mom; we'll never see her again. But that courtroom was full of so many people who loved her."
Martin MacNeill, 57, showed little emotion when the verdict was read. He hugged his lawyer afterward and said, "It's OK."
He faces 15 years to life for first-degree murder when he is sentenced Jan. 7. He also was found guilty of obstruction of justice, which could add 1-15 years. MacNeill was led by deputies back to Utah County jail.
Randy Spencer, one of his lawyers, said he was disappointed before declining further comment.
The chief prosecutor, Chad Grunander, said the largely circumstantial case was the most difficult he ever brought to trial and that many prosecutors wouldn't bother trying, especially with medical examiners unable to produce a finding of homicide.
"It was an almost perfect murder," Grunander said in his closing argument, asserting MacNeill "pumped her full of drugs" that he knew would be difficult to detect once she was dead.
An early mistress of MacNeill's testified he once confided he could induce a heart attack in someone that would appear natural.
After deliberating for 11 hours, the jury issued its guilty verdict to murder and obstruction of justice shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday.
The case shocked the Mormon community of Pleasant Grove, 35 miles south of Salt Lake City, and captured national attention because the defendant was a wealthy doctor and a lawyer, a father of eight in a picture-perfect family and former bishop in his local congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Defense lawyers contend Michele MacNeill died of natural causes. They believe she had a heart attack and fell headfirst into the tub and noted the autopsy showed she had an enlarged heart, a narrowing of the heart arteries and liver and kidney deterioration.
"There's simply no proof" of homicide, Spencer said. "The prosecution has presented to you their cherry-picked portion of the evidence."
He called the testimony of a handful of prison inmates angling for early release doubtful. The men who spent time behind bars with the doctor testified he had acknowledged killing his wife — or suggested that investigators could never prove he did it.
Their testimony was the only direct evidence of murder, Grunander said. MacNeill lawyers argued he would never admit murder to strangers in prison.
MacNeill was medical director of the Utah State Development Center, a residential center for people with cognitive disorders, who moonlighted in other medical jobs, once consulting for a laser hair removal clinic. He had a law degree but wasn't known to practice law and has since surrendered his law and medical licenses.
The highlight of the three-week trial was a mistress who MacNeill introduced as a nanny within weeks of his wife's death. His older daughters quickly recognized Gypsy Willis as his secret lover and said her mother had been arguing with her husband over the affair.
The daughters went to work uncovering what they call their father's secret life. They abandoned him while dogging authorities to open a murder investigation. It wasn't until MacNeill's release in July 2012 from a federal prison in Texas on charges of fraud that Utah prosecutors moved to file charges of murder and obstruction of justice.
Willis also served a federal sentence for using the identity of one of MacNeill's adopted daughters to escape a debt-heavy history. That daughter had been sent back to Ukraine, supposedly only for a summer.
For a time, MacNeill's only family defender was his only son. Damian, a 24-year-old law student, committed suicide in January 2010, according to his sisters, who have said he was haunted by their mother's death.
Prosecutors said MacNeill might have gotten away with a perfect murder, but his erratic behavior the day of his wife's death and shortly afterward was "dripping with motive."
They reminded jurors about testimony that MacNeill stood in the bathroom yelling what prosecutors called phony grief, "Why did you do this? All because of a stupid surgery," as paramedics tried to revive his wife.
Family testimony suggested it was MacNeill who insisted his 50-year-old wife, a former local beauty queen in her California hometown, get the surgery. Prosecutors said he used it as an excuse to mix painkillers, Valium and sleeping pills for her supposed recovery.
"Make no mistake, the defendant's fingerprints, if you will, are all over Michele's death," Grunander said.
Prosecutors say MacNeill contrived a medical condition in the weeks leading up to his wife's death, telling many around him he was dying of cancer or multiple sclerosis to absolve him of any motive in the death. He also made use of a cane and could be seen limping at times.
Investigators who subpoenaed MacNeill's own medical records found he was in good health. And they discovered something else: MacNeill had been collecting veteran benefits for decades, saying in an application he had bipolar or anti-social disorders.
MacNeill's arrest warrant contains a former girlfriend's explosive allegation — not used at the trial — that MacNeill killed a brother and tried to kill his mother long ago.
Utah investigators confirmed the brother, Rufus Roy MacNeill, was found dead in a bathtub in New Jersey. They determined MacNeill was never charged and found no indication he was ever under investigation for it.
© 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Fireworks blast at Paris musical about French Revolution: 1 dead, 14 injured
EPA / Yoan Valat
The scene outside the Paris musical venue where the freak accident occurred on Friday night.
By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News
A stage worker died and 14 others were injured after a freak accident sparked a pyrotechnics explosion in Paris during preparations for a musical about the French Revolution, local media reported.
The blast rocked the Palais des Sports venue in the south-west of the city at about 6 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET) Friday, witnesses and officials told agency AFP and newspaper Le Parisien.
Fifteen people – all thought to be either cast members or stage workers – were injured in the explosion. One of them suffered a heart attack and was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, Le Parisien reported.
The blast was "extremely violent," fire chief Lt. Col. Samuel Bernes told reporters.
The large venue – which hosted the premiere of Les Miserables in 1980 – was preparing to stage a production of "1789, The Lovers of the Bastille," the BBC reported.
About 100 firefighters and a dozen fire engines were deployed to the scene, which was later visited by Interior Minister Manuel Valls, AFP said.
Early reports suggest the accident happened when a disc from a grinder being used on stage broke, scattering fragments, one of which ignited gunpowder that was to be used in a pyrotechnic display during the performance, according to Le Parisien, which did not cite a source for the information.
Some of the injured were burned by the fireworks, but others were hurt by the collapse of the wall and the subsequent collapse of part of the ceiling.
"The walls shook," a witness who works nearby told reporters.
No audience members were in the auditorium, according to AFP.
This story was originally published on Sat Nov 9, 2013 4:15 AM EST
CRASH COURSE2,000-pound European satellite falling to earth
Sometime this weekend, the sky will actually be falling.
A defunct satellite from the European Space Agency the size of a Chevy Suburban is set to plunge to Earth somewhere between Sunday night and Monday afternoon -- and experts say there's no way to precisely determine where it will crash.
Its orbit goes over the poles, and as the planet rotates the satellite whizzes over nearly every point on Earth. But GOCE, or Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer, ran out of gas last month and has been steadily sinking towards the Earth.
The satellite had been orbiting at a very low altitude for its mission, just 161 miles above the planet. Indeed, GOCE’s orbit is so low that it experiences drag from the outer edges of Earth's atmosphere, the ESA said.
Where is it now? Thanks to a neat widget built by the satellite-tracking website N2YO.com, you can watch the falling satellite as it courses through the heavens.
Pinpointing where and when hurtling space debris will strike is an imprecise science. To calculate the orbit, N2YO.com runs information from the U.S. Air Force Space Command through a series of algorithms, and overlays it on mapping data from Google.
