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CHIN BAK KAN v. U.S.(1902)
Complaint under oath was duly made before a commissioner of the United States for the northern district of New York, charging 'that Chin Bak Kan did, on or about the 13th day of March, 1901, at Burke in said district, knowingly and wrongfully come from Canada, in the province of Quebec, into the northern district of New York, to wit: into Burke in the county of Franklin and state of New York, in the United States, he, the said Chin Bak Kan being then and there a Chinese person and laborer, and a person prohibited by the laws of the United States of America from being and remaining in the United States, and he, the said Chin Bak Kan, then and there being such Chinese person as aforesaid, was then and there found unlawfully in the United States at Burke aforesaid, in violation of the acts of the Congress in such case made and provided.'
A warrant for the apprehension of Chin Bak Kan was issued March 13, 1901, and he was arrested and brought before the commissioner. He was informed of the charge against him, advised that he would be permitted to make a statement without or with oath, or to refuse to make any statement or to an- [186 U.S. 193, 194] swer any question put to him, and was entitled to reasonable time to send for counsel and procure the attendance of witnesses. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, 'but admitted that he had just come into the United States.' He was thereafter represented by counsel. Subsequently a hearing and trial was commenced before the commissioner who issued the warrant. That officer having been taken sick, the hearing was continued and concluded before another commissioner, who found and adjudged upon the evidence as follows: 'I now hereby find and adjudge that the said Chin Bak Kan is a Chinese person and laborer, that he is not a diplomatic or other officer of the Chinese or any other government, and unlawfully entered the United States, as charged in said complaint. And I further adjudge him, said Chin Bak Kan, guilty of not being lawfully entitled to be or remain in the United States. I further find and adjudge that he, said Chin Bak Kan, came from the Empire of China, but he has not made it appear to me that he was a subject or citizen of some other country than China. And I hereby order and adjudge said Chin Bak Kan to be immediately removed from the United States to the Empire of China. A certified copy of this judgment shall be the process upon which said removal of said Chin Bak Kan shall be made from the United States to the Empire of China. And said process shall be executed by the Hon. C. D. MacDougall, United States marshal for said district.'
An appeal was prosecuted to the district court of the United States for the northern district of New York, but the appeal was dismissed, and the judgment for the deportation of the defendant was affirmed.
From the final order of the district court an appeal was then
Messrs. Max J. Kohler and B. Lewinson for appellant.
Assistant Attorney General Hoyt and Solicitor General Richards for appellee.
Mr. Chief Justice Fuller delivered the opinion of the court:
By 1 of the act of May 6, 1882 (22 Stat. at L. 58, chap. 126), [186 U.S. 193, 195] it was provided that from and after the expiration of ninety days, and until the expiration of ten years, the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States should be suspended, and during such suspension it was made unlawful for any Chinese laborer to come, or, having come after the expiration of said ninety days, to remain within the United States.
By 4 provision was made for certificates to be granted to such Chinese as were entitled, under the treaty of November 17, 1880, to go from, or come to, the United States, of their free will and accord, in order to identify them.
The 12th section of the act was as follows: 'That no Chinese person shall be permitted to enter the United States by land without producing to the proper officer of customs the certificate in this act required of Chinese persons seeking to land from a vessel. And any Chinese person found unlawfully within the United States shall be caused to be removed therefrom to the country from whence he came, by direction of the President of the United States, and at the cost of the United States, after being brought before some justice, judge, or commissioner of a court of the United States, and found to be one not lawfully entitled to be or remain in the United States.'
This section was amended by the act of July 5, 1884 (23 Stat. at L. 115, chap. 220), so as to read as follows: 'That no Chinese person shall be permitted to enter the United States by land without producing to the proper officer of customs the certificate in this act required of Chinese persons seeking to land from a vessel. And any Chinese person found unlawfully within the United States shall be caused to be removed therefrom to the country from whence he came, and at the cost of the United States, after being brought before some justice, judge, or commissioner of a court of the United States and found to be one not lawfully entitled to be or to remain in the United States; and in all such cases the person who brought or aided in bringing such person to the United States shall be liable to the government of the United States for all necessary expenses incurred in such investigation and removal; and all peace officers of the several states and territories of the United States are hereby invested with the same authority as a marshal or [186 U.S. 193, 196] United States marshal in reference to carrying out the provisions of this act or the act of which this is amendatory, as a marshal or deputy marshal of the United States, and shall be entitled to like compensation, to be audited and paid by the same officers. And the United States shall pay all costs and charges for the maintenance and return of any Chinese person having the certificate prescribed by law as entitling such Chinese person to come into the United States, who may not have been permitted to land from any vessel by reason of any of the provisions of this act.'
By 1 of the act of May 5, 1892 (27 Stat. at L. 25, chap. 60), it was provided: 'That all laws now in force prohibiting and regulating the coming into this country of Chinese persons and persons of Chinese descent are hereby continued in force for the period of ten years from the passage of this act.'
Sections 2, 3, and 6 were as follows:
Section 6 was amended by the act of November 3, 1893 (28 Stat. at L. 7, chap. 14).
Article 1 of the treaty with China, proclaimed November 8, 1894 (28 Stat. at L. 1210), was: 'The high contracting parties agreen that for a period of ten years, beginning with the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, the coming, except under the conditions hereinafter specified, of Chinese laborers to the United States shall be absolutely prohibited.'
Article 2 provided: 'The preceding article shall not apply [186 U.S. 193, 198] to the return to the United States of any registered Chinese laborer who has a lawful wife, child, or parent in the United States, or property therein of the value of $1,000, or debts of like amount due him and pending settlement. . . . And no such Chinese laborer shall be permitted to enter the United States by land or sea without producing to the proper officer of the customs the return certificate herein required.'
Article 5: 'The government of the United States, having by an act of the Congress, approved May 5, 1892, as amended by an act approved November 3, 1893, required all Chinese laborers lawfully within the limits of the United States before the passage of the first-named act to be registered as in said acts provided, with a view of affording them better protection, the Chinese government will not object to the enforcement of such acts, and reciprocally the government of the United States recognizes the right of the government of China to enact and enforce similar laws or regulations for the registration, free of charge, of all laborers, skilled or unskilled (not merchants as defined by said acts of Congress), citizens of the United States in China, whether residing within or without the treaty ports.'
In United States v. Lee Yen Tai, just decided, 185 U. S. --, ante, 629, 22 Sup. Ct. Rep. 629, the question was propounded to us by the circuit court of appeals for the second circuit on certificate: 'Is 12 of 'An Act to Execute Certain Treaty Stipulations Relating to the Chinese, Approved May 6, 1882,' as amended by 3 of the amendatory act of July 5, 1884, repealed by the treaty or convention with China of December 8, 1894?' and that question we answered in the negative.
The act of March 3, 1901 (31 Stat. at L. 1093, chap. 845), provides:
The errors assigned may be grouped into those which presented the question of the effect of the treaty of 1894 by way of repeal, and these have been disposed of by our decision in United States v. Lee Yen Tai, 185 U. S. -, ante, 629, 22 Sup. Ct. Rep. 629; those in respect of the assertion of citizenship and the action taken thereon; and certain objections of want of jurisdiction because of insufficiency of the complaint. The latter relate to lack of positive averment of the facts, and as to the official character of the person who made the complaint. The complaint was made by one Ketchum, and, although it was not therein stated, it appears from the official register of the government that he was a Chinese inspector, and as such authorized under the statute.
The charge was made on information and belief, but no objection was raised to the complaint on that ground, and we think the ruling in Fong Yue Ting v. United States, 149 U.S. 729 , 37 L. ed. 918, 13 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1016, applies that defects in complaint or pleadings do not affect the authority of the commissioner or judge or the validity of the statute.
Something is said in respect of want of jurisdiction in the commissioner because 6 of the act of 1892 provides that Chinese laborers without certificates may be 'taken before a United States judge;' but we concur in the views of the circuit court of appeals for the ninth circuit in Fong Mey Yuk v. United States, 113 Red. 898, that the act is satisfied by proceeding before 'a justice, judge, or commissioner.' These are the words used in 12 of the act of 1882; 12 of the act of 1884; 13 of the act of 1888 and 3 of the act of 1892; while the 1st sec- [186 U.S. 193, 200] tion of the act of March 3, 1901, explicitly authorizes the district attorney to designate the commissioner before whom the Chinese person may be brought. The words 'United States judge,' 'judge' and 'court,' in 6, seem to us to refer to the tribunal authorized to deal with the subject, whether composed of a justice, a judge, or a commissioner. A United States commissioner is a quasi judicial officer, and in these hearings he acts judicially. Moreover, this case was taken by appeal from the commissioner to the judge of the district court, and his decision was affirmed, so that there was an adjudication by a United States judge in the constitutional sense, as well as by the commissioner acting as a judge in the sense of the statute.
But it is argued that the commissioner had no jurisdiction to act because the claim of citizenship was made. The ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 , 42 L. ed. 890, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep. 456, was to this effect: 'A child born in the United States, of parents of Chinese descent, who, at the time of his birth, are subjects of the Emperor of China, but have a permanent domicil and residence in the United States, and are there carrying on business, and are not employed in any diplomatic or official capacity under the Emperor of China, becomes at the time of his birth a citizen of the United States.' It is impossible for us to hold that it is not competent for Congress to empower a United States commissioner to determine the various facts on which citizenship depends under that decision.
By the law the Chinese person must be adjudged unlawfully within the United States unless he 'shall establish by affirmative proof, to the satisfaction of such justice, judge, or commissioner, his lawful right to remain in the United States.' As applied to aliens there is no question of the validity of that provision, and the treaty, the legislation, and the circumstances considered, compliance with its requirements cannot be avoided by the mere assertion of citizenship. The facts on which such a claim is rested must be made to appear. And the inestimable heritage of citizenship is not to be conceded to those who seek to avail themselves of it under pressure of a particular exigency, without being able to show that it was ever possessed. [186 U.S. 193, 201] Section 13 of the act of September 13, 1888, provides that any Chinese person or person of Chinese descent, found unlawfully in the United States, may be arrested on a warrant issued upon a complaint under oath, 'by any justice, judge, or commissioner of any United States court,' and when convicted, on a hearing, and found and adjudged to be one not lawfully entitled to be or remain in the United States, shall be removed to the country whence he came.
It seems to have been assumed, during the years following the date of the act, and is conceded by the United States, that although most of its provisions were dependent upon the ratification of the treaty of March 12, 1888, and failed with the failure of ratification, that this section is in and of itself independant legislation and in force as such. Accordingly in this case an appeal was taken from the judgment of deportation rendered by the commissioner to the judge of the district court of the United States for the northern district of New York, and, upon hearing, the district court affirmed that judgment. From the judgment of the district court, this appeal was taken under 5 of the act of March 3, 1891, on the ground that the construction of the treaty of 1894 was drawn in question. Except in cases under that section where the question of jurisdiction alone is certified, we have power to dispose of the entire case, but as the jurisdiction of the commissioner is sustained, we are of opinion that we cannot properly re-examine the facts already determined by two judgments below. That is the general rule, and there is nothing to take this case out of its operation, and, on the contrary, the conclusion is, a fortiori, justified. The same reasoning in respect to the authority to exclude applies to the authority to expel, and the policy of the legislation in respect to exclusion and expulsion is opposed to unmerous appeals. And we are not disposed to hold that where a Chinese laborer has evaded the executive jurisdiction at the frontier and got into the country, he is therefore entitled to demand repeated rehearings on the facts.
Judgment affirmed.


