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Mother launches Facebook campaign against former teacher moving in with teen
Published March 02, 2012| FoxNews.com
MODESTO, Calif. – ?A California school teacher has quit his job and left his wife and kids to move into an apartment with an 18-year-old student less than half his age.
The Modesto Bee says the teen's mother, Tammie Powers, has waged a Facebook campaign against the teacher since her daughter moved out of the family's home last week and into a Modesto apartment with 41-year-old James Hooker.
Powers hopes the publicity resulting from the 'James Hooker to Jail Page' will put Hooker in legal jeopardy
Hooker quit his teaching job at Enochs High School last week and left his wife and children, one of them an Enochs student, to live with Enochs senior Jordan Powers.
Hooker first met powers when she was a freshman in high school, but maintains that their physical relationship did not begin until she was 18.?
Power's mother said she has evidence that the pair had inappropriate relations long before and she believes he abused his authority as a teacher.?
Modesto police are investigating whether there was inappropriate contact before the girl turned 18 last fall.
Hooker acknowledges the couple hurt a lot of people, but says they decided to follow their hearts. Jordan said she knew that many people did not understand the nature of the relationship.
"[He's] my best friend. I mean he's more than just a lover," she said.?
Click here to read more from the Modesto Bee.?
NewsCore contributed to this report.?
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2012年3月4日星期日
Bomb squad called to Rush Limbaugh's Florida home
Published March 01, 2012| Associated Press
PALM BEACH, Fla. – ?Authorities say a suspicious package sent to Rush Limbaugh's South Florida home was not dangerous or hazardous.
Instead, police say the item investigated Thursday turned out to be an electronic plaque sent by a listener of the radio talk show host's program as a "business opportunity" for him. It concerned the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth.
A Palm Beach police spokesman said during a news conference the package was delivered late Thursday afternoon.?
When it was screened by an X-ray device, staff members saw what appeared to be wires and called police. The Palm Beach Post reports that a sheriff's office bomb squad went to the home to investigate the package.
The sender apologized when investigators contacted him.
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Wealthy New York widow accused of keeping domestic slave
Published March 02, 2012| New York Post
REXFORD, N.Y – ?A wealthy upstate New York widow allegedly turned her multimillion-dollar mansion into a "forced labor" camp where her helpless immigrant maid worked 17-hour days for years while sleeping in a closet.
Annie George, whose real-estate mogul husband, Mathai, died in a 2009 plane crash, allegedly made the woman cook meals, clean the 30,000-square-foot property and care for the family's six children, according to a federal criminal complaint.
The maid -- who was identified in court papers only as "V.M." -- told officials she spent her nights sleeping on the floor of a closet in the children's bedroom.
The maid said she rarely left her employer's mansion in Rexford, N.J., which has 34 rooms, five bathrooms and 10 bedrooms and sits on 12 acres.
The servant, who is an illegal immigrant from India, told officials that she took the job in 2005 with the promise of a $1,000-a-week salary. In nearly six years, however, she was paid only $29,000, a criminal complaint said.
To read more on this story, see the New York Post article here.
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Son won't evict 98-year-old mom from Connecticut home
Published March 02, 2012| Associated Press
A Connecticut man has withdrawn a lawsuit trying to evict his 98-year-old mother and will allow her to remain in her home, his attorney said Thursday.
Peter Kantorowski ended the lawsuit against his mother, Mary, that caused an uproar a day before the case was going to trial in Bridgeport Superior Court, said his attorney, Nick D'Agosto.
"This has never been about displacing Mary necessarily from that home," D'Agosto said. "She always would have had a place to live."
D'Agosto said Thursday that his client has been vilified but in fact cares deeply about his mother. He says Kantorowski wanted his mother to live with him because he was concerned about issues such as her level of care and supervision and living conditions, such as a lack of food, but she didn't want to leave the home in Fairfield.
"He felt his choices were limited in trying to accomplish what he was trying to accomplish," D'Agosto said.
Mary Kantorowski's attorney, Richard Bortolot Jr., said she can take of herself. He said she still does some of her own cooking and is seen regularly in her home by doctors and nurses.
"She's very relieved and very pleased that she does not have to go to trial tomorrow," Bortolot said. "I think it was the right thing to do."
Peter Kantorowski believed the house should be sold, D'Agosto said, contending the family couldn't afford the home with high taxes.
"He's obviously come to the conclusion that if this is what his mother wants and what she thinks is best and what her court-appointed conservator thinks is best there's no sense continuing on with the fight," D'Agosto said. "He's not going to continue to try and fight that while the press is vilifying him into someone who is trying to evict his mother."
Kantorowski hopes the attention from the case will ensure his mother is well cared for, his attorney said.
Peter Kantorowski, 71, became the owner of the Fairfield home several years ago when his mother transferred ownership to him but retained the right to live there, in what's known as a quit claim, Mary Kantorowski's attorney said. Kantorowski served his mother with an eviction notice shortly before her 98th birthday in December.
A judge ruled she was competent and appointed Bortolot to represent her in the eviction proceedings.
Mary Kantorowski said earlier this month she wouldn't leave the small yellow house she's been in since 1953, raising her two sons and cooking for the church she attended daily. She said her late husband wanted her to stay in the house, which she says is her "everything," until she died.
"I don't know why he wants me to leave," she said.
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Coroner: Davy Jones died of heart attack
Published March 01, 2012| Associated Press
An autopsy confirms that Davy Jones, star of 1960s band The Monkees, died of a heart attack.
The medical examiner's office in Martin County, Fla., says authorities completed their examination Thursday morning, a day after Jones was rushed to the hospital. Toxicology tests could take another six or eight weeks, but there's no sign anything else is to blame for the 66-year-old heartthrob's death.
Jones rocketed to stardom in the 1960s as a member of The Monkees, a made-for-TV rock band patterned after the Beatles. Though their televisioin show lasted just two years and the group ultimately broke up, they have endured with such chart-topping hits as "I'm a Believer" and "Daydream Believer."
A spokeswoman for Jones says funeral arrangements have not yet been made.
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2012年3月3日星期六
Schumer urges Saudis to pump up oil production as gas prices rise
As Republicans call for a domestic drilling surge to counter rising gas prices, Sen. Chuck Schumer is leading a charge on the Democratic side to tackle the country's energy woes with pumped-up production overseas.?
The New York senator earlier this week wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her department to convince Saudi Arabia to increase production.?
"While Iran plays games with oil production to punish the international community for holding them accountable for their rush to develop nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia has the capacity to blunt Iran's influence by increasing its production levels to capacity," Schumer said in a written statement.
Republicans, though, have been quick to assail Schumer's idea.?
Both parties have stressed the importance of weaning the U.S. off foreign oil. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the latest call to seek Saudi assistance is "wrong."?
"Why doesn't he start urging the president to start producing it here in America?" McCarthy said. "Not only can we produce it and lower the price -- we can create jobs, what this country desires. They are wrong."?
McCarthy and other Republicans have pressed the Obama administration to make approval of the entire Canada-to-Texas Keystone pipeline a first order of business, in addition to opening up new areas of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico to drilling.?
The administration, though, has staunchly defended its record on seeking energy independence. President Obama has said there is no "silver bullet" to deal with the short-term problem of rising gas prices - now at a national average $3.74 a gallon.?
According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. dependence on foreign oil has declined since its peak in 2005. The agency estimates that the U.S. now imports about 49 percent of its petroleum, with about a quarter of that coming from Canada. About 12 percent comes from Saudi Arabia.?
The American Petroleum Institute, though, estimates that the percentage of petroleum imports is actually at about 57 percent as of December, slightly higher than it was a year earlier.
Regardless, Schumer's office defended the senator's call for more Saudi production.?
"(Republican critics) are being obtuse," Schumer spokesman Brian Fallon said. "Nothing being proposed by the Republicans would bring relief to consumers at the pump as quickly as the Saudis stepping up exports to offset the effect created by Iran."?
Schumer's letter to Clinton noted that Saudi Arabia is averaging about 10 million barrels of oil a day, short of its 12.5-million-barrel capacity.?