"The satellite is one of the few satellites in a Polar Orbit. Consequently, it could land almost anywhere," Mark Hopkins, chair of the National Space Society's executive committee told FoxNews.com.
Not that citizens need to take cover. Although the satellite will break into pieces -- between 25 and 45 with the largest as big as 200 pounds, according to The New York Times -- they are most likely to plunge into the ocean.
“It’s rather hard to predict where the spacecraft will re-enter and impact,” Rune Floberghagen, the mission manager for GOCE, told The Times.
GOCE has been orbiting Earth since March 2009 at the lowest altitude of any research satellite. With a sleek, aerodynamic design meant to eliminate drag on the craft from the planet -- it's been called the "Ferrari of space" -- GOCE has mapped variations in Earth’s gravity with extreme detail, creating a model of the planet's "geoid."
The satellite is 17.4 feet long, according to the European Space Agency. A 2014 Chevrolet Suburban is 18.5 feet long, including the bumpers. The slim satellite is only 1/3 the weight of the truck, however.
As of Friday morning, GOCE was at an altitude of roughly 105 miles and was expected to sink by more than 5 miles within the day.
When a NASA satellite fell from orbit two years ago, it plunged into the Pacific. When Russia’s Phobos-Grunt failed last year, it too plunged into the Pacific. One day before GOCE re-enters the thick atmosphere of the planet, ESA will be able to narrow down the exact time and location of the crash.
As far as anyone knows, falling space debris has never injured anyone -- although one woman came dangerously close. Nor has significant property damage been reported. That's because most of the planet is covered in water and there are vast regions of empty land.
HARASSMENT PROBE Report: Dolphins' Martin to meet with NFL investigator
Miami Dolphins tackle Jonathan Martin will meet late next week in Los Angeles with the NFL's special investigator to discuss allegations in the team's harassment scandal, a source told The Associated Press.
The person, who is said to be familiar with the situation, confirmed the upcoming meeting on condition of anonymity because the league and team haven't announced the details of the investigation.
Meeting with Martin will be Ted Wells, a senior partner in a New York law firm with experience in sports cases. Wells was appointed Wednesday by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to investigate possible misconduct in the Dolphins' workplace and prepare a report that will be made public.
Dolphins guard Richie Incognito was suspended shortly after the departure of Martin, who is with his family in California to undergo counseling for emotional issues. Wells is investigating whether Incognito harassed or bullied Martin, and whether their teammates and the organization mishandled the matter.
Incognito also arrived in Los Angeles on Friday on a flight from Miami, WPLG-TV in Miami reported. His agent, David Dunn, is based in Southern California.
There were no plans for Incognito to meet with Martin, two people familiar with the situation told the AP on condition of anonymity because the NFL investigation is ongoing.
Incognito has long been regarded as among the NFL's dirtiest players, and has had brushes with the law. A police report that surfaced Thursday said a female volunteer at a Dolphins charity golf tournament in May 2012 complained that Incognito harassed her. According to the report filed in the Miami suburb of Aventura, the woman said Incognito touched her inappropriately with his golf club, leaned close to her as if dancing and then emptied bottled water in her face.
Incognito was not charged. The Dolphins declined to comment Friday.
The Dolphins (4-4) will play for the first time since the scandal broke Monday night at Tampa Bay (0-8). At least 75 reporters and cameramen tracking the case were in the locker room after Thursday's practice, but defensive end Cameron Wake said the scrutiny won't prevent the team from playing well.
"In the locker room this isn't an issue," Wake said. "We talk about football, we talk about making plays, stunts, tackling, catching the ball, whatever it may be. To me it's kind of silly. I'm in here trying to talk about football, and everybody wants to talk about something else."
The team had Friday off.
The news comes one day after David Cornwell, Martin's attorney, said Martin endured daily harrassment from teammates that went far beyond the traditional locker room hazing, including a malicious phyiscal and vulgar comments.
Cornwell released a statement Thursday night alleging that an unidentified Dolphins player threatened Martin's sister in vulgar fashion.
"For the entire season and a half that he was with the Dolphins, he attempted to befriend the same teammates who subjected him to the abuse with the hope that doing so would end the harassment," the statement said. "This is a textbook reaction of victims of bullying. Despite these efforts, the taunting continued. ...
"Eventually, Jonathan made a difficult choice. Despite his love for football, Jonathan left the Dolphins. Jonathan looks forward to getting back to playing football. In the meantime, he will cooperate fully with the NFL investigation."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jumat, 08 November 2013
STARTLING DISCOVERY New hammerhead shark species found off SC coast
When new species are found near populated areas, they are often small and inconspicuous, not, for example, a hammerhead shark.
But that's exactly what a team of researchers discovered along the coast of South Carolina. The new species looks virtually identical to the scalloped hammerhead, but is genetically distinct, and contains about 10 fewer vertebrae, or segments of backbone, new research shows.
'Outside of South Carolina, we've only seen five tissue samples of the species.'
- University of South Carolina fish expert Joe Quattro
The new species, named the Carolina hammerhead (Sphyrna gilbert), gives birth to shark "pups" in estuaries near the shore off the Carolinas, according to a study published in August in the journal Zootaxa.
To find the shark, scientists led by University of South Carolina fish expert Joe Quattro collected 80 young sharks that looked liked scalloped hammerheads. They then analyzed their DNA, and found that they were distinct from their scalloped cousins. Further analysis found more subtle differences; the new species is slightly smaller, for instance, according to the study. Of these 80 sharks, 54 of them belonged to the new species, the study noted.
The study shows that the new species is quite rare. "Outside of South Carolina, we've only seen five tissue samples of the cryptic species," Quattro said in a release from the University of South Carolina. "And that's out of three or four hundred specimens."
Populations of scalloped sharks, like those of most other shark species, have plummeted in the past few decades by up to 90 percent, Quattro said.
"Here, we're showing that the scalloped hammerheads are actually two things," Quattro said. "Since the cryptic species is much rarer than the [more widespread one], God only knows what its population levels have dropped to."
The decline of sharks has been driven in part by demand for shark fin soup, a Chinese delicacy. About 100 million sharks are killed each year to satisfy this craving, scientists estimate. But there may be some good news consumption of the soup is down by about 50 percent in China over the past two years, according to the environmental group WildAid.
In more shark news, a new species of "walking shark" was discovered near a remote Indonesian island in August.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
'HEAL A WOUNDED SOUL' Donors fund $20K treatment for teen set on fire on bus
Donors have stepped up with more than $20,000 to fund medical treatment for a young California man set on fire while he slept on a bus.
More than 550 people anted up on Fundly.com to help 18-year-old Luke "Sasha" Fleischman before his grateful family and friends closed the fundraiser.
