– Anthropologists who have been working to locate and identify the remains of the boys who died at a notorious Florida reform school traveled to Philadelphia this week, hoping to get answers in the death of yet another student. But when they exhumed Thomas Curry's casket Tuesday, they found that instead of a body, it held only planks of wood, CNN reports. Curry escaped 29 days after arriving at Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in 1925. The school's ledger describes him as being killed on a railroad bridge; a death certificate found in 2008 revealed the teen's skull was "crushed from an unknown cause." His body was supposedly returned to his family, and they buried what they thought was Thomas in the same Philadelphia plot where his great-grandparents lay. Thomas, believed to be either 15 or 17, was one of the 100 boys who died at the Marianna school between 1900 and 1952; about half were buried on the grounds, but the rest were—at least supposedly—returned to their families. "Something was shipped up from Florida, and it was buried, and someone believed it was Thomas Curry," the Pennsylvania State Police officer who helped get the casket exhumed tells the Philadelphia Inquirer, adding that he "absolutely" sees the casket as another of the school's "efforts to deceive, coverups." Says the lead anthropologist on the case, "What we have is more questions than answers." A cousin provided DNA to help identify Thomas, so the team will now attempt to match it to one of the bodies dug up on the former campus—whose former occupants told stories of sexual abuse, being locked in sweat boxes or hog-tied, and, writes the Inquirer, "hunted down when they ran."

Expand this summary.

In 1925, a Florida coroner ruled, vaguely, that Curry died from a "wound on the forehead: skull crushed from an unknown cause."

 Records show that his remains were shipped home by freight and, after a funeral at St. Bridget parish in East Falls, buried without a headstone, stacked upon his great-grandparents' graves.

 And there, presumably, his body had lain, undisturbed for generations.

 Since the shuttering of the school two years ago, forensic anthropologists and archaeologists from the University of South Florida have been probing and digging up the cemetery by the school, accounting for victims.

 Now, the inquiry had taken them to Philadelphia.

 Once the nation's largest boys' school, and later known as Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, the institution in Marianna was closed after a 2009 newspaper investigation revealed a century of abuse and failed reform.

 The articles in the St. Petersburg Times spurred investigations by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Justice.

 Hundreds of men stepped forward to share their horrors.

 They told of beatings, torture, disappearances. A former staff member told of "boy hunts" in which guards chased runaways with guns.

 The men told of burials in the makeshift cemetery, which, the newspaper articles noted, was marked only by crooked rows of pipe crosses.

 That's when South Florida professor Erin Kimmerle got involved. A renowned forensic anthropologist, Kimmerle led the United Nations effort to exhume mass graves in the former Yugoslavia, and worked with the Smithsonian Institution to return American Indian remains to their tribes.

 Using ground-penetrating radar, Kimmerle's team discovered 55 graves in the woods - nearly double the number the state had identified.

 As DNA analysis continues to identify remains in Florida, finally allowing proper burials for families, Kimmerle turned her attention to Curry, whose death was not mentioned in Florida's 2009 investigative report.

 "He seems to be sort of lost to time," she said.

 Boys fled almost daily from the school, Kimmerle said. Curry was one of 10 who were found dead after running away. Some, like Curry, were killed by blunt-force trauma. Others died from exposure to the elements, or were found shot or run down by cars.

 No one, she said, was ever brought to justice in any of the deaths.

 Locals, she said, sometimes joined in the hunts and were paid with meat from the school's farm or other goods produced at the school. But mostly, her research shows, the bounties were paid in cash.

 Records do not detail what drove Curry south. He had lived on Torresdale Avenue with his grandmother after his parents died when he was about 7. According to Inquirer archives, his father, Thomas, shot his mother, Alma, during a quarrel at their home on New Year's Day 1916, then shot himself. Two days later the father died.

 In Florida, the boy was sentenced for delinquency by a Dade County judge, the records show, "until further notice by court."

 From surviving records, Curry was either 15 or 17 in December 1925.

 Kimmerle believes he likely followed the railroad tracks west, leading to the bridge.

 Once the backhoe had dug about six feet down, the team used a rod to sense the top of the crate that Curry's coffin had been buried inside.

 Kimmerle and her graduate assistant, Liotta Noche-Dowdy, then used hand trowels, and small brushes and spoons - which Kimmerle pulled from an Alice in Wonderland pencil case she brought into the hole.

 Slowly, they brushed away the damp clay as if cleaning a dirty canvas, and the top of the crate began to emerge.

 Cpl. Thomas McAndrew of the state police Criminal Investigation Assessment Unit looked on. In the months before the dig, McAndrew had sketched out a family tree for Curry, using census records to find relatives of Curry's in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, who offered what they could about the family history but knew little about Thomas.

 Together, McAndrew and Cpl. Robert Levan tracked down the location of the boy's grave. A death certificate found at Old Cathedral contradicted the Florida coroner's report. It said Curry had been hit by a train.

 Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Brendan O'Malley noted that detail in a petition filed in Common Pleas Court this summer, requesting the excavation and a skeletal autopsy.

 At first Tuesday, the work seemed promising. The crate was partly collapsed, but was intact. If the bones were well-preserved, Kimmerle might be able to discern a cause of death - whether it was accidental or inflicted, whether there were defensive wounds or signs of past abuse.

 On the lid of the casket, Kimmerle discovered thumbscrews similar to ones she found in the Florida graves. She found a small metal cross and a tattered black decorative bow - remnants, she assumed, of a wreath.

 They kept digging.

 But what they found inside the casket was just more wood.

 No bones, no outline of a skeleton in the dirt, no teeth nor hair, no evidence that a body had ever been buried in the coffin.

 What they hit next was the nameplate for the next casket. It belonged to Thomas Curry's great-grandmother. And with that, the digging stopped.

 The silence became shock as they came to realize what this likely meant: Someone had shipped a coffin to Philadelphia weighted down with wood and not the remains of a possible victim of crime.

 Theories were offered by the team gathered at the cemetery.

 The school was known to bury boys quickly - so why would they send evidence of a crime? Perhaps Curry's remains were among those found in the school cemetery.

 Records show the school shipped other dead boys back to their families. Were those coffins empty too?

 "But what about the funeral?" asked O'Malley, the prosecutor.

 Maybe, Kimmerle said, holding the thumbscrews, the ribbon and the cross, the casket was never opened at the service.

 Although it is unlikely, she said, she cannot be certain that the body was not removed after it arrived in Philadelphia.

 Robert Whomsley, the archdiocesan liaison for Catholic cemeteries, had no answers.

 "We are all shaking our heads," he said.

 In her research of the school, Kimmerle said she had never encountered an empty coffin. Instead of the autopsy, the team visited St. Bridget's Parish in search of more records. They found none.

 She's hoping DNA from Curry's relatives help determine if the boy's remains were buried with the others in Florida.

 "It is sad and disappointing," she said while standing by the grave, which had been refilled. "Rather to be able to shed light, it just raises so many more questions."

 mnewall@phillynews.com

 215-854-2759 @MikeNewall ||||| Story highlights Anthropologists, authorities exhumed casket of Thomas Curry in Philadelphia this week

 Exhumation part of probe into deaths, disappearances at Florida's infamous Dozier School

 Curry's casket had no human remains; authorities now searching for body at Dozier

 Ex-students allege beatings, sexual abuse, disappearances; ex-guards deny abuse occurred

 For almost 90 years, the casket lay beneath the earth, Thomas Curry's family believing the teen who died too young rested in peace there, in an unmarked plot with his great-grandparents.

 Curry was a charge of Marianna, Florida's Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, a now infamous juvenile detention facility that closed in 2011 for budgetary reasons, capping a chilling, 111-year legacy of brutality.