"These lower production levels have a negative impact on global markets," he wrote.?
Schumer went on to warn that Iranian threats and interventions have shaken the markets and could end up harming the American economic recovery, suggesting immediate action by the Saudis could offset that impact.?
Meanwhile, other Democrats have started to call on the Obama administration to release oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.?
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said the country needs to "protect American consumers" from Iran's saber-rattling by releasing the oil.?
The Obama administration has not said whether it would consider taking that step, though it did so last summer.
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Ohio teen charged with 3 juvenile counts of aggravated murder in school shooting
An Ohio 17-year-old has been charged with three juvenile counts of aggravated murder in a school shooting that killed three fellow students and wounded two more.?
Geauga County prosecutor David Joyce announced the charges against T.J. Lane Thursday.?Lane was also charged with two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault.?
It's the first step in proceedings that could see him charged as an adult and facing the possibility of life without parole if convicted.?
The charges were filed on the same day students still reeling from the killings of three classmates marched to return to Chardon High School as it re-opened.?
A judge said prosecutors had until Thursday to file charges against Lane, a thin, quiet teen accused of opening fire on a group of students sitting at a cafeteria table at 1,100-student Chardon High School on Monday.?
Chardon High School football coach Frank Hall, who is credited with chasing Lane from the building, addressed reporters in a press conference after the charges were announced.?
"I'm sorry, my thoughts and prayers are still with you. To the families of Danny, Demetrius and Russell, I want you to know I was with them," he said.?
"I prayed with them, I wiped their tears, and I know God was with them," Hall said.?
"I only wish I could have done more. I'm not a hero, just a football coach and a study hall teacher," Hall continued. He praised the law enforcement officials and first responders and called them the "heroes" that day.?
"All of this outpouring support has empowered all of us in the schools to begin the process of reconnecting," Joseph Bergant, superintendent of Chardon Local Schools said in a press conference.?
Prosecutors were expected to ask that Lane be tried as an adult.
Lane had been in trouble before, accused of choking and punching another male in an assault case from 2009, according to court records released Wednesday by Judge Timothy Grendell. Lane entered the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty plea to a reduced misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and was given a suspended sentence of up to 30 days in jail.
Grendell wouldn't say if there are other files on Lane that might be covered by a law allowing certain records to be withheld.
Longtime neighbors and friends on Wednesday expressed disbelief at how Lane could be the suspect, describing a boy from a broken family who had struggled in school but appeared to improve once he began staying with his grandparents and attending an alternative school with several dozen students.
"He went from flunking out, from what I understand, to almost a straight-A student with honors and he was going to graduate a year early," said Russ Miller, who has known Lane for more than a decade and lives near Jack Nolan, Lane's grandfather. Nolan has familial custody of the teenager.
Miller, a Vietnam veteran, said he had talked to Lane about joining the military, but the boy hadn't made plans.
"He was a typical 17-year-old," Miller said. "He didn't really know what he wanted to do in his life." He said Lane didn't smoke, drink or do drugs and is "kind of a health nut."
Another neighbor said Lane played outside often with his sister, building snow hills and skateboarding.
Steve Sawczak, a pastor who has worked with troubled children and lives next to the Nolans, said he never saw hints of trouble from Lane. He said the grandparents gave Lane a healthy place to live and have been left shocked and devastated.
Lane's father, Thomas Lane, had served time in prison on charges of disrupting public service and felonious assault, according to state prison records. Neighbors said he visited his son often, sometimes taking him and his sister camping or to the school to catch the bus.
Joyce has described the younger Lane as "someone who's not well" and said the teen didn't know the victims but chose them randomly. Killed were Demetrius Hewlin, 16, Russell King Jr., 17, and Daniel Parmertor, 16.
Hewlin's parents told ABC News they have forgiven Lane for shooting their son, noting that Demetrius was often late for school, but not late enough on Monday.
Demetrius' mother Phyllis Ferguson said Wednesday she doesn't know what her son's last moments were like, but she can't worry about that.
"You have to accept things and move on," she said.
When asked what she would say to the suspected shooter, Ferguson said, "I would tell him I forgive him because, a lot of times, they don't know what they're doing. That's all I'd say." Hewlin's parents said they are donating his organs. Their son would have turned 17 next week.
An 18-year-old girl who was hurt in the shootings was released from the hospital Tuesday and was home with relatives, who declined to comment. The second injured teen remained in serious condition Wednesday at a suburban Cleveland hospital.
Meanwhile, the faculty parking lot at Chardon High was jammed as teachers returned to the school, with grief counselors on hand. Parents and students were encouraged to return to the school Thursday, a day before classes resume.
The students, many with their parents and wearing the school colors of red and black, started the day gathered around a courthouse square gazebo, quietly singing the alma mater.
Students hugged the parents and one another they left the gazebo, which was decorated with a growing memorial of red roses and carnations, stuffed animals, burned-down candles and handwritten messages of support.
Six hand-drawn angels graced a plastic-covered piece of cardboard with the wish "May God Bless everybody in Chardon." Two bunches of black and white balloons tied to the gazebo railing included red heart-shaped balloons bearing the names of two victims, and a heart cut from red felt read "ONE HEARTBEAT" and urged people to pray for the town.
"I'm just scared for everybody and I don't know how everybody is going to act going back into school," said Theodore Rosch, 16, a freshman, as his father, Will Rosch, wrapped his left arm around his son's shoulders.
President Obama on Wednesday offered condolences to Chardon High School principal Andy Fetchik, telling him in a phone call he was heartbroken by the news and asking how the principal and school community were holding up, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported.
A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said the .22-caliber gun used in the shooting was bought legally in August 2010 from a gun shop in Mentor, Ohio. The official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said Lane told authorities he stole a gun from his uncle.
But a former county sheriff who has lived near Lane's other grandparents for a long time indicated that the shooting appears to have involved a gun that disappeared from a family barn.
A pistol fitting the description of the one used in the shootings was noticed missing after the shooting, said Carl Henderson, 74, a neighbor of grandparents Thomas and Michelle Lane. He said he has spoken to the grandfather and that the man believes the gun is the same.
Both sides in the legal case are under a gag order imposed by the judge at the prosecutor's request. Grendell earlier barred media outlets from taking photos of the suspect's face, but reversed the decision Wednesday and said Lane, who appeared at his hearing wearing a bulletproof vest, may be photographed at a pending hearing next Tuesday. Social media sites have been full of angry and hate-filled remarks directed at Lane.
The AP transmitted photos and video of Lane that were shot before Tuesday's order. The AP and at least one other media outlet, The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, challenged the judge's order Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.?
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'Idol' Recap: Heejun Han disses Jimmy Iovine as America votes in its finalists
America voted, and the Top 10 contestants on “American Idol” have been chosen – including Heejun Han, who record producer and “Idol” mentor Jimmy Iovine plainly thought was in the wrong competition.
“Let me tell you about Heejun,” Iovine said during a taped segment on Thursday night’s live show. “This guy completely confuses me. I get the personality, I get the schtick, I get the whole thing. Sort of a good voice. This isn’t ‘American Comedian’–this is ‘American Idol!’”
After listening to Iovine’s critique, Han brushed off the blunt assessment with his characteristic quick wit.
Host Ryan Seacrest gravely asked Han, “What did you think about what Jimmy had to say about ‘American Comedian?’”?
Without missing a beat, Han replied, “Who’s that?”?
Han may have earned some laughs last night, but he will have deliver some serious vocals in the coming weeks if he hopes to stay in the competition much longer.
Joining Han in the Top 10 are clear front runners Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez–both of whom Iovine said he would sign ‘on the spot.”
Hollie Cavanagh also made the cut. “Little girl, big voice,” said the chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M. “Could have been a little bit more believable. Give her the right material, she could some real damage in this game.”?
Iovine called church-going gospel singer Joshua Ledet the “real deal,” but noted, “It’s my job that we don’t turn this into ‘Sister Act Three.’”
According to Iovine, Skylar Laine “Blends soul with country, which is a great formula for rock ‘n roll.”?