“On behalf of Sasha's family, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your generosity, love, and support,” the website read. “Per the family's request, we are ending the fundraiser shortly after the $20,000 mark. You guys did it. You helped heal a wounded soul & lifted up a family in need.”
Police said Fleischman — a senior at a private high school in Berkeley whose relatives and friends say identifies himself as “genderqueer,” or someone who sees themselves as neither male nor female — was asleep on an Alameda County transit bus while wearing a kilt-like skirt when another passenger set the garment on fire, according to authorities.
Alameda County prosecutors charged Oakland high school student Richard Thomas, 16, on Thursday as an adult with felony assault and aggravated mayhem in the shocking attack on Monday. District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said her office is charging both offenses as hate crimes, but she did not indicate why.
Fleischman was listed in stable condition on Tuesday at a San Francisco hospital after suffering second- and third-degree burns on his legs. His condition on Friday remained unclear.
Attempts to reach Fleischman's relatives were unsuccessful.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
That's one big tree! Watch as the Christmas tree is erected in Rockefeller Center
John Makely / NBC News
A crane lifts the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree into place in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.
A 76-foot-tall Norway Spruce is erected in Rockefeller Plaza in preparation for the Dec. 4 lighting. See a time lapse video of the process.
Andrew Burton / Getty Images
Nathan Vargoshe, 15, hammers a piston into a 76-foot tall Norway Spruce, which came from his front lawn in Shelton, Conn., while the tree is prepared to be the 2013 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree on Nov. 8 in New York City.
Read more about the Varghose family that donated the tree on TODAY.com
Andrew Burton / Getty Images
A worker helps prepare the tree.
Mike Segar / Reuters
Workers inside 30 Rockefeller Plaza look out the window as a crane lifts the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree into place.
Mike Segar / Reuters
Previously on PhotoBlog:
Philippines tallies the damage after 'most powerful storm ever' kills at least four
Experts said Haiyan is the strongest typhoon of the year and possibly the most powerful to ever hit land.
By M. Alex Johnson and Alexander Smith, NBC News
The scope of the most powerful storm ever to make landfall was slowly revealing itself Saturday as dawn broke over the Philippines, where at least four people were confirmed dead after super Typhoon Haiyan swept the Pacific islands.
The typhoon generated nearly 200-mph winds as it rampaged through on Friday. At 4 a.m. (3 p.m. Friday ET), its top winds had lessened to 110 mph — after having approached 195 mph at landfall Friday morning — and its center had cleared the country and was about 250 miles west of San Jose.
Along the way, it cut off many of the country's lines of communication, leaving the extent of its damage a mystery overnight.
Nelson Salting / AP
The most powerful storm ever to make landfall struck the Philippines, forcing more than 1 million people to flee.
Early Saturday, the national disaster agency confirmed four deaths and said four other people were missing. Hundreds of homes were flattened and almost 800,000 people had been evacuated to emergency shelters as Haiyan triggered mudslides, flash flooding and a storm surge with waves of up to 30 feet Friday.
But forecasters and government officials said a much more devastating toll could emerge once daylight made it easier to move around.
"It is the most powerful storm ever to make landfall," Michael Palmer, lead meteorologist for The Weather Channel, told NBC News. "It is as strong a typhoon as you can get, basically," with winds able to "obliterate poorly constructed homes."
Authorities warned that 12 million people were at risk, including about 2.5 million in Cebu City, as well in areas still recovering from a deadly 2011 storm and a 7.2-magnitude quake last month.
"Thousands of people are likely to be left without food, shelter and water," said Bernd Schell, the Philippines representative for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "This is a double blow for the survivors of the earthquake in Bohol and Cebu, who were already struggling to get back on their feet."
Dale Eck, director of The Weather Channel's global forecast center, said the strongest winds had lingered over the Philippines only for two to four hours, meaning "the duration of the extreme winds was short."
"But it will be pretty nasty damage," he said.
More than 100 coastal homes were flattened and landslides destroyed houses in the hills in Southern Leyte province, Gov. Roger Mercado told DZBB radio of Manila.
"We lost power, and all roads are impassable because of fallen trees," he said. "We just have to pray."
Palmer of The Weather Channel said gusts of 220 mph had been recorded. "That is the equivalent of EF4 tornado winds — even EF5," he said. "You would not be able to stand up. It would knock you off your feet and blow you away."
Even so, Palmer warned that the storm surge presented the most danger. "Usually, that's what causes the most death and destruction," he said.
The storm surge flooded the town of Palo in Leyte province under 10 feet of water, the official government news agency, PNA, said Saturday. It said emergency officials were working to confirm local television reports that about 20 people drowned.
Transportation was deadlocked, with roads across the country rendered impassable.
Thirteen airports were closed and 118 domestic flights were canceled, the Civil Aviation Authority said Saturday morning. Almost 3,400 passengers on 76 sea vessels were stranded in port as they tried to ride out the storm, the national disaster said.
Meanwhile, evacuations were already under way in Vietnam and Laos, where Haiyan was projected to hit next. Meteorologists in Vietnam said it could be the country's strongest storm ever.
Elizabeth Chuck of NBC News contributed to this report.
NOAA via Reuters
Typhoon Haiyan in a NOAA satellite image Friday.
Related:
This story was originally published on Fri Nov 8, 2013 5:16 AM EST
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK Netanyahu takes to Twitter to rip Iran 'charm offensive'
#StopTheCharmOffensive. As hashtags go it didn’t exactly set the Twitter world on fire this week. But that wasn’t the point. The point was who created the hashtag – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As diplomats from the so-called P5+1 (The United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, France and Germany) sat down this week to negotiate a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, Israel was left on the sidelines. Netanyahu took to the newly-public microblogging site to make sure his nation's interests were heard. And he aimed his message - that Iran's new "moderate" face is not to be trusted - squarely at President Obama and all Americans.
Over two days, just before the nuclear talks in Geneva were due to begin, Netanyahu posted a series of pictures showing demonstrators in Tehran burning an American flag and carrying posters reading “Down with USA”. And he implored his nearly 200,000 followers to, “Retweet and Keep the Pressure On,” and, “Retweet and show the Real Face of #Iran.”
On the other side, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani used the same social media format to claim his country is serious about talks.
So now the app we use to show our friends what we’re eating, share with the world new tricks our dog just learned, and discuss the finale of "Breaking Bad" has become a tool for world leaders negotiating, or staking out positions on, the world’s most pressing problems? Seems that way.
The #newdiplomacy was hailed by America’s newest billionaire, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, when Rouhani first began tweeting back in September. Costolo wrote, via a Tweet of course, “I feel like i'm witnessing a tectonic shift in the geo-political landscape reading @HassanRouhani tweets. Fascinating."
And it certainly is fascinating. But can it possibly be a good thing? Nuclear negotiations in 140 characters? Video victories in six seconds? Border tweaks on Twitter?