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Every two weeks the New York City Council meets for its Stated Meeting to introduce and pass legislation. As a regular feature, Searchlight covers these meetings and posts a summary of the bills passed.
Quote of the Day:
"You are not a real Staten Islander unless you've experienced the mad dash [for the ferry] and had those doors close on you as it pulls away. It's sounds something like this `Aaaghhhhh, Wait for me!'" – Staten Island Councilmember James Oddo.
Meeting Summary:
On December 7, the New York City Council overrode Mayor Michael Bloomberg's veto of a bill (Intro 207-A) that would require one nurse or health worker for every private and public school with more than 200 students.
The mayor argues that school health programs are adequate, and he recently allocated an additional $8 million to fund additional school nurses. The council says that the mayor's action does not go far enough, and that nurses will be threatened in future budget negotiations.
In 2002, the Bloomberg administration cut funding for nurses in private schools. Last year, the mayor proposed eliminating nurses from summer schools as a way to help close a budget deficit. Currently, some nurses now travel between various small schools.
"This is a matter of principal: Should every child have a nurse or not?" said Council Speaker Gifford Miller.
The council's proposal would cost $3 million more than what Bloomberg has proposed and would add about 80 nurses to serve private and parochial schools. State law requires that the city supply nurses to private schools, but does not mandate the ratio of nurses to students.
The council also passed a bill (Intro 94-A) that sets a minimum schedule of service for the Staten Island Ferry. The measure requires that the ferry run at least every 30 minutes on weekdays.
A recent council report (available in pdf format) argues that the area's population has grown by 30 percent in last quarter century, but ferry service has not kept pace. Staten Island officials are worried that service could be cut as the city looks to cut a close a $3 billion budget deficit next year.
The council also approved new business improvement districts in Queens Plaza and on Fordham Road in the Bronx and renamed 83 streets, many for firefighters and police officers who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
All of the bills passed by a vote of 46 to 0.
The next Stated Meeting is scheduled for December 15, 2004.
For an archive of past meetings and council votes, visit Gotham Gazette's Searchlight.

subset: commoncrawl


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BENGALURU, India – January 4, 2017 – Corsair®, a world leader in enthusiast memory, high-performance gaming hardware and PC components, today announced its readiness for the new 7th Generation Intel® Core™ processors and Intel® 200 series motherboards, paving the way for a new generation of performance PCs. With full compatibility on Corsair Performance DDR4 and the award-winning range Hydro Series liquid CPU coolers and wide-reaching compatibility on quiet, efficient Corsair PSUs, Corsair is ready to help enthusiasts squeeze every ounce of performance from their next PC build.
With DDR4 performance frequencies skyrocketing beyond 4,000MHz and kit densities of up to 64GB, Corsair has the memory your PC needs to not just run fast, but look great. Corsair Dominator Platinum, Vengeance LED or Vengeance LPX DDR4 make system builds look one of a kind and are built for overclocking to push DRAM frequencies even higher. Corsair is the industry leader in high-speed Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory and with more Intel XMP certified DDR4 kits than any other manufacturer, Corsair is committed to compatibility and ensuring memory runs at the speed it claims. What's more, all Corsair current dual-channel DDR4 kits are fully compatible with both the new 7th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors and new Intel® 200 Series Chipsets, so you can easily choose the memory that's right for your build.
For optimum cooling for Intel® K unlocked and overclocking ready processors, the Corsair Hydro series of liquid CPU coolers are the ideal match to ensure your CPU not only runs cool and quiet, but overclocks to its potential. Every Hydro series liquid cooler is fully compatible with the LGA 1151 socket, so there's no need to worry about fitting or compatibility. Installed in minutes with just a screwdriver, Corsair Hydro Series are the world's best-selling CPU liquid coolers, with millions sold and a comprehensive five-year warranty for complete peace-of-mind.
Corsair boasts the world's widest range of enthusiast power supplies and in the last ten years over ten million PC builders have trusted Corsair to power their system. The Corsair line-up of PSUs are ready to deliver clean, efficient power to all the latest Intel CPUs and 200-series chipset motherboards, and provide the dedicated DC-to-DC power required to support the chipset's low-power sleep states. From the top of the line 80 PLUS Titanium AX1500i, to the 80 Plus Bronze CX-M, every Corsair AXi, AX, HXi, RMi, RMx, SF, CS and CX-M PSU is ready to drive your new Intel 200-series motherboard based system, delivering stable, efficient power.
To see how Corsair DDR4, Hydro Series Liquid CPU Coolers and Corsair power supplies can help build your next PC powered by the new 7th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors, please visit: http://www.corsair.com/7thgencore
Corsair at CES 2017
Corsair is launching several new gaming peripherals and technologies at CES 2017. Check back on January 5th at 6am PST for the full range of announcements.
Media and industry guests can see all these new products first hand at the Corsair press suite, located at the Palazzo resort hotel & casino. Contact the Corsair public relations team for more information.
About Corsair
Founded in 1994, Corsair supplies high performance products purchased primarily by PC gaming enthusiasts who build their own PCs or buy pre-assembled customized systems. The company's award-winning products include DDR3 memory upgrades, mobile storage drives, power supply units, solid-state drives, PC speakers, gaming headsets, gaming keyboards, laser gaming mice, system monitoring and control devices, PC cooling products, and computer cases. To know more please visit www.corsair.com