He declared that Shannon Magrane had “great poise” and “sang beautifully” but thought she could use some help with her style. “She was dressed more for the prom than for a live performance,” Iovine said of the floor-length dress Magrane wore Wednesday night.
Iovine also had some advice for finalist Elsie Testone. “She sings a little hard, she pushes a little much, she has to be careful,” he suggested. “It’s a long competition. She has to hold on to that voice.”
Colton Dixon earned plenty of praise from Iovine. “(He) is really talented. Probably one of the most talented kids in this show. But he can’t do too much too soon. Jumping on the piano, off the piano–he’s just got to take it slow, pace himself, and he could really win this thing."
Jermaine “Gentle Giant” Jones also made it into the Top 10 after being cut from the competition during the Las Vegas round. “I’m so glad the judges brought Jermaine back,” said Iovine. “What a beautiful voice. I could listen to an entire album of that voice, (and there) are very few people I can say that about in today’s business. We got to figure out how to get him through this show. It’s going to take a bit of variety, a bit of excitement, and a lot of creativity, but I’m rooting for him.”
Deandre Brackensick, Erika Van Pelt, and Jeremy Rosado were chosen as “wild card” contestants, making a grand total of 13 singers who will start competing against one another next week.
Up next: The guys perform the music of Stevie Wonder and the girls pay tribute to Whitney Houston, as they’re mentored by Mary J. Blige.?
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Conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart is dead at 43
Widely read conservative Internet publisher Andrew Breitbart, whose flare for battle with politicians and the mainstream media earned him a reputation as one of the nation's most influential commentators, died Thursday.?
The websites he founded ran a statement Thursday morning announcing that Breitbart, 43, died "unexpectedly from natural causes" in Los Angeles shortly after midnight.?His attorney and editor-in-chief of those sites confirmed his death to Fox News.
"We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior," the statement said.?"Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love."
Breitbart was a prolific commentator who founded several websites devoted to covering politics, entertainment and everything in-between. Earlier in his career, he worked for the Drudge Report before breaking off to start his own outlets -- including Big Government, Big Hollywood and Breitbart.tv.?
The statement on his sites quoted the concluding passage from his book, Righteous Indignation.?
"I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories that the Complex refuses to report. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and -- famously -- I enjoy making enemies. Three years ago, I was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked to stuff on a very popular website. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I've lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I've gained hundreds, thousands -- who knows? -- of allies. At the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror, and I sleep very well at night," Breitbart wrote.?
The statement ended: "Andrew is at rest, yet the happy warrior lives on, in each of us."?
The Los Angeles coroner's office said the preliminary evidence suggests a "cardiac event" led to his death. An autopsy is set for Friday.?
Breitbart was walking near his house in the Brentwood neighborhood shortly after midnight Thursday when he collapsed, his father-in-law Orson Bean said.?
Someone saw him fall and called paramedics, who tried to revive him. They rushed him to the emergency room at UCLA Medical Center, Bean said. Breitbart had suffered heart problems a year earlier, but Bean said he could not pinpoint what happened.?
"I don't know what to say. It's devastating," Bean told The Associated Press.
Those who knew and worked with him described Breitbart almost uniformly as "fearless," sharply intelligent, witty and devoted to his work.?
"He was the modern conservative iteration of a 1960's radical," conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg told Fox News, minutes after Breitbart's death was reported.?
"When I say he was the most fearless guy I ever knew, it really is true. I mean, he truly loved the fight," he said.?
Breitbart considered his charge to expose corruption, hypocrisy and media bias, and leveraged his network of websites to reach for that goal.?
He was on the forefront of reporting several controversies, notably the salacious tweets former Rep. Anthony Weiner had sent to young women before his resignation.?
Breitbart became embroiled in a controversy of his own, though, for his reporting on a web video of Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod. The edited video appeared to show Sherrod making a racist comment, but the full tape later put the remark in context and made clear that Sherrod was actually talking about bridging racial differences. Sherrod was fired after the edited video surfaced, and later filed suit against Breitbart.?
Breitbart, though, went on to report on one of the biggest congressional scandals of 2011 -- the tweets sent by Weiner to young women he met online. The former New York congressman, who is married, adamantly denied the reports at first, before admitting to them in a tearful press conference and resigning.?
One of Breitbart's most memorable moments came when he commandeered the podium before Weiner's final New York conference, holding court with reporters and demanding an apology from Weiner -- while Weiner waited to attend his own press conference.?
Goldberg recalled how one of Breitbart's favorite pastimes was to retweet the nasty things other people said about him. "He considered it a badge of honor," Goldberg said.?
Breitbart's final tweet, posted shortly before he was reported to have died, typified the combative and blunt tone he took with his online debaters. "I called you a putz cause I thought you were being intentionally disingenuous. If not I apologize," he wrote to the individual he had been arguing with.?
That individual, Lamar White, told FoxNews.com in an email that Breitbart was committed to the First Amendment and the "open and free exchange of ideas."?
"Although I disagreed with him profoundly on politics and policy, I will always respect and admire his tenacious wit and his willingness to engage others in provocative conversation," White said.?
News of Breitbart's death reverberated on Capitol Hill and on the presidential campaign trail. Rick Santorum said he was "crestfallen."
"What a powerful force," Santorum said. "What a huge loss, in my opinion, for our country and certainly for the conservative movement."?
Breitbart is survived by his wife Susannah Bean Breitbart, 41, and four children.?
The Associated Press contributed to this report.?
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2012年3月2日星期五
Media faces backlash after taking swipes at candidates' religions
By Shannon Bream Published March 01, 2012| FoxNews.com
Some members of the media are facing significant backlash after taking swipes at both Catholicism and Mormonism in the context of the 2012 Republican primary race. Not all of them are willing to apologize.
Writer Larry Doyle published a piece called "The Jesus-Eating Cult of Rick Santorum" on the Huffington Post website last week.?
In the article, Doyle identifies himself as someone who "managed to escape" Catholicism. He mocks communion rites, implies a link between the Catholic Church and pedophiles, and then ends with the sentence, "Need I remind you that only once in our great history has a Roman Catholic been elected president, and how tragically it ended?"?
The reference to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was not lost on readers.
After taking heat over the original posting Doyle told readers it was satire. "It's traditional at this point for me to half-apologize, to say that I'm sorry if anybody was offended, but I really don't mind if anybody was offended."
A number of conservative leaders have sent a letter to Arianna Huffington, Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post, demanding an apology.?
Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, was among those who signed the request. While Perkins says it's legitimate to discuss religious views, he says there is a line.?
"To marginalize or demean someone because they actually have a faith that impacts their decisions, that's going too far," he said.?
The letter also takes issue with what the signers view as a double standard. They argue that if a piece similar to Doyle's was written about Islam or Judaism "the public outcry would be overwhelming, and rightly so."
Some journalists have been willing to acknowledge when they've crossed the line in recent weeks. After MSNBC political contributor Joan Walsh tweeted a swipe at Mitt Romney and Mormon baptismal practices, she encountered a flood of angry replies. She later apologized.
New York Times columnist Charles Blow also took on Romney in a tweet during the last GOP debate. He ended it with, "Stick that in your magic underwear" - an apparent reference to the sacred temple garments many Mormons wear.?
Two days later, Blow said he regretted the "inappropriate" remark adding, "I'm willing to admit that with no caveats."
Political analyst Michael Barone says going after a candidate on such a personal topic is never well-received. "It basically backfires when you attack a candidate's religion or when you ridicule or make fun of it," he said.?
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Nicollette Sheridan testifies 'Desperate Housewives' creator struck her during scene, humiliated her
Published March 02, 2012| Associated Press
Nicollette Sheridan told jurors on Thursday that she was shocked and humiliated after being struck in the head by the creator of "Desperate Housewives" on the set of the hit ABC show.
The actress was the first witness called during her trial alleging that she was fired after a dispute with creator and executive producer Marc Cherry. She is seeking more than $6 million in damages.
At the request of her attorney, Patrick Maloney, the actress demonstrated the blow by striking her lawyer in court. Sheridan contended it was a hard blow, although attorneys for Cherry and ABC claimed it was a light tap meant to give the actress some direction for a scene.
