Seems his family didn't matter then - shouldn't matter now. Bleeding heart liberal bastards.
Girl Succumbs to Cancer After Visit From Inmate Dad
Jayci Yaeger's Family Says Her Dying Wish Was to See Her Father
(Courtesy of Lori Yaeger)
By CHRISTOPHER FRANCESCANI and SCOTT MICHELSMarch 28, 2008
A 10-year-old girl died of brain cancer early this morning, shortly after receiving what her family said was her dying wish -- a visit from her incarcerated father.
"She was holding on to see her father," Ed Yaeger said of his niece Jayci Yaeger.
Jayci's father, Jason Charles Yaeger, is serving the final year of a five-year sentence for a drug conviction in a minimum security prison camp in South Dakota, a 3½-hour drive from his daughter who was in a Lincoln, Neb., hospital.
Officials, however, had denied Jason Charles Yaeger's repeated requests for a furlough so he could spend more time with his daughter, who suffered from terminal brain cancer.
Prison officials agreed to a one-time visit. Under the supervision of prison officials, Jason Charles Yaeger visited
Jayci Wednesday in the hospital for about 20 minutes -- just days before she died.
"It's just unfortunate that the visit was cut so short," Ed Yaeger told ABC News.
The Yaegers are upset with prison officials because Jason Charles Yaeger was not able to be with his daughter when she died.
"He was denied the proper good-bye," Lori Yaeger, Jayci's aunt, wrote in an e-mail Thursday.
Jason Charles Yaeger had pleaded repeatedly with prison officials to honor the bureau's apparent policy of allowing furloughs and transfers under "extraordinary" circumstances, but was rebuffed time and again, he told ABC News in a telephone interview from prison last week.
In a letter to Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska — dated Feb. 20 and obtained by ABC News — a regional director from the Department of Justice wrote that "although Mr. Yaeger believes his daughter's severe medical condition constitutes 'extraordinary justification,' a review of his case reveals this specific request was … reviewed … and denied … because his circumstances were not deemed to rise to the level of extraordinary."
The congressman had requested information about the denials of the furlough or transfer.
Last week, after ABCNEWS.com published a story on Jayci, the Bureau of Prisons released a statement saying that officials there "have reviewed inmate Yaeger's request for a compassionate release and have determined his situation does not meet the criteria."
Jayci, named for her father's initials, had been fighting for her life since she was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 3, seven years ago. But in the last six months, she had taken a severe turn downward.
Doctors declared her condition terminal in October. Last month, they found they couldn't transfer her to a children's hospital closer to her Lincoln, Neb., home because they said she wouldn't survive the trip, Lori Yaeger said.
Jason Charles Yaeger had been allowed three brief supervised visits since the terminal diagnosis in the fall and the visits had prompted remarkable, if short-lived revivals in Jayci's condition, she added.
The fourth visit was earlier this week.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Euthanasia debate woman found dead
Euthanasia debate woman found dead
PARIS, France (CNN) -- A French woman severely disfigured by facial tumors has been found dead just two days after a court rejected her request for an assisted suicide.
Sebire had suffered from a rare and incurable form of cancer for eight years.
Medical examiners were Thursday looking into the death of 52-year-old Chantal Sebire -- whose case had prompted nominally Roman Catholic France to reexamine its stance on euthanasia -- to determine whether anything illegal had taken place.
It was not immediately clear how Sebire died.
The Dijon prosecutor has also opened an investigation into her death, although it has not yet been determined that an autopsy will take place, according to the prosecutor's office.
Sebire had suffered from esthesioneuroblastoma, a rare and incurable form of cancer for eight years, developing tumors in her nasal passages and sinuses that distorted her face and caused her nose and eyes to bulge.
The woman from Dijon, in eastern France, said drugs were ineffective against the excruciating pain caused by the condition and there was no reason doctors should not be permitted to hasten her death.
"It is not only the face. Some of my bones are eaten into. I don't have any more upper and lower jaws," she said in an interview last month, according to an Associated Press translation.
"At the moment we don't know by what miracle my teeth are still holding. My gums are falling apart. You see the deformation of my face. It compresses inside," she said.
Sebire insisted there was no reason her doctors should not be permitted to help her commit suicide. "I ask to be helped to die because I don't want this tumor to have the last word. I didn't fight for seven and a half years to have it having the last word," she said in the February interview, according to the Associated Press translation.
Assisted suicide is illegal in France, however. The law permits only passive euthanasia -- removing feeding and hydration tubes when a person is in a coma, or inducing a coma and then removing the tubes.
Sebire's lawyer had tried to convince a French court that it was "barbaric" to put her through the ordeal of dying slowly in an artificial coma, something that could take up to two weeks while her three children looked on in anguish.
The court turned down the appeal Monday.
At the same time, Sebire wrote a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy appealing for help, but he responded by suggesting top doctors should reexamine her for a second opinion.
Her plight and the questions it raised caused so much public debate in France that when Sebire was found dead Wednesday night, it made front-page news in heavyweight papers including Le Figaro and Le Parisien.
CNN Senior International Correspondent Jim Bitterman in Paris said the Sebire had many supporters in France with hundreds of people writing to her to express their backing.
"One of the reasons for this is this woman was a relatively young mother of three children and many people could sympathize. People think 'what would I do in the same circumstances.'"
A French group called the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity, which took up Sebire's cause, believes laws must be changed to take such cases into account.
"It is not the liberty of a politician or a doctor -- it's the liberty of the person who is suffering, who has a terminal disease," said Jean-Luc Romero, president of the group.
"It's only the decision of the people who have a terminal disease to decide (whether they may die)."
Others in France disagree.
"It isn't because a citizen says 'I want this' that we should modify the law," said Patrick Verspieren, a Jesuit bio-ethics expert. "The law is already quite open."
France's prime minister, health and justice ministers all made clear they did not believe changes in French law are needed.
PARIS, France (CNN) -- A French woman severely disfigured by facial tumors has been found dead just two days after a court rejected her request for an assisted suicide.
Sebire had suffered from a rare and incurable form of cancer for eight years.
Medical examiners were Thursday looking into the death of 52-year-old Chantal Sebire -- whose case had prompted nominally Roman Catholic France to reexamine its stance on euthanasia -- to determine whether anything illegal had taken place.
It was not immediately clear how Sebire died.
The Dijon prosecutor has also opened an investigation into her death, although it has not yet been determined that an autopsy will take place, according to the prosecutor's office.
Sebire had suffered from esthesioneuroblastoma, a rare and incurable form of cancer for eight years, developing tumors in her nasal passages and sinuses that distorted her face and caused her nose and eyes to bulge.
The woman from Dijon, in eastern France, said drugs were ineffective against the excruciating pain caused by the condition and there was no reason doctors should not be permitted to hasten her death.
"It is not only the face. Some of my bones are eaten into. I don't have any more upper and lower jaws," she said in an interview last month, according to an Associated Press translation.
"At the moment we don't know by what miracle my teeth are still holding. My gums are falling apart. You see the deformation of my face. It compresses inside," she said.
Sebire insisted there was no reason her doctors should not be permitted to help her commit suicide. "I ask to be helped to die because I don't want this tumor to have the last word. I didn't fight for seven and a half years to have it having the last word," she said in the February interview, according to the Associated Press translation.
Assisted suicide is illegal in France, however. The law permits only passive euthanasia -- removing feeding and hydration tubes when a person is in a coma, or inducing a coma and then removing the tubes.
Sebire's lawyer had tried to convince a French court that it was "barbaric" to put her through the ordeal of dying slowly in an artificial coma, something that could take up to two weeks while her three children looked on in anguish.
The court turned down the appeal Monday.
At the same time, Sebire wrote a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy appealing for help, but he responded by suggesting top doctors should reexamine her for a second opinion.
Her plight and the questions it raised caused so much public debate in France that when Sebire was found dead Wednesday night, it made front-page news in heavyweight papers including Le Figaro and Le Parisien.
CNN Senior International Correspondent Jim Bitterman in Paris said the Sebire had many supporters in France with hundreds of people writing to her to express their backing.
"One of the reasons for this is this woman was a relatively young mother of three children and many people could sympathize. People think 'what would I do in the same circumstances.'"
A French group called the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity, which took up Sebire's cause, believes laws must be changed to take such cases into account.
"It is not the liberty of a politician or a doctor -- it's the liberty of the person who is suffering, who has a terminal disease," said Jean-Luc Romero, president of the group.
"It's only the decision of the people who have a terminal disease to decide (whether they may die)."
Others in France disagree.
"It isn't because a citizen says 'I want this' that we should modify the law," said Patrick Verspieren, a Jesuit bio-ethics expert. "The law is already quite open."
France's prime minister, health and justice ministers all made clear they did not believe changes in French law are needed.
Upstate G.O.P. Congressman Thomas M. Reynolds Retiring
Upstate G.O.P. Congressman Retiring
By DAVID STABA and DAVID STOUT
Published: March 21, 2008
WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. — United State Representative Thomas M. Reynolds announced Thursday that he will not seek another term in Congress representing the district that stretches between the suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester.
Mr. Reynolds, a Republican, said he wanted to spend more time with his family and indicated that recent criticism had not been a factor in his decision.
“I just looked at where we are,” he said at a news conference at a volunteer fire station in Williamsville, a village just northeast of Buffalo. “I had time to reflect on the State Senate seat in the north country and Congressman Hastert’s seat in Illinois.”
He was referring to the recent Democratic victories in elections to fill posts that had long been in Republican hands. In New York, a Democrat, Darrel J. Aubertine, defeated the Republican, William A. Barclay, for a State Senate seat had had been Republican for more than a century. In Illinois, a Democrat, Bill Foster, won election to the House seat vacated by J. Dennis Hastert, the former speaker. Mr. Hastert, a Republican, had held the seat for two decades.
Mr. Reynolds has come under criticism because of financial irregularities at the chief fund-raising arm of his party in the House, the National Republican Congressional Committee. The former treasurer of the committee, Christopher J. Ward, who was named to that post five years ago by Mr. Reynolds when the latter was chairman, is the focus of an F.B.I. investigation.
“We are victims at the committee,” Mr. Reynolds said. “It’s a sad and tragic event.”
He also has been criticized for not taking a more aggressive stance on Mark Foley, a former Republican congressman from Florida accused of making inappropriate sexual comments to young Congressional pages.
The retirement of Mr. Reynolds is of political interest outside Western New York because his once safely Republican district has tilted more Democratic in recent years. Mr. Reynolds won re-election in 2006 by just 52 percent to 48 percent, so Democratic strategists may zero in on his district in hopes of adding to their party’s advantage in the House, now 233 to 198, with 4 vacancies.
The district represented by Mr. Reynolds embraces large swaths of Erie and Niagara Counties, although no part of the City of Buffalo itself. It extends east to Rochester and includes that city’s northwestern suburbs.
Mr. Reynolds, 57, was first elected to Congress in 1998, taking the seat vacated when Representative Bill Paxon, an old friend and political ally, decided not to run for re-election. While in the House, Mr. Reynolds has had the most conservative voting record in the entire New York delegation, according to The Almanac of American Politics.
Early on, Mr. Reynolds was viewed as a rising star in the House. With the help of Mr. Paxon, he soon won a seat on the influential Rules Committee, becoming only the second freshman Republican in a century to do so.
The seat gave him far more clout than most Congressional newcomers, as did his skills at fund-raising.
David Staba reported from Williamsville, N.Y., and David Stout from Washington.
By DAVID STABA and DAVID STOUT
Published: March 21, 2008
WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. — United State Representative Thomas M. Reynolds announced Thursday that he will not seek another term in Congress representing the district that stretches between the suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester.
Mr. Reynolds, a Republican, said he wanted to spend more time with his family and indicated that recent criticism had not been a factor in his decision.
“I just looked at where we are,” he said at a news conference at a volunteer fire station in Williamsville, a village just northeast of Buffalo. “I had time to reflect on the State Senate seat in the north country and Congressman Hastert’s seat in Illinois.”
He was referring to the recent Democratic victories in elections to fill posts that had long been in Republican hands. In New York, a Democrat, Darrel J. Aubertine, defeated the Republican, William A. Barclay, for a State Senate seat had had been Republican for more than a century. In Illinois, a Democrat, Bill Foster, won election to the House seat vacated by J. Dennis Hastert, the former speaker. Mr. Hastert, a Republican, had held the seat for two decades.
Mr. Reynolds has come under criticism because of financial irregularities at the chief fund-raising arm of his party in the House, the National Republican Congressional Committee. The former treasurer of the committee, Christopher J. Ward, who was named to that post five years ago by Mr. Reynolds when the latter was chairman, is the focus of an F.B.I. investigation.
“We are victims at the committee,” Mr. Reynolds said. “It’s a sad and tragic event.”
He also has been criticized for not taking a more aggressive stance on Mark Foley, a former Republican congressman from Florida accused of making inappropriate sexual comments to young Congressional pages.
The retirement of Mr. Reynolds is of political interest outside Western New York because his once safely Republican district has tilted more Democratic in recent years. Mr. Reynolds won re-election in 2006 by just 52 percent to 48 percent, so Democratic strategists may zero in on his district in hopes of adding to their party’s advantage in the House, now 233 to 198, with 4 vacancies.