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Oklahoma City University pledges to recruit, select, and promote diversity by providing equality of opportunity in higher education for all current and prospective students, faculty, and staff with respect to hiring, continuation, promotion and tenure, and applications for admission or employment, without discrimination or segregation based on sex (gender), race, age, ancestry, color, disability, genetic history, national origin, marital status, medical condition, religious creed, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, pregnancy, parenting status, status as a veteran, or the perception that a person has one or more of these characteristics.
The Chief Human Resources Officer, located in Room 105 of the Clara E. Jones Administration Building, telephone 405-208-5075, coordinates the University's compliance with Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act and amendments, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
For information on the application process, posted positions or to request an accommodation please contact Monica Brinker (405) 208-6320 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Will Shire PLC Build Or Buy Its Future?
The ideal in the biotech and pharma world may be for a company to develop a strong internal R&D engine that regularly churns out potential blockbuster compounds, but the reality is that most companies have to turn to partnerships and acquisitions to manage risk and maintain growth. Shire built itself into a significant biotech/pharma company on the basis of strong internal CNS and rare disease R&D efforts, but has more recently turned to M&A to improve its prospects. With Shire likely to generate considerable cash flow in the coming years, the question stands as to whether investors would be better-served with additional M&A transactions or a reinvestment into its own internal R&D capabilities.
A powerful one-two punch
Shire generates upwards of 70% of its revenue from two broad therapeutic classes - CNS and rare diseases. Shire built upon the success of Adderall XR in ADHD with Vynase and is now really the only company actively marketing in the space as most other competitive compounds have gone generic. Litigation is starting to heat up over the patents covering Vynase, but the company continues to develop follow-in indications. Vynase failed to show efficacy in major depressive disorder (MDD), but binge eating looks like a more promising indication that could add $500 million to peak sales for a drug that is over $1 billion in annual sales and still growing strongly.
Shire also made a major commitment to rare disease drug development and the company is reaping the fruits of those early investments. Between Elaprase for Hunter Syndrome, Replagel for Fabry, Vpriv for Gaucher, Firazyr for acute hereditary angioedema, and Cinryze (acquired in the ViroPharma deal) for hereditary angioedema prophylaxis, Shire has a portfolio that will likely generate more than $2 billion in revenue in 2014 with competition ranging from virtually non-existent to moderate.
A pipeline with a lot of questions
Shire's pipeline productivity does not appear particularly compelling at present, as it seems that the company has to spend considerable resources just to "hold serve" and has had to turn to M&A to supplement a lack of internal productivity. What's more, while Shire's pipeline includes drugs with significant upside potential, there are a lot of questions about some of the more promising drugs.
Lifitegrast was acquired in the SarCode deal and could be the first prescription competitor to Allergan's Restasis. The clinical development of Lifitegrast has been difficult, as both the OPUS-1 and OPUS-2 studies met some endpoints and missed others (and the two studies met/missed different endpoints). Safety does not appear to be a problem, though, and the company seems optimistic that it can file for approval based upon the data it has today. Even if the FDA approves the drug (not a guarantee by any stretch), count on Allergan to market aggressively against that questionable data set, and don't forget that Allergan has its "Restasis X" product in development as well. Lifitegrast could be a $1 billion-plus drug for Shire, but there are more risks than normal for this program.
Shire's SHP607 is a tricky drug for a different reason. Acquired in the Premacure deal, SHP607 is a protein replacement therapy that addresses retinopathy of prematurity, a condition that causes blindness in children born before term (it caused Stevie Wonder's blindness and perhaps Ray Charles' blindness as well). About 10% of all births are premature and 2% occur before 32 weeks, where the risk of ROP is greatest. The addressable market for this drug could include 60,000 or more babies a year, generating more than $1 billion in revenue, but adequate screening will be vital to patient identification.
After these two lead compounds, the sales prospects of the pipeline dim and the mid-stage assets are largely attributable to the $4 billion-plus deal for ViroPharma in 2013.
Buy or build?
Shire has not done a great job of developing a consistent stream of promising clinical candidates through its own R&D efforts. Even so, the success of drugs like Vynase, Elaprase, and Liada, coupled with an aggressive cost restructuring program, has put the company in a position where it generates substantial free cash flow - over $1 billion in each of the last two years and likely $2 billion or more for the next three years.
That cash flow gives the company a lot of options. Valeant is building itself into a Big Pharma company through serial acquisitions, and like Shire does not enjoy the best reputation for pipeline productivity. Forest Labs maintained itself for years on the basis of acquiring/licensing in other companies' compounds, and Johnson & Johnson rebuilt its drug business through deals. Through licensing agreements with Bayer and Mitsubishi Tanabe and the acquisition of Cougar, and more recently the partnership with Pharmacyclics and acquisition of Aragon, Johnson & Johnson added Xarelto, Invokana, Zytiga, Imbruvica, and ARN-509, all of which are or could become blockbusters.
Nobody seems to really hold it against Valeant that the company has bought in the large majority of its revenue. Likewise nobody is really second-guessing the revenue Zytiga has generated just because it did not originate from Johnson & Johnson's internal R&D efforts. Shire will certainly have competition for assets, from Valeant if it targets established companies and Johnson & Johnson (among many others) if it targets development-stage companies, but billions of dollars can do a lot to back-fill that pipeline.
The bottom line
I do not object to the idea of Shire using M&A to augment its internal efforts, but it does add some uncertainty to the model. The good news is that expectations are not all that robust for Shire right now, at least relative to the sector. If Shire can grow its revenue at a long-term rate of just 4% and improve its FCF margin to the high 30%'s/low 40%'s (supporting FCF growth of 8% to 9%), a fair value of $160 is reasonable today. As those projections include fairly hefty risk discounting for Liftegrast and SHP607, there is definitely potential upside for those programs.
The sell-off in biotech will start to create some apparent value if it continues, but investors will then be dealing with a headwind of skepticism and negativity around the sector. Shire's position in that grey area between pharma and biotech may offer some protection, and the valuation isn't bad, but between a weak internal R&D program, late-stage programs with some questions, and patent litigation risk, it would not be my first pick unless it got meaningfully cheaper.
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The article Will Shire PLC Build Or Buy Its Future? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Stephen D. Simpson, CFA has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Johnson & Johnson and Valeant Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool owns shares of Johnson & Johnson. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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The University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Pork Producers Association (MPPA) are teaming up on a pilot program to provide employee pork production training.
Hands-on classroom sessions will cover swine reproduction, featuring educational materials developed by the university and the National Pork Board, says interim program coordinator Gene Tinker of the Southern Research and Outreach Center at Waseca. Enrollment is limited to 20.
The training runs the afternoons of July 10, 17, 24 and 31 at the Best Western motel, North Mankato, MN.
In the second part of the program, held in Waseca on Aug. 5 and 19, the class will practice skills in heat detection, artificial insemination and pregnancy detection.
If successful, the model program will expand to cover other areas of pork production.
For more information, contact Tinker, (507) 835-3620. To register, contact the MPPA, (507) 345-8814 by May 30.


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BOCA RATON, FL, March 24, 2014 -- 21st Century Television's Jackie Bales turns the spotlight on the innovative practices of ERS (Electronics Recycling Services) International, which is a leader in the recycling of electronic components that present a clear and present danger to the environment if disposed of incorrectly in area landfills or through incineration.
"21st Century Television is excited to be airing this upcoming segment, which highlights the important work that is being done by ERS International, which is an industry leader, in taming the refuse of our technological society." Said 21st Century Television's, Vice-President of Programming, JL Haber.
Utilizing proprietary technology that has been designed and developed in house through their team of engineers and manufacturing facility, the team at ERS has developed a system that enables its technicians to responsibly dispose of electronic waste without burdening our landfills or air quality through incineration emissions.
According to Jeffrey Mendez, ERS's Global Communications Director, the key to the company's success is found in its "state-of-the-art proprietary processing technologies, a vast global network, which when coupled with audit certification processes, paramount security and upcycling solutions for waste materials that are typically landfilled and/or incinerated makes the ERS system so successful."
From electronic waste's plastics that is diverted from landfills to make repurposed extruded plastic lumber for park benches to the extraction recovery of precious metals and removal of toxic materials, their facilities affords them complete control over the process and the evidence strongly suggests that they have the right approach.
The ERS feature story will air CNBC (as pd. prog) on March 26, 2014 at 11:30pm (PST)
About 21st Century Television
21st Century Television is an award winning business and health program that is independently produced by MMP (USA), Inc. The show provides its viewers an in depth opportunity to find solutions to the industry problems from some of the top business leaders from across the world. With more than 5,000 companies participating on over 500 shows, 21st Century Television continues to be the premier and targeted outlet for the latest business and health stories. 21st Century Television airs on cable networks to over 100 million viewers. For specific market-by-market air dates and times, please e-mail email@example.com. For more information, please visit www.tvbusinessnews.com.
Distributed by 21st Century Television
Company Name: MMP (USA), Inc
Contact Person: Gila Stern
Email: email@example.com
Phone: 561-988-0609 x269
Address:999 Yamato Road, Suite 103
City: Boca Raton
State: Florida
Country: United States
Website: http://www.cnbc.com/id/40419133
Source: www.getnews.info
Release ID: 37526


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Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor
It depicts the story of a young boy and his relationship with animals. The film is produced by 3rd World Studios and distributed by ARY Films. Set in the northern regions of Pakistan, the story follows Allahyar, a young and mischievous boy who ends up dealing with circumstances he never thought possible. The movie aims to shed light on the preservation and illegal hunting of wildlife, with main characters Mehru, a markhor and Chakku, a snow leopard being endangered species.
Views: 260
Genre: Adventure, Animation, Family
Director: Uzair Zaheer Khan
Actors: Abdul Nabi Jamali, Ali Noor, Ali Rehman Khan, Anum Zaidi, Arieb Azhar, Azfar Jafri, Natasha Humera Ejaz
Release: 2018
IMDb: 7.2