Sheridan told jurors that Cherry appeared stunned after the hit and later apologized to her.
Wearing a navy blue suit and white blouse, Sheridan split the day testifying about the show's early years and the dispute with Cherry and its aftermath.
Her character Edie Britt was killed off in the show's fifth season, when she was earning $175,000 an episode. By then, she also had been granted a portion of the series' profits by that point and was slated to earn $250,000 an episode if she remained on the series through the seventh season.
She testified that although Cherry had left her character's fate in doubt at the end of seasons three and four, he never mentioned killing her off until after he hit her and was cleared by ABC executives of wrongdoing.
Cherry and ABC have denied wrongdoing and said they will present evidence that the decision to kill off Britt was made months before his argument with Sheridan and had to be approved by top executives at the network.
The scene that led to the dispute between Sheridan and Cherry was originally not meant to include the actress' character. Her role was added after several revisions and was a short scene in which Britt needled her on-screen husband about how to write a love song.
A later script called for her to strike him with a magazine.
Maloney showed jurors various versions of the script, and played a montage of some of Sheridan's highlights from the show, including her attempting to seduce men and washing a car with her blouse unbuttoned and bra exposed.
Some jurors laughed as the scenes were played. Many had seen the show in its early seasons.
Sheridan told the panel that she wasn't similar to her character. "I think honesty is about the only thing we shared," she said.
"Desperate Housewives," a glossy prime-time comedy/soap opera with an ensemble cast including Hatcher and Longoria, made a pop-culture and ratings splash when it premiered in 2004 but has seen its audience dwindle. It is in its last season.
Cherry is expected to testify, and series stars Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman are listed as potential witnesses.
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Senators call for investigation into 'taxpayer-funded spin' by Obama administration
Published March 01, 2012| FoxNews.com
Two senators have launched a bipartisan investigation into "taxpayer-funded spin" by the Obama administration, following reports that the administration was devoting millions to promote the health care overhaul and other policies.?
Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., on Wednesday blasted out letters to 11 federal agencies asking for detailed information about public relations and advertising contracts over the past three years.?
Portman said the probe is "not a partisan exercise." Rather, he said the senators want to bring "to the light of day" how much money the administration is spending to promote its own policies.?
"It's a longstanding concern. ... The question is, what are they paying for public relations services?" Portman told Fox News on Thursday. "Sometimes it's legitimate, to help educate the public about something that the government is doing. ... but often it's spin. And that's the question -- is how much of it is spin, how much of it is inappropriate?"?
Portman, a former Office of Management and Budget director for George W. Bush, said that ?administration ran into similar concerns after spending on promotional efforts for the No Child Left Behind law and other policies. But Portman said it's important for lawmakers to be able to "decipher" what promotional campaigns are still being funded -- he cited the ubiquitous side-of-the-road signs promoting the 2009 stimulus law as one example of waste. ?
Among the many recipients of the senators' letters was the Department of Health and Human Services. A Portman aide, who said the "major document request" was aimed at probing publicly funded "spin," cited a report last summer by watchdog group Judicial Watch that flagged millions of dollars spent on promotion of the federal health care overhaul.?
That report detailed documents that showed federal health officials discussing their campaign with the public relations firm The Ogilvy Group. The officials discussed ways to draw Americans to the healthcare.gov website to inform them about provisions in the law. The conversations reflected in part a strategy of targeting women and minorities. One 2010 email from an Ogilvy executive noted that officials wanted to use the "bulk" of paid media efforts "on media that reaches African Americans and Hispanics."?
At the time of the report, HHS confirmed that $3.5 million was spent promoting the site, but argued that the campaign was not out of the ordinary. According to HHS, it was a "critical" way to make sure people are aware of their "rights, protections and benefits" under the health care law.?
The Portman and McCaskill investigation, though, goes far beyond the health department. The senators also sent requests to the Department of Energy, Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Defense, National Labor Relations Board and other agencies.?
The senators are asking for the names of contractors, the amount of money spent, descriptions of the work and other details. The senators are the top lawmakers on the contracting oversight subcommittee within the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs?
The Portman aide, in explaining the broad request, also pointed to a 2010 report by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that claimed that "ordinary Americans have financed and been exposed to an unprecedented number of public relations and propaganda efforts" since the start of the Obama administration.?
"The Obama administration frequently used federal resources to promote the president's agenda," the report said. "The president's right to sell his policy recommendations to Congress and the public is not disputed; however, using the resources of the federal government to activate a sophisticated propaganda and lobbying campaign is an abuse of office and a betrayal of the president's pledge to create 'an unprecedented level of openness in government'."
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Costa Concordia blonde 'sets record straight' on shipwreck captain
Published February 26, 2012| NewsCore
CHISINAU, Moldova – ?The blonde tour representative whose beauty allegedly sparked the sinking of the Costa Concordia gave her first newspaper interview Sunday "to set the record straight" about her relationship with the doomed ship's captain.
Domnica Cemortan said she was flirting with Captain Francesco Schettino on the bridge before the ship struck rocks Jan. 13, The Mail on Sunday reported.
The newspaper said it was possible that the smitten captain may have been trying to impress the 25 year old when the ship crashed, as early reports had suggested.
Cemortan revealed that she shared a passionate kiss with 52-year-old Schettino, but denied that they were lovers.
She said, "They are acting as if I'm some sort of femme fatale, but I don't sleep around. Yes, I was very attracted to Captain Schettino, and he was clearly interested in me. I admit that I had a big crush on him because he was very good-looking and very charming."
Cemortan worked on the ship for three weeks, but when her contract ended, she bought herself a ticket for the remainder of the ill-fated cruise. She claimed that her belongings, found in Schettino's cabin, were being stored there as a temporary measure.
"I admit that I was attracted to him, but honestly, we did not have sex," Cemortan said.
However, she went on, "He was always respectful when I was a member of his staff, but once I was a passenger, then it was different. I think we probably would have ended up in bed, eventually, but I never found out because of the crash."
She maintained that the disaster, believed to have killed 32 people, was a "tragic accident" and said that people who accused Schettino of being "Captain Coward" were "looking to find someone to blame."
Schettino remains under house arrest at his home near Naples on suspicion of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship. He faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted.
Click to read the complete story from the Sunday Mail
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2012年3月1日星期四
Massachusetts police search for missing Boston College student Franco Garcia
Massachusetts Police Search For Missing Boston College Student Franco Garcia | Fox News Skip to main content: Latino/SBC/Fox Business (Home/Slideshow/Interactive: Fox News/SBC/Latino/Fox Business) Skip to main content: Fox News/Fox Business (Article Page: Fox News/SBC/Latino/Fox Business) 
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Edit Profile Logout Wednesday, April 7, 2010 as of 11:14 AM ETSearch SiteOn Air Now ? Anchors and Reporters ?? Home Video Politics U.S. Opinion Entertainment SciTech Health Travel Leisure World Sports On AirPrevious Slide Next SlideSpecial Report Weekdays 6p etFox Report Weekdays 7p etThe O'Reilly Factor Weekdays 8p etHannity Weekdays 9p etOn The RecordWeekdays 10p et America LiveWeekdays 1p et America's News HQ Weekends 12p et America's NewsroomWeekdays 9a et The Cost of FreedomSaturday 10a etThe FiveWeekdays 5p etFox & Friends Weekdays 6a etFox News SundaySunday 2p etFox News WatchSaturday 2:30p etGeraldo at LargeWeekends 10p etHappening NowWeekdays 11a etHuckabeeSaturday 8p etThe Journal Editorial ReportSaturday 2p etJustice with Judge JeanineSaturday 9p etRed Eye w/ GutfeldWeekdays 3a etStudio BWeekdays 3p etWar StoriesSaturday 2a etYour World CavutoWeekdays 4p et U.S. HOME Crime Economy Immigration Disasters National Interest Terror Military Religion Education National Interest - US Massachusetts police search for missing Boston College student Franco Garcia Published February 26, 2012 | FoxNews.com Print Email Share Comments Recommend Tweet A helicopter flyover Sunday by the Massachusetts state police yielded few clues in a search for a missing Boston College student, MyFoxBoston.com reports.