The district represented by Mr. Reynolds embraces large swaths of Erie and Niagara Counties, although no part of the City of Buffalo itself. It extends east to Rochester and includes that city’s northwestern suburbs.
Mr. Reynolds, 57, was first elected to Congress in 1998, taking the seat vacated when Representative Bill Paxon, an old friend and political ally, decided not to run for re-election. While in the House, Mr. Reynolds has had the most conservative voting record in the entire New York delegation, according to The Almanac of American Politics.
Early on, Mr. Reynolds was viewed as a rising star in the House. With the help of Mr. Paxon, he soon won a seat on the influential Rules Committee, becoming only the second freshman Republican in a century to do so.
The seat gave him far more clout than most Congressional newcomers, as did his skills at fund-raising.
David Staba reported from Williamsville, N.Y., and David Stout from Washington.
Stingray kills sunbathing woman in Fla.
MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — Officials say a Michigan woman died after a stingray jumped out of the water and struck her in the upper body in the Florida Keys.
Wildlife officials say the spotted eagle ray hit the 55-year-old woman in the face or neck while she was in a boat with her family Thursday. Her name and hometown aren't being released yet.
Officials say it's not clear whether the animal's barb struck her, or if the impact killed her. It's also not clear how big it was.
Spotted eagle rays can grow up to 17 feet in length, weigh up to 500 pounds and have a wingspan of up to 10 feet.
They are known to occasionally jump out of the water but are not aggressive and use the venomous tip at the end of their tail as a defense mechanism.
Wildlife officials say the spotted eagle ray hit the 55-year-old woman in the face or neck while she was in a boat with her family Thursday. Her name and hometown aren't being released yet.
Officials say it's not clear whether the animal's barb struck her, or if the impact killed her. It's also not clear how big it was.
Spotted eagle rays can grow up to 17 feet in length, weigh up to 500 pounds and have a wingspan of up to 10 feet.
They are known to occasionally jump out of the water but are not aggressive and use the venomous tip at the end of their tail as a defense mechanism.
Boyfriend Charged in Kansas Toilet Case
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hCy2hYzMbvSqXY56bp2Q8sslEEEwD8VGU4PO0
Boyfriend Charged in Kansas Toilet Case
NESS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A man whose girlfriend authorities say spent nearly two years in a bathroom in their house, sitting on the toilet so long that the seat adhered to her body, has been charged with mistreatment of a dependent adult.
Kory McFarren, 37, was charged Monday in Ness County District Court.
McFarren called the Ness County Sheriff's Office in late February to say something was wrong with his girlfriend.
When authorities arrived at the home, they found Pam Babcock, 35, stuck to the toilet, which they think she had sat on for about a month.
McFarren told authorities that Babcock feared leaving the bathroom and may not have left it in two years, although said he was unsure how long she was in there. He said that he took her food and water daily, and that he repeatedly asked her to come out but that she usually replied "maybe tomorrow."
"The only thing I am guilty of is I didn't get her help sooner," McFarren told The Associated Press nearly a week ago.
Ness County Attorney Craig Crosswhite said the mistreatment charge most closely fit the situation.
"I looked at the statutes and spoke to the attorney general's office," he said. "This was a very unusual set of circumstances, and this is the law that most closely applied to the situation."
Authorities said Babcock sat on the toilet so long that open sores developed and caused her to become attached to the seat. Sheriff Bryan Whipple has said that he used a pry bar to remove the seat from the toilet, and that the woman was taken to the hospital with the seat still attached.
"She would have to be sleeping on the toilet," Whipple said.
Doctors at a Wichita hospital where Babcock was taken told McFarren that an infection in her legs had damaged her nerves and could leave her in a wheelchair. She was still at the hospital Wednesday night.
McFarren's first court appearance will be in April, Crosswhite said.
Boyfriend Charged in Kansas Toilet Case
NESS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A man whose girlfriend authorities say spent nearly two years in a bathroom in their house, sitting on the toilet so long that the seat adhered to her body, has been charged with mistreatment of a dependent adult.
Kory McFarren, 37, was charged Monday in Ness County District Court.
McFarren called the Ness County Sheriff's Office in late February to say something was wrong with his girlfriend.
When authorities arrived at the home, they found Pam Babcock, 35, stuck to the toilet, which they think she had sat on for about a month.
McFarren told authorities that Babcock feared leaving the bathroom and may not have left it in two years, although said he was unsure how long she was in there. He said that he took her food and water daily, and that he repeatedly asked her to come out but that she usually replied "maybe tomorrow."
"The only thing I am guilty of is I didn't get her help sooner," McFarren told The Associated Press nearly a week ago.
Ness County Attorney Craig Crosswhite said the mistreatment charge most closely fit the situation.
"I looked at the statutes and spoke to the attorney general's office," he said. "This was a very unusual set of circumstances, and this is the law that most closely applied to the situation."
Authorities said Babcock sat on the toilet so long that open sores developed and caused her to become attached to the seat. Sheriff Bryan Whipple has said that he used a pry bar to remove the seat from the toilet, and that the woman was taken to the hospital with the seat still attached.
"She would have to be sleeping on the toilet," Whipple said.
Doctors at a Wichita hospital where Babcock was taken told McFarren that an infection in her legs had damaged her nerves and could leave her in a wheelchair. She was still at the hospital Wednesday night.
McFarren's first court appearance will be in April, Crosswhite said.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
$200B added to mortgage pipeline
$200B added to mortgage pipeline - Mar. 19, 2008
Let's add MORE risk to the mortgage market!
Regulators are lowering capital requirements for mortgage finance firms - a move that could pump hundreds of billions more into mortgage market but raises risks.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- An additional $200 billion in financing is headed to the battered mortgage markets after federal regulators Wednesday said they would allow finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce the capital they keep on hand.
The move is the latest attempt by policymakers to ease the housing crisis, although it raises risks faced by two government-sponsored firms that are crucial to the functioning of global financial markets.
The rule change was announced by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, (OFHEO), a normally low-profile agency that sets rules for the two government sponsored companies that between them hold or guarantee nearly $5 trillion in mortgages.
Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE, Fortune 500) are two publicly-traded companies set up by the federal government nearly 40 years ago to help provide financing needed by lenders looking to make home loans. With the change, they are expected to buy or guarantee $2 trillion in mortgages. That is about $200 billion more than they would have without the rule changes announced Wednesday.
Kieran Quinn, the chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said the new rules are a crucial step in reestablishing the pipeline of funds that flow from investors through lenders to those buying a home or refinancing a mortgage.
"This will enhance lenders' ability to offer financing to a wide variety of borrowers," said Quinn. "This should help keep some at-risk borrowers in their homes which will help stabilize the real estate market."
Relief for troubled markets
Both firms have been working in recent years to clean up accounting problems. During that process, OFHEO has been requiring them to keep 30% extra capital in reserve. The rule change allows them to reduce that excess capital to only 20%.
Even as the market for mortgage-backed securities has melted down over the past year, the securities backed by the so-called conforming loans that met Freddie and Fannie criteria were considered the gold standard.
By the fourth quarter of 2007, the two firms between them were responsible for nearly three-quarters of mortgage backed securities on the market.
But the loans that backed those securities could not be made to borrowers who had less than top credit scores, did not have significant equity in their home or needed loans for more than $417,000.
Congress recently raised the limits for the loans that Fannie and Freddie can buy or insure up to $729,750, increasing the risks for the firm and the demands on their capital.
The new loan rules were seen as a necessary step to end the credit squeeze that has hammered home values across the nation and caused billions in losses and writedowns on Wall Street, raising the risk of a recession.
Change in thinking
The lower capital limits are important, not just for the additional $200 billion they make available, but for the change of thinking it signals in the Bush administration, said Jaret Seiberg, financial services analyst for policy research firm Stanford Group.
"The psychology is quite critical here," said Seiberg. "There is now an increasing view in the market that the administration understands the seriousness of the crisis and is willing to take steps it previously dismissed."
In recent weeks, Wall Street's appetite for mortgage-backed securities insured by Fannie and Freddie started to wane. That weakening demand helped force mortgage rates higher than they would have been.
"That showed that investors were starting to get nervous," said Seiberg. "That could have had a devastating impact on not just the mortgage market but the economy. Any step to make sure that market remains liquid is an important one."
But there are risks involved in Fannie and Freddie lowering their capital reserves and in buying larger loans. If problems in the housing and mortgage markets continue to deepen, it could in the worst case scenario lead to a federal government bailout of Fannie and Freddie. Seiberg believes that's a risk worth taking given the need to inject more cash into the market.
"There's a trade off when you lower capital levels, you take on more risk," said Seiberg. "That's unavoidable. The question going forward is whether Freddie and Fannie can manage that risk."
But some argued the risks are not worth it and this was the wrong move. "In truth, both Fannie and Freddie are already in a more precarious position than politicians or investors would like to admit," said Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, a brokerage firm focusing on overseas investments.
"Lowering reserve requirements is simply an irresponsible attempt to postpone the pain of falling home prices, but it will simply result in greater indebtedness and a deeper recession."
OFHEO Director James Lockhart said in a statement he was confident that both firms have resolved their accounting issues enough to allow the agency to lower its previous capital requirements. He pointed out that as part of this initiative, both companies announced that they will begin the process to raise significant additional capital.
"Let me be clear - both companies have prudent cushions above the OFHEO-directed capital requirements and have increased their reserves," he said. "We believe they can play an even more positive role in providing the stability and liquidity the markets need right now."
Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd said while the rules changes are not a complete solution for the embattled housing and home loan markets, he believes it will help, even though the two firms will continue to focus on prime loans to borrowers with good credit and a large amount of equity in their homes.
"We hope it will help restart the housing engine that powers our economy," he said.
Let's add MORE risk to the mortgage market!
Regulators are lowering capital requirements for mortgage finance firms - a move that could pump hundreds of billions more into mortgage market but raises risks.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- An additional $200 billion in financing is headed to the battered mortgage markets after federal regulators Wednesday said they would allow finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce the capital they keep on hand.
The move is the latest attempt by policymakers to ease the housing crisis, although it raises risks faced by two government-sponsored firms that are crucial to the functioning of global financial markets.
The rule change was announced by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, (OFHEO), a normally low-profile agency that sets rules for the two government sponsored companies that between them hold or guarantee nearly $5 trillion in mortgages.
Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE, Fortune 500) are two publicly-traded companies set up by the federal government nearly 40 years ago to help provide financing needed by lenders looking to make home loans. With the change, they are expected to buy or guarantee $2 trillion in mortgages. That is about $200 billion more than they would have without the rule changes announced Wednesday.
Kieran Quinn, the chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said the new rules are a crucial step in reestablishing the pipeline of funds that flow from investors through lenders to those buying a home or refinancing a mortgage.
"This will enhance lenders' ability to offer financing to a wide variety of borrowers," said Quinn. "This should help keep some at-risk borrowers in their homes which will help stabilize the real estate market."
Relief for troubled markets
Both firms have been working in recent years to clean up accounting problems. During that process, OFHEO has been requiring them to keep 30% extra capital in reserve. The rule change allows them to reduce that excess capital to only 20%.
Even as the market for mortgage-backed securities has melted down over the past year, the securities backed by the so-called conforming loans that met Freddie and Fannie criteria were considered the gold standard.
By the fourth quarter of 2007, the two firms between them were responsible for nearly three-quarters of mortgage backed securities on the market.
But the loans that backed those securities could not be made to borrowers who had less than top credit scores, did not have significant equity in their home or needed loans for more than $417,000.
Congress recently raised the limits for the loans that Fannie and Freddie can buy or insure up to $729,750, increasing the risks for the firm and the demands on their capital.
The new loan rules were seen as a necessary step to end the credit squeeze that has hammered home values across the nation and caused billions in losses and writedowns on Wall Street, raising the risk of a recession.
Change in thinking
The lower capital limits are important, not just for the additional $200 billion they make available, but for the change of thinking it signals in the Bush administration, said Jaret Seiberg, financial services analyst for policy research firm Stanford Group.
"The psychology is quite critical here," said Seiberg. "There is now an increasing view in the market that the administration understands the seriousness of the crisis and is willing to take steps it previously dismissed."
In recent weeks, Wall Street's appetite for mortgage-backed securities insured by Fannie and Freddie started to wane. That weakening demand helped force mortgage rates higher than they would have been.
"That showed that investors were starting to get nervous," said Seiberg. "That could have had a devastating impact on not just the mortgage market but the economy. Any step to make sure that market remains liquid is an important one."
But there are risks involved in Fannie and Freddie lowering their capital reserves and in buying larger loans. If problems in the housing and mortgage markets continue to deepen, it could in the worst case scenario lead to a federal government bailout of Fannie and Freddie. Seiberg believes that's a risk worth taking given the need to inject more cash into the market.
"There's a trade off when you lower capital levels, you take on more risk," said Seiberg. "That's unavoidable. The question going forward is whether Freddie and Fannie can manage that risk."
But some argued the risks are not worth it and this was the wrong move. "In truth, both Fannie and Freddie are already in a more precarious position than politicians or investors would like to admit," said Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, a brokerage firm focusing on overseas investments.