 From 1900 to 1952, according to a court document, 100 boys died there, but only about half were buried on the reform institution's grounds. Others were shipped home to their families.

 Curry, 17, became part of that tally in 1925 when he died "under suspicious circumstances while escaping Dozier twenty-nine days after arriving," says the court order permitting his exhumation this week.

 The coroner at the time ruled Curry's manner of death was unknown. The ledger entry at the Dozier school said he was "killed on RR Bridge Chattahoochee, Fla." Another document at Old Cathedral Cemetery in Philadelphia says he was "killed by train." No one from Dozier ever reported his death to the state.

 9 photos: Florida graves mystery 9 photos: Florida graves mystery Florida graves mystery – After their investigation at a former Florida boys school led them to a grave in Philadelphia, anthropologist Erin Kimmerle and Cpl. Tom McAndrew of the Pennsylvania State Police unearth a casket filled with wood. It was supposed to contain the remains of Thomas Curry. According to state and school records, nearly 100 children died while at the Dozier School for Boys, which closed in 2011. Hide Caption 1 of 9 9 photos: Florida graves mystery Florida graves mystery – Anthropologists begin digging to unearth what they believe are the remains of dozens of children buried on the grounds of a former reform school in Marianna, Florida. Hide Caption 2 of 9 9 photos: Florida graves mystery Florida graves mystery – On August 6, Florida Gov. Rick Scott and his Cabinet voted to allow the University of South Florida forensics team to excavate and examine the bodies. Hide Caption 3 of 9 9 photos: Florida graves mystery Search for answers at gravesite near school – In 2012, forensic scientists sifted through 100-year-old paperwork to determine who is buried in this makeshift cemetery on the grounds of a former Florida reform school for boys. Hide Caption 4 of 9 9 photos: Florida graves mystery Search for answers at gravesite near school – Dr. Erin Kimmerle is part of the scientific investigation team looking into who is buried at the grave site. She says it is a humanitarian effort to identify and remember those who died. Hide Caption 5 of 9 9 photos: Florida graves mystery Search for answers at gravesite near school – Robert Straley says he endured 10 months of abuse at the reform school. A 2008-09 state investigation into similar allegations found no wrongdoing. Hide Caption 6 of 9 9 photos: Florida graves mystery Search for answers at gravesite near school – Ovell Smith Krell says her brother Owen died in 1940 under mysterious circumstances at the reform school. When she and her family went to find out what happened, the school said he was already buried. In August, Kimmerle's team found his body. Krell was elated and told CNN that the discovery allowed her to keep a decades-old vow to her parents that she would bring Owen home. Hide Caption 7 of 9 9 photos: Florida graves mystery Search for answers at gravesite near school – Forensic anthropologists -- who once worked for the U.N. in the former Yugoslavia searching for mass graves -- used ground penetrating radar to find out how many remains were buried in a small makeshift cemetery built on the grounds of the former reform school for boys near Tallahassee, Florida. Hide Caption 8 of 9 9 photos: Florida graves mystery Search for answers at gravesite near school – Metal pipe crosses mark the graves. Hide Caption 9 of 9

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 He was returned in a casket to his family, who, in turn, buried him in Philadelphia. Or so the family thought.

 It wasn't until a state investigation beginning in 2008 that Curry's death certificate was found at Dozier. It said he died of a crushed skull from an "unknown cause."

 And it wasn't until Tuesday, when University of South Florida anthropologists who have been working to unearth and identify remains on the former campus visited Philadelphia with Pennsylvania authorities, that the family learned Curry wasn't in the casket -- no bones, no clothing, no sign of him at all.

 "Wood. Layers of pieces of wood," said anthropologist Erin Kimmerle, explaining what she and her team found in the casket. "It was completely filled with wooden planks."

 At first, the team thought they had the wrong grave, but then they found Curry's great-grandparents beneath the wood-filled casket.

 'Decades of efforts to deceive'

 Kimmerle was still incredulous Wednesday, as was Cpl. Tom McAndrew of the Pennsylvania State Police, who along with Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Brendan O'Malley, was instrumental in clearing the path for Kimmerle's team to exhume Curry's remains, she said,

 "It was a little bit of a shock. It was certainly anticlimactic," McAndrew said. "Something was shipped up from Florida, and it was buried, and someone believed it was Thomas Curry."

 Does he think, as a law enforcement officer, that the finding is indicative of school officials' intent to deceive Curry's family nine decades ago?

 "Absolutely," he said, but it's not surprising when you consider that the investigation into the Dozier school has uncovered "decades and decades of efforts to deceive, coverups, and not just by one but by many people."

 McAndrew has been in contact with two of Curry's distant cousins, and while they weren't familiar with Curry or his death before Kimmerle's team began investigating, they've done what they could to advance the investigation, the police corporal said.

 They've provided names from their family tree and handwritten notes from their mother. One of the cousins, Eileen Witmier, who is 61 and is the granddaughter of Curry's mom's sister, provided DNA to identify Curry -- had he been found.

 "Their interest lies in justice being served," McAndrew said of the cousins.

 Asked where his own interest lies, McAndrew gave a similar answer, but also noted that Kimmerle has been an invaluable ally to law enforcement.

 Quid pro quo among professionals

 The ex-chief anthropologist for the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Kimmerle has conducted "isotope testing" in her lab to help McAndrew with homicide cases in Pennsylvania.

 For one particularly high-profile case -- a pregnant teen found dismembered in suitcases in 1976 -- Kimmerle's team analyzed the woman's hair and teeth. Via isotope testing, Kimmerle was able to determine where the woman lived based on the water she consumed while alive.

 Though police have yet to solve the case, they now know she was born in Europe and immigrated to the Southeastern United States at age 12, McAndrew said.

 "When she turned to me for assistance, obviously I would've done anything for her," McAndrew said of Kimmerle.

 Kimmerle had hoped, of course, that Curry's remains would unravel some of the mystery surrounding his death.

 "We went into it trying to answer questions," she said. "What we have is more questions than answers."

 But the investigation continues. Now armed with Witmier's DNA, Kimmerle's team can return to Marianna, about 65 miles west of Tallahassee, and attempt to match the sample to one of the dozens of bodies that have already been dug up on the 1,400-acre former campus.

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 Though many of the boys died so long ago, it's important to find their family members, Kimmerle believes, if only because of the uncertainties surrounding their deaths and the controversy enveloping the supposed school where they died.

 A dubious legacy

 That bodies lay there was never a secret -- 31 rusty, white crosses marked the resting places of victims who died from a dormitory fire, influenza, pneumonia and other causes -- but Kimmerle's team has found a total of 55 bodies there so far.

 Her team also has found records indicating that 22 boys who died at the school are unaccounted for. Already, Kimmerle and her colleagues have identified three sets of remains. One of those bodies was George Owen Smith, whose sister Ovell Krell, 85, told CNN in August she was elated that the seven-decade mystery surrounding her brother's death was finally solved.

 Though ex-students provided detailed accounts of vicious beatings, sexual abuse and disappearances, guards and administrators who are still alive have denied the beatings occurred.

 The state investigation in 2008 and 2009 said there was insufficient evidence of abuse at Dozier, but dozens of men, many of them now senior citizens, have come forward with stories. A support group for ex-students, dubbed The White House Boys, takes its moniker from the structure where boys say they were beaten with a leather strap attached to a wooden handle.

 They were whipped until their underwear was embedded in their buttocks, The White House Boys say. Some were beaten unconscious. Crying or screaming out would earn you extra lashes, they say.