The helicopter flew over a reservoir and wooded area where police say the cellphone signal of Franco Garcia, 21, was last found. Police say nothing of significance was spotted.
Meanwhile, Garcia’s friends and family are putting up posters in the area where he was last seen, the station reports.
Garcia was last seen at Mary Ann’s in Cleveland Circle Tuesday night, according to investigators.
Garcia’s friends tell police they last saw him around 12:20 a.m. and that when they went to leave Mary Ann’s he was nowhere to be found. His vehicle remains at Boston College, where it has been since Tuesday, according to MyFoxBoston.com.
Garcia was wearing a long-sleeved white and blue striped shirt and jeans. He has not been to class or work since his disappearance.
Newton Police search for missing Boston College student: MyFoxBOSTON.comClick for more on this story from MyFoxBoston.com
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Marine dies after collapsing during training exercise in California
Published February 26, 2012| NewsCore
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – ?A US Marine died at a hospital in Palm Springs, Calif., after a day of intense training in preparation for deployment overseas, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Marine Corps said Sunday that the soldier had been training at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms -- on the edge of the Joshua Tree National Park in southeastern California -- when he collapsed on Saturday night.
The Marine, from the 2nd Marine Logistics Group at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was airlifted to the Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs on Saturday night, where he was pronounced dead, the Times reported.
The Marine, whose unit was preparing for deployment to Afghanistan, has not been publicly identified by officials.
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'The Artist,' Jean Dujardin and Meryl Streep take top honors at Oscars
The film "The Artist" won top honors at the Academy Awards Sunday, taking the Best Picture prize and marking the first time in 83 years that a silent film has won the Oscar.
The black-and-white comic melodrama took four prizes Sunday, including best picture, actor for Jean Dujardin and director for Michel Hazanavicius. Not since the World War I saga "Wings" was named outstanding picture at the first Oscars in 1929 had a silent film earned the top prize.
Meryl Streep won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady."
Streep played the British prime minister as a senile retiree, as well as a hectoring, dominant figure who instilled fear and respect in her own cabinet. At the film's pinnacle, Streep as Thatcher is the backbone of a nation that goes to war over the distant Falkland Islands after Argentina invades in 1982.
Streep, 62, won best actress for her 17th Oscar nomination, the most times any performer has been nominated by the Academy.
Her third win put her in a category with other three-time Oscar winners Jack Nicholson, Walter Brennan and Ingrid Bergman. Only Katharine Hepburn with four wins had more.
Christopher Plummer took home his first Oscar Sunday in a career that has spanned more than five decades for his role in the film "Beginners."
Plummer's victory in the Best Supporting Actor category made history, with the 82-year-old being the oldest person ever to win the award.
"You're only two years older than me, darling," Plummer said, addressing his Oscar statue in this 84th year of the awards. "Where have you been all my life? I have a confession to make. When I first emerged from my mother's womb, I was already rehearsing my Oscar speech."
The previous oldest winner was best-actress recipient Jessica Tandy for "Driving Miss Daisy," at age 80.
Octavia Spencer took home the first big acting honor of the night, winning Best Supporting Actress for her role in "The Help."?
Spencer's Oscar triumph came for her role as a headstrong black maid whose willful ways continually land her in trouble with white employers in 1960s Mississippi.
"Thank you, academy, for putting me with the hottest guy in the room," Spencer said, referring to last year's supporting-actor winner Christian Bale, who presented her Oscar.
Her brash character holds a personal connection: "The Help" author Kathryn Stockett based some of the woman's traits on Spencer, whom she met through childhood pal Tate Taylor, the director of the film.
FoxNews.com LIVE: Watch our Fox411 Oscar night special.
Before taking the stage, Spencer got kisses from "The Help" co-stars Viola Davis, a best-actress nominee, and Jessica Chastain, a fellow supporting nominee.
"I share this with everybody," Spencer said.
"The Artist's" director Michel Hazanavicius won the Best Director Award for the silent film.?
Claiming Hollywood's top-filmmaking honor Sunday completes Hazanavicius' sudden rise from popular movie-maker back home in France to internationally celebrated director.
Fox411 Style: Did Jennifer Lopez have a nip slip on the carpet?
Host Billy Crystal kicked things off with a kiss from actor George Clooney in a parody of the film “The Descendants.” The scene was part of his opening montage, which also included his signature goofy song.
Crystal joked about his return to his gig as host, saying “this is my ninth time – just call me War Horse.”
Martin Scorsese's adventure "Hugo" won the first two prizes of the night, claiming the Oscars for cinematography and art direction.
"Marty, you're a genius as usual," said "Hugo" cinematographer Robert Richardson, who won his third Oscar after previous wins for "JFK" and Scorsese's "The Aviator."
The wins for "Hugo" were a blow to best-picture favorite "The Artist," which lost in both categories. "The Artist" ran second to "Hugo" with 10 nominations.
The red carpet had its highlights as well, with comedian Sacha Baron Cohen walking the carpet dressed as a Moammar Qaddafi-like dictator for his upcoming film, “The Dictator.” The actor then managed to spill what he claimed to be the ashes of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il all over E! News host, Ryan Seacrest.
His stunt got him bum rushed by Oscar security.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Report: Russian and Ukrainian agents foil plot to assassinate Russian prime minister
Published February 27, 2012| Associated Press
MOSCOW – ?Russian and Ukrainian special services have arrested a group of suspects accused of attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Russia's state television said Monday.
The Channel One said that the suspects were plotting to kill Putin in Moscow immediately after the March 4 presidential election, in which he is all but certain to reclaim the presidency.
The station said the suspects had been arrested in Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odessa, but didn't give any further details.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the report to the ITAR-Tass news agency, but refused to make any further comment.
Russian and Ukrainian special services wouldn't comment on the report.
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian Security Service said it detained three Russian citizens on terrorist charges in Odessa on Feb. 4. It wasn't immediately clear whether those suspects were linked to the anti-Putin plot.
The Ukrainian Security Service said the suspects were arrested following an accidental explosion that happened while they were trying to manufacture explosives at a rented apartment.
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2012年2月29日星期三
Romney defends economic plan: I'm not changing progressive tax code
Mitt Romney defended his economic policy on Sunday from criticisms on both the right and left, saying he is not using the language of class warfare in defending the progressive tax code and he is not destroying the poor's safety net by cutting federal programs driving up the deficit.
Romney's plan, introduced in detail during a speech in Detroit last week, would cut individual marginal tax rates by 20 percent 'across the board,' eliminate taxes on capital gains and dividends for families making less than $200,000, cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent and slowly raise eligibility requirements on wealthier Americans to receive Medicare and Social Security.?
Though praised by "The Wall Street Journal" editorial board, Romney's opponent Rick Santorum said the Massachusetts governor's approach is the same class warfare supported by President Obama. Santorum accused Romney of using the language of Occupy Wall Street to make life more difficult and to change the rules on the top income earners.
"Whatever choice of language I have to use, I want to make sure to get across to the American people, I'm cutting rates across the board by 20 percent," the Republican presidential candidate told "Fox News Sunday."
But Romney, who acknowledged that the plan does eliminate deductions and and exemptions for high-income earners, said he is not trying to pit one group against another or give a better deal to certain taxpayers over others.?
"I want to get these rates down so we get American workers back into jobs again," he said, adding that he wants to maintain the progressivity of the tax code while lowering the marginal rate across the board.
"What I'm trying to do is to make sure that under no circumstances is the middle class going to end up with a larger share of the tax burden," he said.
Santorum too has had to fight off charges that he is picking winners and losers in his economic plan, which calls for eliminating taxes on manufacturers that return to the U.S. from abroad and cutting the corporate tax for all other industries in half.?
Santorum denied that's he's stacking the deck in favor of one industry.?
"What we have to realize is that manufacturers have to compete not against just other manufacturers in this country, they have to compete internationally, directly internationally for the jobs to stay in America. And so the problem is the government -- and our tax and regulatory policy -- the government's policy is making manufacturers in this country uncompetitive, and as a result, manufacturing jobs are moving offshore," Santorum told NBC's "Meet the Press."