"Lowering reserve requirements is simply an irresponsible attempt to postpone the pain of falling home prices, but it will simply result in greater indebtedness and a deeper recession."
OFHEO Director James Lockhart said in a statement he was confident that both firms have resolved their accounting issues enough to allow the agency to lower its previous capital requirements. He pointed out that as part of this initiative, both companies announced that they will begin the process to raise significant additional capital.
"Let me be clear - both companies have prudent cushions above the OFHEO-directed capital requirements and have increased their reserves," he said. "We believe they can play an even more positive role in providing the stability and liquidity the markets need right now."
Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd said while the rules changes are not a complete solution for the embattled housing and home loan markets, he believes it will help, even though the two firms will continue to focus on prime loans to borrowers with good credit and a large amount of equity in their homes.
"We hope it will help restart the housing engine that powers our economy," he said.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Workers uncovering mummified dinosaur - Yahoo! News
Workers uncovering mummified dinosaur - Yahoo! News
BISMARCK, N.D. - Using tiny brushes and chisels, workers picking at a big greenish-black rock in the basement of North Dakota's state museum are meticulously uncovering something amazing: a nearly complete dinosaur, skin and all.
Unlike almost every other dinosaur fossil ever found, the Edmontosaurus named Dakota, a duckbilled dinosaur unearthed in southwestern North Dakota in 2004, is covered by fossilized skin that is hard as iron. It's among just a few mummified dinosaurs in the world, say the researchers who are slowly freeing it from a 65-million-year-old rock tomb.
"This is the closest many people will ever get to seeing what large parts of a dinosaur actually looked like, in the flesh," said Phillip Manning, a paleontologist at Manchester University in England, a member of the international team researching Dakota.
"This is not the usual disjointed sentence or fragment of a word that the fossil records offer up as evidence of past life. This is a full chapter."
Animal tissue typically decomposes quickly after death. Researchers say Dakota must have been buried rapidly and in just the right environment for the texture of the skin to be preserved.
"The process of decay was overtaken by that of fossilization, preserving many of the soft-tissue structures," Manning said.
Tyler Lyson, a 25-year-old doctoral paleontology student at Yale University, discovered the dinosaur on his uncle's ranch in the Badlands in 1999. Weeks after he started to unearth the fossil in 2004, he knew he had found something special.
"Usually all we have is bones," Lyson said in a telephone interview. "In this special case, we're not just after the bones; we're after the whole carcass."
Researchers have used the world's largest CT scanner, operated by the Boeing Co. in California and used to examine space shuttle parts, to get a better look at what is encased in the rumpled mass of sandstone.
Stephen Begin, a Michigan consultant on the project, said this is the fifth dinosaur mummy ever found that is "of any significance."
"It may turn out to be one of the best mummies, because of the quality of the skin that we're finding and the extent of the skin that's on the specimen," he said Tuesday.
Begin said several other dinosaurs with fossilized skin have been unearthed around the world, but only a handful have enough skin to be of use for research and education and in most previous cases the skin was considered to be of lesser importance. "The goal was to get bones to put on display," he said.
Dakota was moved to the museum early last month and is currently surrounded by precariously perched desk lamps and a machine to suck up dust. State paleontologist John Hoganson, of the North Dakota Geological Survey, said it will take a year, maybe more, to uncover it.
Amy Sakariassen, part of the team working on the project, was toiling away with a brush whose bristles had been ground down to nubs.
"It really is wonderful to work on it," she said, as Begin used a sharp instrument to pick away tiny bits of rock and unveil a scale. "Nobody's seen that particular scale in 67 million years. It's quite thrilling."
Manning said his involvement has meant 18-hour days, seven-day weeks and "more work than I could have ever imagined. But I would not change a single second of the past few years."
Hoganson said the main part of the fossil is in two parts, weighing a total of nearly 5 tons.
"The skeleton itself is kind of curled up," he said. "The actual length would be about 30 feet, from about the tip of its tail to the tip of its nose."
The fossil has spawned both a children's book and an adult book, as well as National Geographic television programs. The National Geographic Society is funding much of the research.
"We are looking forward to seeing what emerges from the huge dinosaur body block now housed in North Dakota," said John Francis, a society vice president.
Many prehistoric fossils have been found in the western North Dakota Badlands where terrain has been heavily eroded over time by weather. Hoganson said other treasures likely are waiting to be unearthed.
"It's one of the few places in the world where you can actually see the boundary line where the dinosaurs became extinct, the time boundary," he said. "In the Badlands, this layer is exposed in certain places."
Lyson, who found the fossil, eventually hopes to send it on a worldwide tour and then bring it back to his hometown of Marmarth, where he is creating a museum. For now, workers at the North Dakota Heritage Center on the state Capitol grounds are getting part of it ready for display this summer.
BISMARCK, N.D. - Using tiny brushes and chisels, workers picking at a big greenish-black rock in the basement of North Dakota's state museum are meticulously uncovering something amazing: a nearly complete dinosaur, skin and all.
Unlike almost every other dinosaur fossil ever found, the Edmontosaurus named Dakota, a duckbilled dinosaur unearthed in southwestern North Dakota in 2004, is covered by fossilized skin that is hard as iron. It's among just a few mummified dinosaurs in the world, say the researchers who are slowly freeing it from a 65-million-year-old rock tomb.
"This is the closest many people will ever get to seeing what large parts of a dinosaur actually looked like, in the flesh," said Phillip Manning, a paleontologist at Manchester University in England, a member of the international team researching Dakota.
"This is not the usual disjointed sentence or fragment of a word that the fossil records offer up as evidence of past life. This is a full chapter."
Animal tissue typically decomposes quickly after death. Researchers say Dakota must have been buried rapidly and in just the right environment for the texture of the skin to be preserved.
"The process of decay was overtaken by that of fossilization, preserving many of the soft-tissue structures," Manning said.
Tyler Lyson, a 25-year-old doctoral paleontology student at Yale University, discovered the dinosaur on his uncle's ranch in the Badlands in 1999. Weeks after he started to unearth the fossil in 2004, he knew he had found something special.
"Usually all we have is bones," Lyson said in a telephone interview. "In this special case, we're not just after the bones; we're after the whole carcass."
Researchers have used the world's largest CT scanner, operated by the Boeing Co. in California and used to examine space shuttle parts, to get a better look at what is encased in the rumpled mass of sandstone.
Stephen Begin, a Michigan consultant on the project, said this is the fifth dinosaur mummy ever found that is "of any significance."
"It may turn out to be one of the best mummies, because of the quality of the skin that we're finding and the extent of the skin that's on the specimen," he said Tuesday.
Begin said several other dinosaurs with fossilized skin have been unearthed around the world, but only a handful have enough skin to be of use for research and education and in most previous cases the skin was considered to be of lesser importance. "The goal was to get bones to put on display," he said.
Dakota was moved to the museum early last month and is currently surrounded by precariously perched desk lamps and a machine to suck up dust. State paleontologist John Hoganson, of the North Dakota Geological Survey, said it will take a year, maybe more, to uncover it.
Amy Sakariassen, part of the team working on the project, was toiling away with a brush whose bristles had been ground down to nubs.
"It really is wonderful to work on it," she said, as Begin used a sharp instrument to pick away tiny bits of rock and unveil a scale. "Nobody's seen that particular scale in 67 million years. It's quite thrilling."
Manning said his involvement has meant 18-hour days, seven-day weeks and "more work than I could have ever imagined. But I would not change a single second of the past few years."
Hoganson said the main part of the fossil is in two parts, weighing a total of nearly 5 tons.
"The skeleton itself is kind of curled up," he said. "The actual length would be about 30 feet, from about the tip of its tail to the tip of its nose."
The fossil has spawned both a children's book and an adult book, as well as National Geographic television programs. The National Geographic Society is funding much of the research.
"We are looking forward to seeing what emerges from the huge dinosaur body block now housed in North Dakota," said John Francis, a society vice president.
Many prehistoric fossils have been found in the western North Dakota Badlands where terrain has been heavily eroded over time by weather. Hoganson said other treasures likely are waiting to be unearthed.
"It's one of the few places in the world where you can actually see the boundary line where the dinosaurs became extinct, the time boundary," he said. "In the Badlands, this layer is exposed in certain places."
Lyson, who found the fossil, eventually hopes to send it on a worldwide tour and then bring it back to his hometown of Marmarth, where he is creating a museum. For now, workers at the North Dakota Heritage Center on the state Capitol grounds are getting part of it ready for display this summer.
Corona man sentenced for stealing fuel from Redlands cement company
Corona man sentenced for stealing fuel from Redlands cement company San Bernardino County PE.com Southern California News News for Inland Southern California
After deportation - keep an eye out for his wife - Catch his ass again!
10:00 PM PDT on Monday, March 17, 2008
By JOHN F. BERRYThe Press-Enterprise
SAN BERNARDINO - An illegal immigrant living in Corona will be deported to Mexico after he serves the six-month jail sentence he received Monday for stealing more than $11,000 worth of diesel fuel from a Redlands cement factory.
David Perez Toledo, 55, was sentenced in San Bernardino County Superior Court after accepting a plea agreement Feb. 15 and pleading guilty to receiving stolen property and brandishing a weapon.
On Jan. 28, Toledo was arrested on Interstate 10 in Redlands in a 2004 Ford F-350 pickup equipped with a 200-gallon fuel tank, a second 150-gallon tank and a pump, generator and hoses for siphoning fuel.
Toledo's sentencing report states that he eventually admitted stealing diesel to fuel his business, in which he drove around Southern California to service and repair large trucks.
"This isn't like somebody taking a siphon hose and tapping off a neighbor's car," Deputy District Attorney Sean McNally said. "He was going to sell it somewhere."
Toledo claimed to have stolen fuel from Robertson's Ready Mix, in the Santa Ana River wash at 8353 Alabama St., on three different occasions, his sentencing report said.
The plant has video showing Toledo entering the plant on 10 occasions and successfully stealing fuel on six, a Robertson's representative said in the report.
The business put its loss at $11,430 -- 3,000 gallons at $3.81 a gallon.
A Probation Department analysis was skeptical that Robertson's would ever see any reimbursement because Toledo is an illegal immigrant who will be deported to Mexico after serving his jail term.
"Hopefully, the defendant will remain in Mexico and the cement plant will no longer be the victim of his thefts," the sentencing report said.
A woman who answered the phone at Robertson's on Monday refused to forward a call seeking comment to any company official.
Toledo admitted entering the United States illegally in 2000, his sentencing report said.
"If returned to Mexico, he does intend to return to the United States to care for his ill wife," the report said.
His wife, Ana Salinas, reached by phone Monday, declined to comment.
Shortly before Toledo's Jan. 28 arrest, a Robertson's employee spotted someone in a Ford F-350 stealing fuel at the plant about 11:30 p.m. The employee called 911 and attempted to stop the pickup before it fled, a Redlands police report said.
The employee, speaking with police with his cell phone, followed the truck onto Interstate 10, the report said. Toledo stopped near University Street, got out of the truck and yelled at the employee while holding an object, the report said.
Redlands police arrived within moments and arrested Toledo, the report said. Officers found a 20-inch machete in his truck, the report said.
Toledo, who was wearing a Robertson's work shirt at the time, told a Redlands officer that he wore that shirt so he would not get his own dirty, the report said.
Toledo claimed that a plant employee helped him steal the fuel, the report said.
Court records do not show any arrests of Robertson's employees in connection with the case.
After deportation - keep an eye out for his wife - Catch his ass again!
10:00 PM PDT on Monday, March 17, 2008
By JOHN F. BERRYThe Press-Enterprise
SAN BERNARDINO - An illegal immigrant living in Corona will be deported to Mexico after he serves the six-month jail sentence he received Monday for stealing more than $11,000 worth of diesel fuel from a Redlands cement factory.
David Perez Toledo, 55, was sentenced in San Bernardino County Superior Court after accepting a plea agreement Feb. 15 and pleading guilty to receiving stolen property and brandishing a weapon.
On Jan. 28, Toledo was arrested on Interstate 10 in Redlands in a 2004 Ford F-350 pickup equipped with a 200-gallon fuel tank, a second 150-gallon tank and a pump, generator and hoses for siphoning fuel.
Toledo's sentencing report states that he eventually admitted stealing diesel to fuel his business, in which he drove around Southern California to service and repair large trucks.
"This isn't like somebody taking a siphon hose and tapping off a neighbor's car," Deputy District Attorney Sean McNally said. "He was going to sell it somewhere."
Toledo claimed to have stolen fuel from Robertson's Ready Mix, in the Santa Ana River wash at 8353 Alabama St., on three different occasions, his sentencing report said.
The plant has video showing Toledo entering the plant on 10 occasions and successfully stealing fuel on six, a Robertson's representative said in the report.
The business put its loss at $11,430 -- 3,000 gallons at $3.81 a gallon.
A Probation Department analysis was skeptical that Robertson's would ever see any reimbursement because Toledo is an illegal immigrant who will be deported to Mexico after serving his jail term.
"Hopefully, the defendant will remain in Mexico and the cement plant will no longer be the victim of his thefts," the sentencing report said.
A woman who answered the phone at Robertson's on Monday refused to forward a call seeking comment to any company official.
Toledo admitted entering the United States illegally in 2000, his sentencing report said.