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[Updated at 11:18 p.m. ET] Aimee Seaver, the mother of a first-grade girl at Sandy Hook and a fifth-grader who attends a different school, told CNN's Anderson Cooper that her children are having trouble dealing with what happened.
"It's a very rough night here," she said. "When your first-grader goes to bed and says, 'Mommy, is anyone from my class last year - are they all OK?' and you look at them and say, 'I'm not really sure,' it's a rough night to tell that to your 7-year-old."
Her younger daughter has asked a lot of questions about Principal Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, who was killed.
"She got wind very quickly that something was wrong with our principal, which we didn't tell her till just now that yes, she was definitely hurt and it wasn't good," Seaver said. "It's taking her a while. I think tomorrow will probably be harder for her.
"I also have a fifth-grader who came off the bus crying because she … had a sister who she was worried about, and … just basically left that school a few months ago. I think for a lot of those kids, they kind of are a little older and can get it a little bit faster, even though they weren't in it.
"So the questions, I think, are coming. They're not here, yet, especially for the littler ones. It started as I put them to bed tonight, the questions."
[Updated at 10:50 p.m. ET] Janet Vollmer, a kindergarten teacher at the school, says she locked her classroom doors and - to keep her students calm - read them a story until the police came.
Vollmer, her 19 students and the adult helpers in her classroom were not injured.
"You could hear what sounded like pops, gunshots. Of course, I'm not going to tell that to 5-year-olds, so I said to them, 'We're going over in a safe area,'" Vollmer told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "And we read a story and we kept them calm, did a lockdown drill, closed the doors, locked (them), covered the windows, and kept the children with us."
She said the children knew something unusual was going on.
"It didn't seem a natural thing (to the children), although we do practice drills," Vollmer said. "We said, 'We're not really sure, but we're going to be safe, because we're sitting over here and we're all together.'"
When asked how she kept cool, she said: "With 5-year-olds, you can't lose it. I've been doing this for a long time, it's my 18th year of teaching. My job was to keep them safe."
"After we got down to the firehouse, later on, as a lot of the events started to unfold throughout the day I think some of (the children) realized the magnitude of what was going on.," she said. "They saw other people upset. We just held them close until their parents came and we released them."
[Updated at 8:58 p.m. ET] Denise Correia says her daughter, a Sandy Hook Elementary second-grader who was not injured, heard the gunshots from the classroom she was in. The girl, while talking about the shooting with Correia, has been mentioning slain principal Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung "quite a lot."
"I think everyone's coping as best as they possibly can," Correia told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "I'm letting her talk. She's mentioned quite a bit about the principal, who many of us have worked with. I adored her. I worked with her personally with my business. That is one person I know we have lost on a personal level."
Correia said she has heard that her daughter's teacher, when the gunfire started, grabbed two kids from the hallway, put them into her classroom with other students, locked the door and gathered the students to a side of the room away from the gunfire. "She did a very heroic thing," Correia said of the teacher.
"The kids are going to suffer from this," Correia said. "... We lost a lot of babies today in this town, and there are a lot of very sad families."
[Updated at 8:20 p.m. ET] One injured victim, a female employee of the school, is "doing well," Connecticut State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance said.
[Updated at 7:53 p.m. ET] The public release of the victims' names may come on Saturday morning, Connecticut State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance says.
Vance said investigators have made preliminary identifications of the bodies, and that they've notified the appropriate families. But investigators want to make final, positive identifications before releasing the names to the media.
"It's a horrific scene," Vance said. "Between our mutual experience, we've never seen anything like this."
Vance said the next briefing from state police would be at 8 a.m. ET Saturday.
[Updated at 7:48 p.m. ET] U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut, says her thoughts and prayers are with the families.
"This really hits close to home," said DeLauro, who said she is visiting her grandchildren in Washington, D.C. "These beautiful young angels who had so much to live for - and it seems so senseless. Unthinkable that this could happen ,but it has, and now, as the president said, we come together, we wrap our arms around these families and hold them close to our hearts."
[Updated at 7:10 p.m. ET] Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, offered his prayers for the families of those affected by the Connecticut shooting, according to a release from the group.
The shooting "wrenches the hearts of all people," he said.
"Once again we speak against the culture of violence infecting our country even as we prepare to welcome the Prince of Peace at Christmas," Dolan said. "All of us are called to work for peace in our homes, our streets and our world, now more than ever."
[Updated at 6:51 p.m. ET] A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation says the three guns found at the shooting site were legally purchased by Nancy Lanza, the mother of the suspect in the shooting.
According to the law enforcement official, the Glock and Sig Sauer handguns were found inside the school with the deceased gunman. The Bushmaster was found in a car outside the school. The official did not know if the car was registered to the gunman, to his mother or to someone else.
The official echoed what other law enforcement officials have told CNN: That Adam Lanza was the suspected gunman, and that he died at the scene of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.
[Updated at 6:44 p.m. ET] Three U.S. law enforcement officials, from different agencies, separately tonight identified the suspected shooter as Adam Lanza, contrary to what investigators had said previously. It is not clear what caused the confusion among investigators.
His older brother, Ryan, was taken into custody for general questioning from a home in Hoboken, New Jersey. Officials did not label Ryan Lanza as a suspect. It is unclear when he may be released.
One of the officials say Adam's father was also taken in for similar questioning. There is no indication that the father will be charged. The official noted the father has remarried and lives with his new wife in a residence in the general area of Connecticut not too far from where his ex-wife lived.
[Updated at 6:43 p.m. ET] CNN's Susan Candiotti is talking to investigators at the scene as they piece together exactly what happened and when. She says she's learned that the mother of the suspected shooter, Nancy Lanza, was found dead in the suspect's home in Newtown.
"Earlier we had information that she was found in the classroom. However, now I'm being told that in fact her body was found at the suspect's residence," Candiotti said. "We don't know whether she also lived there. We also don't know the timeline - when was she killed? Was she killed before the shooting began at the school? These are the things that authorities are still trying to piece together."
[Updated at 6:02 p.m. ET] "Evil visited this community today," Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy just told reporters in Newtown. "And it's too early to speak of recovery, but each parent, each sibling, each member of the family has to understand that Connecticut - we're all in this together.
"We'll do whatever we can to overcome this event. We will get through it. But this is a terrible time for this community and these families."
[Updated at 5:14 p.m. ET] The mother of the suspected shooter was found dead in her son's residence in Newtown, a law enforcement source with detailed knowledge of the investigation told CNN. CNN had previously identified the mother as Nancy Lanza, a teacher at the Sandy Hook Elementary, according to law enforcement sources.
The source also told CNN there was no body found in the house searched by authorities in Hoboken, New Jersey. Two law enforcement sources say a man was taken away from questioning from that house. He is believed to be the brother of the shooter, according to the sources.
The first law enforcement source says the school shooter was dressed in "black battle fatigues and a military vest."
The Bushmaster .223 found at the scene is a semi automatic weapon, the source says. Two other weapons found were handguns, a Sig-Sauer and a Glock.
[Updated at 5:10 p.m. ET] We just learned that Governor Dannel P. Malloy will be speaking at Treadwell Park in Newtown, Connecticut, at 6:00 p.m. ET.
[Updated at 5:04 p.m. ET] We've just received a statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan about the shooting:
"School shootings are always incomprehensible and horrific tragedies. But words fail to describe today's heartbreaking and savage attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School. As the father of two children in elementary school, I can barely imagine the anguish and losses suffered today by the Newtown community.
"Our hearts and prayers go out to every parent, child, teacher, staff member, and administrator at Sandy Hook and the surrounding community. And our thanks go out to every teacher, staff member, and first responder who cared for, comforted, and protected children from harm, often at risk to themselves. We will do everything in our power to assist and support the healing and recovery of Newtown."
[Updated at 5:01 p.m. ET] Law enforcement officials are not prepared to identify the shooter right now, Connecticut State PoliceLt. J. Paul Vance said in a press conference.
Vance said that they are working diligently at the crime scene as well as with the medical examiner to identify the victims.
"We will leave no stone unturned," Vance added about the entire investigation.
[Updated at 4:54 p.m. ET] We are now being told there was no body found in the Hoboken, New Jersey, home as had been previously reported.
[Updated at 4:23 p.m. ET] We have learned that Connecticut police have searched the suspected gunman's home and place of employment in the wake of Friday's mass shooting, Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
They have also interviewed his friends, relatives and "everyone who possibly had any connection with him whatsoever," he said.
[Updated at 4:11 p.m. ET] Police did not discharge their weapons at any time when responding at the school, police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. However, he could not confirm whether the suspected shooter - who died at the scene - killed himself, saying that would have to be determined by the medical examiner.
[Updated at 4:07 p.m. ET] Mark Kelly, who's lived through this kind of horror, has issued a statement. He's the husband of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords who was shot in the head at a massacre in Tucson, Arizona, in January 2011. Here's what he said:
I just woke up in my hotel room in Beijing, China, to learn that another mass shooting has taken place - this time at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and the entire community of Newtown, CT. I just spoke to Gabby, and she sends her prayers from Tucson.
As we mourn, we must sound a call for our leaders to stand up and do what is right. This time our response must consist of more than regret, sorrow, and condolence. The children of Sandy Hook Elementary School and all victims of gun violence deserve leaders who have the courage to participate in a meaningful discussion about our gun laws - and how they can be reformed and better enforced to prevent gun violence and death in America. This can no longer wait.
[Updated at 3:56 p.m. ET] The principal killed was Dawn Hochsprung. We received this photo via Newtown.Patch.com.
[Updated at 3:54 p.m. ET] Three guns were found at the scene, CNN's Susan Candiotti reports. According to a law enforcement source, the third weapon found on the scene was a .223 Bushmaster. The other weapons, previously reported, are a Glock, and a Sig-Sauer. No word on the models of Glock or Sig-Sauer.
[Updated at 3:51 p.m. ET] A federal law enforcement source tells CNN's John King the information from the scene is that the shooter arrived and headed directly toward and to his mother's classroom. That and the other information now emerging - another family member killed, police interviews - lead them to believe his mother was the primary target. But they note he also came armed with clear intention of mass killing.
[Updated at 3:45 p.m. ET] There were a total of 27 people dead at the school, Lt. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police said.
Six adults, 20 children and the shooter were killed. Eighteen students were pronounced dead at the scene, and two others died at the hospital, said Lt. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police. The six adults died at the scene.
[Updated at 3:43 p.m. ET] Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance has just said that the shooting took place in one section of the school and in two rooms.
[Updated at 3:33 p.m. ET] Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy called the mass shooting "a tragedy of unspeakable terms."
"Earlier today a tragedy of unspeakable terms played itself out in this community," Malloy said, adding that "you can never be prepared for this kind of incident.
"A number of our citizens, beautiful children, had their life taken away from them as well as adults whose responsibility it was to educate and supervise those children," Malloy said.
[Updated at 3:22 p.m. ET] It appears that another member of the alleged shooter's family is dead. A senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation says a brother of the alleged shooter was found dead in a home searched in Hoboken, New Jersey. We already knew the suspect's mother was found dead in the elementary school.
(6:43 p.m. ET update - CNN's Susan Candiotti is talking to investigators and has now learned that the mother of the suspected shooter was found dead in the suspect's home in Newtown. No brother of the suspect has been found dead, and no one has been found dead in the home in Hoboken, New Jersey, investigators say.)
[Updated at 3:16 p.m. ET] From the president: "I offered Gov. Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation."
The president appears to be emotional, he's wiping his eye.
Here's more of what he's saying:
"We've endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years. Each time I learn the news I react not as a president but as anybody else would as a parent.
"That was especially true today.
"I know there's not a parent in America that doesn't feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.
"The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old.
"They had their entire lives ahead of them, birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own.
Obama sighed.
"Among the fallen were also teachers - men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams. Our hearts are broken today for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these children and the families of the adults we lost.
"Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children's innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.
"As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it's an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago - these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.
"This evening Michelle and I will do what every parent in America will do - hug our children a little tighter and tell them that we love them.
"There are families in Connecticut that cannot do that tonight and they need all of us tonight.
"May God bless the memory of the victims and in the words of scripture heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds."
[Updated at 3:14 p.m. ET] The president will talk soon. You can watch him on our live stream here.
[Updated at 3:12 p.m. ET] President Obama has ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff as a mark of respect for the victims "of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut," according to a release from the White House.
[Updated at 3:09 p.m. ET] The suspect's mother was shot and killed at the school, according to source close to the investigation. She was a teacher there.
And we now know that Ryan Lanza, the suspected gunman, was 24.
(6:44 p.m. ET update - (Three U.S. law enforcement officials say the suspected gunman was Adam Lanza, not his brother Ryan Lanza as officials had previously said. It is not clear what caused the confusion among investigators. Ryan Lanza was picked up from a home in Hoboken, New Jersey, on Friday and has been questioned but has not been labeled as a suspect, officials now say. Also, CNN's Susan Candiotti is talking to investigators and has now learned that the mother of the suspected shooter was found dead in the suspect's home in Newtown)
[Updated at 3:01 p.m. ET] The principal and guidance counselor at Sandy Hook Elementary School were both killed during the shooting, according to a witness that spoke to CNN.
[Updated at 2:52 p.m. ET] We have just learned via a tweet from House Speaker John Boehner that flags at the U.S. Capitol will be lowered.
[tweet https://twitter.com/SpeakerBoehner/status/279674241979400192%5D
[Updated at 2:47 p.m. ET] President Obama will make a statement on the tragedy at 3:15 p.m. ET. We'll have that live on CNN TV and right here.
[Updated at 2:45 p.m. ET] Various locations are being used as staging areas around Newtown. This is outside the Newtown Methodist Church near the school where a woman is hugging a child.
[Updated at 2:39 p.m. ET] Federal law enforcement officials have told CNN's John King that the shooting happened quickly and happened in a concentrated area.
[Updated at 2:32 p.m. ET] Connecticut Gov. Malloy will be in Newtown and talk about the tragedy today at 3:30 p.m. ET.
[Updated at 2:20 p.m. ET] We are now hearing from CNN's Mary Snow, who is reporting from outside the suspect's home, that dozens of law enforcement officials are on the scene.
Neighbors are "shaken," Snow said.
[Updated at 2:11 p.m. ET] CNN's Susan Candiotti has just reported that a law enforcement official tells her the suspect is named Ryan Lanza and he is in his 20s.
[Updated at 2:09 p.m. ET] We're hearing even more devastating news out of Newtown, Connecticut. CNN's Susan Candiotti has been told that 18 to 20 of the dead are children.
[Updated at 2:07 p.m. ET] CNN's Jessica Yellin is reporting that we're likely to hear from President Obama today on the school shooting, according to a senior administration official. We don't know when our where we may hear from President Obama.
[Updated at 2:04 p.m. ET] Lisa Procaccini, the parent of an 8-year-old at the school, tells CNN that her daughter said school officials kept her calm during the shooting and told her the loud noise was hammering going on.
Eventually police came in and let her daughter and her teacher leave the school building.
"I'm even kind of numb about what's going on," she told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "I'm in a state of shock. I don't know how Im going to handle having [my daughter] know ... about the whole situation."
[Updated at 1:57 p.m. ET] The death toll is closer to 30 than 20, a federal law enforcement source in Washington told CNN's John King. Most of those killed are children, the source said.
The source also said the suspected gunman, who is dead, had a connection to the school. He would not elaborate on that connection. The source is in touch with authorities on the scene.
[Updated at 1:53 p.m. ET] Congresswoman-elect Elizabeth Esty, who was recently won a seat representing a district that includes Newtown, Connecticut, just released the following statement on the tragedy:
As a mother, I can only begin to imagine what the students, parents, teachers and staff of Sandy Hook Elementary must be experiencing. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by this horrific tragedy. While details are still emerging, I hope for the safety and well being of the children, teachers and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary and for the Newtown community.
[Updated at 1:51 p.m. ET] We have just learned that the suspected shooter is 20-years-old, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation tells CNN's Susan Candiotti.
[Updated at 1:47 p.m. ET] A few more details from the White House press briefing earlier. White House spokesman Jay Carney said while today is not the day to debate gun policy, an assault weapons ban "does remain a commitment" of President Obama.
[Updated at 1:45 p.m. ET] We are now learning that a male is being questioned by investigators, but he is not being called a suspect, CNN's Susan Candiotti reports.
[Updated at 1:42 p.m. ET] Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance said the shooter is dead inside the school.
[tweet https://twitter.com/ljanyNT/status/279657796985823232%5D
Vance said there are a number of fatalities that includes both children and adults. He did not add more details about how many people were killed during the school shooting.
[Updated at 1:41 p.m. ET] Police have now begun their briefing on the shooting.
[Updated at 1:32 p.m. ET] We're hearing more from the scene of the massacre through tweets and interviews.
[tweet https://twitter.com/HenaDaniels/status/279651793150033922]
[tweet https://twitter.com/johnfrey/status/279652142447476736%5D
[Updated at 1:23 p.m. ET] President Obama has spoken to FBI Director Robert Mueller and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy to get the latest information and express his condolences, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
[Updated at 1:21 p.m. ET] We're now hearing that it may be a while for the briefing from the police.
[Updated at 1:17 p.m. ET] This was the scene from the air earlier, taken by News 12 Connecticut, with emergency vehicles in the school parking lot.
[Updated at 1:09 p.m. ET] The police are set to give a news conference soon where we'll learn more. We'll bring that to you as soon as it starts.
[Updated at 1:07 p.m. ET] Here's the chilling account told to CNN's Meredith Artley of what happened at the school.
[Updated at 12:59 p.m. ET] Many people are talking again about gun control. But White House spokesman Jay Carney isn't joining in for now.
"I think it's important on a day like today to view this as I know the president, as a father does and I as a father and others who are parents certainly do, which is to feel enormous sympathy for families that are affected and to do everything we can to support state and local law enforcement and support those who are enduring what appears to be a very tragic event. There is, I'm sure, will be, rather, a day for discussion of the usual Washington policy debates but I don't think today is that day.
[Updated at 12:57 p.m. ET] From the News Times reporter at the school:
[tweet https://twitter.com/ljanyNT/status/279644862771523585]
[Updated at 12:48 p.m. ET] "Close to 20" people have been killed, including at least 10 children, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation says.
[Updated at 12:47 p.m. ET] President Barack Obama has been informed of the school shooting in Connecticut and will receive regular updates throughout the day, the White House said on Friday.
[Updated at 12:27 p.m. ET] The mom who spoke to CNN's Meredith Artley said she heard "at least 100 rounds" being fired.
The shooting began about 9:35 a.m., the parent said. There was a "pop pop pop" in the hall outside the room. Three people went out of the room into the hall where the sounds had come from. "Only one person came back," we were told.
The witness told Artley that she then called 911. She said she never saw the shooter but she later was escorted outside the room past two bodies lying in blood.
[Updated at 12:20 p.m. ET] A third-grader describes the shooting to WTNH:
[Updated at 12:16 p.m. ET] Two adults were killed, according to a parent who was at the school during the incident, and who talked to our colleague Meredith Artley.
[Updated at 12:12 p.m. ET] We just got this from U.S. Senator-elect Chris Murphy:
"I am shocked and saddened by the horrific news from Sandy Hook Elementary School this morning, and I pray that kids, teachers, staff, and families reach safety as quickly as possible. While we don't have much information right now, our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones."
[Updated at 12:05 p.m. ET] The shooter's body is in a classroom, a source with knowledge of the investigation tells CNN's Susan Candiotti.
[Updated at 12:02 p.m. ET] Multiple local media are reporting there are fatalities. We're checking.
[Updated at noon ET] News Times reporter Libor Jany reports that all Newtown schools are on lockdown.
[tweet https://twitter.com/ljanyNT/status/279629101160087553]
[Updated at 11:58 a.m. ET] Danbury Hospital confirms it's treating some victims. It says this on its Facebook page:
To date, three patients have been transported to Danbury Hospital from the scene. Out of abundance of caution and not because of any direct threat Danbury Hospital is under lockdown. This allows us simply to focus on the important work at hand.
[Updated at 11:54 a.m. ET] Connecticut House Rep. John Frey has nieces and a nephew at the school and is tweeting updates.
[tweet https://twitter.com/johnfrey/status/279626856444067840]
[Updated at 11:47 a.m. ET] The dad of a student at the school told CNN affiliate WTNH there were about 600 pupils in the building at the time of the shooting.
[Updated at 11:45 a.m. ET] At least three people were wounded and are in "very serious" condition at a hospital in Danbury, Connecticut, that town's mayor, Mark Boughton told CNN. He couldn't say whether the victims were children.
[Updated at 11:44 a.m. ET] Andrew Doba, Director of Communications with Connecticut Governor Malloy's office, says they are coordinating with local authorities and state police. They continue to monitor developments in Newtown. The governor is in Connecticut today.
[Updated at 11:40 a.m. ET] We're getting live pictures from the scene from CNN affiliates.
[Updated at 11:34 a.m. ET] The shooter is dead, a source with knowledge of the investigation, tells CNN's Susan Candiotti.
Police have recovered two weapons from him, the source added.
It's not known whether police killed the alleged shooter or he took his own life. The source says one weapon recovered is a Glock and the other is a Sig Sauer.
[Updated at 11:27 a.m. ET] The Hartford Courant, citing police, said an unspecified number of people had been shot. The nature of their injuries was unclear, the newspaper said. But it cited police in saying one person had "numerous gunshot wounds."
[Updated at 11:19 a.m. ET] Affiliate WTNH says children are being taken to a nearby firehouse.
[tweet https://twitter.com/WTNH/status/279620094768852992]
[Updated at 11:10 a.m. ET] Details are still really sketchy, but we now have a photo from the Newtown Bee of children being led from the scene.
[Updated at 11:03 a.m. ET] We're still getting details in of how many people may have been hurt.
Newtown is southwest of Hartford:
[Updated at 10:53 a.m. ET] Sandy Hook school is on lockdown and students are not being evacuated, a Newtown police spokesman tells us.
[Posted at 10:30 a.m. ET] Breaking news coming in - Connecticut State Police are responding to reports of a shooting at a Newtown elementary school in southwestern Connecticut, according to police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance.
We'll bring you more details as soon as we get them.
Our affiliates in the area are saying the school is the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
All Knuckleheaded copycats!
I found interesting people saying the gun has nothing to do with it and that taking guns away won't change anything. I don't believe is about taking guns away, but about enforcing who gets a gun...it is interesting that you need all sort of tests to drive a car, but you need nothing to get a gun.
"You can't drive Mr or Miss as you are not capable of it and will put others in danger, but guess what: you can buy a gun! The dealership sells a car to someone without a license they go to jail, but wait, how about the guy that sold the gun? Ah, nothing will happen."
Talk about the power of the gun industry.
Most gun crimes are commited by people who do not have a gun license, so further screening may sound good in theory, but in reality we are left with the same problem. Something needs to be done, but I'm not sure what.
I am a school principal and I feel certain that in a few more weeks this will happen again someplace in America. American's have an affixation with gun, and they hold the 2nd amendment up in your face when you talk about gun control. I say to them 2nd amendment was for the states to have a standing militia. Over the years the Supreme Courts have ruled in favor of individual rights for gun ownership. I spent 26 years in the military for the rights of all American but look at those children; lives cut short the potential will never be completely realized. I say "No to gun rights and automatic weapons."
a knife attack at a school in China wounds 22... sure a gun is the easiest to use weapon , but people will still find ways to harm others... http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/world/asia/china-knife-attack/index.html
School is out already?
Why is anyone shocked over this? This is not the first time, and unless we get off our butts and take a stand to add further security measures in our schools, this will happen again. I am so tired of hearing that it is not feasible to add tighter measures in our schools, that is complete BS. We are no where near third world country status, millions of dollars are being spent at this moment with holiday shopping yet we choose to play the helpless victims in society. Where are our priorities??? Where is the legislation to stop this bullsh&^???????
So, if NRA is right, not only do we, the adults, need to start carrying submachine guns, but we should also start buying our preschoolers or elementary school kids gun because, as NRA, would argue, if the kids had guns, they could have defended themselves. The teachers should also start carring submachine guns. What is this country coming to? I say we need to do away with the God da$&n second amendment. we are no longer a colony under British threat and we can get all the darn meat we want from Brazil. No need to hunt either. I am sick to my stomache.
Im from Newtown and this is the worst day in history. None of us can understand what disgusting manner has even happened. I was at the lock down today for 4 hours at the high school and when we all heard that this is worse than the Columbine shooting, we all broke down. My friends siblings where killed, everyone was a wreck.
May God be with all the familys that have lost loved ones.
Word Up! @ Whizerd
m16's for everyone! kids must be armed to the teeth!
This is horrible... my prayers go the kids and families affected by this. Everyone is pointing fingers at Gun Control, but this what happens when you remove God and prayer from schools. You never heard of anything like this happening in the old days.
How many of the mass shootings in the past decade have been with automatic weapons?? Why would anyone need an automatic weapon to protect themselves? Gun control doesn't mean take every gun away from everyone, it means have a little common sense (at the least) and come up with some stricter laws. You can't just leave it at "guns don't kill people, people kill people" - something has to be done about lunatics having easy access to automatic weapons etc. If nothing changes, nothing changes. And, yes, people could commit murders with other weaons, but the point is that automatic weapons kill a lot more, a lot faster! You'd be tackled and stopped long before you hurt 22 people (and in all the movie theater mass shootings.....what is the guy gonna do, jump over all the seats to stab everyone?) I THINK THAT'S THE POINT PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO MAKE WITH NEEDING GUN CONTROL!
a knife attack at a school in China... lets ban knifes!!! lets ban pencils.... anything can be used as a weapon
There MUST be muliple armed guards in EVERY school.
NO you sir are a very dumb person
All Knucklehead copycats!
Hope there is some action to contol the guns ..How long this will continue ?
I have been a high school teacher for 25 years. The year they make me start carrying a gun will be my last year as a teacher.. Is that really what it comes down to? More guns? How about better mental health screenings? How about more mental health resources available to people who need those services instead of just dumping them on an unsuspecting society. How about providing help for families in crisis so monsters like this are not produced as often. I am a TEACHER, not a security guard or soldier. Is that how you want to hire quality teacher, by how good a marksman they are?