"So if the government is causing the problem, then government has a responsibility to fix the problem. ... It's about creating a level playing field. I am for equality of opportunity," he said, adding that his ideas are far more dramatic than the "warmed over" and "timid" plans of an "institutional insider being designed by a whole bunch of Washington lobbyists who are basically running his campaign."
Aside from Santorum, Romney's plan has also been criticized on the left for being revenue neutral, in other words, not doing enough to close the deficit through the tax code. Instead, Romney's plan calls for eliminating a lot of federal programs, including poverty programs, and sending them to the states to manage. His plan calls for $500 billion in spending cuts in 2016.
Romney said his tax plan is similar to President Obama's own bipartisan commission, which was ultimately rejected by the president, and added that he believes in smaller government.
"This is a classic pitting of two very different philosophies," he said. "If this is an argument about President Obama saying hey, look, don't cut back on federal, keep on growing this deficit, I think that's a battle I'm going to win because I am planning on cutting the deficit down to zero. I'm planning to get the balanced budget and at the same time getting this economy going again."
Both men talked policy just two days before Republican primary voters in Michigan and Arizona go to the polls. Romney has seen his poll numbers go up in the state even as his favorability rating drops. ?
"If people think that there is something wrong with being successful in America, then they better vote for the other guy because I've been extraordinarily successful and I want to use that success and that know-how to help the American people," he said.
On the other hand, Santorum has seen his poll numbers go down since a critical debate last week in Arizona. He chalked it up to negative campaigning by Romney and his surrogates in Michigan.
"We've been under assault now for about three weeks, of course, you know that's going to drive up -- drive up our negatives a little bit," he said.?
The two are statistically tied in polling in Michigan with Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul far behind in the field of GOP candidates.
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84th Academy Awards Winners List
Published February 26, 2012| FoxNews.com
List of the 84th Annual Academy Award winners announced Sunday:
1. Best Picture: "The Artist."
2. Actor: Jean Dujardin, "The Artist."
3. Actress: Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady."
4. Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners."
5. Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, "The Help."
6. Directing: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist."
7. Foreign Language Film: "A Separation," Iran.
8. Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, "The Descendants."
9. Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris."
10. Animated Feature Film: "Rango."
11. Art Direction: "Hugo."
12. Cinematography: "Hugo."
13. Sound Mixing: "Hugo."
14. Sound Editing: "Hugo."
15. Original Score: "The Artist."
16. Original Song: "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets."
17. Costume Design: "The Artist."
18. Documentary Feature: "Undefeated."
19. Documentary Short: "Saving Face."
20. Film Editing: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."
21. Makeup: "The Iron Lady."
22. Animated Short Film: "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore."
23. Live Action Short Film: "The Shore."
24. Visual Effects: "Hugo."
------
Oscar winners previously presented this season:
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Oprah Winfrey.
Honorary Award: James Earl Jones.
Honorary Award: Dick Smith.
Gordon E. Sawyer Award: Douglas Trumbull.
Award of Merit: ARRI cameras.
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Oscar host Crystal's Sammy Davis impression draws criticism
Published February 27, 2012| Associated Press
Some are questioning Billy Crystal's impression of Sammy Davis Jr. in his opening number as Oscar host.
As part of Crystal's opening montage, he parodied Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris," going back in time to the 1920s. Then Crystal, performing as Davis in blackface, popped up and suggested they go kill Hitler.
Crystal played Davis the same way many times on "Saturday Night Live" in the 1980s, but that didn't stop hundreds from questioning the bit on Twitter.
When Octavia Spenser won supporting actress for "The Help," comedian Paul Scheer tweeted her win "shows just how far we've come since Billy Crystal performed in Blackface."
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Police, Border Patrol, other agencies looking to expand drone use at home
Heads up: Drones are going mainstream.
Civilian cousins of the unmanned military aircraft that have tracked and killed terrorists in the Middle East and Asia are in demand by police departments, border patrols, power companies, news organizations and others wanting a bird's-eye view that's too impractical or dangerous for conventional planes or helicopters to get.
Along with the enthusiasm, there are qualms.
Drones overhead could invade people's privacy. The government worries they could collide with passenger planes or come crashing down to the ground, concerns that have slowed more widespread adoption of the technology.
Despite that, pressure is building to give drones the same access as manned aircraft to the sky at home.
"It's going to be the next big revolution in aviation. It's coming," says Dan Elwell, the Aerospace Industries Association's vice president for civil aviation.
Some impetus comes from the military, which will bring home drones from Afghanistan and wants room to test and use them. In December, Congress gave the Federal Aviation Administration six months to pick half a dozen sites around the country where the military and others can fly unmanned aircraft in the vicinity of regular air traffic, with the aim of demonstrating they're safe.
The Defense Department says the demand for drones and their expanding missions requires routine and unfettered access to domestic airspace, including around airports and cities. In a report last October, the Pentagon called for flights first by small drones both solo and in groups, day and night, expanding over several years. Flights by large and medium-sized drones would follow in the latter half of this decade.
Other government agencies want to fly drones, too, but they've been hobbled by an FAA ban unless they first receive case-by-case permission. Fewer than 300 waivers were in use at the end of 2011, and they often include restrictions that severely limit the usefulness of the flights. Businesses that want to put drones to work are out of luck; waivers are only for government agencies.
But that's changing.
Congress has told the FAA that the agency must allow civilian and military drones to fly in civilian airspace by September 2015. This spring, the FAA is set to take a first step by proposing rules that would allow limited commercial use of small drones for the first time.
Until recently, agency officials were saying there were too many unresolved safety issues to give drones greater access. Even now FAA officials are cautious about describing their plans and they avoid discussion of deadlines.
"The thing we care about is doing that in an orderly and safe way and finding the appropriate ... balance of all the users in the system," Michael Huerta, FAA's acting administrator, told a recent industry luncheon in Washington. "Let's develop these six sites — and we will be doing that — where we can develop further data, further testing and more history on how these things actually operate."
Drones come in all sizes, from the high-flying Global Hawk with its 116-foot wingspan to a hummingbird-like drone that weighs less than an AA battery and can perch on a window ledge to record sound and video. Lockheed Martin has developed a fake maple leaf seed, or "whirly bird," equipped with imaging sensors, that weighs less than an ounce.
Potential civilian users are as varied as the drones themselves.
Power companies want them to monitor transmission lines. Farmers want to fly them over fields to detect which crops need water. Ranchers want them to count cows.
Journalists are exploring drones' newsgathering potential. The FAA is investigating whether The Daily, a digital publication of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., used drones without permission to capture aerial footage of floodwaters in North Dakota and Mississippi last year. At the University of Nebraska, journalism professor Matt Waite has started a lab for students to experiment with using a small, remote-controlled helicopter.
"Can you cover news with a drone? I think the answer is yes," Waite said.
The aerospace industry forecasts a worldwide deployment of almost 30,000 drones by 2018, with the United States accounting for half of them.
"The potential ... civil market for these systems could dwarf the military market in the coming years if we can get access to the airspace," said Ben Gielow, government relations manager for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, an industry trade group.
The hungriest market is the nation's 19,000 law enforcement agencies.
Customs and Border Patrol has nine Predator drones mostly in use on the U.S.-Mexico border, and plans to expand to 24 by 2016. Officials say the unmanned aircraft have helped in the seizure of more than 20 tons of illegal drugs and the arrest of 7,500 people since border patrols began six years ago.
Several police departments are experimenting with smaller drones to photograph crime scenes, aid searches and scan the ground ahead of SWAT teams. The Justice Department has four drones it loans to police agencies.
"We look at this as a low-cost alternative to buying a helicopter or fixed-wing plane," said Michael O'Shea, the department's aviation technology program manager. A small drone can cost less than $50,000, about the price of a patrol car with standard police gear.
Like other agencies, police departments must get FAA waivers and follow much the same rules as model airplane hobbyists: Drones must weigh less than 55 pounds, stay below an altitude of 400 feet, keep away from airports and always stay within sight of the operator. The restrictions are meant to prevent collisions with manned aircraft.