"If returned to Mexico, he does intend to return to the United States to care for his ill wife," the report said.
His wife, Ana Salinas, reached by phone Monday, declined to comment.
Shortly before Toledo's Jan. 28 arrest, a Robertson's employee spotted someone in a Ford F-350 stealing fuel at the plant about 11:30 p.m. The employee called 911 and attempted to stop the pickup before it fled, a Redlands police report said.
The employee, speaking with police with his cell phone, followed the truck onto Interstate 10, the report said. Toledo stopped near University Street, got out of the truck and yelled at the employee while holding an object, the report said.
Redlands police arrived within moments and arrested Toledo, the report said. Officers found a 20-inch machete in his truck, the report said.
Toledo, who was wearing a Robertson's work shirt at the time, told a Redlands officer that he wore that shirt so he would not get his own dirty, the report said.
Toledo claimed that a plant employee helped him steal the fuel, the report said.
Court records do not show any arrests of Robertson's employees in connection with the case.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Buzz for room service
Buzz for room service... - Yahoo! News
LONDON (AFP) - A new boutique hotel at a seaside resort in northwest England is to offer guests a sex toy minibar when it opens later this year, its owner said Monday.
The Vincent Hotel, in Southport, near Liverpool, will have "intimate seduction kits" in each of its 60 rooms from May, containing lubricating gel, massage oil, a vibrating ring and two condoms.
The kit will be in a sealed box alongside more traditional minibar items like nuts, chocolate and alcohol. Guests can request an extra special kit containing a whip, mask and bondage tape.
Owner Paul Adams said: "As well as giving guests a design conscious venue to stay, we wanted to give them a decadent, inspiring and seductive environment to enjoy.
"We want to provide our residents with a distinct and highly individual experience in their own private, opulent space."
Southport is best-known for its Victorian-era promenade, the oldest surviving iron pier in Britain and the Royal Birkdale golf club, where the Open Championship will be held in July.
LONDON (AFP) - A new boutique hotel at a seaside resort in northwest England is to offer guests a sex toy minibar when it opens later this year, its owner said Monday.
The Vincent Hotel, in Southport, near Liverpool, will have "intimate seduction kits" in each of its 60 rooms from May, containing lubricating gel, massage oil, a vibrating ring and two condoms.
The kit will be in a sealed box alongside more traditional minibar items like nuts, chocolate and alcohol. Guests can request an extra special kit containing a whip, mask and bondage tape.
Owner Paul Adams said: "As well as giving guests a design conscious venue to stay, we wanted to give them a decadent, inspiring and seductive environment to enjoy.
"We want to provide our residents with a distinct and highly individual experience in their own private, opulent space."
Southport is best-known for its Victorian-era promenade, the oldest surviving iron pier in Britain and the Royal Birkdale golf club, where the Open Championship will be held in July.
Arrest uncovers theft ring
Arrest uncovers theft ring - San Bernardino County Sun
REDLANDS - A shoplifting arrest Friday led to the discovery of an organized theft ring.
REDLANDS - A shoplifting arrest Friday led to the discovery of an organized theft ring.
Redlands police responded Friday to a theft in progress at a Target store, according to a police news release.
When they arrived, store security informed them that a man inside had hidden video games inside some other merchandise before placing them on a shelf.
A second man then picked up the merchandise and paid for the item without paying for the video games.
Redlands police by this time had surrounded the store at 27320 W. Lugonia Ave., according to the release.
Police arrested 22-year-old Henry Llerena of San Bernardino and 23-year-old Joseph Hernandez on suspicion of burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.
Officers found evidence in Llerena's vehicle consistent with marijuana sales, according to the release. Llerena was also arrested on suspicion of marijuana for sale.
The amount, "was enough that it was clear it was for sales and not for personal use," the release said.
Officers found a total of 26.5 grams of marijuana along with a scale and baggies, Baker said.
During the investigation, police developed leads which led them to 32-year-old Daniel Herrera, a vendor at the San Bernardino Indoor Swap Meet.
Police set up a buy where Herrera purchased what he thought were stolen video games, according to the release.
Officers saw the previously purchased video games on display at Herrera's shop at the swap meet on Saturday. Undercover officers bought four of the games before they arrested Herrera.
After his arrest, officers confiscated DVDs, video games, game systems and components worth more than $35,000, according to the news release.
Herrera was arrested on suspicion of attempted possession of stolen property.
Such theft-ring busts are an unusual occurrence within the city of Redlands, Baker said.
Investigators arrested people involved with an identity theft ring in the area in 2006, he said.
Marine One one expensive helicopter - UPI.com
Marine One one expensive helicopter - UPI.com: "Marine One one expensive helicopter
Marine One one expensive helicopter
WASHINGTON, March 17 (UPI) -- Security, mission creep and bureaucracy nearly doubled the cost of a U.S. helicopter fleet and pushed its deadline into the unknown, The Washington Post said.
The White House set out to upgrade the fleet of helicopters called Marine One by ordering 28 new high-tech helicopters but the initial price tag of $6.1 billion soared to $11.2 billion and the target date of completion is something of a vague guess, the Post said Monday.
Each helicopter runs about $400 million because they will be outfitted with anti-missile systems, jamming devices and a hull that is resistant to the aftereffects of a nuclear explosion in order to protect the president.
"You don't think of it in terms of what's the cost of the individual helicopter," said Jacques S. Gansler, a former undersecretary of defense for acquisition. "You think of it as, what do we need to do to protect the president?"
U.S. President George Bush doesn't have any particular influence in the project because none of the helicopters will be ready until well after he leaves office. The first five are due in 2010, which is a year behind schedule, and the due date for the remainder of the fleet has slipped to sometime after 2015, the newspaper said.
Marine One one expensive helicopter
WASHINGTON, March 17 (UPI) -- Security, mission creep and bureaucracy nearly doubled the cost of a U.S. helicopter fleet and pushed its deadline into the unknown, The Washington Post said.
The White House set out to upgrade the fleet of helicopters called Marine One by ordering 28 new high-tech helicopters but the initial price tag of $6.1 billion soared to $11.2 billion and the target date of completion is something of a vague guess, the Post said Monday.
Each helicopter runs about $400 million because they will be outfitted with anti-missile systems, jamming devices and a hull that is resistant to the aftereffects of a nuclear explosion in order to protect the president.
"You don't think of it in terms of what's the cost of the individual helicopter," said Jacques S. Gansler, a former undersecretary of defense for acquisition. "You think of it as, what do we need to do to protect the president?"
U.S. President George Bush doesn't have any particular influence in the project because none of the helicopters will be ready until well after he leaves office. The first five are due in 2010, which is a year behind schedule, and the due date for the remainder of the fleet has slipped to sometime after 2015, the newspaper said.
Mel Gibson Reaches Out to Britney Spears
Report: Mel Gibson Reaches Out to Britney Spears
This is SO wrong on So many levels
This is SO wrong on So many levels
LOS ANGELES — Mel Gibson and his family have befriended Britney Spears, thinking they can help her through her tough time, TMZ.com reported.
The two were at Romanov Restaurant and Lounge in Los Angeles Saturday night, where they reportedly dined together. Gibson, his wife Robin and their kids reached out to Spears during her darkest days and began seeing her, TMZ said.
The Gibsons feel like they know how tough it is to live in a fishbowl and they think they can help Spears, sources told TMZ. There have been private dinners in which Mel, Robin and the kids met up with Spears to give her support.
At Romanov's Saturday night, Gibson and Spears did not walk in or out together, TMZ reported.
After pleading no contest to a misdemeanor DUI charge on Aug. 17, 2006, Gibson was given three years' probation, ordered to pay $1,400 in fines and attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. After he was stopped, Gibson launched into an anti-Semitic rant, causing a scandal.
Spears' father, James, was named one of two co-conservators of her estate after the singer was hospitalized twice in January. Conservatorships are granted for people deemed unable to take care of themselves or their affairs.
Before her hospitalization, Spears had shown increasingly erratic behavior. She shaved her head, was seen in public without underwear, ran over a celebrity photographer's foot and attacked a vehicle with an umbrella.
Click here to read more at TMZ.com
Spears has since had very limited contact with her toddler sons who are under the sole physical and legal custody of her ex-husband Kevin Federline.
Heather Mills 'So Happy' with $50M Divorce Settlement - Crime & Courts, Paul McCartney, Content Item : People.com
Heather Mills 'So Happy' with $50M Divorce Settlement
By Pete Norman
Originally posted Monday March 17, 2008 10:20 AM EDT
Speaking on the steps of the High Court in London Monday, Heather Mills declared herself 'so, so happy' with her nearly $50 million divorce settlement from Paul McCartney."
By Pete Norman
Originally posted Monday March 17, 2008 10:20 AM EDT
Speaking on the steps of the High Court in London Monday, Heather Mills declared herself 'so, so happy' with her nearly $50 million divorce settlement from Paul McCartney."
Family worried about T-Mobile plans for cell tower - San Bernardino County Sun
Family worried about T-Mobile plans for cell tower
I bet they let her carry around a cell phone tho!!!
I bet they let her carry around a cell phone tho!!!
Family worried about T-Mobile plans for cell tower
Article Launched: 03/14/2008 10:56:32 PM PDT
REDLANDS - Larry Bishop said he and his family will pack up and leave town if City Hall allows a cell-phone tower to go up near his house.
"We're going to move (if) that decision's already been made," he said.
The proposed 60-foot cell-phone tower would be erected in the 1900 block of Country Club Drive, a locale in the southern part of Redlands where palms and evergreens grow among stately homes with three-car garages.
City officials have yet to make a decision on the proposed tower.
The subject is scheduled to be discussed at 9 a.m. Monday at an Environmental Review Committee meeting.
The tower, if approved, would be disguised as a cypress tree.
But in Bishop's view, the neighborhood won't be so nice with a new cell tower.
He said he is worried about the potential health hazards associated with radio-frequency transmissions that would be broadcast from a new tower.
"There's a potential health effect. The debate is still ongoing," he said.
Bishop, a network manager at Loma Linda University, said the tower would be 104 feet from his home.
He predicted that other families with children would be reluctant to move into a house near a cell tower.
"You probably take 70 percent of the people that have children out of the market," Bishop said.
In the view of the American Cancer Society, cell-tower technology is too new for scientists to have conducted definitive research to determine if living near one poses long-term health risks.
The American Cancer Society cites the Food and Drug Administration's finding that at ground level, cell towers are unlikely to expose people to dangerous energy levels.
Omnipoint Communications, better known to consumers as T-Mobile, has proposed the cell tower.
Chris Eldridge of T-Mobile regional engineering said in a telephone interview Friday that people living near a cell tower would not be exposed to high levels of radio energy.
Although he did not have immediate access to the full report, he said broadcast consulting firm Hammett & Edison conducted a study that concluded that ground level exposures to radio frequencies near the planned cell tower would be 0.0027 of the federal government's maximum exposure level.
On Thursday, Bishop and a neighbor set up a booth at Market Night in downtown Redlands to collect signatures opposing the proposed tower.
He has also created a Web site, www.helpbrianna.org, that shows his daughter asking Web surfers to "help stop the radiation" and e-mail city officials in opposition to the tower.
Robert Dalquest, interim community development director, wrote in an e-mail that Monday's meeting to discuss the proposed tower was delayed from February so city officials could consider the views of people living near the site.
For a tower to be built, the Planning Commission would have to grant a permit for the project.
The City Council would also have to greenlight a lease agreement with T-Mobile.
Ashley Alexandra Dupre's Family Heartbreak
Ashley Alexandra Dupre's Family Heartbreak - Eliot Spitzer : People.com:
By Charlotte Triggs
Originally posted Sunday March 16, 2008 04:30 PM EDT
Ashley Alexandra Dupre, from her MySpace pageBefore the Scandal: Ashley's Family Heartbreak
Before she was known as 'Kristen', the woman at the center of the prostitution scandal that forced New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's resignation, 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupré was simply Ashley Youmans, a small town girl from the New Jersey shore who yearned for her father and struggled with her family's split.
After her parents, William Youmans and Carolyn Capalbo, broke up, Ashley 'used to cry about that and say how much she missed him,' childhood friend Erica Kane tells PEOPLE. Adding to the heartache was her older brother Kyle, 26, who was incarcerated after a 2000 drug arrest, according to the Asbury Park Press. (More recently, on Monday, Kyle pleaded guilty to heroin charges and is expected to be sentenced to probation on April 14, according the newspaper.)
But after her mother married oral surgeon Michael DiPietro, Ashley, who was in elementary school at the time, would say even more so 'how much she missed her dad. She always used to talk about that,' says Kane. '[Her life] looked perfect. She was a beautiful girl, boys thought she was pretty and she got along with everybody. But she wanted her real family. She wanted her real father and her mother together and her brother back in the house. She wanted everybody under the same roof."
"Ashley was a good girl. She was a sweetheart, everyone loved her," says a childhood pal. "She had a good heart." And a good voice. Bringing friends to her house to play with the karaoke machine in her room, Ashley would belt out songs by Brandy, the source says. Adds Kane: "She made up this whole dance to Madonna's 'Express Yourself.' We used to hang out in her play room at her house and just dance around to that song."