text:
Freedom New Mexico
New Mexico State Police said Friday that a man accused of killing two men in a Tucumcari hotel is also a suspect in two Ohio slayings.
Muziwokuthula Madonda, 33 of Chicago, is awaiting extradition from Conroe, Texas. He is charged with two open counts of murder and tampering with evidence connected to the March 24 shooting deaths of Gabriel Baca, 37, and Bobby Gonzales, 57, at the Tucumcari Inn.
Madonda has been identified as the suspect in two additional homicides that occurred in Ohio in February, said state police Lt. Eric Garcia.
Garcia said the victims in the two prior homicides have been identified as Jackie Hider of Akron, Ohio, and Zenzele D. Mdadane, a native of South Africa and acquaintance of Madonda.
The two homicides occurred in different towns in Ohio. Hider was slain Feb. 17 at her residence on Hampton Ridge Drive in Akron.
Hider was shot twice, once in the abdomen and once in the chest, said Akron Police Lt. Rick Edwards.
Edwards said a warrant was issued for Madonda's arrest on the charges of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery.
An information request has been sent to the Dayton, Ohio Police Department for a warrant affidavit regarding Mdadane's homicide. Garcia said Mdadane was killed in Dayton but did not have additional details.
Madonda was arrested March 28 in Conroe and has waived extradition back to New Mexico, police said.
"The plan was to extradite Madonda to Tucumcari to stand trial," Garcia said. "Now that another state has identified him as a suspect in two additional (deaths), the district attorneys will have to work out who will extradite him first."