 So while this week's exhumation didn't answer any of the myriad questions surrounding Dozier and its missing and dead boys, it was still an important part of the ongoing investigation, researchers and police said.

 "It definitely had to be done," McAndrew said. "We had to at least open the grave if this investigation down in Florida is going to be resolved."

 Remains of 2 more boys identified at shuttered Florida reformatory |||||


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It seemed like a stealthy, albeit disgusting, plan.

 A Wisconsin man thought he had come up with a way to creep under the skirts of women and take invasive and, perhaps, to him, titillating video, according to police in Madison, Wis. Unlike other “upskirting” instances, in which people have been caught using cellphones to record invasive photos of women, this 32-year-old thought he’d try a different approach: a shoe camera.

 It’s unclear what a “shoe camera” entails, but this unidentified man found a camera he could attach to his shoe and purchased it with the intention of taking videos under women’s skirts, according to a Tuesday report from Madison Police Chief Michael Koval.

 But before capturing any footage, the man decided to test out the camera at home, Officer David Dexheimer told the Wisconsin State Journal.

 Just then, the device’s battery blew up, injuring the man’s foot and derailing his scheme, Koval wrote.

 He sought out medical treatment for minor burns, Dexheimer told the Wisconsin State Journal. As it turns out, the explosion hurt not only his foot but also his conscience.

 The man opened up about what happened to a clergyman, Dexheimer said. The clergyman suggested that the man turn himself in to the authorities and accompanied him to the police station.

 At about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, police officers at a Madison station were contacted by the man, who admitted to his failed upskirting plans. The man was “counseled on his actions,” Koval wrote, but ultimately released because he had not taken any illegal videos.

 It appears that the explosion, and the advice from the clergyman, worked out in the man’s favor — for the time being. Authorities are continuing to investigate, Koval said.

 Upskirting, in its various forms, is not uncommon. Some reports in places like Washington have even found a spike in upskirting incidents in recent years, as phone cameras and other recording devices have become ubiquitous. Upskirting has been reported in Metro stations, Walmarts and grocery stores across the country.

 Upskirting is illegal in many places, including Wisconsin. Under a 2015 Wisconsin law, anyone who uses a device to record “under the outer clothing” of a person without their consent can be found guilty of a felony.

 In other places, however, the law has been murkier. In Georgia, for example, a court in 2016 ruled that “upskirting” was legal in public places, such as a Publix grocery store. ||||| Close Get email notifications on Bill Novak | Wisconsin State Journal daily!

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 Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. ||||| Date of enactment: November 11, 2015

 2015 Assembly Bill 8 Date of publication*: November 12, 2015 Date of enactment:Date of publication*:

 2015 WISCONSIN ACT 80

 An Act to amend 301.45 (1p) (a), 938.355 (4m) (b) and 973.015 (1m) (a) 2.; and to create 942.08 (3) of the statutes; relating to: invading an individual's privacy by viewing under or through clothing and providing a penalty.

 The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

 80,1 Section 1 . 301.45 (1p) (a) of the statutes is amended to read: 301.45 (1p) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

 301.45 (1p) (a) If a person is covered under sub. (1g) based solely on an order that was entered under s. 938.34 (15m) (am) or 973.048 (1m) in connection with a delinquency adjudication or a conviction for a violation of s. 942.08 (2) (b), (c), or (d) , or (3), the person is not required to comply with the reporting requirements under this section if the delinquency adjudication is expunged under s. 938.355 (4m) (b) or if the conviction is expunged under s. 973.015 (1m) (b).

 80,2 Section 2 . 938.355 (4m) (b) of the statutes is amended to read: 938.355 (4m) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

 938.355 (4m) (b) The court shall expunge the court's record of a juvenile's adjudication if it was the juvenile's first adjudication based on a violation of s. 942.08 (2) (b), (c), or (d) , or (3), and if the court determines that the juvenile has satisfactorily complied with the conditions of his or her dispositional order. Notwithstanding s. 938.396 (2), the court shall notify the department promptly of any expungement under this paragraph.

 80,3 Section 3 . 942.08 (3) of the statutes is created to read: 942.08 (3) of the statutes is created to read:

 942.08 (3) Whoever knowingly installs or uses any device, instrument, mechanism, or contrivance to intentionally view, broadcast, or record under the outer clothing of an individual that individual's genitals, pubic area, breast, or buttocks, including genitals, pubic area, breasts, or buttocks that are covered by undergarments, or to intentionally view, broadcast, or record a body part of an individual that is not otherwise visible, without that individual's consent, is guilty of a Class I felony.

 80,4 Section 4 . 973.015 (1m) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read: 973.015 (1m) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read: ||||| June 27, 2018 10:44 AM

 The information contained in my blog is derived from notes provided by MPD Officers-In-Charge (OIC) at the end of their shifts. Most narratives represent early and preliminary information that was gathered by an OIC from those in the field who were actively working cases. The OIC is sharing what they were being told, in the moment. In many instances, facts and circumstances, even the type of crime listed, can change as officers, detectives and investigators continue their work.

 From 5:00 a.m. on 06/26/2018 through 5:00 a.m. on 06/27/2018, MPD received 497 calls for service. This number does not include parking complaints or 911 misdials. For purposes of clarification, the following abbreviations are short-hand for race designations: W=White, AA=African American, NA=Native American, H=Hispanic, ME=Middle Eastern, A=Asian, MR=Mixed Race, U=Unknown. MPD shifts are staggered as follows: 1st detail=7 a.m. to 3 p.m., 2nd detail=12 p.m. to 8 p.m., 3rd detail=3 p.m. to 11 p.m., 4th detail=8 p.m. to 4 a.m., 5th detail=11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

 To further break down the 497 calls for service for the past 24-hours this is how the calls came in per district: Central (91), East (115), Midtown (54), North (63), South (45), West (73), and Other (56). Other=these are calls for service that either do not have a sector listed or the sector is not in the City. For example, if one of our officers assists another law enforcement agency, their sector is not listed in our districts so therefore it is listed under "other."

 1) WEST: Domestic Disturbance – 7:35am. Officers responded to the 6700 block of Schroeder Rd for a report of a disturbance between a mother (44-year-old HF) and son (24-year-old HM). The son reportedly caused a disturbance, which included throwing rocks, prior to leaving the scene. Probable cause was developed for a charge of domestic disorderly conduct. Investigation continuing.

 2) EAST: Assist Citizen/Drug Investigation – 8:22am. Officers initially responded to the Kwik Trip at 4825 American Pkwy for a subject (23-year-old WM) who appeared disoriented and was unable to locate his vehicle. Later in the day, officers received a call for found property at Steinhafel's at 5215 High Crossing Blvd. The property included the subject's vehicle, a firearm, and a backpack full of marijuana and prescription medications. Officers were no longer in contact with the subject at the time the property was located. Investigation continuing.

 3) EAST: Weapons Offense – 12:57pm. Officers responded to the area of Great Gray Dr and Snowy Owl Dr for a report of a vehicle occupied by subjects who had pointed a firearm out the window. There were no reports of shots fired or property damage. Investigation continuing.

 4) EAST: Stolen Auto – 2:34pm. Officers responded to the area of Pinney St and Silas St for a report of a stolen auto. The victim (19-year-old UM) reported he had parked the vehicle on the street the previous night and it is now gone. The vehicle was listed as stolen through the appropriate databases. Investigation continuing.

 5) WEST: Information/Sex Offense – 5:24pm. Officers at the West Police District station were contacted by a subject (32-year-old HM) who wanted to turn himself in to police. The subject reported he had purchased a shoe camera that he intended to use to take "upskirt" videos of females, but the camera battery had exploded prior to obtaining any video, injuring the subject's foot. The subject was counseled on his actions and released from the scene as no illicit video had been taken. Investigation continuing.