"She was a normal cool girl," says former boyfriend Wayne Hunter, who dated Ashley until 2003. "She wasn't a saint, but I would put her better than a lot of girls that I've known. [The recent scandal] has surprised me because she wasn't really like that."
While Ashley was popular with the boys, she had trouble making female friends while there. "She was the hottest girl in town when she was here and all the other girls gave her hell," says Hunter. "They were jealous. The girls wouldn't hang out with her. It was ridiculous. The girls here were really mean to her."
Ashley took jobs as a cocktail waitress at hot spots like Retox and Pink Elephant to pay the bills while she recorded songs like "Move Ya Body" and "What We Want" in her free time, and booked gigs performing at clubs like China Club and Remote Lounge.
The aspiring singer became embroiled in the nightlife scene. "She'd roll around with an elite, older, upper echelon of men in Manhattan society, all the 'players' in nightlife and entertainment," says a source. "She would go out of town now and then but said she was working on music projects."
By Charlotte Triggs
Originally posted Sunday March 16, 2008 04:30 PM EDT
Ashley Alexandra Dupre, from her MySpace pageBefore the Scandal: Ashley's Family Heartbreak
Before she was known as 'Kristen', the woman at the center of the prostitution scandal that forced New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's resignation, 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupré was simply Ashley Youmans, a small town girl from the New Jersey shore who yearned for her father and struggled with her family's split.
After her parents, William Youmans and Carolyn Capalbo, broke up, Ashley 'used to cry about that and say how much she missed him,' childhood friend Erica Kane tells PEOPLE. Adding to the heartache was her older brother Kyle, 26, who was incarcerated after a 2000 drug arrest, according to the Asbury Park Press. (More recently, on Monday, Kyle pleaded guilty to heroin charges and is expected to be sentenced to probation on April 14, according the newspaper.)
But after her mother married oral surgeon Michael DiPietro, Ashley, who was in elementary school at the time, would say even more so 'how much she missed her dad. She always used to talk about that,' says Kane. '[Her life] looked perfect. She was a beautiful girl, boys thought she was pretty and she got along with everybody. But she wanted her real family. She wanted her real father and her mother together and her brother back in the house. She wanted everybody under the same roof."
A Comfortable Lifestyle
Still, friends say Ashley had a comfortable life with her stepfamily, in a spacious house in tony Wall Township, N.J. A popular student, former classmates recall that Ashley was driven to school in a Jaguar, that she dressed well and made friends on the cheerleading squad."Ashley was a good girl. She was a sweetheart, everyone loved her," says a childhood pal. "She had a good heart." And a good voice. Bringing friends to her house to play with the karaoke machine in her room, Ashley would belt out songs by Brandy, the source says. Adds Kane: "She made up this whole dance to Madonna's 'Express Yourself.' We used to hang out in her play room at her house and just dance around to that song."
Moving to North Carolina
But once in high school, something changed. In her sophomore year, she abruptly left home to move in with her dad and his new wife, attending Manteo High School in the Outer Banks in North Carolina. "It was my decision," Ashley wrote on her MySpace page. "And I've never looked back.""She was a normal cool girl," says former boyfriend Wayne Hunter, who dated Ashley until 2003. "She wasn't a saint, but I would put her better than a lot of girls that I've known. [The recent scandal] has surprised me because she wasn't really like that."
While Ashley was popular with the boys, she had trouble making female friends while there. "She was the hottest girl in town when she was here and all the other girls gave her hell," says Hunter. "They were jealous. The girls wouldn't hang out with her. It was ridiculous. The girls here were really mean to her."
Big City Dreams
With hopes of a career in the music industry, Ashley moved to New York City after high school. "She told me she got a nice little apartment and was just starting out slow, trying to make her way up in whatever she could do," says Hunter.Ashley took jobs as a cocktail waitress at hot spots like Retox and Pink Elephant to pay the bills while she recorded songs like "Move Ya Body" and "What We Want" in her free time, and booked gigs performing at clubs like China Club and Remote Lounge.
The aspiring singer became embroiled in the nightlife scene. "She'd roll around with an elite, older, upper echelon of men in Manhattan society, all the 'players' in nightlife and entertainment," says a source. "She would go out of town now and then but said she was working on music projects."
Unexpected Fame
Now that her alleged involvement with Emperors Club V.I.P. has been exposed, "she's just trying to work through it," says high school friend Joe Pawlak, who remains in touch with Ashley. "We're just trying to keep her head up and keep her strong, have her look at this as a positive. People make mistakes. All you can do is try to go on, grow from the experience."Obama in Cross Hairs For Pastor Remarks
ABC News: Obama in Cross Hairs For Pastor Remarks
Out of context - RIGHT!!
See if you agree if he is taken out of context!! http://youtube.com/watch?v=hAYe7MT5BxM
Officials at Sen. Barack Obama's church have taken offense at the controversy born out of the fiery statements made by their senior pastor who sermonized that black Americans should sing "God Damn America" instead of "God Bless America."
Out of context - RIGHT!!
See if you agree if he is taken out of context!! http://youtube.com/watch?v=hAYe7MT5BxM
Officials at Sen. Barack Obama's church have taken offense at the controversy born out of the fiery statements made by their senior pastor who sermonized that black Americans should sing "God Damn America" instead of "God Bless America."
Since last week's media eruption after the controversial sermons of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of the Trinity United Church of Christ, Wright left the campaign's African American Religious Leadership Committee and Obama distanced himself from his pastor of 20 years.
"I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have [been] the subject of this controversy," Obama said, saying that he'd never heard any of them personally.
"One of them I had heard about after I had started running for president and I put out a statement at that time condemning them," he continued.
But more than a year ago, Obama disinvited Wright from speaking at his candidacy announcement. Wright told The New York Times then that Obama told him, "You can get kind of rough in the sermons. … It's best for you not to be out there in public."
Church member and University of Chicago theology professor Dwight Hopkins says Wright's message has been taken out of context.
"The whole point to Dr. Wright's sermons is to how do you make America a better America. If anything he's a true patriot," Hopkins said.
He also argues that the furor surrounding Wright smacks of a general attack against the idea of a black church born during slavery.
"It tries to be a healing balm in the midst of some very challenging situations in the inner city and ghettos," Hopkins said. "If we took a field trip to a thousand black churches across the country on Sunday, you would have a very serious wake-up call on the nature of those messages."
The Illinois senator is considering giving a speech this week on race.
Referencing the tight delegate race ahead for the Democratic candidates, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile called the Wright focus "a distraction" to the campaign.
"He's running to be commander in chief, not preacher in chief, and I understand that Sen. Obama had to both distance himself and to denounce those types of statements. … I would hope that Obama and for that matter Sen. [Hillary] Clinton who also had to distance herself from some controversial remarks from some of her supporters, I will hope they get back on the issues so that the Democrats have a fighting chance to win in November."Regardless, ABC News consultant Juan Williams says the Wright fallout has left an imprint that's not going away.
"This has caught him up in the middle of a very racial dispute," Williams said on "Good Morning America" today. "One that seems to separate black and white and suggested that [Obama] came into that community wanting to be identified with the black community, at a time when he was questioned as to whether or not he was authentically black. Now, he's trying to distance himself from that very church and say he didn't know things that he obviously had to know."
Friday, March 14, 2008
Spitzer's call girl could parlay infamy into payday | U.S. | Reuters
Spitzer's call girl could parlay infamy into payday | U.S. | Reuters
By Emily Chasan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The $1,000-an-hour prostitute reportedly hired by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer may soon make much more than that, turning her 15 minutes of infamy into a tidy sum of money.
Since 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupre was identified by The New York Times late on Wednesday as the governor's paramour, the prostitute and aspiring singer's songs have become the most popular downloads on a music-sharing Web site and at least one magazine is prepared to pay her for a nude photo spread.
Proving the adage there's no such thing as bad publicity, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt told the Access Hollywood television program on Friday that he plans to offer Dupre $1 million to pose nude in his magazine.
Earlier this week, the woman told the Times she was worried about paying her rent this month after the escort service she worked for was shut down by federal officials.
The newspaper reported Spitzer was heard on a federal wiretap last month arranging a tryst with a prostitute called "Kristen," whom the paper identified as Dupre.
Spitzer resigned on Wednesday and apologized for his "private failings," but did not refer specifically to the report.
According to Dupre's MySpace page (www.myspace.com/ninavenetta), she left home at 17 and moved to New York, where she is trying to pursue a music career.
Her R&B- and pop-tinged songs "What We Want" and "Move Ya Body" are ranked as the two best-selling songs on the AimeStreet.com music sharing Web site.
A spokesman for Aime Street, which uses a demand-price model where users pay more for popular songs, would not confirm how many times Dupre's songs had been downloaded. But he said "Move ya Body," which was uploaded to the site around 2 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Thursday, rose to the highest download price (98 cents) faster than any other song in the site's history.
Dupre's page on the site has been viewed more than 300,000 times and artists get a 70 percent cut of sales. If 1 million copies were sold, as some media outlets have estimated, then she's already made more than $680,000 from her notoriety.
New York radio stations, including the top-rated Z100, have been playing her music on the airwaves. Her profile on the social networking Web site MySpace has had over 7 million page views.
Penthouse Magazine Group president and publisher Diane Silberstein has said the men's magazine would consider offering Dupre a nude cover shot.
On Friday, The New York Post ran five pages of revealing pictures of Dupre from a 2007 photo shoot purportedly to promote her music career.
Reuters/Nielsen
Bush acknowledges weakness in US economy - Yahoo! News
Bush acknowledges weakness in US economy - Yahoo! News
CAN SOMEONE SAY - DUH???
CAN SOMEONE SAY - DUH???
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 31 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Trying to calm jitters about the economy, President Bush conceded on Friday that the country "obviously is going through a tough time" but expressed confidence that it will rebound. He cautioned against overreacting to fix the problems.
In a speech to The Economic Club of New York, Bush said this was not the first time the economy has been rattled and that he is certain that it will ride out its troubles. "These are uncertain times," he said.
The president spoke as evidence of an ailing economy piled up. The dollar fell, oil and gold hit record highs, the economy is shedding jobs, retail sales saw a big drop and the effects of a severe credit squeeze linger. Economic worries have replaced the Iraq war as the No. 1 concern of voters in this presidential election year.
Bush acknowledged that prices are up at the gas pump and grocery stores and housing values are down — leading to worries among everyday "hardworking Americans." But he said low unemployment and strong productivity are proof of the economy's fundamental strength and resilience.
"Every time, this economy has bounced back better and stronger than before," Bush said.
The president also praised the work of the Federal Reserve. After cutting interest rates several times, the Fed said Friday it has voted to endorse an arrangement to bolster troubled Bear Stearns Cos. and stands ready to provide add liquidity to a combat a serious credit crisis.
"It was strong action by the Fed and they did so because some financial institutions that borrowed money to buy securities in the housing industry must now repair their balance sheets before they can make further loans," the president said.
"Today's events are fast moving, but the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the secretary of the treasury are on top of them and will take the appropriate steps to promote stability in our markets," Bush assured his audience.
The president chose American's financial center as the backdrop — and the titans of finance and commerce as the audience — for his attempts to calm nerves from Wall Street to Main Street.
The Economic Club of New York is an exclusive, wealthy, largely homogenous group of top executives. Speaking before the gathering had Bush somewhat literally preaching to the choir — the 101-year-old group's new chairman is Glen Hubbard, the first head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers for Bush.
He even drew a laugh when he opened his remarks with a not-so-veiled reference to the economy's ills. "It seems like I showed up in an interesting moment, a very interesting time," Bush said.
His main message, aside from optimism, stuck to Republican economic orthodoxy: warning repeatedly against too much government intervention.
For instance, while insisting his administration has an "active plan" to deal with the problems, Bush said he opposed several measures pending on Capitol Hill. They included proposals to allocate $400 billion to purchase abandoned and foreclosed homes, to change the bankruptcy code to allow judges to adjust mortgage rates, and to artificially prop up home prices.
"It's important not to overcorrect, because when you overcorrect, you end up in a ditch," Bush said. "It's important to be steady."
He said his administration would address the crisis "in a way that respects the ingenuity of the American people, that bolsters the entrepreneurial spirit and ensures that when we make it through this rough patch, that the driving will be smooth."
Bush took a veiled shot at Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama for their criticism of trade agreements that they say put American workers at a disadvantage.
"When times are tough, it's much easier to find somebody else to blame," the president said, without mentioning either candidate by name. "Sometimes that somebody else to blame is somebody in a distant land. It's easy politics. It's easy to go around and hammer on trade."
In a brief question-and-answer session, a member of the audience, noting that consumer prices are rising and the dollar is weak around the world, asked Bush whether the United States has an inflation problem.
"I agree that the Fed needs to be independent and make considered judgments and balance growth versus inflation," Bush said without answering the question directly.
"We believe in a strong dollar and I recognize that economies go up and down, but it's important for us to put policy in place that sends the signal that our economy is going to be strong and open for business."
He said the United States should not do "something foolish" during this economic period that will make it harder to grow, such as blocking capital from coming into the nation or failing to extend the tax cuts.
He said he had cautioned Saudi King Abdullah that he "better be careful about affecting markets" with high oil prices and that soaring fuel costs would prompt more investment in alternative sources of energy.