Even a small drone can be "a huge threat" to a larger plane, said Dale Wright, head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association's safety and technology department. "If an airliner sucks it up in an engine, it's probably going to take the engine out," he said. "If it hits a small plane, it could bring it down."
Controllers want drone operators to be required to have instrument-rated pilot licenses — a step above a basic private pilot license. "We don't want the Microsoft pilot who has never really flown an airplane and doesn't know the rules of how to fly," Wright said.
Military drones designed for battlefields haven't had to meet the kind of rigorous safety standards required of commercial aircraft.
"If you are going to design these things to operate in the (civilian) airspace you need to start upping the ante," said Tom Haueter, director of the National Transportation Safety Board's aviation safety office. "It's one thing to operate down low. It's another thing to operate where other airplanes are, especially over populated areas."
Even with FAA restrictions, drones are proving useful in the field.
Deputies with the Mesa County Sheriff's Office in Colorado can launch a 2-pound Draganflyer X6 helicopter from the back of a patrol car. The drone's bird's-eye view cut the manpower needed for a search of a creek bed for a missing person from 10 people to two, said Ben Miller, who runs the drone program. The craft also enabled deputies to alert fire officials to a potential roof collapse in time for the evacuation of firefighters from the building, he said.
The drone could do more if it were not for the FAA's line-of-sight restriction, Miller said. "I don't think (the restriction) provides any extra safety," he said.
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, north of Houston, used a Department of Homeland Security grant to buy a $300,000, 50-pound ShadowHawk helicopter drone for its SWAT team. The drone has a high-powered video camera and an infrared camera that can spot a person's thermal image in the dark.
"Public-safety agencies are beginning to see this as an invaluable tool for them, just as the car was an improvement over the horse and the single-shot pistol was improved upon by the six-shooter," said Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel, who runs the Montgomery drone program.
The ShadowHawk can be equipped with a 40 mm grenade launcher and a 12-guage shotgun, according to its maker, Vanguard Defense Industries of Conroe, Texas. The company doesn't sell the armed version in the United States, although "we have had interest from law-enforcement entities for deployment of nonlethal munitions from the aircraft," Vanguard CEO Michael Buscher said.
The possibility of armed police drones someday patrolling the sky disturbs Terri Burke, executive director of the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"The Constitution is taking a back seat so that boys can play with their toys," Burke said. "It's kind of scary that they can use a laptop computer to zap people from the air."
A recent ACLU report said allowing drones greater access takes the country "a large step closer to a surveillance society in which our every move is monitored, tracked, recorded, and scrutinized by the authorities."
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which focuses on civil liberties threats involving new technologies, sued the FAA recently, seeking disclosure of which agencies have been given permission to use drones. FAA officials declined to answer questions from The Associated Press about the lawsuit.
Industry officials said privacy concerns are overblown.
"Today anybody— the paparazzi, anybody — can hire a helicopter or a (small plane) to circle around something that they're interested in and shoot away with high-powered cameras all they want," said Elwell, the aerospace industry spokesman. "I don't understand all the comments about the Big Brother thing."
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2012年2月28日星期二
US drone strike kills 4 in Somalia
Published February 24, 2012| Associated Press
MOGADISHU, Somalia – ?A U.S. military drone strike that targeted an international militant in southern Somalia killed four al-Shabab fighters, officials said Friday.
A U.S. official in Washington confirmed the attack was carried out by a U.S. drone. A second U.S. official said an "international" member of al-Shabab was the target of the strike, though he said a white Kenyan reported killed in the attack was not the target.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in order to share details of the classified program.
Somalia's al-Shabab formally merged with Al Qaeda this month, a move analysts said was borne of desperation. Al-Shabab has been forced out of Mogadishu and faces military attacks on three sides. Al-Qaeda's power has ebbed as the group has seen key leaders killed in targeted attacks.
Still, al-Shabab boasts hundreds of foreign fighters -- many of whom have fighting experience in Iraq and Afghanistan -- among its ranks. The group also counts several dozen Americans, many of Somali origin, among its estimated 8,000 fighters.
Officials in Somalia confirmed Friday's attack in the Lower Shabelle region, where al-Shabab still controls wide swaths of territory. A Somali military official said a white Kenyan commander named Akram was among the four killed. The official said he could not be named for security reasons. A second Somali intelligence official confirmed the attack, but also could not be named.
The U.S. military has carried out multiple attacks inside Somalia against high-ranking militant targets in recent years.
Last month, a raid by Navy SEALs rescued an American and a Danish hostage from a gang of criminals. The U.S. military actions in Somalia are representative of the Obama administration's pledge to build a smaller, more agile military force that can carry out surgical counterterrorist strikes to cripple an enemy.
Kenya's military has also launched multiple airborne attacks in southern Somalia since Kenyan troops moved into the region in October.
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Sacha Baron Cohen spills ashes of Kim Jong Il on Ryan Seacrest on Oscar red carpet
Published February 26, 2012| FoxNews.com
Oops.
Outfitted extravagantly as "The Dictator," the character he plays in the upcoming film of the same name, Sacha Baron Cohen made a mess of the Oscars' red carpet Sunday night.
More specifically, he ruined E! host Ryan Seacrest's tuxedo.
After initially being dis-invited by the academy, for some reason, Baron Cohen was allowed to attend the ceremony acting as the kind of Moammar Gadhafi parody he plays in his upcoming film. As expected, he brought his unique brand of publicity stunt and method comedy.
Flanked by two flower girls, he jokingly claimed to be carrying the ashes of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, whose face was displayed on the container.
In an interview with Seacrest, he claimed it was Jong Il's dream "to be sprinkled over the red carpet and over Halle Berry's chest." Then, as Seacrest was bending down, he spilled the ashes over Seacrest's tuxedo.
Even the preternaturally cool Seacrest looked shaken as he attempted to dust himself off.
As security -- real security -- muscled Baron Cohen away, Seacrest attempted to cut to commercial, but his E! colleagues sought to milk the incident. And for good reason. It quickly became the most-chatted about topic on Twitter, where commentators eagerly lapped up the rare breach in decorum at the Academy Awards.
Said Seacrest: "Anything can happen and it most certainly did, all over my lapel."
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Hot tub installation on roof of campus building a mystery
Published February 26, 2012| Associated Press
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – ?Officials are puzzled over a mysterious hot tub that was installed -- and then removed -- from the roof of a building on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.
But a group of "creative" students are believed to be the culprits, Computer Science and Engineering building spokesman Steven Crang told AnnArbor.com on Friday.
Initially reported by the Michigan Daily campus newspaper, the hot tub first was noticed Saturday, had visitors and was gone by Monday night.
"People were kind of flabbergasted," Crang said. "It was obviously unexpected. It was pretty creative and now it's gone. It left a buzz in its wake."
Despite its short stay, students called the hot tub the Bob and Betty Beyster Bubbler after the couple who donated $15 million to the school. The building is named after them.
The philanthropic couple "found it amusing," Crang said.
"It's apparently people who are close to the department because they were able to gain access to the building and install the tub," he said of whoever installed it. "The thing that intrigued everyone was that it was on the fourth-floor balcony. It's a large hot tub and the doors that lead out to the balcony are not real big, so they had to do some work to get it out there."
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China brings supermarket concept to North Korea
PYONGYANG, North Korea-- In his last public appearance, late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il went shopping.
He peered at the prices affixed to shelves packed with everything from Pantene shampoo to Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. And he nodded his approval of Pyongyang's version of Walmart, which was soon to open courtesy of China.
The visit played up a decidedly un-communist development in North Korea: A new culture of commerce is springing up, with China as its inspiration and source. The market-savvy Chinese are introducing the pleasures of the megamart to a small niche of North Koreans, and flooding the country's border regions with cheap goods.
And they are doing it with the full approval of North Korea's leadership. The new consumerism is part of a campaign launched three years ago to build up the economy, and so the image of new leader Kim Jong Un.
At the Kwangbok area supermarket in downtown Pyongyang, that translates into lime green frying pans, pink Minnie Mouse pajamas, popcorn and a line of silvery high heels sparkling in the sunlight.