The folks at Twitter think so. A senior Twitter employee, who asked not be identified because he works directly with the diplomatic community, told us that the strength of the medium for world leaders lies in the fact that it connects leaders with average citizens and average citizens with leaders in a conversation.
“It’s the global town square,” the employee said, “It puts everyone on a level playing field.” He likened Twitter to a return to “retail politics” where a TV interviewer or other moderator is taken out of the equation and everyone can talk directly. Of course, as the employee also said, having access to Twitter is like having a constant open microphone, so leaders have to weigh their words just as carefully.
But diplomats and leaders around the world are using this new tool with increasing frequency, at the very least to start a conversation. Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, told us Twitter has undoubtedly become “another tool for diplomacy.” He said it obviously doesn’t enable diplomats to get into the minutiae needed to get things done but that it, “can be an instrument for breaking the ice.”
If Netanyahu’s Twitter account is anything to go by, he’s using it less to break the ice, and more to shatter the rose tinted glasses he feels others are wearing when it comes to Iran. On Friday, as negotiators moved closer to an initial deal with Iran, he tweeted, “The Iranians are very satisfied right now, as they should be. They got everything, and paid nothing.”
As Khalilzad said, there may be some missing minutiae in a Tweet. But even without a seat at the negotiating table, Netanyahu got his message out to the world. #thenewdiplomacy.
Can the Victoria's Secret Fantasy bra predict the stock market?
1 hour ago
EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP - Getty Images
Model Candice Swanepoel poses next to Victorias Secret Royal Fantasy Bra Gift Set, which is valued at $10 million.
For $10 million, you could snap up more than 19,000 shares of Apple or perhaps a house in San Francisco like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Or you could buy a bra.
Likely the world's most expensive brassiere produced this year, the Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra is the highlight of the brand's annual fashion show, which kicks off its holiday selling season on Nov. 13. This year's bra and belt are handset in 18-karat gold and feature a 52-carat, pear-shaped center ruby plus more than 4,200 precious gems, including diamonds and yellow sapphires.
Victoria's Secret Angel Candice Swanepoel will be given the honor of modeling the bra at its public unveiling.
The undergarment's eye-popping price tag is the most expensive since 2005. Prices for the retailer's Fantasy Bras plunged during the recession and were a mere fraction of those created during the early 2000s, which begs the question: Is the Fantasy Bra an indicator of economic or market trends?
CNBC / Victoria's Secret
Tracking Fantasy Bra price against the S&P 500
Interestingly, prices of the Fantasy Bra tracked the S&P 500 higher and lower from 1996 to 2005 (with the exception of 2003) and again in 2009 and 2013. So market watchers may want to debate its merits along with those of the "hemline theory" attributed to Wharton economist George Taylor in the 1920s. (Under that theory, women wear shorter skirts during good times, and longer ones during bad ones.)
Before the bra hits the runway, CNBC reached out to Victoria's Secret to go behind the bra and find some interesting tidbits about this year's megamillions undergarment.
The manpower involved: The bra took 527 hours to complete, or nearly 22 days, with help from 14 craftspeople.
Selection process: Victoria's Secret executives pick the Fantasy Bra model and design in May. The fitting process for the undergarment begins at the end of May, nearly half a year before its catwalk debut. The brand works with many different fine jewelry designers, a list that can vary from year to year.
Measuring up: This specific bra required a body cast to be created to ensure perfect measurements.
And the lucky buyer is ...: No one typically, because most bras are eventually dismantled. So far, only one bra, last year's $2.5 million one, has found a buyer. Victoria's Secret declined to reveal the name of its owner.
This year, the bra will be held for a year and available for purchase during that time.
—By CNBC's Katie Little. Follow her on Twitter @KatieLittle.
Scenes from Lingerie Fashion Week
Lingerie for the 1 percent: 24-karat intimates
© 2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved
Caught on camera: Bus crashes into Texas house
>>>
look at this video on camera, it shows a harrowing crash after a car veered into the path of a bus. the bus crashed through trees into that house. amazingly the driver who was the only one on the bus at the time was not hurt. i don't think the same could be said for the house. it sustained a little bit of damage there.
Economy creates more jobs than expected in October
21 minutes ago
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Shutdown? What shutdown? The U.S. economy generated thousands of more jobs than expected last month, defying predictions that the 16-day government shutdown would slam hiring.
Forget the shutdown: Job creation surged in October despite dimmed expectations from the impasse in Washington.
There were a net 204,000 new jobs created for the month, though the unemployment rate rose to 7.3 percent. A separate measure that includes the underemployed and those who have quit looking also moved higher, from 13.6 percent to 13.8 percent.
The numbers easily topped economist expectations of 120,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs for the month, though it matched estimates for a slightly increase in the headline jobless rate.
"I find this bizarre," Moody's economist Mark Zandi told CNBC. "I wouldn't be surprised if this gets revised to some degree...down."
The data gave markets a jolt: Stock market futures that had indicated a higher opening turned lower, while interest rates spiked.
The numbers were expected to be noisy due in large part to the government shutdown and generally speaking have been on a modest downward trajectory lately. Heading into October, the economy was creating an average 185,000 jobs per month.
Softening in the data has tempered expectations for a change in Federal Reserve monetary policy. The central bank had been indicating earlier in the year that it might start pulling back on its $85 billion a month in bond purchases, but three meetings have gone by since taper talk began in May, with no changes.
This week, two teams of Fed economists presented papers suggesting that the unemployment rate probably should drop to 6 percent or 5.5 percent before increasing interest rates. The Fed's short-term target rate has remained near zero since the financial crisis.
—By CNBC's Jeff Cox. Follow him on Twitter @JeffCoxCNBCcom.
UNHAPPY MEAL Dad deemed unfit after denying son McDonald's
A Manhattan dad is not lovin’ McDonald’s right now.
Attorney David Schorr slapped a court-appointed shrink with a defamation lawsuit for telling the judge deciding a custody battle with his estranged wife that he was an unfit parent — for refusing to take his son to the fast food joint for dinner.
“You’d think it was sexual molestation,” Schorr, 43, told The Post Thursday. “I am just floored by it.”
Schorr says in his Manhattan Supreme Court suit that E. 97th Street psychiatrist Marilyn Schiller filed a report saying he was “wholly incapable of taking care of his son” and should be denied his weekend visitation over the greasy burger ban.
Schorr, a corporate attorney turned consultant with degrees from NYU and Oxford University, had planned to take his 4-year-old son to their usual restaurant, the Corner Café on Third Avenue, for his weekly Tuesday night visitation last week.
But the boy threw a temper tantrum and demanded McDonald’s. So he gave his son an ultimatum: dinner anywhere other than McDonald’s — or no dinner.
“The child, stubborn as a mule, chose the ‘no dinner’ option,” the disgruntled dad says in the suit.