 6) EAST: Stalking Complaint – 7:03pm. Officers contacted a victim (56-year-old WF) who wished to report unwanted social media posts from a suspect (45-year-old AAM). The victim has a current harassment protection order against the suspect following a history of stalking-type behaviors from the suspect. Investigation continuing.

 7) EAST: Traffic Crash – 7:28pm. Officers were dispatched to the 200 block of Cottage Grove Rd regarding a rollover traffic crash. The driver of the vehicle (39-year-old WM) was trapped and had to be removed by Madison Fire paramedics. The driver was taken to the hospital and a legal blood draw was completed. Officers cleared from the hospital at 12:02am. Investigation continuing.

 8) EAST: Attempted Suicide – 9:38pm. Officers responded to Camden Rd for a report of a subject (48-year-old WM) who had attempted to kill himself by overdosing on prescription medication. The subject was taken to the hospital for medical treatment. Investigation continuing.

 9) SOUTH: Information/Sexual Assault – 10:33pm. Officers made contact with a victim (15-year-old WF) at the Juvenile Reception Center who wanted to report that she had been sexually assaulted sometime in the past week. The victim's statement was taken and a forensic nurse exam was completed at the hospital. Investigation continuing.

 10) SOUTH: Weapons Offense – 10:34pm. Officers responded to the 1200 block of Gilson St after reports of a suspicious person in possession of a firearm. One witness (36-year-old AAF) reported that a younger AAM knocked on her door and that she witnessed the handle of a handgun in his pocket when she turned on the porch light. The suspect fled when the witness tried to photograph him and officers were unable to locate him. Investigation continuing.

 11) CENTRAL: Intoxicated Person/Adult Arrest – 10:46pm. Officers responded to The Ivory Room Piano Bar at 116 W Mifflin St for a report of an intoxicated person. The subject (39-year-old WM) was contacted and placed in protective custody, after which he was taken to the hospital. While at the hospital, the subject became resistive and tried to fight with officers, causing injury to one officer. He was taken to the Dane County Jail on a charge of resisting/obstructing an officer. Investigation continuing.

 12) NORTH: Information/Sexual Assault – 11:14pm. Officers contacted a victim (22-year-old WF) at the Dane County Jail who wanted to report a possible sexual assault from earlier in the month. The victim thought she might have been assaulted while staying with an acquaintance on a temporary basis. Investigation continuing.

 13) NORTH: Armed Robbery – 11:36pm. Officers responded to the area of Scofield St and N 8th St, near Demetral Park, for a report of an armed robbery. The victim (41-year-old WM) reported that two suspects held him at knifepoint and demanded he give them everything in his pockets. A minor injury was sustained by the victim. See the completed press release for further information and updates. Investigation continuing.

 14) NORTH: Armed Robbery – 12:10am. Officers responded to the 1300 block of Ruskin St regarding an armed robbery. The victim (34-year-old UM), a delivery driver, reported that a suspect at this address had given him a counterfeit bill as payment, and when the driver confronted him, two other suspects walked up and displayed the handle of a handgun. The suspects fled the area with an undisclosed amount of cash. See the completed press release for further information and updates. Investigation continuing.

 15) CENTRAL: Traffic Crash – 1:24am. Officers responded to the 1900 block of Atwood Ave for a traffic crash. Witnesses reported that the driver (41-year-old WM) had been operating a motorcycle at high speed when he hit a curb and crashed. The driver, who was not wearing a helmet during the crash, was taken to the hospital with significant injuries. Officers obtained a warrant to execute an OWI blood draw at the hospital. Investigation continuing. |||||

– An attempt at "upskirting," an exploding camera, and a guilty conscience led to … no arrest in Wisconsin, but the story is still attracting attention nationwide. The Wisconsin State Journal reports on the unidentified 32-year-old man at the center of it all, showing up Tuesday at a Madison police station to turn himself in for what he'd intended to do: take pictures up women's skirts by using a shoe camera. The Washington Post notes it's not exactly clear what a "shoe camera" is, but the man apparently was able to attach some kind of photographic device to his shoe and was testing it at home when the battery exploded, injuring his foot, Officer David Dexheimer tells the Journal. After getting treatment for the minor burns he received from the mini-blast, the man confessed his unsavory intentions to a clergyman, who encouraged him to turn himself in to police, Dexheimer says. There's a Wisconsin law on the books that outlaws anyone from purposely installing a device to photograph or otherwise record under a person's clothes without that person's consent, but the man in this case caught a lucky break: Per Madison Police Chief Mike Koval's daily "significant calls" blog, "the subject was counseled on his actions and released from the scene as no illicit video had been taken." Koval notes there is an ongoing investigation, however. (In some places, upskirting is legal.)


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– With fighting rattling Damascus, a leading voice in Syria says Bashar al-Assad can't win the war. But neither side will see a victory, says Farouk al-Sharaa, who has kept a low profile in the conflict and isn't involved in running the government's efforts. Sharaa's comments came in an interview with a pro-Assad newspaper, al-Akhbar. He says the only solution is a "historic settlement" forming a national unity government, with help from neighboring countries and the UN. "Change is inevitable." "We should be in a position defending the existence of Syria. We are not in a battle for an individual or a regime," Sharaa said. Government insiders say he has long opposed the government's military action. Meanwhile, central Damascus—which had been relatively quiet in the conflict—is hearing shelling as the military and fighters set up checkpoints. Residents say a Palestinian district has been told to evacuate, pointing to a coming government offensive, Reuters reports. It was reportedly shelled by regime jets yesterday. For their part, rebels say they're planning to take the central Hama province. "Then we will have the area between Aleppo and Hama liberated and open for us," says a spokesman.

Damascus - Did [Syrian Vice-President] Farouk al-Sharaa defect? No, he is under house arrest. No, he is now under the protection of armed opposition groups. He arrived to Jordan accompanied by dozens of officers. In fact, he is on his way to Paris where a senior official is waiting for him.

 These, and many more, are the rumors that were often repeated and shared on internet sites by opponents of the Syrian regime.

 Farouk al-Sharaa is outside the decision-making circles. He has been cut off from important discussions. The Syrian leadership is not speaking to him. He has been isolated and relieved of his duties as vice-president, without a job since the funeral of the high-ranking officers in the explosion at the State Security building.

 But the truth is neither this or that. Syrian Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa is at the heart of the action, but not in the decision-making circles. These, and others, are the inside stories brought back to the Syrian capital by visitors who support the Syrian regime.

 But the truth is neither this or that. Syrian Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa is at the heart of the action, but not in the decision-making circles. He keeps in touch with a few officials, speaks to President [Bashar al-Assad] from time to time, and communicates with some of the leadership.

 His residence is under the same security precautions as those of figures in the decision-making circles, and so are his movements. But he is full of energy and also keeps communication channels open with members of the opposition and figures who are not connected to the state or the regime.

 Sharaa has his own views on the daily events, including criticisms and apprehensions, which he kept expressing in official meetings, but without going public in the media.

 Something has changed, however.

 Sharaa is not pessimistic, but his heart is heavy with concern about the country and he describes the situation as it is. He does not feel compelled to be involved in every detail, especially when he cannot change the suggested solutions. He cannot remain silent about the mistakes and issues that are threatening the future of the country. As a veteran of the regime, he does not need anyone to tell him when and how to get involved.

 A Barricaded City

 The road to Damascus is not as it was six months ago, or a year ago, or a year and a half ago. The crisis gripping Syria has left its mark on everything. The military and security checkpoints with the cement barricades, a scene quite familiar to the Lebanese, are present.