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This screen is comfortably the cheapest 42in plasma we've ever seen from Panasonic. Which is great, of course, provided we don't find that too many corners have had to be cut to reach the sub-£1k price.
The 42PX70 is certainly no oil painting, with its slightly drab dark finish and uninspiring lines. But it does mostly hit the mark with its connections, thanks to its two HDMIs, component video input and PC port. Just be warned, though, that there are no RCA composite video or four-pin S-video jacks.
Heading up the features is its V-Real 2 image processing system. Included within this is upscaling to 1080p; a wealth of noise reduction options; colour management and contour enhancement.
Other key specifications include a terrific claimed contrast ratio of 10,000:1, a 1,024 x 768-pixel resolution and receipt of 1080p/24fps video via HDMI. Please note, though, that while it accepts such pictures, it does so without any accompanying sound.
Plasma may be struggling to keep up with LCD in hard sales terms, but on the evidence of the 42PX70, it's still a highly relevant technology when it comes to performance.
The 42PX70's good news begins with its truly outstanding black level response, which plumbs depths far in excess of anything our LCD rivals can muster. What's more, the subtlety of colour nuance and detailing in dark areas helps them look three-dimensional and natural rather than flat and hollow.
Good black levels are usually accompanied by good colours, and the Panasonic lives up to this with a delightfully wide and subtle palette that's for the most part impressively natural in tone, too.
HD images look reasonably (though not spectacularly) sharp, meanwhile, and thanks to plasma having a way better response time than LCD, this sharpness isn't diminished during action scenes by motion blur.
As a final key strength, the 42PX70 is more comfortable showing standard definition than most of its rivals - an important point given that HD material is still in relatively short supply in the UK.
In an ideal world, the 42PX70 would portray slightly less orange-looking reds, would suffer slightly less with judder during HD camera pans, and would have more powerful audio. But in the budget world the 42PX70's £1000 price tag means it belongs to, these problems are so insignificant we're almost embarrassed we mentioned them.