“It was just a standoff. I’m kicking myself mightily,” Schorr said.
“I wish I had taken him to McDonalds, but you get nervous about rewarding bad behavior. I was concerned. I think it was a 1950s equivalent of sending your child to bed without dinner. That’s maybe the worst thing you can say about it,” he said.
Adding insult to injury, he said: “My wife immediately took him to McDonalds.”
Click here for more from the New York Post.
Melody malady: Clarinet player develops 'saxophone lung' from fungus
5 hours ago
Julija Sapic / Julija Sapic / Featurepics.com
A 68-year-old clarinet player in Atlanta developed a year-long allergic chest reaction to fungus that grew in his instrument.
A Dixieland band player who didn’t clean his clarinet for 30 years is recovering from a year-long allergic reaction caused by fungus that grew inside the reed instrument, experts said.
The 68-year-old unidentified Atlanta man came down with an intractable case of “saxophone lung,” an actual condition familiar to germ experts — and to persnickety musicians.
But he didn’t escape the notice of Dr. Marissa Shams and other researchers at the Emory University Adult Asthma, Allergy and Immunology Clinic, who planned to recount his ordeal at an annual scientific meeting in Baltimore Friday.
Saxophone lung is a rare type of hypersensitivity pneumonia, in which patients develop allergic pulmonary disease when they’re exposed to fungi that invade instruments — and are never removed. Basically, the musicians have allergic reactions to the mold that won’t let up, Shams said.
“He was playing very frequently, several nights a week,” she said. “Basically he was kind of breathing in this fungus.”
In the clarinet player’s case, he complained of coughing and wheezing that lasted a year and didn’t respond to any typical treatments, including inhalers, steroids and antibiotics. Doctors originally thought he had allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, a different kind of fungal reaction — until they heard about the clarinet.
When they X-rayed the guy’s chest, it was a mess of blockages and mucus and even a calcified lymph node, Shams said.
Tests showed the man was allergic to two fungi, Alternaria and Curvularia, while the clarinet reed and inside the instrument were positive for another mold, Exophilia.
“There was very impressive fungal growth on those,” Shams said.
Doctors gave the man more oral steroids, but it was only after he sterilized the clarinet that he got any better.
“As we’ve been following him, he has substantially improved,” she said.
Though the condition sounds strange, it’s actually well known to musicians. In March, a 78-year-old English bagpipe player, John Shone, reported that he nearly died after contacting a fungal lung infection from his dirty instrument.
In 2011, researchers at Tufts University led by Dr. Stuart Levy tested 20 instruments and found that nasty germs — including the bug that causes tuberculosis — can live for a few hours up to several days on wind instruments such as clarinets, flutes and saxophones.
Researchers never did learn why the man didn’t clean his clarinet, Shams said. But after they showed him the connection between the fungus and his illness, he started sterilizing regularly.
“We were happy to help him,” Shams said. “This is not the typical allergy and asthma patient that we see in our clinic.”
JoNel Aleccia is a senior health reporter with NBC News. Reach her on Twitter at @JoNel_Aleccia or send her an email.
Hundreds help evangelist Billy Graham celebrate his 95th birthday
ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- U.S. evangelist Billy Graham, who helped transform Christianity in America during seven decades in the pulpit, marked his 95th birthday on Thursday with a rare public appearance among close to 900 people who gathered to celebrate his life.
Graham, who is frail but mentally alert, received a standing ovation as he was wheeled into a huge ballroom at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, a mountain town near the home of the minister.
"He so positively impacted people," said former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who attended the party along with real estate tycoon Donald Trump, Fox News host Greta Van Susteren and hundreds of other Graham admirers.
"His is the message of truth," Palin added.
Trump sat by Graham's side as singers including Michael W. Smith, Ricky Skaggs and Kathie Lee Gifford serenaded him with "Happy Birthday."
Graham, dubbed "America's Pastor," is considered one of the most important figures in modern Christianity.
In his prime he counseled U.S. presidents and preached to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history, including being the first noted evangelist to take his message to countries living under Communist rule, according to his organization, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Though widely admired, he was not without controversy. In 2002, he apologized after the release of secretly recorded tapes from 1972 in which he and President Richard Nixon agreed that liberal Jews dominated the U.S. news media. Graham was heard saying the Jewish "stranglehold has got to be broken or the country's going down the drain."
Graham has not preached publicly since 2006 and spoke only briefly to the crowd that feted him with dinner and cupcakes for about two hours on Thursday.
He thanked his longtime music director, Cliff Barrows, who traveled with Graham to religious crusades and rallies around the world. He also praised the Army service of a grandson sitting at his table.
Graham's wife, Ruth, with whom he had five children, died in 2007.
The birthday event kicked off with the screening of a new public message Graham filmed as part of the largest-ever evangelism effort by his organization.
The video, titled "The Cross," could be Graham's final sermon. In it, he calls for a spiritual awakening in America.
Several speakers at the event noted Graham disliked having attention focused on his works, instead wanting the focus to be on God.
"God never calls us to be famous, but if we are faithful he may grant it to us," Skaggs said. "(Graham) is so simple and down to Earth."
--Reuters
Teen who vanished in 2004: I was drugged at party, taken to Mexico against my will
By Brendan O'Brien, Reuters
MILWAUKEE - A Wisconsin woman who was a teenager when she disappeared nine years ago has been located in Mexico, living there with her husband and three children, police said on Thursday.
Connie McCallister was 16 when she disappeared in 2004. She called her mother a few days later but refused to say where she was.
McCallister, now 25, recently told police that she was drugged at a party and her boyfriend took her to Mexico against her will.
Once in Mexico, McCallister said their relationship turned abusive, according to Judy Weise, a family friend. She later married another man.
"She has wanted to come home ever since, but it's a very impoverished area and she didn't have any idea where to start," Weise said.
McCallister's plight came to light in September when she met a missionary in Mexico. It's not clear if the missionary recognized her or if she asked for help.
The missionary later contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and police in Wausau, Wisconsin, which covers Athens where her family lived when she disappeared.
Police contacted McCallister through Skype in September. McCallister said she wished to return to the United States, but needed identification for her three children, police said.
Wausau police contacted the FBI regarding the case. Police said McCallister has filed paperwork for her and her three children to return to the United States and said she hopes her husband will be able to follow.
This story was originally published on Fri Nov 8, 2013 4:14 AM EST
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Kamis, 07 November 2013
'JOY OF MY LIFE' Cops Taser man trying to save stepson from fire
The family of a 3-year-old killed in a northern Missouri house fire early Oct. 31 says it is outraged after police used a stun gun to subdue the boy's stepfather as he tried to run back into the burning house to rescue the boy.
Riley Miller, the boy, died in the fire at the home in the town of Louisiana. A city police officer fired his stun gun at the stepfather, Ryan Miller, as he tried to re-enter the burning home. Authorities at the scene reportedly determined it was too dangerous to make an attempt to save the boy.