 Upon a closer look, one discovers that they are forming a spiral queue around a bakery, to buy unaffordable bread.

 The unusual sight of scores of citizens surrounding a building grabs your attention. Upon closer look, one discovers that they are forming a spiral queue around a bakery, to buy unaffordable bread.

 Farouk al-Sharaa sits in his home, which was reached by passing through several military checkpoints. He gives an account of the Syrian landscape since the first day of the crisis.

 He speaks about the regime and the party and state leadership. He describes what is happening on the ground and the roles played by foreign powers against Syria and its historical role in the region.

 But none of this seems to distract him, not even for one moment, from a sense of responsibility to play a role and propose a way out for Syria from the deepening crisis.

 He is a friend of the Russian people, which are loyal to their historical relationship with the Syrians. He fondly describes his memories of China, the great country that developed itself surely and calmly, to become one of the strongest forces on Earth.

 As for Iran, he believes it is the closest power to Syria, and not just the regime. Following its revolution, he believes that Iran was on its way becoming a great democratic experiment, were it not for the [Iran-Iraq] war imposed on it.

 He acknowledges that it took the right position on the central Arab cause, Palestine, and supported the resistance in Lebanon, which rightfully expunged Israel from South Lebanon in the year 2000 and deterred its aggression in July 2006.

 Sharaa has trusted the wisdom of Iran’s spiritual leader Ali Khamenei, even since his time as president of Iran, and lauds [Hezbollah leader] Hassan Nasrallah’s resilience. He is convinced that they could have played a bigger role in reaching an early political solution to the Syrian crisis.

 Sharaa follows all the events in the Arab world. In his opinion, Egypt witnessed a seismic shift and there is no turning back. But the political and media mobilization should continue and not ignore what continues to take place in that country.

 Sharaa informed all those who contact him that he will not accept and does not aspire to head any transitional government. According to Sharaa, Egypt is a country that transcends history and the relationship with it should be solid and healthy. It can do a lot for Arabs. Its situation today should be closely monitored, because it will not immediately achieve the conclusive results hoped for by the Egyptians.

 What pains him most is that Syria did not have a chance to capitalize on the US failure in Iraq and the troubled withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan. He sees that other countries in the region, such as Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia were able to benefit from the US pullout, while Syria sunk into a major ongoing crisis.

 Farouk al-Sharaa, a veteran Baathist and diplomat who hails from the Houran plains, is one Syrian official who is known for his integrity and wisdom. He has his views on everything and lived through an intense experience with the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.

 He stood by Bashar al-Assad from the very first moment, seeing in him a chance for change and moving Syria somewhere more advanced. But since the beginning of the crisis in 2011, he felt that the odds are not in his favor.

 Sharaa informed all those who contact him that he will not accept and does not aspire to head any transitional government. He is only worried about Syria. He says what he needs to say in support of certain steps, in criticism of a decision or a behavior, or in objection to a certain orientation or action.

 Sharaa is one of the Syrian officials who seems most aware of the magnitude of the changes in the Arab world. He is also one of the most capable of conducting self-criticism of the Baath party and its role or of the regime, its mechanisms, and institutions.

 Sharaa does not act outside his mandate, go over the president’s head, or play behind his back. He mocks the media for the talk about his defection. Sharaa had been absent from the media for a long time. Now he returns to say words with meanings. He is an official who wants to see something new, but keeps his respect for the work of the state.

 Sharaa does not act outside his mandate, go over the president’s head, or play behind his back. He mocks the media for the talk about his defection.

 The Militarization of the Protests

 Sharaa differentiates between two opposition mobilizations. He has a clear view of the situation in his country, since the first days of the crisis.

 At the beginning of the mobilization, the authorities begged for the appearance of a single armed person or a sniper at the top of one of the buildings. Today, every single authority in Syria is complaining – even to the UN Security Council – about the spread of armed groups, which are impossible to count or monitor.

 There are cities and cities’ peripheries which have been completely “cleansed” and their inhabitants displaced. The fighters were able to return several times, but the residents couldn’t.

 “Does anyone have the right to shove the country into a bottleneck which cannot be escaped without breaking the glass?” Sharaa wonders bitterly whenever he sees images of the bodies of innocent citizens and the disfigurement caused by the shelling, explosions, and car bombs, which target people, infrastructure, public and private utilities, and scientific minds in the country.

 “Those who commit these crimes and those who support them are guilty and have lost all sense of patriotism, morality, and humanity,” he says.

 There were many mistakes made by the Arab League and the [Syrian] state both, which cannot be forgotten or stepped over. “The drop in the number of peaceful protesters led one way or another to the rise in militants,” Sharaa maintains. “While it is the duty of the state to provide its citizens with security, this is different than deciding on a military solution to the crisis. The two issues should not be mixed.”

 “All of this should have required a discussion of mechanisms and an attempt at a Syrian-Syrian solution. The dialogue we adopted in July 2011 aimed at solving the crisis politically from the start, by Syrian hands,” he adds.

 “But things did not go in this direction,” Sharaa explains. “The crisis was Arabized. Syria, a founding member of the League of Arab States, saw its membership suspended from the league without justification or a pretext that could convince Syrian citizens.”

 “There were many mistakes made by the Arab League and the [Syrian] state both, which cannot be forgotten or stepped over,” he surmises.

 But where is the responsibility of the Syrian state in investigating the causes for the crisis reaching this level, especially in the militarization of the protests? Weren’t there commissions of inquiry set up for this?

 We must be in the position of defending Syria’s existence. We are not in a battle for the survival of an individual or a regime. “No credible commission of inquiry was set up at the beginning of the crisis. If some were set up, the results were not made public, allowing for the spread of rumors that lost the regime its credibility and stature in the eyes of those who were wronged internally and outside observers,” he explains.

 The Country’s Survival, Not Ours

 The Syrian vice-president acknowledges that the crisis is deep. “With every passing day, the solution gets further away, militarily and politically,” he warns. “We must be in the position of defending Syria’s existence. We are not in a battle for the survival of an individual or a regime.”

 Sharaa believes that Syria’s problems “have multiplied and are complicated to an extent where ongoing military operations cannot be kept away from the normal life of citizens.”

 Are We In a Process of Resolution?

 According to Sharaa, “several issues must be tackled in order to reach a solution. Nobody has the illusion that things will return to what they used to be, because you cannot turn back the clock.”

 “[UN peace envoy] Lakhdar Brahimi keeps repeating in his statements that things are going from bad to worse. I cannot deny this but, for over a year, I have been seeing the line that links the events. The way events are heading will lead to an uncomfortable place where things will definitely go from bad to worse.,” he remarks. “But the problem is that Mister Brahimi is slow and careful, while events on the ground are accelerating and becoming more violent.”

 “From my perspective, I am not completely certain where the current option will take us. I do not have a transparent answer. Officials might not even know where we have reached in the solution,” he explains. “You might be surprised if I tell you that even the president himself might not be able to provide you with a satisfactory answer, although he has all the power in the country in his hands.”

 “What is happening in Syria is complicated, elaborate, and intricate. If you try to unravel it, it might get more complex and the hidden stitches could multiply, instead of guiding you to a solution,” he elucidates.

 The solution will not be realistic unless it was initiated at the highest levels. “If anyone has the chance to meet Mister President, he would hear from him that this is a long struggle, a big conspiracy with many actors (terrorists, rabble, smugglers). He does not hide his desire for a military solution that achieves a decisive victory, and only then would the political dialogue be actually possible. Many in the [Baath] party, the [National Progressive] Front (NPF), and the military forces have been convinced from the onset of the crisis that there is no alternative to a political solution and that there is no turning back,” he adds.