But, Bush said, "Our energy policy hasn't been very wise up to now." He avoided further discussion of prices, saying, "I'm going to dodge the rest of your question."
Search for missing S.C. couple broadens - Yahoo! News
Search for missing S.C. couple broadens - Yahoo! News
By BRUCE SMITH, Associated Press Writer 50 minutes ago
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - The search for a couple missing for almost two weeks has expanded beyond this resort island, a sheriff said Friday without giving details.John and Elizabeth Calvert, who live part time on a yacht at the Harbour Town marina they lease and manage, were last seen March 3. Police think Dennis Ray Gerwing, a business associate of the couple who committed suicide Tuesday, was the last person to see them.
"We're not only looking at areas on Hilton Head but off Hilton Head as well," Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said. "I can just tell you it has expanded quite a bit over the past 11 days."
He would not provide more details about the ongoing search but confirmed Friday that Gerwing's death was a suicide.
Gerwing, who had been questioned by investigators, killed himself by slashing his inner thigh with a knife. He was named as a person of interest in the case after he died but before his body was found in the bathroom of his Hilton Head condominium.
Tanner said two suicide notes were being analyzed by the State Law Enforcement Division. The sheriff has seen the notes but would not discuss them, and a spokeswoman for the state agency declined to comment about the letters.
The sheriff said deputies had searched rental units managed by the Calverts and Gerwing's boat, but would not say what, if anything, was found.
Gerwing's body was found after his attorney Dan Saxon went to his condo. Saxon told The Associated Press he found the bathroom door locked and a suicide note on the bed. He said he did not know exactly what the note said.
"We saw one note. I didn't spend a lot of time reading the note at all," he said, adding that he was busy calling police.
The death "was a complete shock," Saxon said. He said there had been no sign of trouble when he talked to Gerwing the night before he died.
Gerwing, 54, was chief financial officer of The Club Group, which the Calverts hired more than two years ago to help administer their business. In December, the Calverts decided they no longer needed the company and were transitioning from its services.
Bigger Picture: Leaving Your Kids Alone in the Car
Illinoishomepage.net - Bigger Picture: Leaving Your Kids Alone in the Car
Crestwood police arrested Treffley Coyne after she took her two older daughters to pour coins into a Salvation Army kettle.
Police say Coyne endangered her sleeping child, but Coyne says she was gone for only minutes and was never more than 30 feet away.
Her husband says she did nothing wrong.
So, this begs the question.
Is it ever okay to leave your kids in the car for any reason?
WCIA 3's Amber Jenne has the "Bigger Picture."
------------------------
Coyne and her husband say this incident has torn their family apart for no reason.
Coyne says after she locked the car, she even activated the alarm system and turned on the flashers to keep her child safe.
Her attorney argued since the car was always in sight, her daughter was never unattended.
Even so, police say they were only looking out for the best interests of the child because these days you can't be too cautious.
People in Decatur have mixed feelings.
"She should have been arrested, you shouldn't leave your kids in the car."
"Her situation was appropriate. The baby was asleep, the weather was nasty, and I think that she didn't do anything wrong."
Cook County officials dismissed charges against Coyne for lack of evidence that she endangered her child, but say she was arrested because she refused to give police any information.
They say the child could have been missing or kidnapped, and they didn't want to take any chances.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services found no credible evidence of abuse or neglect.
If convicted, Coyne would have faced one year in jail and a fine of $2,500.
For the "Bigger Picture," I'm Amber Jenne for "Your News Now."
---------------------------
Now its your turn. What do you think?
Is it ever okay to leave your kids in the car for any amount of time?
Is there any instance that makes it okay, and should this mom have been judged so harshly?
Bigger Picture: Leaving Your Kids Alone in the Car
Reported by: Amber Jenne/WCIA-3
Friday, Mar 14, 2008 @12:48pm CST
Crestwood police arrested Treffley Coyne after she took her two older daughters to pour coins into a Salvation Army kettle.
Police say Coyne endangered her sleeping child, but Coyne says she was gone for only minutes and was never more than 30 feet away.
Her husband says she did nothing wrong.
So, this begs the question.
Is it ever okay to leave your kids in the car for any reason?
WCIA 3's Amber Jenne has the "Bigger Picture."
------------------------
Coyne and her husband say this incident has torn their family apart for no reason.
Coyne says after she locked the car, she even activated the alarm system and turned on the flashers to keep her child safe.
Her attorney argued since the car was always in sight, her daughter was never unattended.
Even so, police say they were only looking out for the best interests of the child because these days you can't be too cautious.
People in Decatur have mixed feelings.
"She should have been arrested, you shouldn't leave your kids in the car."
"Her situation was appropriate. The baby was asleep, the weather was nasty, and I think that she didn't do anything wrong."
Cook County officials dismissed charges against Coyne for lack of evidence that she endangered her child, but say she was arrested because she refused to give police any information.
They say the child could have been missing or kidnapped, and they didn't want to take any chances.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services found no credible evidence of abuse or neglect.
If convicted, Coyne would have faced one year in jail and a fine of $2,500.
For the "Bigger Picture," I'm Amber Jenne for "Your News Now."
---------------------------
Now its your turn. What do you think?
Is it ever okay to leave your kids in the car for any amount of time?
Is there any instance that makes it okay, and should this mom have been judged so harshly?
Harry Potter's 'Deathly' Adventure Will Be Turned Into Two Movies - washingtonpost.com
Harry Potter's 'Deathly' Adventure Will Be Turned Into Two Movies - washingtonpost.com
Friday, March 14, 2008; Page C12
Harry Potter's 'Deathly' Adventure Will Be Turned Into Two Movies
By Michael White
BloombergFriday, March 14, 2008; Page C12
Warner Bros. will make two movies based on the seventh and final "Harry Potter" novel to tap the popularity of J.K. Rowling's best-selling series about the young wizard.
The first part of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will be released in 2010 and the second part will be released the following year, Warner Bros. said yesterday in a statement.
The decision extends a movie franchise that has taken in $4.49 billion in worldwide ticket sales, or an average of $897 million for each of the five films so far, according to Box Office Mojo. More than 350 million copies of Rowling's books about Potter's adventures at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are in print worldwide.
"It's a great way to prolong a franchise," said BoxOfficeGuru.com editor Gitesh Pandya. "Fans are still crazy about this."
The additional film will also help bring visitors to the Harry Potter theme park that Warner Bros. plans to open with NBC Universal next year, said Tuna Amobi, an entertainment analyst with Standard & Poor's in New York.
"It could be a way to get that park off to a very solid start with new installments in the franchise," he said.
The park, called Wizarding World of Harry Potter, will feature rides, shops and attractions based on the Potter books, the companies said in May.
"Deathly Hallows" chronicles the young wizard's final confrontation with the evil Lord Voldemort. The story focuses on a long campaign by Potter and his friends Ron and Hermione to find and destroy magical objects -- horcruxes -- that hold pieces of Voldemort's soul.
The story is too long and complicated to be adapted into a single film, producer David Heyman said in the statement. The company made the decision to make two films after consulting with Rowling, who approved of the plan, he said.
" 'The Deathly Hallows' is so rich, the story so dense and there is so much that is resolved that after discussing it with Jo, we came to the conclusion that two parts were needed to do it justice," Heyman said.
David Yates, who directed the fifth film and is working on a sixth, will return for the last two, the company said. The sixth movie, in production in the United Kingdom, is scheduled for release in November.
Short people are most prone to jealousy, say scientists - Yahoo! News
Short people are most prone to jealousy, say scientists - Yahoo! News: "Short people are most prone to jealousy, say scientists
Wed Mar 12, 2:24 PM ET
PARIS (AFP) - Short people should pray for a return to the Seventies fashion of stack heels, for the power of jealousy depends on how tall you are, the British weekly New Scientist says.
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Researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and University of Valencia in Spain asked 549 Dutch and Spanish men and women to rate how jealous they felt, and to list the qualities in a romantic competitor that were most likely to make them ill at ease.
Men generally felt most nervous about attractive, rich and strong rivals.
But these feelings were increasingly relaxed the taller they were themselves. The more vertically challenged the man, the greater his feelings of jealousy.
For women, what counted most in jealousy was the rival's looks and charm, but these feelings were less intense if the woman herself was of average height.
This makes sense in evolutionary terms, says New Scientist, in next Saturday's issue.
Taller men are most successful with women, and women of medium height enjoy the best health, fertility and popularity with men.
On the other hand, a woman of average height could in certain circumstances fall afoul of the green-eyed monster if their rival were taller. "Taller women are more dominant and have greater fighting abilities than shorter women," says the study, which appears in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior
Wed Mar 12, 2:24 PM ET
PARIS (AFP) - Short people should pray for a return to the Seventies fashion of stack heels, for the power of jealousy depends on how tall you are, the British weekly New Scientist says.
ADVERTISEMENT
Researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and University of Valencia in Spain asked 549 Dutch and Spanish men and women to rate how jealous they felt, and to list the qualities in a romantic competitor that were most likely to make them ill at ease.
Men generally felt most nervous about attractive, rich and strong rivals.
But these feelings were increasingly relaxed the taller they were themselves. The more vertically challenged the man, the greater his feelings of jealousy.
For women, what counted most in jealousy was the rival's looks and charm, but these feelings were less intense if the woman herself was of average height.
This makes sense in evolutionary terms, says New Scientist, in next Saturday's issue.
Taller men are most successful with women, and women of medium height enjoy the best health, fertility and popularity with men.
On the other hand, a woman of average height could in certain circumstances fall afoul of the green-eyed monster if their rival were taller. "Taller women are more dominant and have greater fighting abilities than shorter women," says the study, which appears in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior
Penguins' Sidney Crosby says he'll be out another week because of ankle sprain - NHL - Yahoo! Sports
Suck it up!!!
Penguins' Sidney Crosby says he'll be out another week because of ankle sprain - NHL - Yahoo! Sports: "Penguins’ Sidney Crosby says he’ll be out another week because of ankle sprain
PITTSBURGH (AP)—The Pittsburgh Penguins will have to wait to know if Marian Hossa is the ideal linemate for Sidney Crosby.
Crosby said after practice Friday he will miss another week to recover from a high-ankle sprain.
“I’m just going to take a week here to give it more time to rest,” Crosby said. “It’s just one of those nagging things. I know what’s coming up in the future, and I want to make sure I give it the best possible chance to be strong.”
Penguins' Sidney Crosby says he'll be out another week because of ankle sprain - NHL - Yahoo! Sports: "Penguins’ Sidney Crosby says he’ll be out another week because of ankle sprain
PITTSBURGH (AP)—The Pittsburgh Penguins will have to wait to know if Marian Hossa is the ideal linemate for Sidney Crosby.
Crosby said after practice Friday he will miss another week to recover from a high-ankle sprain.
“I’m just going to take a week here to give it more time to rest,” Crosby said. “It’s just one of those nagging things. I know what’s coming up in the future, and I want to make sure I give it the best possible chance to be strong.”
The Penguins have yet to gauge the full impact of their trading-deadline deal to acquire Hossa from the Atlanta Thrashers because either Hossa, Crosby or both have been hurt in every game since. Hossa has been slowed by a knee injury.
If Crosby remains out of the lineup that long, he will miss three more games: home Sunday against Philadelphia, Tuesday night at the New York Rangers, and home against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
The Penguins are 12-6-4 without Crosby this season. He missed 21 games after hurting his right ankle in March, came back and played in three games, but then missed Wednesday’s 7-3 home win against Buffalo because of ankle soreness.
Crosby said he would be in the lineup if the Penguins were in the playoffs.
In Hossa’s first game with the Penguins, he played about 10 minutes before spraining his right knee in a knee-on-knee collision with Boston’s Glen Murray on Feb. 28. Hossa has been out of the lineup since, but has been practicing and is expected to play Sunday against Philadelphia.
If Crosby returns in a week and if Hossa stays healthy, they could play on the same line for the first time on April 5 when the Penguins host division-leading New Jersey.
Forward Petr Sykora did not practice Friday because of a sore back. Forward Max Talbot, who missed the last game with a sore ankle, practiced and plans to play Sunday.
Animal Sanctuary Owner Arrested After Raid Finds Hundreds of Sick, Dead Cats
FOXNews.com - Animal Sanctuary Owner Arrested After Raid Finds Hundreds of Sick, Dead Cats - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News: "Animal Sanctuary Owner Arrested After Raid Finds Hundreds of Sick, Dead Cats
Friday, March 14, 2008
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TARENTUM, Pa. — Humane officials and Allegheny County Sheriff's deputies are raiding an animal sanctuary in Frazer Township.
Officials say they have filed cruelty to animals charges against the owner of Tiger Ranch, whose name is not immediately available.
Officials with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other authorities ay there were more than 600 cats, many sick and dead, at the sanctuary. There are also dogs, horses and chickens.
Authorities say they are continuing to remove animals from the site on Friday.
The Associated Press cannot locate a listed phone number for the sanctuary."
Friday, March 14, 2008
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TARENTUM, Pa. — Humane officials and Allegheny County Sheriff's deputies are raiding an animal sanctuary in Frazer Township.