"It is very good to come to this shop and buy goods which I like by feeling them and looking over them myself," said shopper Pak So Jong, bundled up in a winter jacket with a furry collar, as she examined bags of locally made sweets and biscuits a few days after the store's opening.
In many ways, North Korea can seem like the land time forgot. Dignitaries are ferried around in ancient but immaculate Mercedes Benzes, and the boxy, beige telephones at the five-star Koryo Hotel look like something out of "Austin Powers."
Billboards in the capital, Pyongyang, are likely to feature the latest Workers' Party slogans, not advertisements, and there are no shopping malls, McDonald's golden arches or Starbucks coffee shops.
At least, not yet.
Outside Pyongyang, much of the country remains impoverished. Millions rely on state-provided food, but poor agricultural yields mean they'll get only a fraction of what they need to survive, according to the World Food Program.
Still, there are signs that a newfound consumer culture is taking hold both in Pyongyang and in the border towns where Chinese-made goods are bought and sold every day.
Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 regularly stages exhibitions of goods to show off what deputy manager Kim Ja Son calls "socialist commerce," borrowing a phrase attributed by state media to Kim Jong Il.
The displays boast what North Korea's newly modernized factories are producing, including perfume, rubber boots, silk blankets and hand towels printed with the words "peace" and "friendship." What the North Koreans aren't making themselves is coming in from China: cellphones, laptop computers, cars, Spalding basketballs, bicycles, pressure cookers, karaoke machines, ping pong sets, even Gucci knockoffs.
Business with China, North Korea's largest trading partner, has boomed in the last two years. In 2010, North Korea did $3.5 billion in trade with China, a 30 percent increase from the previous year. And for the first 11 months of 2011, that figure was up to $5.1 billion, a jump of nearly 70 percent from 2010, according to China's Commerce Ministry.
And it's not just Chinese-made goods on North Korean shelves. The Kwangbok shopping center is also introducing North Korean shoppers to popular American, European and Japanese items they've never seen before: Skippy peanut butter, Spanish olive oil and Snoopy, all shipped in from China.
The Kwangbok center was born when North Korea recruited China's Feihaimengxin International Trade Co. to partner with its Korea Taesong Trading Corp. to transform the old shop in the Kwangbok district of western Pyongyang into a gleaming supermarket. Feihaimengxin has a 65 percent stake in the supermarket, according to the Beijing-registered private company -- an unusual arrangement for North Korea, where most enterprises are state-owned and the ruling philosophy is "juche," or self-reliance.
But as the new consumerism is reshaping the face of the capital, it is also stretching an already huge gap between elites in Pyongyang, who have access to valuable foreign currency, and working-class people elsewhere, who have few ways to add to their low salaries.
At Kwangbok, a bottle of Great Wall red wine from China costs 81,000 North Korean won -- about 300 times the cost of a typical Korean meal. A jar of honey goes for 36,100 won, or about a third of the average monthly salary in 2010 of 103,000 won, according to estimates provided by the Bank of Korea in Seoul.
North Korea has not published economic figures for decades. The U.S. State Department puts
North Korea's annual gross domestic product at $1,800 per person, with 20 percent of the nation's income coming from agriculture and 48 percent from industry in 2010.
Even the way the relatively rich and the poor shop is different.
Most North Koreans rely on limited rations from government-subsidized stores in every neighborhood. They supplement their rations with goods from local markets, called "jangmadang," where they can bargain over prices.
In Pyongyang, middle-class shoppers buy items the old-fashioned Soviet way in dim, narrow shops: Customers line up to make their requests to a saleswoman behind a long counter, who then retrieves the items from a small selection on shelves behind her. No browsing, and not much choice even if you could.
Only the rich can afford to shop at the newfangled supermarkets, where customers choose from an array of goods and then take them to a cashier. At the Pothongmun Street meat and fish shop in central Pyongyang, the city's premier butcher and fishmonger, trained cashiers scan and tally up the items. Some even accept the two debit cards available in North Korea to foreigners and locals flush with euros, U.S. dollars or Chinese renminbi.
This Western style of shopping is still novel in North Korea, and two would-be shoppers looked perplexed by refrigerated display cases piled high with pyramids of canned whale meat and chubby rolls of kielbasa, and freezers on the floor stocked with quail meat, goose, chicken and even vacuum-packed pig snouts.
"Pick the items yourself and put them in the basket," a saleswoman in red gently advised them
The consumer drive mirrors one 50 years ago, when Kim Il Sung was rebuilding North Korea from the ruins of the Korean War. The communist bloc was still intact, and the people were focused on building their fledgling nation. By the 1970s, North Korea had the stronger economy of the two Koreas, before the famine and tension of the 1990s.
North Korea's new economic campaign seeks to draw on the people's memories of that time and their reverence for Kim Il Sung, as well as to create a foundation for the leadership of Kim Jong Un.
For three years, Kim Jong Il laid the groundwork for his son's ascension by ushering in a new, two-pronged focus on the economy along with defense, and made it clear that there was nothing wrong with reaching out to old allies like China. Kim made four extensive trips to China in the last two years of his life, and shopping was high on his sightseeing list.
In May 2010, he visited a supermarket in the Chinese city of Yangzhou run by Suguo Supermarket Co. "Well done!" store officials quoted him as saying in comments posted to the website of China Resource Vanguard Co., the Hong Kong-based company that owns the supermarket chain.
North Korea's welcome to Chinese commerce is felt not just in Pyongyang but also in the border towns. In Rason, in the far northeastern corner where North Korea, China and Russia meet, trucks haul in goods from China, thanks to a road paved with help from the Chinese. At an indoor market visited by The Associated Press last August, women stood behind tables piled high with shampoo, binoculars and high heels. One woman was selling rabbit meat, another live chickens.
Some analysts see the boom in Chinese trade as a political move motivated by Beijing's desire to ensure stability in neighboring North Korea and to buy clout in Pyongyang. However, others say it's pure economic strategy by Chinese companies expanding their reach across Asia.
For the North Koreans, the Chinese model offers a safe and sanctioned way to explore commerce within the confines of socialism.
"China is the conduit through which the North Korean economy is becoming more internationalized," said Andray Abrahamian, executive director of the Choson Exchange, a Singapore-based nonprofit group that since 2009 has conducted workshops on business and economic policy for North Koreans.
There's a newfound thirst among North Koreans to learn about business management and financial policy, and a noticeable openness to all things foreign, said Abrahamian, who has traveled to North Korea several times over the past two years. He said younger North Koreans see business as a way to get ahead -- a distinct change from a few years ago, and not just in Pyongyang.
"People in Rason say the attitude in that region toward foreigners has improved remarkably in the last few years as people get comfortable with the idea of trading with foreigners," he said.
Still, the traditional wariness kicks in. During his visit to a market in Rason, officials warned him not to take photos.
Back in Pyongyang, the Kwangbok supermarket is bustling. Shoppers navigate carts up and down aisles packed with 20 types of toothbrushes, a dozen varieties of beers, red carry-on suitcases and rows of black bicycles. In the produce aisle, most of the fruit and vegetables are already sold out.
Salesgirls in fire-engine red jackets deftly ring up shoppers' items and count out their change. One lane is reserved for foreigners, who are allowed to change their money into North Korean won to pay for their goods.
Kim Myong Sim, 32, said she couldn't help but think of late leader Kim Jong Il while shopping at Kwangbok, the place where he last appeared in public. Like most North Koreans, she weaves an obligatory comment about the leader into what she says, even as she chastises her nephew squirming next to the cart.
"You're getting a lot of love and buying a lot of tasty goodies, Yong Gu,"' she admonished, trying to wrest a cellphone from his mittened hands. "You've got to say 'thank you' to your aunt before you run off. You've got to give thanks to the fatherly general (Kim Jong Il) as well."
Outside the store, ornate red and gold plaques commemorate the Dec. 15 visit of Kim Jong Il and his son Kim Jong Un. High above the plaques, the Korean name of the store is written in red.
Beneath it, the Chinese name is written in green.
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