 Sharaa believes that “the solution will not be realistic unless it was initiated at the highest levels. The president of the republic is also the general commander of the armed forces. He appoints the prime minister, leads the ruling party, and chooses the head of the people’s assembly.”

 “But, at the same time, there are the executive, legislative, and judiciary institutions, which are directly responsible for running the country’s affairs,” he informs. “These institutions have heads, general directors, and governing boards, who work, some who claim to work, according to the directions. Sometimes they make up their minds by pointing to the picture above their desks, meaning that the directive is not up for discussion.”

 No Change Without Partners

 “In 1970, many state institutions were built on top of the inconsistencies and conflicts of the revolutionary command council back then, based on an agreed upon pact (for example, the NPF, the people’s assembly, and local administrations). These institutions started to deteriorate and were not renewed, despite multiple attempts to restructure them since president Bashar al-Assad assumed leadership in the year 2000,” Sharaa explains.

 “These institutions then started to function based on their own inertia. This could be partially acceptable in times of stability and decades of security. But how could it happen during major crises and the resulting destruction of infrastructure and homes, the lack of electricity, the stoppage of hospitals in many cities and towns, and the escalating internal and external displacement?” he asks. “This is not to mention the detention of thousands of people who are not presented in front of the courts, as if we are still under martial law.”

 “Neither the [Syrian] National Coalition, nor the Istanbul Council, nor the National Coordination Body as a multi-polar internal opposition, nor any opposition faction be it civilian or armed with their external ties, can claim to be the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian People, just as the current rule with its ideological army and its confrontation parties lead by the Baath, with its years of experience and rooted bureaucracy, cannot achieve change and progress alone without new partners who can contribute to maintaining the fabric of the homeland, the integrity of its territory, and its regional sovereignty. The loss of trust between these two sides, and therefore the impossibility of getting together for a direct dialogue, will lead to continuous destruction and dismantling, which will only benefit the Israeli occupation at this stage,” he declares confidently.

 Sharaa believes that “the political, economic, and social structure of the country is changing day by day and in front of our eyes. What is happening in Syria is homologous with what happened in the early 1990s in the countries of Eastern Europe. We should also note that those countries did not enter into civil clashes or destructive wars, during the transformation in their structure of their regimes, although they faced suffocating economic crises.”

 Leadership Discussions

 Does the leadership have one opinion or are they just obeying the orders? Does the president listen, for example, to opinions that differ from his diagnosis?

 “Of course, there are opinions and viewpoints among the political leadership. But the issue is not in a place that could lead to talk about different currents or deep divisions,” Sharaa replies.

 “When I took care of the dialogue dossier, as vice president, in July 2011, I agreed to this appointment based on my convictions and everyone else’s in the national dialogue commission that this was a real step and not just a tactical move.”

 “I do not deny that some of us acted as if [the dialogue] was unnecessary and whispered this to the leadership. So it distanced itself under the pretext that the internal and external opposition saw it as one of the regime’s charades. In the end, this finished off the political dialogue and opened the doors wide for the dialogue of bullets and guns. Today, Syria witnesses a sharp economic and livelihood crisis, in addition to the political and military conflict.”

 Does anyone have the illusion that this people will accept foreign armies on Syrian soil? This will never happen and it will be resisted. “When we say that we refuse any external intervention, we base this on the fact that there was no consensus from the people to involve our national army in the crisis to begin with. So does anyone have the illusion that this people will accept foreign armies on Syrian soil? This will never happen and it will be resisted. The preeminence and unity of the Syrian army are indispensable in any of the proposed political solutions and discussions.”

 But is the crisis only connected to political considerations?

 “In any evaluation, we cannot ignore the local components linked with the economic situation and the policies implemented in the recent years at least. We also cannot ignore the actual need for a meaningful change in all of the state apparatus and its institutions. Real change is one which is based on solving the pressing issues based on requisite priorities. Maybe in the past we did not listen very carefully or take into consideration comments about the need for quick change. But we learn from our experience and that of others. Today, we understand that change is inevitable. If the regime does not take the initiative to achieve it with the others, it will happen through unilateral dictates from them.”

 A Syrian Solution

 How do you perceive the solution?

 “Any logic based on the premise of rejecting dialogue indicates the desire for Syrians not to reach a solution on their own. Therefore, any settlement, whether starting with talks or agreements between Arab, regional, or foreign capitals, cannot exist without a solid Syrian foundation. The solution has to be Syrian, but through a historic settlement, which would include the main regional countries, and the members of UN Security Council. This settlement must include stopping all shapes of violence, and the creation of a national unity government with wide powers. This should be accompanied by the resolution of sensitive dossiers related to the lives of people and their legitimate demands.”

 I do not see that what the security forces and the army units are doing will not reach a conclusive end. “The problem gets bigger and deeper when some start thinking that victory and defeat are possible. The opposition forces combined cannot decide the battle of overthrowing the regime militarily, unless they aim to pull the country into chaos and an unending circle of violence. Meanwhile, I do not see that what the security forces and the army units are doing will not reach a conclusive end, especially since we understand, without any illusions, the threat of the current campaign to destroy Syria, its history, civilization, and people. Brahimi’s contacts and visits, as well as the Geneva initiative, can be considered a suitable foundation for this settlement. I am not exaggerating when I say that reaching a historic settlement for the Syrian crisis might pave the way for an international environment of solving other important issues, through political means and not through military confrontation.”

 But is the historical settlement ripe?

 Sharaa hopes so, but is quick to add that “if each side involved in the settlement thinks that they can get all they expect and aspire to, then the legitimate national outlook of the Syrian people will be lost and the region’s fate will enter a dark tunnel.” ||||| BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels took full control of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on Monday after fighting raged for days in the district on the southern edge of President Bashar al-Assad’s Damascus powerbase, rebel and Palestinian sources said.

 The battle had pitted rebels, backed by some Palestinians, against Palestinian fighters of the pro-Assad Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). Many PFLP-GC fighters defected to the rebel side and their leader Ahmed Jibril left the camp two days ago, rebel sources said.

 “All of the camp is under the control of the (rebel) Free Syrian Army,” said a Palestinian activist in Yarmouk. He said clashes had stopped and the remaining PFLP fighters retreated to join Assad’s forces massed on the northern edge of the camp.

 The battle in Yarmouk is one of a series of conflicts on the southern fringes of Assad’s capital, as rebels try to choke the power of the 47-year-old leader after a 21-month-old uprising in which 40,000 people have been killed.

 Government forces have used jets and artillery to try to dislodge the fighters but the violence has crept into the heart of the city and activists say rebels overran three army stations in a new offensive in the central province of Hama on Monday.

 On the border with Lebanon, hundreds of Palestinian families fled across the frontier following the weekend violence in Yarmouk, a Reuters witness said.

 Syria hosts half a million Palestinian refugees, most living in Yarmouk, descendants of those admitted after the creation of Israel in 1948, and has always cast itself as a champion of the Palestinian struggle, sponsoring several guerrilla factions.

 Both Assad’s government and the mainly Sunni Muslim Syrian rebels have enlisted and armed divided Palestinian factions as the uprising has developed into a civil war.

 “NEITHER SIDE CAN WIN”

 Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa said in a newspaper interview published on Monday that neither Assad’s forces nor rebels seeking to overthrow him can win the war.

 Sharaa, a Sunni Muslim in a power structure dominated by Assad’s Alawite minority, has rarely been seen since the revolt erupted in March 2011 and is not part of the president’s inner circle directing the fight against Sunni rebels. But he is the most prominent figure to say in public that Assad will not win.