"He was the joy of my life"
- Ryan Miller
Lori Miller, the boy's grandmother, says she witnessed two officers use the stun gun three times, twice after Ryan Miller had been handcuffed. Miller suffered chest burns and was later released from the city jail without being charged.
City Administrator Bob Jenne called the police response a "judgment call.” A firefighter tried unsuccessfully to enter the home and it was deemed too hot for the stepfather to enter.
KSDK.com reports that Ryan Miller, who was dressed in pajamas at the time, pulled his shirt over his head and tried to kick in the front door. Jenne told the station police had no choice but to Taser the stepfather. Connecttristates.com reports that the town is expecting a lawsuit from the family.
"He was my best friend," Ryan Miller told The Louisiana Press-Journal. "He was everybody's best friend. If you would have met him, you would have loved him. He was the joy of my life."
The scene was intense. When firefighters arrived, flames were shooting out of the two-story house. The Press-Journal reports that the boy's mother and stepfather were able to exit the backdoor of the house after an unsuccessful attempt to get to the boy sleeping in another room. In all, it reportedly took firefighters eight hours to put out the fire. Investigators do not suspect any foul play.
Click for more from The Louisiana Press-Journal
Obama: 'No way' I would have dumped Biden from 2012 ticket
By Carrie Dann, NBC News
President Barack Obama would have refused to take Vice President Joe Biden off the Democratic ticket in 2012, he told NBC’s Chuck Todd Thursday, calling Biden “one of the best vice presidents in our history” and saying his selection of the Delaware senator as his running mate was “one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made.”
Political journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann reveal little-known secrets of the 2012 presidential election in their new book, "Double Down," including reports that President Obama's top aides considered replacing VP Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the 2012 election.
In an exclusive interview, Obama dismissed a report that his campaign poll-tested dumping Biden in favor of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as would-be leakers trying to “seem important.” But he said he would have flatly rejected the suggestion of removing Biden from his team.
“If they had asked me, I would have said there is no way that I am not running again with Joe Biden,” he said.
The reported consideration of a ticket swap was revealed by authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann in a new book, Double Down: Game Change 2012.
Calling his second-in-command “a personal friend” and “one of my most important advisors on domestic and foreign policy,” Obama said that he and Biden have since spoken since the book's release and that the vice president knows “I would not be here if it weren’t for the support that I have had from Joe Biden.”
“I like him,” Obama added. “When my back’s up against the wall, he has my back.”
Sharon Osbourne: 'View' hosts can go (bleep) themselves
2 hours ago
Sharon Osbourne of "The Talk" didn't mince words on "The Arsenio Hall Show" when Hall asked her about competing talk show "The View."
After emptying her red plastic cup of an unidentified beverage, Osbourne tossed the cup over her shoulder and got down to business.
"Let's cut to the chase," she said. "Cut to the chase! Stop being polite! The situation is ... Barbara. Idolize her. Divine. She is superhuman. I love Barbara Walters. The rest can go (bleep) themselves."
Osbourne and the other "Talk" hosts were all appearing on Hall's show, and while Osbourne was blunt about "The View," she was equally honest about other entertainment and newsy issues Hall brought up.
When the name of Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's doctor, came up, Osbourne at first didn't know who he was. When Hall explained it was Jackson's doctor, who just left prison after serving time for involuntary manslaughter in the singer's death, Osbourne declared Murray a "hideous little man."
Hall also mentioned that Germany was now allowing parents to leave the gender blank on birth certificates in a nod to the small number of babies born with indeterminate sex organs, Osbourne taught the American audience some new British slang.
"They have willies and toonties," she said of the rare births. "And I think it's quite fabulous to have both."
When Hall asked the hosts about Khloe Kardashian Odom's husband Lamar Odom, who's battled substance abuse issues, Osbourne said the couple needed to give things a chance. "It's only a bit of crack, darling," she said. "Just stick in there, it'll all be fine. Let's all drink to Khloe!"
CALL OF DUTY Marines on deck to take on Somali pirates
Pirates, beware — the U.S. Marine Corps could be coming to troubled waters near you.
As armed pirates continue to terrorize waters off Africa’s west coast at three times the rate than their Somali counterparts on the continent’s eastern coast, Marine officials are considering expanding its presence in and around the Gulf of Guinea to ward off piracy and other threats. Capt. Eric Flanagan, a Marine Corps spokesman, told FoxNews.com the force would be an extension of a larger crisis-response team established earlier this year in Spain to handle emergencies in northern Africa.
“What we’re doing is looking at potential extension of that same force,” Flanagan said. “With the current fiscal environment, it’s about the Marine Corps maintaining presence without the need for amphibious shipping.”
"At the moment, some of these things are still in the works, but this a potential response that the Marine Corps can provide."
- Capt. Eric Flanagan, Marines Corps spokesman
The speculative plan, first reported by Foreign Policy, would include the force of about 550 Marines and six MV-22B Ospreys, allowing quick transport for Leathernecks around the globe, Flanagan said.
“They can take off like a helicopter and fly like a plane,” he said of the aircraft. “We’re looking to have these crisis-response teams to be able to put Marines in various places so we can respond to a lot of high-threat areas.”
Similar crisis-response teams are also being considered for the Middle East and the Caribbean, according to Flanagan, who stressed the plan remains in early stages and likely a year or longer from actual deployment unless conditions in the area decline. But with a Navy ship stationed in or near the Gulf of Guinea, Flanagan said Marines could quickly respond to situations in northwest Africa and beyond.
“It’s being considered,” Flanagan continued. “At the moment, some of these things are still in the works, but this a potential response that the Marine Corps can provide.”
Lt. Gen. Richard Tryon detailed the possible extension during an Oct. 30 speech accompanied by a slide that depicted a single ship based in the Gulf of Guinea off Nigeria, where 30 reported piracy incidents have occurred this year, including two hijackings, according to the International Chamber of Commerce’s Maritime Bureau. By comparison, just 11 reported incidents, including two hijackings, have occurred off Somalia. Globally, 206 incidents and 11 hijackings have been tallied this year, according to statistics provided by the organization.
Separately, the International Maritime Bureau reported last month that attacks in the gulf were up by one-third, with more than 40 piracy attacks this year. A total of 32 crew members were taken off the coast of Nigeria, compared to two off Togo’s coast to the west. About 30 percent of U.S. oil and 40 percent of European crude supplies navigate the treacherous waters, according to The Soufan Group, a global security intelligence firm.
In October, two U.S. mariners were kidnapped off the coast of Nigeria from an American-flagged oil supply vessel. Rebels in the oil-rich Niger Delta later told The Associated Press that they had been contacted by the kidnappers and said a rescue operation was underway. And while almost all foreigners kidnapped are released once ransoms are paid, U.S. State Department officials told FoxNews.com that no new information pertaining to the kidnapping victims was available as of Thursday.