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U.S. light-vehicle sales--led by Volkswagen, BMW and Honda--jumped 9 percent in December, pushing the seasonally adjusted sales rate above 15.3 million for the second consecutive month and helping the industry finish 2012 on a high note.
Automakers sold 14.49 million light vehicles in the U.S. market last year, up 13 percent from 2011, for the highest mark since 2007. It was the third-straight annual gain of at least 10 percent, the first such industry streak since 1973.
Automakers and analysts expect U.S. sales to continue rebounding in 2013, albeit at at a slower pace, with some forecasts as high as 15.6 million light vehicles.
"If you want to hang your hat on something that's really improved in our industry, it's the North American auto business," said George Magliano, senior principal economist for IHS Automotive in New York. "It's a shining piece of U.S. manufacturing."
Chrysler, which analysts had predicted would lose market share in 2012, increased annual sales more than any major automaker other than Toyota and Honda, automakers that rebounded sharply from the 2011 earthquake in Japan.
Volkswagen Group's VW brand and Honda Motor Co. led all automakers last month, outpacing the Detroit 3, Toyota Motor Corp., the Hyundai-Kia Group and Nissan Motor Co.
The VW brand--helped by newer models such as the mid-sized Passat and compact Jetta--posted a December U.S. sales gain of 35 percent. VW sales for the year rose 35 percent to more than 438,000 units.
December marked the 16th straight month VW's U.S. sales have climbed 22 percent or more.
Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, said the company's sales growth will taper off in 2013.
"The Passat and Beetle have been in the market for over a year, so we won't get the same step-up as last year," Browning said Thursday. "We do expect to grow faster than the industry in total."
American Honda said sales rose 26 percent to 132,774 units last month, driven by demand for the new Accord, Civic and CR-V.
Healthy retail demand, year-end discounts and a surge in car deliveries helped Chrysler Group report a 10 percent gain in December.
Toyota Motor Sales reported a 9 percent December sales increase and said 2012 deliveries rose 27 percent to 2.08 million.
General Motors' sales rose 5 percent last month and 4 percent for all of 2012. Buick and Cadillac led the December gains, with advances of 5 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Chevrolet deliveries were up 4 percent.
GM cited strong retail demand and higher deliveries of cars, crossovers and pickup trucks for the company's December results.
Ford Motor Co. said December sales rose 2 percent, as the Ford Division advanced 2 percent and Lincoln fell 12 percent. Ford's sales for the year rose 5 percent.
Fuel efficiency
Automakers are benefiting from the introduction of more fuel-efficient vehicles.
GM said it sold more than 1 million vehicles in the United States last year that achieve an EPA-estimated 30 mpg or more on the highway.
Toyota Motor said its hybrid-vehicle volume jumped nearly 83 percent last year, with sales of the expanded Prius family rising 75 percent to 236,000.
Ford said its small car sales soared 29 percent to 316,006 units last year, including 13,309 deliveries of the new C-Max hybrid.
Honda said the Civic set a December sales record of 33,118 units--up 61 percent from 2011.
Fiat led all Chrysler brands with a 59 percent gain last month, the company said. For 2012, Fiat's U.S. sales of the 500 mini car line more than doubled to 43,772.
December sales rose 26 percent at Dodge and 16 percent at the Ram brand, but Jeep volume slipped for the third consecutive month, reflecting the end of Liberty production in August.
Chrysler's car sales rose 30 percent last month while light-truck deliveries increased 4 percent.
For all of 2012, Chrysler's U.S. sales increased 21 percent to 1.65 million.
It was the 33rd straight month Chrysler has posted an increase in U.S. sales as the automaker heads toward its third consecutive year of market-share gains. Chrysler's share of U.S. sales stood at 11.4 percent through November, up from 10.7 percent during the same period of 2011.
Hyundai's U.S. sales rose 17 percent in December and gained 9 percent in 2012, CEO John Krafcik said Hyundai sold 59,435 vehicles last month and a record-setting 703,007 units last year.
At Nissan Motor Co., December sales slipped 2 percent, with volume at the Nissan brand down 4 percent and Infiniti up 15 percent. For all of 2012, Nissan Motor's U.S. sales rose 10 percent, with the Nissan brand setting a sales record of 1.02 million.
Kia Motors' U.S. sales declined--for the first time in more than two years--by 10 percent last month to 39,178 vehicles. The automaker's previous monthly drop was in August 2010, when industry-wide sales results were skewed by numbers inflated a year earlier by the U.S. government's Cash for Clunkers vehicle scrappage program.
Despite the dip last month, Kia sold a record 557,599 vehicles in the U.S. market in 2012, a 15 percent increase over last year.
Pent-up demand, holiday deals, low-rate financing and easing credit terms are driving the industry's sales.
"People are much more confident about jobs; banks and other credit institutions are much more willing to lend," Mustafa Mohatarem, GM's chief economist, said Thursday. "You're seeing the customer continue to come back into the marketplace."
Jesse Toprak, chief market analyst for TrueCar, said the latest car and truck models, often equipped with more features, are also compelling U.S. consumers to consider a new-vehicle purchase.
Healthy streak
U.S. consumers continue to replace cars and trucks that are, on average, the oldest ever on America's roads. The average age of vehicles on U.S. roads is about 11 years, according to researchers at Experian Automotive and R.L. Polk & Co.
"It sure feels a lot better to be selling cars today than a few years ago," Geoffrey Pohanka, president of the Pohanka Automotive Group, told Bloomberg. "The age of the fleet and the attractiveness of a lot of cars that are being designed now are going to help sustain sales going forward."
Pohanka's Washington, D.C.-area dealer group is expanding only a few years after retrenchment. Pohanka closed three Saturn stores and a Chrysler-Dodge dealership as part of the 2009 restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler Group. In 2013, he plans to build a second Honda store in as many years and also will add a new VW dealership.
Sales are also being driven by a steady, though sometimes choppy, economic recovery, despite high unemployment.
"The budget compromise reached in Washington this week removes uncertainty and clears the way for full-year light vehicle sales to rise to the 15 million to 15.5 million unit range in 2013," Kurt McNeil, head of U.S. sales operations for GM, said in a statement.
But Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, chief economist for Ford, said Thursday the automaker planned to gauge the impact of higher U.S. payrolls taxes and "how consumers are going to substitute and economize on certain purchases."
GM, Ford, Hyundai-Kia and Nissan lost U.S. market share in 2012, while Toyota, Chrysler, Honda and the Volkswagen Group gained share.
Sandy demand
Lingering replacement demand from owners of damaged vehicles and purchases deferred by superstorm Sandy on the East Coast may have boosted vehicle sales by about 50,000 in December, Credit Suisse Group AG estimated in a report late last month.
TrueCar.com estimates industry incentives averaged $2,409 per model in December, up 4.3 percent from November but down 9 percent from December 2011.
GM, the top-selling automaker in the U.S., boosted incentives on its trucks last month after warning it may end the year with more Chevrolet Silverados and GMC Sierras than it planned. At the end of December, GM had 221,649 full-size pickups on hand, almost reaching its year-end target of 200,000 to 220,000. Deliveries of the Chevrolet Silverado rose 6.1 percent to 50,699 in December.
Many luxury brands offer year-end and holiday specials to drive showroom traffic and sales.
In December, Porsche's U.S. sales rose 61 percent. For all of 2012, sales rose 21 percent to a record 35,043 vehicles, topping Porsche's previous peak of 34,693 in 2007.
Porsche executives are looking for another increase in 2013 as the manufacturer moves toward its goal of selling 50,000 vehicles in the United States by 2018.
"We hope to solidify our position as the world's strongest Porsche market," Detlev von Platen, CEO of Porsche Cars North America Inc., said in a statement. "We look forward to the introduction of several new products in 2013, including the Cayenne Turbo S and Cayman this spring."
Brianna Valleskey, Ryan Beene and Amy Wilson contributed to this report


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Oliver Stone's "W.," a dramatized portrait of a hollow shell named George Bush, is a discomforting experience for a lot of reasons, of which the most important, perhaps, is that Stone brings us in close to the President without giving us any reason to care about him. Back in 1995, Stone made us heed, even feel for, the tormented soul of Richard Nixon; the expanded director's cut of "Nixon" (recently released on DVD) looks stronger than ever as a portrait of an intelligent, capable man (Anthony Hopkins) rotting from the inside. In "W.," however, George W. Bush (Josh Brolin) comes off as a grinning frat boy who covers his easily bruised feelings with swaggering bravado. Even if the real Bush is as simple as that (which I doubt), he's still a lousy movie character—an inadequate protagonist in his own life story. Clinging to externals, Brolin thrusts out his chin and flexes his shoulders; he walks crotch forward, like a dismounted broncobuster; and he speaks in short gusts, as if each little group of words were a shot from a Colt .45. Brolin can't get below the surface, but I'm not sure that any actor could—the way the movie has been conceived, there are no depths to plumb. Stanley Weiser's screenplay hits the Freudian family-drama aspects of the Bush saga in the most obvious ways: the hard-drinking, pleasure-loving scapegrace son can never get enough approval from his stiff-jointed father, George Herbert Walker Bush (James Cromwell), who talks of the family tradition as if it were a bank vault the boy was robbing. Cut down by Poppy again and again, the young man somehow finds God, discovers ambition, and feels at ease, at last, as he redoes his father's Iraq war as a reckless adventure. What's missing from "W.," however—what would have made the movie fascinating and not merely a hammer blow to an already expiring Presidency—is the cunning that many have noticed in Bush. Despite his family's misgivings, the actual W. became both governor and President, whereas the man at the center of this movie strikes you as someone who could maybe get elected social director of a country club.
Stone sets Bush's upward progress in a double frame: the outer frame is Bush in a baseball cap walking in the empty outfield of the Texas Rangers' ballpark when he owned the club, in the nineteen-nineties. In his fantasies, vast crowds adore him. The inner frame is Bush the first-term President at work—a series of meetings, leading up to the Iraq invasion, and then its aftermath, with the ruling circle of Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss), Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright), Donald Rumsfeld (Scott Glenn), Condoleezza Rice (Thandie Newton), George Tenet (Bruce McGill), Paul Wolfowitz (Dennis Boutsikaris), and Karl Rove (Toby Jones). From the meetings, Stone jumps back to scenes of the President's young manhood—the sloshed fraternity initiation rites at Yale, a night in jail, fleeting jobs, much gambling and mashing of front lawns with cars. In the most effective of these moments, Bush meets the young librarian Laura Welch (Elizabeth Banks) at a Texas barbecue, and Stone, working with a handheld camera, gets an easy, flirtatious conversational rhythm going between the two. Bush is self-deprecating and rakish, and, for a moment, almost likable. Later, after endless guzzling of Jack Daniel's straight from the bottle, he is struck down by God during his daily three-mile run, and is born again. A wormy Karl Rove, alternating between flattery and contempt, teaches Bush what to say in public, and his political career takes off.
Why did Stone make the movie? He doesn't discover anything new. He and Bush are the same age (sixty-two), and they entered Yale at the same time (1964), but he feels no kinship with Bush, as he clearly did with the scuzzy but canny journalist Richard Boyle, in "Salvador" (1986), and with the embittered antiwar veteran Ron Kovic, in "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989). Cold disgust—unless it leads to comedy—is probably not the most productive attitude to maintain toward your leading character. Stone seems to be making a kind of indictment of the American people: this man—this soulless nothing—is what you voted for. But "W." feels poorly timed: too late to have any effect on the public, most of whom long ago checked out on the President, and too early to provide more than a schematic interpretation of who he is.
Making a dramatic film about a sitting President and his advisers is an awkward task. In order to get all the key players into the decision to invade Iraq, Stone and Weiser have had to combine many meetings, many memos and small conversations. Gathered together, the characters say their famous lines ("slam dunk," "drain the swamp," "one per cent chance," and so on), but they seem, oddly, to be quoting themselves rather than working through their ideas. Except for a few acid exchanges between Cheney and Powell, who comes off better than he deserves, the meetings feel like scenes from a didactic school play: this is how we went wrong. Yet Richard Dreyfuss, hunching over and baring his teeth like a shark cruising off a Martha's Vineyard beach, does a wicked impersonation of Cheney. His relish for the part suggests that the movie should have been done not as an earnest bio-pic but as a satirical comedy—as a contemporary "Dr. Strangelove," with a cast of satyrs and clowns.
Set in the late nineteen-twenties and early thirties, in middle-class Los Angeles, when ruby-lipped women wore long coats and cloche hats, and cars were square-backed, dark, and dignified, Clint Eastwood's new movie, "Changeling," is calm and smooth. As a piece of filmmaking, "Changeling" is both impressive and monotonous. The trouble with period movies made by talented craftsmen who are serious about authenticity and consistency is that no one wants to mess up the shots. That sense of overcontrol accounted, I believe, for the disappointment that many felt last year in Ang Lee's period movie "Lust, Caution," which, apart from its convulsive sex scenes, seemed to take place under glass. "Changeling" isn't quite as static as that, but I wish that Eastwood and the writer, J. Michael Straczynski, had pushed deeper into the perverse strangeness of their story, which is based on actual events. In March, 1928, a telephone-company supervisor and single mother, Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie), returns home from work and finds an empty house—her nine-year-old son, Walter, has disappeared. After months of lackadaisical investigation, the Los Angeles police, who have a serious public-relations problem (there's been a lot of corruption and shootings), triumphantly produce a child, who was found in Illinois. The boy looks like Walter, but he isn't. When Christine protests, the captain in charge of the case, J. J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan), accuses her of being irresponsible and emotionally unstable. Jones hires medical hacks to conspire in the charade of the false Walter, finally throwing Christine into a police-run psycho ward, where she's threatened with shock therapy if she doesn't play along.
"Changeling" is an austerely made feminist protest drama. In the beginning, everyone condescends to Christine as a woman, and therefore as someone of inferior intelligence and will. Angelina Jolie has said that she was attracted to the story of Christine's refusal to knuckle under and of her martyrdom, and she stays firmly in character as a person who's stubborn and hardworking but not terribly bright—she is strong enough to look after herself and her boy but ill equipped to take on male authority. Tears and trembling and fear alternate with bursts of courage. In all, Jolie gives a skilled and selfless performance, but it doesn't have an interesting corner in it. If Christine was not the kind of woman to turn logic and scorn on the arrogant men oppressing her, then couldn't she at least have some desires, some temperament? She has only one dimension, as a faultless, fighting mom, and she is aided by an equally uncomplicated guardian angel, Reverend Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), a severe and entirely impersonal Presbyterian minister who hates the Los Angeles police, and sees Christine as a tool to beat them with. The two of them make a very proper and dull pair of collaborators.
"Changeling" is beautifully wrought, but it has the abiding fault of righteously indignant filmmaking: it congratulates us for feeling what we already feel—in this case, contempt for psychiatry used as coercion and for long-discredited male-chauvinist attitudes. There is a second layer of narrative—a lunatic with an axe out in the desert near Riverside is kidnapping and murdering little children, one of whom may be Walter. But Eastwood finds himself in a bind: he doesn't want to exploit the gruesome material, or even let us see it too clearly, since killing children, as a movie spectacle, doesn't fit well with the delicate emotions aroused by a woman longing for her son. Eastwood and Straczynski settle for a methodical working out of the historical narrative—Christine's legal strike against the police and the trial of the murderer. The moral, emotional, and dramatic issues are settled, and then the movie, reverently chronicling Christine's apotheosis, ambles on for another forty minutes. ♦