 Sharaa said the situation in Syria was deteriorating and a “historic settlement” was needed to end the conflict, involving regional powers and the U.N. Security Council and the formation of a national unity government “with broad powers”.

 A torn poster of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is seen at the entrance of a factory in Ouwayjah village in Aleppo December 17, 2012. REUTERS/Zain Karam

 “With every passing day the political and military solutions are becoming more distant. We should be in a position defending the existence of Syria. We are not in a battle for an individual or a regime,” Sharaa was quoted as telling Al-Akhbar newspaper.

 “The opposition cannot decisively settle the battle and what the security forces and army units are doing will not achieve a decisive settlement,” he said, adding that insurgents fighting to topple Syria’s leadership could plunge it into “anarchy and an unending spiral of violence”.

 Sources close to the Syrian government say Sharaa had pushed for dialogue with the opposition and objected to the military response to an uprising that began peacefully.

 In a veiled criticism of the crackdown, he said there was a difference between the state’s duty to provide security to its citizens, and “pursuing a security solution to the crisis”.

 He said even Assad could not be certain where events in Syria were leading, but that anyone who met him would hear that “this is a long struggle...and he does not hide his desire to settle matters militarily to reach a final solution.”

 In Hama province, rebels and the army clashed in a new campaign launched on Sunday by rebels to block off the country’s north, activists said.

 The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked violence monitor, said fighting raged through the provincial towns of Karnaz, Kafar Weeta, Halfayeh and Mahardeh.

 Slideshow (23 Images)

 It said there were no clashes reported in Hama city, which lies on the main north-south highway connecting the capital with Aleppo, Syria’s second city.

 Qassem Saadeddine, a member of the newly established rebel military command, said on Sunday fighters had been ordered to surround and attack army positions across the province. He said Assad’s forces were given 48 hours to surrender or be killed.

 In 1982 Hafez al-Assad, father of the current ruler, crushed an uprising in Hama city, killing up to 30,000 civilians.

 Qatiba al-Naasan, a rebel from Hama, said the offensive would bring retaliatory air strikes from the government but that the situation is “already getting miserable”. |||||


Adam Gabbatt brings us this lively dispatch from an "NRA university" class offered this afternoon:

 The "NRA university" held a class at CPAC just now, providing keen students with a series of figures and phrases and commanding them to go forth and spread the word.

 The session sought to play down the links between guns and crime by dispelling what the NRA said were "gun control myths."

 An NRA member told the crowd that one of the myths was that requiring all guns and ammunition to be registered would lead to less gun violence. "Registration will not do anything but prohibit law abiding citizens" from their right to bear arms, we learned.

 The lecturer also revealed that "guns are involved in 0.5% of accidental deaths in the US" and that "you're more likely to from a hammer than you are from an assault weapon".

 Assault weapons were discussed too. "I'm sure when you guys think of an assault weapon, this is what you think of," the NRA man said. He then played a 20 second clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger firing a machine gun in the film "Predator". This was contrasted with a clip of several people firing single rounds from AR-15 semi automatic-style weapons, prompting laughter.

 A woman from the NRA (the Guardian did not manage to get names) then took to the lectern to announce that "we're currently in the fight of our lives for out second amendment rights, right now."

 "Why is the NRA successful?" she asked. The answer was "because gun owners in this country are so passionate". The NRA has around four million members. The population of the US is roughly 313m.

 "The NRA did everything possible" to try and defeat Obama, the lecturer said, but try as they might they could not win over young people. "The other side is winning in the game to get young voters."

 It is the job of NRA university graduates to change that. ||||| Eric Draper Photography National Harbor, Md. — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin just delivered a barnstorming speech here at the Conservative Political Action Conference, proving once again that, despite being semi-retired and semi-irrelevant, the "Mama Grizzly" can work a crowd better than almost anyone else in the GOP.

 Here are the 10 best lines:

 1. "More background checks? Dandy idea Mr. President. Should've started with yours."

 2. On her husband, Todd Palin:"He's got the rifle, I've got the rack." [Pulls out Big Gulp]

 3. "Mr. President, we admit it. You won. Accept it. Now step away from the teleprompter and do your job."

 4. "We can't just ignore, though, that we just lost a big election. Yeah. Came in second. Out of two ... Second position on a dog sled team is where the view never changes and the view ain't pretty."

 5. "We don't have leadership coming out of Washington. We have reality television."

 6. To College Republicans:"You've got to be thinking Sam Adams, not drinking Sam Adams."

 7. "If these experts keep losing elections, keep raking in millions, if they feel that strongly about who should run in this party they should buck up and run or stay in the truck. The architects can head on back to the Lone Star State and put their name on the ballot." [Clearly this is a reference to Karl Rove]

 8. "The next election is 20 months away. Now is the time to furlough the consultants, and tune out the pollsters, send the focus groups home and toss the political scripts. Because if we truly know what we believe, we don't need professionals to tell us."

 9. To Washington consultants:"Get over yourself. It's not about you."

 10."Barack Obama promised the most transparent administration ever. Barack Obama — you lie!"

 Watch the full speech below: |||||

Write a summary.

– Sarah Palin returned to the national spotlight at CPAC today to roundly criticize President Obama and fire potshots at the Republican establishment, NBC News reports. In her first major appearance since Fox News, Palin slammed Obama time and again: "Mr. President, we admit it, you won—now step away from the teleprompter, and do your job!" she said. She also dinged him on his golfing, his canceling of White House tours, and his proposal to broaden background checks for gun buyers. "Dandy idea, Mr. President—should've started with yours!" Her talk received the most raucous and frequent ovations of the entire conference, the Guardian reports. She saved some of her folksy (or is it kitschy?) ire for the GOP, calling on the party to embrace a populist vision: "Now is the time to furlough the consultants, and tune out the pollsters, send the focus groups home, and toss the political scripts," she said. And she speared new conservative super PACs designed to weed out more conservative candidates for more electable ones. Her talk had humor, too: She sipped a Big Gulp in a clear jab at New York's anti-soda campaign, and tossed off a line regarding her Christmas gift for husband Todd: "He's got the rifle, I've got the rack." (Business Insider runs down the most "awesome" lines of Palin's speech.)


Write a summary based on this article:

Malaysia Airlines confirms 6,000 job losses in restructure; CEO says carrier 'technically bankrupt'

 Posted

 Malaysia Airlines has outlined plans for a major restructure that will see the carrier slash around 6,000 jobs as it struggles to stay in business.

 The plan, released on Monday by email, said the airline would begin operations under a new brand on September 1.

 About 14,000 of the roughly 20,000 existing employees are expected to receive offer letters to remain with the restructured airline, it said.

 Malaysia's national carrier is also expected to pull back drastically from unprofitable long-haul routes such as to Europe, and focus instead on regional traffic as it regroups.

 The announcement marks the first concrete move by newly-appointed CEO Christoph Mueller as he seeks to repair the embattled airline's reputation following the loss of two jets in separate disasters in 2014.

 "We are technically bankrupt ... the decline of performance started long before the tragic events of 2014," Mr Mueller said, speaking at a news conference.

 In March of last year, flight MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers and crew aboard and remains missing.

 Four months later, flight MH17 was destroyed by a suspected ground-to-air missile over Ukraine.

 The tragedies were the final straw for an airline that analysts say had already been poorly managed for years, slipping further into the red.

 Mr Mueller was making his first public appearance as CEO since being hired last month by the carrier's owner, Malaysian state fund Khazanah, to lead the restructuring.

 The state investment fund said last year that around 6,000 jobs would be lost.

 Monday's announcement said the airline planned to "stop the bleeding" in 2015, stabilise next year, and seek to start growing again by 2017.