An email reportedly from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta to The Associated Press late last month indicated that the Americans were captured by a "heavily armed auxiliary outfit" off the town of Brass in the Gulf of Guinea.
"The Americans will not be handed over for our direct custody but we will have the influence to visit them and ensure that they are well looked after until their subsequent release," the statement said.
A U.S. civilian kidnapped last year from Nigeria's oil-refining city of Warri was freed after a week in captivity. Nigeria's navy has rescued at least two hostages this year and reported killing several pirates in counterattacks to prevent ship hijackings, The Associated Press reports.
Piracy, however, would not likely be the “top priority” for the new force ultimately put in place off Africa’s west coast, Flanagan said. Other potential missions could include embassy reinforcement or humanitarian assistance. But by simply being visible in the area, he said, Marines could potentially thwart would-be acts of piracy and serve as a formidable impediment.
In addition to clamping down on piracy, the forces could theoretically play a role in protecting U.S. and Western interests on Africa’s mainland, where the militant group Boko Haram has clashed with Christians and the oil-rich nation’s government.
“Not having to fire a shot is probably the best outcome we could hope for,” Flanagan told FoxNews.com. “But the overall goal would be to have Marines in the region who can act as a deterrent.”
Max Hoffman, a research associate at the Center for American Progress, questioned whether the potential force deployment is “absolutely necessary” since most of the attacks occur fairly close to shore and are related to the oil production in Nigeria.
“It would be a pretty big tool for a fairly small nail,” Hoffman told FoxNews.com. “The question becomes could the resources of a Marine deployment in the region be better utilized building local capabilities to combat these problems.”
As the Marines now pivot from Iraq and Afghanistan to other parts of the world, Hoffman said Africa is becoming a “major focus” and for good reason. But he also questioned what would follow if Marines do eventually engage with pirates in the Gulf of Guinea or elsewhere off Africa.
“It would raise questions as to what are the rules of engagement,” Hoffman said. “What happens if a vessel is seized and they go to the territorial waters off Nigeria? Do the Marines follow?”
First Thoughts: GOP rivals begin dishing on Christie
GOP rivals begin dishing on Chris Christie… Christie embraces being the front-runner -- and the risks that come with it… Damage control: Troubled Obamacare rollout remains in the news… Don’t overlook the most important reasons why Cuccinelli lost in Virginia: abortion and birth control… And “All in the Family”: Jimmy Carter’s grandson becomes the latest political scion to run for office in 2014.
By Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Jessica Taylor, NBC News
*** GOP rivals begin dishing on Christie: So this is what happens the day after you win a 22-point re-election victory and after the national media anoint you as the GOP establishment front-runner for a presidential race that’s still three years (!!!) away: Potential Republican rivals begin taking not-so-subtle shots at you. That’s exactly what happened to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) yesterday. "Clearly [Christie] was able to speak to the hopes and aspirations of people within New Jersey,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told CNN. “That's important. We want to win everywhere and Gov. Christie has certainly shown he has a way of winning in New Jersey, in states like New Jersey... so I congratulate him on that." In other words, as TPM put it, Rubio was saying, “Try replicating this outside of New Jersey.” Here was Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): "I think the Republican Party is a big party, and we need moderates like Chris Christie who can win in New Jersey in our party.” Hear that? Christie is a “moderate,” per Paul, who also knocked the Hurricane Sandy TV ads Christie ran in his re-election effort. And here was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX): “I think it is terrific that he is brash, that he is outspoken, and that he won his race,” Cruz told ABC. “But I think we need more leaders in Washington with the courage to stand for principle. And in particular, Obamacare is not working.” It was a pretty obvious reference to Christie’s decision to expand Medicaid in his state.
Mike Segar / REUTERS
Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses his supporters at his election night party in Asbury Park, New Jersey, November 5, 2013.
*** Embracing being the front-runner -- and the risks that come with it: If Christie does run for president, this exactly the line of attack his Republican rivals will pursue: This guy is not one of us. He’s from New Jersey. His state has legalized gay marriage. He’s expanded Medicaid. And he’s expressed some gun-control and pro-immigration-reform views. But so far, Christie has embraced being the GOP establishment front-runner. As NBC’s Carrie Dann and Mike O’Brien wrote about his LONG post-election news conference yesterday, Christie drank all the 2016 chatter. “It’s complimentary. It’s flattering and I have no problem with it,” he said. “But I want to be really clear about this: I have a job to do. I got re-elected to do a job last night, and that’s the job I’m going to do.” Like John McCain and Bill Clinton, Christie seems to love the press and press conferences, at least after a 22-point re-election win. But embracing being front-runner -- three years out, mind you -- has its own risks. After all, at this point in the 2008 cycle, neither of the front-runners (Hillary Clinton or Rudy Giuliani) won their party’s nomination. And the early presidential birds (think John Edwards, Tim Pawlenty) usually don’t get the worm. Just something to chew on.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, addresses U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius at Wednesday's hearing on Capitol Hill concerning the rollout of healthcare.gov.
*** Troubled Obamacare rollout remains in the news: Turning to the current occupant of the White House, the troubled health-care rollout remains in the news -- and it won’t go away until there’s proof the website is up and running by Nov. 30. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was grilled by both Republican and Democratic senators yesterday. “Right off the bat, this is unacceptable. It has been disappointing to hear members of the administration say they didn't see the problems coming,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) said, per NBC’s Ali Weinberg. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was more critical hitting President Obama over his past pledge that Americans could keep their health-care plans if they liked them (which we’ve found out isn’t true for those who get their insurance on the private market). “We know that lying to Congress is a crime, but unfortunately, lying to the American people is not,” he said at the Sebelius hearing. And then we learned that Obama met with Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2014 to discuss the troubled health-care rollout. That allowed these Dems to vent their frustrations – to Obama and in press releases. “It is simply unacceptable for Alaskans to bear the brunt of the administration’s mismanagement of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and that is the message,” Sen. Mark Begich’s (D-AK) office blasted to reporters yesterday, according to Roll Call. Many of the other Democratic incumbent senators seeking re-election in 2014 put out similar statements. The White House is in political damage control mode this week and the meeting with the Senate Dems up in 2014 was about assuaging their fears but also giving them a forum to show their constituents back home that they are standing up to the president.