Officials say they have filed cruelty to animals charges against the owner of Tiger Ranch, whose name is not immediately available.
Officials with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other authorities ay there were more than 600 cats, many sick and dead, at the sanctuary. There are also dogs, horses and chickens.
Authorities say they are continuing to remove animals from the site on Friday.
The Associated Press cannot locate a listed phone number for the sanctuary."
Prostitute In Spitzer Scandal Scores Million Dollar Offer To Bare All - Access Hollywood
Prostitute In Spitzer Scandal Scores Million Dollar Offer To Bare All - Access Hollywood
NEW YORK, New York --
As her instant celebrity status continues to climb in the wake of the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal, Ashley Alexandra Dupre has now received a $1 million offer to bare it all.
A rep for Hustler Magazine has confirmed exclusively to Access Hollywood a seven-figure offer will be made to the call girl.
"Larry Flynt and Hustler Magazine will be offering $1 Million to Ashley Dupre to pose for Hustler Magazine,” the rep told Access. “We want this to happen as soon as possible.”
But the folks at Hustler aren’t the only ones willing to pony up for the rights to feature Ashley in the buff.
"We would love to see Ashley appear on our Web site. We would be thrilled. We are definitely reaching out to her,” Penthouse executive Marc Bell told Access. “Her fifteen minutes of fame are now and Penthouse could mean a unique and enormous opportunity for her.”
However, Bell would not disclose any dollar amount being offered to the 22-year-old, who also goes by the name of “Kristen.”
And the offers don’t stop there.
If Ashley has any desire to get into the adult video business, Vivid Video would be more than happy to accommodate her – and are ready to fork over a hefty fee.
"Ashley Dupre is very beautiful and we are definitely interested in talking to her. We are reaching out to her attorney and preparing a deal memo. She could wind up being the highest paid actress in adult entertainment,” Vivid Entertainment Co-Chairman Steven Hirsch told Access.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Playboy had “no comment” as to whether Hugh Hefner would want Ashley inside the pages of his magazine.
[VIDEO: Behind The Scenes — Ashley Dupre's Music Video Shoot]
And while the offers continue to pour in for the world’s suddenly most famous prostitute, a source close to Ashley said she is not enjoying all of the attention.
“She is bummed out [by] the whole situation that is now surrounding her… [she] feels everybody wants a piece of her and it's frightening,” the source told Access.
“Ashley is a nice girl who had a difficult time in life. It is true she grew up wealthy and lived in an expensive home, but [she] has serious family issues," the source continued. "She got into the wrong crowd a few years ago and that's when she started dating older men. She doesn't want people to think she is a bad person.”
Yet the source was confident Ashley would make it through all of the negative publicity.
“As devastating as this ordeal has been for her, she has dealt with tougher stuff in her life. She is taking it all day-by-day. Her priority now is her music and the CD she is trying to launch," the source added. "Ashley is beautiful, outgoing, athletic, fun and with a stunning figure. She has always drawn attention. But right now, [she] really needs time for all of this frenzy to cool off."
EPA: new requirements the strictest standards ever | WFTS-TV | First in HD
EPA: new requirements the strictest standards ever WFTS-TV First in HD
EPA: new requirements the strictest standards ever
Last Update: 3/12 8:17 pm
Downtown highrise buildings are shown cloaked in dirty air shortly after sunrise September 11, 2002 in Los Angeles, California. (David McNew, Getty Images) WASHINGTON (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency is calling its new multibillion-dollar smog restrictions "the most stringent standards ever." The government says the air in 345 counties is too dirty to breathe, and will require a clean-up. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson says state and local officials will have ample time to meet the new requirements -- as much as 20 years in the cases of the worst polluters. But some worry they do not go far enough to purge pollutants hanging above the nation's cities and towns. Scientists suggest lowering the allowable levels of ozone in the air even further to reduce related heart and asthma attacks. Johnson said he took those recommendations into account, but disagreed. He says he didn't consider the cost. The EPA estimates compliance could cost as much as 8.8 billion dollars a year by the time counties are expected to meet the requirement.
EPA: new requirements the strictest standards ever
Last Update: 3/12 8:17 pm
Downtown highrise buildings are shown cloaked in dirty air shortly after sunrise September 11, 2002 in Los Angeles, California. (David McNew, Getty Images) WASHINGTON (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency is calling its new multibillion-dollar smog restrictions "the most stringent standards ever." The government says the air in 345 counties is too dirty to breathe, and will require a clean-up. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson says state and local officials will have ample time to meet the new requirements -- as much as 20 years in the cases of the worst polluters. But some worry they do not go far enough to purge pollutants hanging above the nation's cities and towns. Scientists suggest lowering the allowable levels of ozone in the air even further to reduce related heart and asthma attacks. Johnson said he took those recommendations into account, but disagreed. He says he didn't consider the cost. The EPA estimates compliance could cost as much as 8.8 billion dollars a year by the time counties are expected to meet the requirement.
STD Data Come as No Surprise, Area Teenagers Say - washingtonpost.com
STD Data Come as No Surprise, Area Teenagers Say - washingtonpost.com
STD Data Come as No Surprise, Area Teenagers Say
By Laura Sessions Stepp and Katherine ShaverWashington Post Staff WritersThursday, March 13, 2008; B01
Elizabeth Alderman, adolescent specialist at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, was astounded by a federal report this week showing that two out of five teenage girls who have had sex have experienced at least one sexually transmitted infection.
Lorena Granados, a junior at W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax County, was not the least bit surprised.
"A lot of girls fall in love, and it doesn't seem they care about protection," she said yesterday. "It's 'What am I going to enjoy right now?' Or they'll say, 'I know he hasn't been with anybody. . . . He's clean.' Or, 'He'll stop before we go too far.' "
That same attitude shows up in doctors' offices, Alderman said yesterday.
"Kids are not comfortable disclosing what they do," she said. "Or when they do come in, every single one will tell you they or their partner are using a condom. Obviously, many are not."
The study, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, analyzed data on 838 girls ages 14 t0 19 who took part in a 2003-04 government health survey. Overall, one in four girls in the sample, which officials said was nationally representative, had a sexually transmitted disease. The teens were tested for four infections: chlamydia, trichomoniasis, herpes simplex and the human papillomavirus.
There was a big difference by race: Nearly half of the black teens had at least one STD, compared with 20 percent among whites and Mexican Americans.
About half of the teens acknowledged having sex, though studies indicate that by the time they finish the first year of college, more than two-thirds of young women have engaged in intercourse.
The report follows other studies indicating that girls today are as active sexually as boys -- and it suggests that many girls are paying a price for that.
In 2005, the CDC reported that slightly more than half of teenage girls and boys had engaged in oral sex, which carries the risk of herpes and HPV, among other infections. Still another survey disclosed this year that after 16 years of decline, the birthrate among 15- to 19-year-olds has started rising.
"When you look at the grand sweep of data, it's a rather sobering picture," said Bill Albert, deputy director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy in the District.
Sobering, as in the fact that Khadijah Marrow, an eighth-grader at Thomas Johnson Middle School in Lanham, knows a friend who has had a sexually transmitted disease.
"I didn't change the way I acted around her just because she had it," said Khadijah, 14, whose right cheek has a smiley-face sticker. She said she continued to invite the friend to her house for sleepovers.
"She was my friend," Khadijah said. "I wouldn't treat her any different."
Sobering also was the fact that Washington area public health officials were not surprised by the latest CDC findings.
"What we see on the ground on the front lines really confirms the study," said Shannon Hader, senior deputy director of the D.C. Health Department's HIV/AIDS Administration.
Hader and other public health officials said a large number of young people have unprotected sex, many with multiple partners. In a 2007 study by the D.C. public school system, 60 percent of high schoolers and 30 percent of middle schoolers reported having had intercourse. Twenty percent of the high school students said they had had sex with four or more people, and 12 percent of the middle schoolers said they had had three or more partners.
Officials said many teenagers aren't aware that birth control measures, such as the pill or the patch, don't protect against STDs.
"We got the message out about preventing pregnancy," said Molly Love, who works with teens and young adults at a nonprofit health clinic in Silver Spring. "Perhaps young women learned about birth control at the expense of using condoms. Young women don't think as much about the risk of STDs as they do the risks of getting pregnant."
Love said many clients initially visit the clinic for HIV testing only to learn that they have other, more common STDs. Many aren't aware that diseases such as gonorrhea and chlamydia often don't exhibit obvious symptoms, she said.
Khadijah's two older sisters, Christine and Christina, who attend Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale, find this odd. At their school, the danger of STDs is hammered into them in sex education classes, they said, as is the advice to use protection if they choose to have sex.
"They stress it at that school," Christine, 17, said. If one of her friends got a sexually transmitted disease, she said, "I would be scared for them. . . . I know the symptoms of all of the STDs, so I would know what they were going through."
Mandy Dols, a junior at Rockville High School who wrote about the rise in STDs for her student newspaper, said the high rates reported among girls didn't shock her. "It's that whole mentality of teens being reckless and rebellious and just that people aren't as careful," she said.
The Marrow girls offered several reasons why teenagers have sex.
"It's to fit in, peer pressure," Christine said, noting that virgins are often mocked. Also, "sex sells on TV."
Khadijah chimed in that some young girls found their inspiration in the popular R&B singer Rihanna, whose latest album is titled "Good Girl Gone Bad."
But Christina suggested something closer to home. "Write this down," she said. "Bad parenting."
Local health officials suggest that parents speak more openly about sex with their children and as early as the fourth grade. More youth education programs about delaying sex and taking care of one's body also would help, they said.
Granados, the Woodson junior, says peer education would be more effective.
Woodson, she said, offers college-preparation forums for students that include presentations by former students. Why not do something like that with STD education?
"If girls saw other girls come onstage and tell what happened to them, maybe they'd say, 'Oh, it really can happen to me.' "
STD Data Come as No Surprise, Area Teenagers Say
By Laura Sessions Stepp and Katherine ShaverWashington Post Staff WritersThursday, March 13, 2008; B01
Elizabeth Alderman, adolescent specialist at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, was astounded by a federal report this week showing that two out of five teenage girls who have had sex have experienced at least one sexually transmitted infection.
Lorena Granados, a junior at W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax County, was not the least bit surprised.
"A lot of girls fall in love, and it doesn't seem they care about protection," she said yesterday. "It's 'What am I going to enjoy right now?' Or they'll say, 'I know he hasn't been with anybody. . . . He's clean.' Or, 'He'll stop before we go too far.' "
That same attitude shows up in doctors' offices, Alderman said yesterday.
"Kids are not comfortable disclosing what they do," she said. "Or when they do come in, every single one will tell you they or their partner are using a condom. Obviously, many are not."
The study, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, analyzed data on 838 girls ages 14 t0 19 who took part in a 2003-04 government health survey. Overall, one in four girls in the sample, which officials said was nationally representative, had a sexually transmitted disease. The teens were tested for four infections: chlamydia, trichomoniasis, herpes simplex and the human papillomavirus.
There was a big difference by race: Nearly half of the black teens had at least one STD, compared with 20 percent among whites and Mexican Americans.
About half of the teens acknowledged having sex, though studies indicate that by the time they finish the first year of college, more than two-thirds of young women have engaged in intercourse.
The report follows other studies indicating that girls today are as active sexually as boys -- and it suggests that many girls are paying a price for that.
In 2005, the CDC reported that slightly more than half of teenage girls and boys had engaged in oral sex, which carries the risk of herpes and HPV, among other infections. Still another survey disclosed this year that after 16 years of decline, the birthrate among 15- to 19-year-olds has started rising.
"When you look at the grand sweep of data, it's a rather sobering picture," said Bill Albert, deputy director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy in the District.
Sobering, as in the fact that Khadijah Marrow, an eighth-grader at Thomas Johnson Middle School in Lanham, knows a friend who has had a sexually transmitted disease.
"I didn't change the way I acted around her just because she had it," said Khadijah, 14, whose right cheek has a smiley-face sticker. She said she continued to invite the friend to her house for sleepovers.
"She was my friend," Khadijah said. "I wouldn't treat her any different."
Sobering also was the fact that Washington area public health officials were not surprised by the latest CDC findings.
"What we see on the ground on the front lines really confirms the study," said Shannon Hader, senior deputy director of the D.C. Health Department's HIV/AIDS Administration.
Hader and other public health officials said a large number of young people have unprotected sex, many with multiple partners. In a 2007 study by the D.C. public school system, 60 percent of high schoolers and 30 percent of middle schoolers reported having had intercourse. Twenty percent of the high school students said they had had sex with four or more people, and 12 percent of the middle schoolers said they had had three or more partners.
Officials said many teenagers aren't aware that birth control measures, such as the pill or the patch, don't protect against STDs.
"We got the message out about preventing pregnancy," said Molly Love, who works with teens and young adults at a nonprofit health clinic in Silver Spring. "Perhaps young women learned about birth control at the expense of using condoms. Young women don't think as much about the risk of STDs as they do the risks of getting pregnant."
Love said many clients initially visit the clinic for HIV testing only to learn that they have other, more common STDs. Many aren't aware that diseases such as gonorrhea and chlamydia often don't exhibit obvious symptoms, she said.