 Analysts have long blamed the airline's failure to compete on poor management, unwise business decisions, government meddling, and unfavourable service and supplier contracts stemming from Malaysia's crony capitalism.

 The blueprint called for the renegotiating or resetting of major contracts, and a major revitalisation of technology, training, and business operations.

 Mr Mueller warned last month a major overhaul was necessary as the airline was weighed down by "uncompetitive cost levels" that he said were 20 per cent higher than its rivals.

 AFP

 Topics: air-transport, business-economics-and-finance, air-and-space, disasters-and-accidents, malaysia, asia ||||| Image copyright Elvis Image caption The restructuring comes after years of losses and the twin disasters of MH370 and MH17

 Malaysia Airlines is "technically bankrupt", its chief executive has said, as he announced a restructuring programme and plans to cut about 6,000 jobs.

 The announcement follows the twin air disasters which forced its nationalisation last year.

 The airline said it had "offered jobs" to 14,000 of its 20,000 workforce.

 The move was expected and follows the appointment of new chief executive Christoph Mueller in May.

 "We are technically bankrupt," Mr Mueller told a news conference. "The decline of performance started long before the tragic events of 2014."

 The airline is operating as normal and no flights are currently affected.

 In March last year, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers and crew aboard. The plane is still missing.

 Four months later, flight MH17 was shot down by a suspected ground-to-air missile while in Ukrainian airspace, with the loss of 298 passengers and crew.

 The two disasters proved to be the final straw for the already struggling business, which had reported losses for several years as a result of strong regional competition.

 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Flight MH370 went missing in March last year

 Rebranding

 Mr Mueller was making his first public appearance as chief executive since being hired by the carrier's owner, Malaysian state fund Khazanah, to lead the restructuring.

 He has previously had senior roles at Ireland's Aer Lingus, Belgium's Sabena and Germany's Lufthansa airlines. Famed for slashing jobs at the airlines, he has earned the nickname "the Terminator".

 Analysis: Jennifer Pak, BBC Malaysia correspondent:

 For more than a decade, Malaysia Airlines lurched from one restructuring to the next, but it was hard for many Malaysian taxpayers to understand the extent of the problem.

 In-flight service remained one of the best in the region and up until the twin tragedies of MH370 and MH17, the carrier had a good safety record.

 The new chief executive, Christoph Mueller, detailed the structural issues today.

 For example, he said Malaysia Airlines management staff were spread out across more than 12 buildings, which meant departments were spending a lot of time to communicate with each other.

 He also stated that the airline was "technically bankrupt".

 Mohshin Aziz, an aviation analyst at Maybank, told the BBC that no management official "had the balls to admit that" in the past.

 He said the slashing of a third of the work force was a promising sign of real change.

 But Mr Mueller doesn't have much time to revive Malaysia's national icon.

 British Airways, for example, recently restarted flights from London to Kuala Lumpur, which is Malaysia Airline's flagship route.

 I recently flew that route and had a row of four seats to stretch my legs. The staff told me there were plenty of empty seats in the double-decker Airbus A380 aircraft.

 Malaysia Airlines faces stiff competition from legacy carriers, as well as low-cost carriers, such as AirAsia X.

 Malaysia Airlines had previously disclosed plans to cut 6,000 jobs, shrinking its workforce to 14,000.

 Mr Mueller said the airline could not expect that all of the job offers it had made to existing staff would be accepted. He said this was because the company expected staff to have received offers from rival carriers.

 "We will embark on a second round in two weeks' time and that will allow others to accept our offers and that may change the numbers," he added.

 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Flight MH17 came down near the village of Grabove in Ukraine

 Malaysia Airlines plans to announce a rebranding on 1 September. Mr Mueller would not be drawn on whether this would mean a change to its name, but said "all constellations were open".

 He admitted that in certain markets Malaysia Airlines was a tarnished brand, but he would not say whether the rebrand would involve a change in name, logo or other alterations.

 He also would not be drawn on whether the airline would withdraw from some costly long-haul flights to Europe.

 In more general terms, he said it was possible the airline might reduce the frequency of flights on certain routes, or reduce the size of aircraft on those routes.

 The carrier would look at joint ventures before closing routes, Mr Mueller said, and would be having conversations with potential partners in the coming weeks.

 The airline considered long-haul flights to and from London to be among its flagship routes, he said, so would not be altering them.

 In a statement, the airline said its immediate priority was to "stop the bleeding" in 2015, then to stabilise next year and start growing again by 2017. ||||| Malaysia Airlines will have a rebrand in September after a disastrous 2014

 The new boss of Malaysia Airlines has claimed the carrier is "technically bankrupt", following two plane accidents in 12 months.

 Christoph Mueller has confirmed that 6,000 jobs will be cut at the troubled airline - ahead of a rebrand in September which aims to repair the damage caused by the losses of MH370 and MH17.

 CEO Christoph Mueller has turned around other airline brands in the past

 Consumer confidence was badly affected when Flight MH370 disappeared with 239 people on board in March 2014, and just four months later, Flight MH17 was downed by a suspected ground-to-air missile over Ukraine - killing 298 people.

 The tragedies led to Malaysia Airlines being taken into state ownership and delisted from the stock market, but analysts claim the company has been mismanaged for years - a sentiment echoed by Mr Mueller.

 Play video "2014: Can Malaysia Airlines Endure?" Video: 2014: Can Malaysia Airlines Endure?

 "The decline of performance started long before the tragic events of 2014," he said.

 Stiff regional competition has led the company to post losses for several years - and in a statement, the airline pledged to "stop the bleeding" in its finances by the end of 2015, in the hope it will return to growth by 2017.

 Mr Mueller, nicknamed The Terminator in Ireland for the job cuts he implemented at Aer Lingus, is expected to reduce the number of long-haul routes offered from Malaysia to Europe, and focus on regional services.

 However, a "profitable" twice-daily service from London Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur is set to continue.

 Under the new CEO's plans, Malaysia Airlines' workforce would shrink to 14,000.

 The challenges facing the company come amid low jet fuel prices, which are expected to make this year one of the most profitable for the industry since the start of the century.

 It is expected that the 12-month restructuring plan for Malaysian Airlines will cost £1.1bn - and last week, an administrator was appointed to oversee the transferral of the carrier's assets to a new company.

 Mr Mueller said it was "business as usual" despite the disruption - and told passengers all reservations would be honoured, with scheduled flights going ahead as planned. |||||

– The promised overhaul at Malaysia Airlines has begun. New CEO Christoph Mueller—dubbed "the Terminator"—says 6,000 of 20,000 jobs at the "bleeding" airline will be slashed. "We are technically bankrupt," says Mueller, who developed a reputation for laying off workers during restructuring at Ireland's Aer Lingus, Belgium's Sabena, and Germany's Lufthansa airlines, per the BBC. "The decline of performance started long before the tragic events of 2014." Before MH370 disappeared and MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, the airline suffered from what AFP calls "poor management, unwise business decisions, government meddling, and unfavorable service and supplier contracts stemming from Malaysia's crony capitalism." Though 14,000 workers were offered jobs, Mueller says some may be fielding offers from competitors. Noting the Malaysia Airlines brand has been blemished in some markets, Mueller, hired last month by state investor Khazanah, adds the airline will rebrand in September, but he remains vague on the details. The airline may also reduce the frequency of flights or the size of aircraft on long-haul routes to Europe to focus more on regional flights, though a flagship route to London will be unaltered. The hope is that the airline can "stop the bleeding" in 2015, per today's announcement, and see growth by 2017. Sky News reports the yearlong restructuring plan will cost $1.7 billion.