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Cursive returns to Tennessee schools
In an attempt to help students read their teacher's handwriting and improve their own, Tennessee is requiring cursive handwriting standards under a new set of rules signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam.
NASHVILLE – Children in Tennessee will have to get used to holding a pencil again next year when new cursive handwriting standards go into effect in schools throughout the state.
The trend around the United States is to emphasize keyboarding - a skill that is included in the Common Core education standards adopted by most states.
But Tennessee lawmakers, concerned that some children do not have a signature and struggle to read their teachers' handwriting, overwhelmingly passed a bill making cursive a mandatory subject in grades two through four.
Schools are expected to start bringing back the declining art of cursive in 2015-2016 under the new rules, signed into law this year by Governor Bill Haslam.
Keyboarding and print writing will still have their place, but legible penmanship will be required by third grade.
"I am surprised we have stopped teaching it in some places," said Gary Nixon, executive director of theTennessee School Board. "It's an art that is losing its form because of the keyboard."
For millennials, cursive is quaint and not much more.
"It's kind of like hopping on a Pogo stick. If you can do it, great, but if not, it doesn't matter," said Cory Woodroof, 21, a student at Lipscomb University in Nashville who felt grade school handwriting classes were wasted time.
Also at Lipscomb, 20-year-old Janice Ng of Singapore said she took immersion studies in English back home but "they didn't mention cursive. It's not used."
The benefits of cursive teaching standards are questionable, according to one national literacy expert.
"I don't think it's bad, but I don't think there's much of a point to it," said Sandra Wilde, chair of theNational Council of Teacher of English Elementary Section Steering Committee.
Dedicating teaching time to cursive could take time away from touch-typing, a more important skill these days, she said.
Wilde said the cursive requirements in Tennessee echo moves in other conservative states where lawmakers have tried to put their own stamp on the school system in a reaction to Common Core.
The academic requirements under the Common Core State Standards adopted by most U.S. states and territories over the last few years aim to better prepare high school graduates for college and for the demands of employers.
Common Core does not ban cursive writing teaching, said Melissa McGrath, spokeswoman for the Council of Chief State School Officers, which helped develop the standards.
She said it is up to teachers and communities to decide whether they want to teach it. (Editing by Fiona Ortiz)


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In a market where the sequestration looms, gas prices are on the rise and the Federal Reserve signals a potential slowing of asset purchases, investors are increasingly worried about their portfolios. CNBC's Jim Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street" that some of these worries are overblown.
"You feel that the switch has flipped and the things that were going well now are suddenly going badly. I want to caution that the [Fed] minutes were a month old. Remember that the Fed sees what we see," Cramer said.
"If you're the Fed, this is one of those months where you don't take your foot off the pedal," he said. "The news flow changed."
With automatic budget cuts likely to start a week from Friday because of political gridlock in Washington, talk about the effects of the federal budget "sequestrations" is growing.
"Every time you pick up a newspaper, it's going to take your breath away," Cramer said. "The scare tactics are going to be in and you have to steal yourself if you're going to stay long here."
"I am less worried about the spending cuts than I was about the fiscal cliff. If we did get a total breakdown, then you had much more to worry about. Here, there's a undercurrent in this country that the government spends too much," he said. "This isn't the way to cut government spending, but people want government spending cut."
"The fiscal cliff didn't develop exactly how we thought. I keep thinking about all the capital gains, all the dividends that were accelerated because dividend tax rates were supposed to go up," he said, pointing out that these fears were largely overblown. "I just don't want to go overboard with what could happen."
"The scare stories about the military makes you feel like we're putting our defense fields down, it's probably not going to be like that," he said.
(Read More: )
— By CNBC's Paul Toscano. Follow him on Twitter and get the latest stories from "Squawk on the Street" @ToscanoPaul


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I love NFL training camp, not because football is upon us again (if it's still hot, it's still baseball season, in my mind) but because of the sheer entertainment value of the photos. Reggie Wayne showing up to training camp in a dump truck, dressed as a construction worker? Obvious publicity grab, sure, but funny in a look-at-the-rich-and-talented-athlete-being-a-cheesy-goofball sort of way.
Strangely enough, Reggie's transportation related stunt reflected a similar theme in many of the less staged photos of training camps across the league : the many unusual ways in which the athletes travel to and around their team's facilities.
James Harrison of the Steelers and Danny Clark of the Giants both arrived at camp in SmartCars, though why Clark also arrived dressed in head to toe fatigues is anyone's guess. Maybe he wanted to do a big theme arrival like Wayne but they wouldn't let him rent a tank.
The Panthers' Richard Marshall got around on a motorized scooter, which may be contributing to the fact that he barely looks young enough to drive a real car in this picture.
The Cardinals provided Segways for their team's on-campus navigation, as demonstrated by Larry Fitzgerald.
The Packers made a team bonding exercise out of their transportation choice and sent their players out on kids' bikes, like Jarius Wynn here:
Though one wonders why veteran Donald Driver got stuck with a bike that appears so, um, uncomfortable.
Of course, if we're picking favorite modes of getting around training camp, I think Tom Brady's niece may have the right idea. Even if I am a Jets fan.
Happy Thursday!


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Begin, Menachem
Begin, Menachem mĕnä´khĕm bā´gĭn [key], 1913–92, Zionist leader and Israeli prime minister (1977–83), b. Russia. He became (1938) leader of a Zionist youth movement in Poland, where he also earned a law degree. Begin went to Palestine in 1942; there, he headed the Irgun, a militant organization that fought against the British Mandate authorities. After 1949 he sat in the Knesset, where he led the opposition to the Labor party. In May, 1977, Begin's right-wing Likud party defeated Labor for the first time, and Begin became prime minister. He shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize with Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat as a result of the Camp David accords. In 1982, Begin authorized a massive invasion of Lebanon in order to destroy military bases of the Palestine Liberation Organization (see Arab-Israeli Wars). The war caused intense domestic and international pressure and failed to achieve Israel's principal aims. Begin resigned from office in 1983.
See A. Perlmutter, The Life and Times of Menachem Begin (1987).
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