Khadijah's two older sisters, Christine and Christina, who attend Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale, find this odd. At their school, the danger of STDs is hammered into them in sex education classes, they said, as is the advice to use protection if they choose to have sex.
"They stress it at that school," Christine, 17, said. If one of her friends got a sexually transmitted disease, she said, "I would be scared for them. . . . I know the symptoms of all of the STDs, so I would know what they were going through."
Mandy Dols, a junior at Rockville High School who wrote about the rise in STDs for her student newspaper, said the high rates reported among girls didn't shock her. "It's that whole mentality of teens being reckless and rebellious and just that people aren't as careful," she said.
The Marrow girls offered several reasons why teenagers have sex.
"It's to fit in, peer pressure," Christine said, noting that virgins are often mocked. Also, "sex sells on TV."
Khadijah chimed in that some young girls found their inspiration in the popular R&B singer Rihanna, whose latest album is titled "Good Girl Gone Bad."
But Christina suggested something closer to home. "Write this down," she said. "Bad parenting."
Local health officials suggest that parents speak more openly about sex with their children and as early as the fourth grade. More youth education programs about delaying sex and taking care of one's body also would help, they said.
Granados, the Woodson junior, says peer education would be more effective.
Woodson, she said, offers college-preparation forums for students that include presentations by former students. Why not do something like that with STD education?
"If girls saw other girls come onstage and tell what happened to them, maybe they'd say, 'Oh, it really can happen to me.' "
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Sheriff: Woman sat on toilet for 2 years - Yahoo! News
Sheriff: Woman sat on toilet for 2 years - Yahoo! News
WICHITA, Kan. - Authorities are considering charges in the bizarre case of a woman who sat on her boyfriend's toilet for two years — so long that her body was stuck to the seat by the time the boyfriend finally called police.
Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple said it appeared the 35-year-old Ness City woman's skin had grown around the seat. She initially refused emergency medical services but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.
"We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital," Whipple said. "The hospital removed it."
Whipple said investigators planned to present their report Wednesday to the county attorney, who will determine whether any charges should be filed against the woman's 36-year-old boyfriend.
"She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body," Whipple said. "It is hard to imagine. ... I still have a hard time imagining it myself."
He told investigators he brought his girlfriend food and water, and asked her every day to come out of the bathroom.
"And her reply would be, `Maybe tomorrow,'" Whipple said. "According to him, she did not want to leave the bathroom."
The boyfriend called police on Feb. 27 to report that "there was something wrong with his girlfriend," Whipple said, adding that he never explained why it took him two years to call.
Police found the clothed woman sitting on the toilet, her sweat pants down to her mid-thigh. She was "somewhat disoriented," and her legs looked like they had atrophied, Whipple said.
"She said that she didn't need any help, that she was OK and did not want to leave," he said.
She was reported in fair condition at a hospital in Wichita, about 150 miles southeast of Ness City. Whipple said she has refused to cooperate with medical providers or law enforcement investigators.
Authorities said they did not know if she was mentally or physically disabled.
Police have declined to release the couple's names, but the house where authorities say the incident happened is listed in public records as the residence of Kory McFarren. No one answered his home phone number.
The case has been the buzz of Ness City, said James Ellis, a neighbor.
"I don't think anybody can make any sense out of it," he said.
Ellis said he had known the woman since she was a child but that he had not seen her for at least six years.
He said she had a tough childhood after her mother died at a young age and apparently was usually kept inside the house as she grew up. At one time the woman worked for a long-term care facility, he said, but he did not know what kind of work she did there.
"It really doesn't surprise me," Ellis said. "What surprises me is somebody wasn't called in a bit earlier."
WICHITA, Kan. - Authorities are considering charges in the bizarre case of a woman who sat on her boyfriend's toilet for two years — so long that her body was stuck to the seat by the time the boyfriend finally called police.
Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple said it appeared the 35-year-old Ness City woman's skin had grown around the seat. She initially refused emergency medical services but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.
"We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital," Whipple said. "The hospital removed it."
Whipple said investigators planned to present their report Wednesday to the county attorney, who will determine whether any charges should be filed against the woman's 36-year-old boyfriend.
"She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body," Whipple said. "It is hard to imagine. ... I still have a hard time imagining it myself."
He told investigators he brought his girlfriend food and water, and asked her every day to come out of the bathroom.
"And her reply would be, `Maybe tomorrow,'" Whipple said. "According to him, she did not want to leave the bathroom."
The boyfriend called police on Feb. 27 to report that "there was something wrong with his girlfriend," Whipple said, adding that he never explained why it took him two years to call.
Police found the clothed woman sitting on the toilet, her sweat pants down to her mid-thigh. She was "somewhat disoriented," and her legs looked like they had atrophied, Whipple said.
"She said that she didn't need any help, that she was OK and did not want to leave," he said.
She was reported in fair condition at a hospital in Wichita, about 150 miles southeast of Ness City. Whipple said she has refused to cooperate with medical providers or law enforcement investigators.
Authorities said they did not know if she was mentally or physically disabled.
Police have declined to release the couple's names, but the house where authorities say the incident happened is listed in public records as the residence of Kory McFarren. No one answered his home phone number.
The case has been the buzz of Ness City, said James Ellis, a neighbor.
"I don't think anybody can make any sense out of it," he said.
Ellis said he had known the woman since she was a child but that he had not seen her for at least six years.
He said she had a tough childhood after her mother died at a young age and apparently was usually kept inside the house as she grew up. At one time the woman worked for a long-term care facility, he said, but he did not know what kind of work she did there.
"It really doesn't surprise me," Ellis said. "What surprises me is somebody wasn't called in a bit earlier."
MyFox Houston | Mother, Son Charged in Sex Slavery Plot
MyFox Houston Mother, Son Charged in Sex Slavery Plot
HOUSTON -- A mother and son face multiple charges after Jacinto City police discover that they hid a young girl used as a sex slave.
Gregoria Salgada Vazquez and David Salazar have been charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault of a child. The two made arrangements for a minor younger than 17 years old to be transported from Mexico to Houston, according to police.
The mother-son pair own a night club in east Houston. Salazar was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday while Vazquez is scheduled to make her first court appearance March 31.
According to Jacinto City police, Vazquez and Salazar held the young girl in a room locked with a pad lock since Jan. 1. The two would only allow the girl to leave the room if they were present.
The girl was allegedly forced to have sex with Salazar and then taken to his night club where she was forced to have sex with clients. Police say Salazar and Vazquez would take the money received by the girl.
At one point, the girl was able to access a cell phone and called 911. Over a period of several weeks, Jacinto City police received the 911 calls but could not determine her location.
Officers began searching the area to look for the girl. Police had a better lead when the girl was able to describe to officers the home where she was staying.
An officer was finally able to locate the young girl and placed her in custody of Child Protective Services. She gave police statements detailing the physical and sexual abuse she received.
HOUSTON -- A mother and son face multiple charges after Jacinto City police discover that they hid a young girl used as a sex slave.
Gregoria Salgada Vazquez and David Salazar have been charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault of a child. The two made arrangements for a minor younger than 17 years old to be transported from Mexico to Houston, according to police.
The mother-son pair own a night club in east Houston. Salazar was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday while Vazquez is scheduled to make her first court appearance March 31.
According to Jacinto City police, Vazquez and Salazar held the young girl in a room locked with a pad lock since Jan. 1. The two would only allow the girl to leave the room if they were present.
The girl was allegedly forced to have sex with Salazar and then taken to his night club where she was forced to have sex with clients. Police say Salazar and Vazquez would take the money received by the girl.
At one point, the girl was able to access a cell phone and called 911. Over a period of several weeks, Jacinto City police received the 911 calls but could not determine her location.
Officers began searching the area to look for the girl. Police had a better lead when the girl was able to describe to officers the home where she was staying.
An officer was finally able to locate the young girl and placed her in custody of Child Protective Services. She gave police statements detailing the physical and sexual abuse she received.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Mother of suspect in Auburn slaying: 'I'm sorry' - CNN.com
Mother of suspect in Auburn slaying: 'I'm sorry' - CNN.com
I wonder if they need someone to throw the switch?
I wonder if they need someone to throw the switch?
Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring - New York Times
Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring - New York Times
Way to go - dickhead!!!
Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring
By DANNY HAKIM and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
Published: March 10, 2008
ALBANY - Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.
Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times
Governor Eliot Spitzer delivering the New York State Executive Budget address in January 2007.
The wiretap recording, made during an investigation of a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.
The governor learned that he had been implicated in the prostitution probe when a federal official contacted his staff last Friday, according to the person briefed on the case.
The governor informed his top aides Sunday night and this morning of his involvement. He canceled his public events today and scheduled an announcement for this afternoon after inquiries from the Times.
The governor’s aides appeared shaken, and one of them began to weep as they waited for him to make his statement at his Manhattan office. Mr. Spitzer was seen leaving his Fifth Avenue apartment just before 3 p.m. with his wife of 21 years, Silda, heading to the news conference.
The man described as Client 9 in court papers arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, Emperors Club VIP, on the night of Feb. 13. Mr. Spitzer traveled to Washington that evening, according to a person told of his travel arrangements.
The affidavit says that Client 9 met with the woman in hotel room 871 but does not identify the hotel. Mr. Spitzer stayed at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on Feb. 13, according to a source who was told of his travel arrangements. Room 871 at the Mayflower Hotel that evening was registered under the another name.
Federal prosecutors rarely charge clients in prostitution cases, which are generally seen as state crimes. But the Mann Act, passed by Congress in 1910 to address prostitution, human trafficking and what was viewed at the time as immorality in general, makes it a crime to transport someone between states for the purpose of prostitution. The four defendants charged in the case unsealed last week were all charged with that crime, along with several others.
Mr. Spitzer had a difficult first year in office, rocked by a mix of scandal and legislative setbacks. In recent weeks, however, Mr. Spitzer seemed to have rebounded, with his Democratic party poised to perhaps gain control of the state Senate for the first time in four decades.
Mr. Spitzer gained national attention when he served as attorney general with his relentless pursuit of Wall Street wrongdoing. As attorney general, he also had prosecuted at least two prostitution rings as head of the state’s organized crime task force.
In one such case in 2004, Mr. Spitzer spoke with revulsion and anger after announcing the arrest of 16 people for operating a high-end prostitution ring out of Staten Island.
“”This was a sophisticated and lucrative operation with a multitiered management structure,” Mr. Spitzer said at the time. ”It was, however, nothing more than a prostitution ring.”
Albany for months has been roiled by bitter fighting and accusations of dirty tricks. The Albany County district attorney is set to issue in the coming days the results of his investigation into Mr. Spitzer’s first scandal, his aides’ involvement in an effort to tarnish Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, the state’s top Republican.
Way to go - dickhead!!!
Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring
By DANNY HAKIM and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
Published: March 10, 2008
ALBANY - Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.
Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times
Governor Eliot Spitzer delivering the New York State Executive Budget address in January 2007.
The wiretap recording, made during an investigation of a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.
The governor learned that he had been implicated in the prostitution probe when a federal official contacted his staff last Friday, according to the person briefed on the case.
The governor informed his top aides Sunday night and this morning of his involvement. He canceled his public events today and scheduled an announcement for this afternoon after inquiries from the Times.
The governor’s aides appeared shaken, and one of them began to weep as they waited for him to make his statement at his Manhattan office. Mr. Spitzer was seen leaving his Fifth Avenue apartment just before 3 p.m. with his wife of 21 years, Silda, heading to the news conference.
The man described as Client 9 in court papers arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, Emperors Club VIP, on the night of Feb. 13. Mr. Spitzer traveled to Washington that evening, according to a person told of his travel arrangements.
The affidavit says that Client 9 met with the woman in hotel room 871 but does not identify the hotel. Mr. Spitzer stayed at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on Feb. 13, according to a source who was told of his travel arrangements. Room 871 at the Mayflower Hotel that evening was registered under the another name.
Federal prosecutors rarely charge clients in prostitution cases, which are generally seen as state crimes. But the Mann Act, passed by Congress in 1910 to address prostitution, human trafficking and what was viewed at the time as immorality in general, makes it a crime to transport someone between states for the purpose of prostitution. The four defendants charged in the case unsealed last week were all charged with that crime, along with several others.
Mr. Spitzer had a difficult first year in office, rocked by a mix of scandal and legislative setbacks. In recent weeks, however, Mr. Spitzer seemed to have rebounded, with his Democratic party poised to perhaps gain control of the state Senate for the first time in four decades.
Mr. Spitzer gained national attention when he served as attorney general with his relentless pursuit of Wall Street wrongdoing. As attorney general, he also had prosecuted at least two prostitution rings as head of the state’s organized crime task force.
In one such case in 2004, Mr. Spitzer spoke with revulsion and anger after announcing the arrest of 16 people for operating a high-end prostitution ring out of Staten Island.
“”This was a sophisticated and lucrative operation with a multitiered management structure,” Mr. Spitzer said at the time. ”It was, however, nothing more than a prostitution ring.”
Albany for months has been roiled by bitter fighting and accusations of dirty tricks. The Albany County district attorney is set to issue in the coming days the results of his investigation into Mr. Spitzer’s first scandal, his aides’ involvement in an effort to tarnish Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, the state’s top Republican.
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