*** Don’t overlook the most important reasons why Cuccinelli lost -- abortion and birth control: So much has been said about the role that the health-care law and government shutdown played in Virginia’s gubernatorial race. But here’s what might be the most-overlooked issue of the race -- abortion and the female vote. Ask yourself: How did Ken Cuccinelli (R) win on the pocketbook issue of the economy (49%-43%) and health care (49%-45%), but lose the race? Ask any political consultant worth his/her salt and that person would tell you, if you win on the economy, you win. That didn’t happen. Cuccinelli lost. And he lost on the issue of abortion by a whopping 59%-34% margin. What’s more, not only did Terry McAuliffe win female voters by nine points (51%-42%), he also won non-married women by 42 points (67%-25%). There’s also this: While just 46% said they supported the health-care law, only 34% said abortion should be ILLEGAL in all or most cases. And Republican pollster Byron Allen said the GOP shortcoming in Virginia wasn’t abortion; it was birth control. “While I’m convinced by data and experience that pro-life candidates can win in swing states, it’s becoming equally clear that we have handed Democrats an issue on a silver platter by arguing over birth-control, whether it’s government funding or mandates in Obamacare.” You can argue if the Obamacare issue tightened the race. But we know why Cuccinelli lost in purple Virginia: abortion and birth control.
*** All in the family: Former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson, Jason Carter (D), is going to run for Georgia governor next year, and so he might be on a Democratic ticket that also has former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA)’s daughter on it -- Michelle Nunn, who’s running for the Senate. Indeed, here’s a reminder of all the other famous names and relatives who are going to be running in 2014 or who are up for re-election:
-- Liz Cheney (daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney)
-- George P. Bush (son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush)
-- Gwen Graham (daughter of former Sen. Bob Graham, D-FL).
-- Shelley Moore Capito (daughter of former WV Gov. Arch Moore).
-- Mark Begich (son of the late Rep. Nick Begich, D-AK)
-- Mary Landrieu (daughter of former New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu and brother to current Mayor Mitch Landrieu
-- Mark Pryor (son of former Arkansas Gov. and Sen. David Pryor).
-- Andrew Cuomo (son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo)
-- Jerry Brown (son of former California Gov. Pat Brown)
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Rabu, 06 November 2013
Feds give health centers $150 million to treat 1.25 million new patients
2 hours ago
John Brecher / NBC News
Physician assistant Mable Dunn examines a patient at Mary's Center, a community health center in Washington, D.C. The government announced $150 million in new grants to community health centers like Mary's Center.
The federal government announced Thursday it will give community health centers $150 million to help hire more staff, buy equipment and rent space to treat more than a million new patients.
The grants are meant to help the health centers absorb some of the people expected to start seeking care — many for the first time — as they gain health insurance under the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
“This allows health centers to hire physicians, nurse practitioners, medical assistants to expand their capacity to be able to provide services to new patients,” said Mary Wakefield, administration of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
The cash will support 236 health centers across the country, Wakefield told reporters in a conference call, allowing them to add 1.25 million new patients.
There are about 1,200 federally qualified community health centers across the country. They started out as grassroots organizations, and in 1965, the federal government started giving them money when it became clear they were filling gaps in the messy U.S. health care system.
The Health and Human Services Department estimates they provide care now to 21 million people.
“Since the beginning of 2009, health centers have added 4 million patients and more than 35,000 new full-time positions,” HRSA, which falls under HHS, said in a statement.
HHS looks to them not only to fill gaps in coverage, but as centers where people who need help the most can learn about the provisions of the Affordable Care Act that could make them eligible for heavily subsidized health insurance, or coverage under Medicaid.
Groups such as the Association of American Medical Colleges project a shortage of 90,000 medical doctors by 2020 as the population increases and ages — and as more people gain the ability to pay for treatment through new insurance marketplaces and expanded Medicaid programs.
“Health centers are key partners in the improving access to quality, affordable health care services for those who need it most. With new, affordable health insurance options available under the Affordable Care Act, community health centers are also key partners in helping uninsured residents sign up for health coverage — many of whom have been locked out of the health insurance market for years,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.
CREATION COINCIDENCE? Clay may have started life on Earth, study suggests
A new study suggests clay may have been the birthplace of life on Earth.
Cornell University researchers found that clay may have served as the first breeding ground for the complex biochemicals that make life possible, a finding that may reverberate with anyone familiar with the Biblical creation story.
“We propose that in early geological history, clay hydrogel provided a confinement function for biomolecules and biochemical reactions,” said Dan Luo, professor of biological and environmental engineering and a member of the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, according to Science Daily.
The clay absorbs liquids like a sponge and acts as the perfect place for chemicals to react with one another to form proteins, DNA and eventually living cells.
According to the Old Testament, God made the first man Adam from earth or clay. Adam comes from the Hebrew word adamah, which means earth. The Quaran, Greek mythology and other creation stories also say God molded man from clay.
Scientists found that the clay hydrogel could have protected the chemical processes until the membrane that surrounds living cells fully developed.
The study cites further evidence, nothing that geological history shows the first appearance of clay to be at the same time biomolecules began to form into cell-like structures.
How the biological machines evolved remains to be explained, Luo said. Luo and his fellow researchers are still trying to figure out why clay hydrogel is such a successful material in cell-free protein production.
Lululemon co-founder on too-sheer yoga pants: Not for 'some women's bodies'
2 hours ago
NBC
In March 2013, Lululemon had to recall some of its popular yoga pants for being too sheer.
A few months back, Lululemon Athletica’s too-sheer yoga pants transformed some women’s workouts into unintentional peep shows. This week a company co-founder spoke out about the fabric flap, calling it a “mistake” on Lululemon’s part and also attributing some of the problems to certain women’s body types.
“Frankly, some women’s bodies just don’t actually work” for the yoga pants, Chip Wilson said Tuesday in an interview on Bloomberg TV’s “Street Smart” program.
“They don't work for some women’s bodies,” Wilson continued. “It’s really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time and how they much they use it.”
In March, Lululemon had to recall some of its popular black yoga pants for being too sheer. Although the materials used in the pants were the same, the coverage was not, “resulting in a level of sheerness in some of our women’s black Luon bottoms that fall short of our very high standards,” Lululemon said in a press release at the time.
The pants taken out of circulation made up about 17 percent of all women’s bottoms sold by the chain, the company said.
Lululemon has been fielding complaints ever since, both about fabric that snags and pills easily and about customer service. The company shared a statement about those issues with NBCNews.com last Friday.
"Quality is of utmost importance to us and we want to offer our guests Luon product(s) that they love," the statement said. "If any guest is experiencing an issue with their product that they believe to be related to quality, we encourage them to visit their local store or call our Guest Education Center so we can make it right."
On Tuesday, Wilson described Lululemon as a technology company that specializes in “an actual physical product”: women’s clothing.
“There’s one thousand things that could go wrong on a technical fabric, and when three of those things go wrong at any one time, something’s going to happen,” said Wilson, Lululemon’s former chief executive officer. “It’s almost impossible to build a quality-control case for each one of those combinations.”
At one point, Bloomberg’s Trish Regan stopped to ask Wilson: “Interesting, not every woman can wear a Lululemon yoga pant?”
“No, I think they can,” Wilson answered. “I just think it’s how you use it.”