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DeAndre Jordan had a playoff career high of 25 points as the Clips took a 3-2 series lead over the Warriors. Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images /Getty Images

 LOS ANGELES -- A little before 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Clippers power forward Blake Griffin caught an entry pass on the left block, dribbled to the middle of the key, and was fouled across the arm by Golden State's Draymond Green. There was nothing notable about the play, nothing the least bit memorable, except for the fact that it happened at all.

 Had Commissioner Adam Silver not stood before a bank of cameras in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday morning, had he not banished Donald Sterling from the league for life, and had he not vowed that the disgraced owner will be forced to sell the franchise, Griffin never would have made that move to the paint. DeAndre Jordan never would have made that dunk that shook the stanchion. Chris Paul never would have made that pass that froze three defenders. Matt Barnes never would have scuffled with Andre Iguodala, Stephen Curry never would have turned a 2-on-1 fast break into a pull-up three, and Jamal Crawford never would have sank an and-one falling out of bounds .

 The Clippers never would have beaten the Warriors in Game 5, 113-103, because the teams never would have played. Those were the stakes for Silver on Tuesday. Either kick Sterling to the side, forever, or watch the Clippers and Warriors walk off the court in protest moments before a nationally televised showdown. "It was a real option," said Warriors coach Mark Jackson. It was more than that. It was a plan. "I'm sure people would have stuck to it," Green said, "if things didn't go well."

 MCCANN: Sterling, NBA set for epic legal fight over Clippers

 What actually transpired was almost as surreal. Clippers staffers wore all black. Clippers cheerleaders wore all black. Every advertisement in the arena was covered by black fabric. You'd have seen more sponsors at a high-school game. The mood was simultaneously angry and elated, as if Staples Center was hosting a coup, narrated by the Clippers DJ and hostess. Some fans wore T-shirts with pictures of Sterling's face crossed out, over messages such as "Sterling out equality in" and "No room for racism." Signs included "I'm here for Griffin not Sterling"...."Get out Sterling"..."For sale racists need not apply"... "Sterling might own the team for now but they belong to us."

 All those images, plus the posters of Magic Johnson and the renderings of Sterling with devils horns, were broadcast on the Jumbotron. Sterling's own organization, from players to coaches to the entertainment staff, turned on him. "We are home!" the fist-pumping DJ bellowed over deep bass. "We are one!" That mantra -- chanted periodically throughout the fourth quarter -- was written in black and white on the LED boards between the suite levels, taking the place of the ads. "It's a great day," said Paul. Oddly, it might have been the best day in the history of the franchise.

 Clippers coach Doc Rivers informed his team of Sterling's punishment during a film session at morning shoot-around. "There was nothing in the room," Rivers said. "It was complete silence." It was the sound of satisfaction. "You could be making nothing," Rivers continued. "You want to work for someone who at least shares your values or respects them -- especially when you're working for a company where, when you do your job, you have it on your chest. I get the sense that was very hard for the players. They had to wear it."

 MANNIX: Silver did what absolutely needed to be done with ban of Sterling

 But on Tuesday, unlike Sunday, they didn't ditch their shooting shirts. They didn't flip anything inside-out. When they took the floor for warm-ups to a standing ovation, they were handed note-cards with the words, "We Love You" and their names. "It was one of the most emotional things I've ever been a part of it," Paul said. "We have a tough locker room and a lot of us are tough. But it almost brought tears to your eyes to feel the support."

 They were greeted by Jesse Jackson, lingering in front of Sterling's usual seat, and they also saw Sterling's wife, Shelly, flanked by six bodyguards. Shelly called Rivers on Tuesday and requested permission to attend. "I thought that was a very nice gesture," he said. Shelly asked Rivers to tell the players she loved them.

 Fans were initially encouraged to boycott the game, even by Mark Jackson. But Silver brought back players and patrons alike, turning a protest into a rally, and another reminder that sports franchises transcend the suits that purchase them. No one buys a jersey with an owner's name on the back. No one lines up for an owner's autograph. No one hangs an owner's Fathead. Sterling may have defined the Clippers when they had nobody else. Now, they are defined by Griffin, Paul, Jordan, and the dozens of dedicated employees who make the club hum. Many people have worked many years to make the Clipper logo a point of pride instead of embarrassment. They shouldn't have to wear it inside-out. And they certainly shouldn't have to miss a playoff date when there have been so few.

 ROSENBERG: Sterling's lifetime ban fits the crime and the man

 The Clippers' 138th straight sellout crowd -- termed by Rivers "as good as I've ever seen" -- saw the home team capture a game they controlled from the moment Silver grabbed the microphone in New York. Jordan, who went scoreless in Game 4, texted his coach before Game 5 to say: "That wasn't me. I'll be back." He scored 25 points on 8 of 10 shooting, while Paul pitched in 20 and Crawford 19, plus high fives at the end for courtside fans. The Clippers went from drained to determined, and now they head to Golden State for Game 6 on Thursday, leading the series 3-2 and looking for a win.

 They need one. They are one. ||||| V. Stiviano, the woman at the center of the Donald Sterling scandal, said she was “very saddened” by the NBA’s decision to ban him from the sport for life, her attorney said Tuesday.

 V. Stiviano “never wanted any harm to Donald,” Calabasas lawyer Mac Nehoray of Calabasas told The Times.

 He said the 31-year-old is still reeling from the release of the recordings in which Sterling chastises her for associating with African Americans, including Magic Johnson. He said that “someone released it for money” but it wasn’t Stiviano.

 PHOTOS: Who is V. Stiviano?

 “My client is devastated that this got out,” he said.

 He also insisted that Stiviano and the 80-year-old Clippers owner never had a sexual or romantic relationship and descriptions of her as his mistress in the media and in a lawsuit filed by Sterling’s wife are erroneous.

 “It’s nothing like it’s been portrayed,” Nehoray said. “She’s not the type of person everyone says.”

 Rochelle Sterling, who has been married to Donald Sterling for more than 50 years, filed suit against Stiviano in March in an effort to reclaim a $1.8-million apartment, luxury autos and cash he gave her.

 Stiviano's lawyer said his client was a hard-working young woman who supported herself waitressing and volunteered helping crime victims before signing on to work as an “archivist” for Sterling.

 “She had no association with any rich people before this,” he said.

 A spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office confirmed that Stiviano did clerical work and helped explain legal procedures to victims as a volunteer in the agency’s Victim-Witness Assistance Program in 2010 and 2011

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 Red Cross assisting homeless residents displaced after shelter fire ||||| Story highlights Warriors coach: Players talked of boycott prior to Sterling decision

 NBA bans Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life, fines him $2.5 million for racist remarks

 Sterling admitted making reviled comments first heard on TMZ, the NBA commissioner says

 Adam Silver urges owners to vote to "force" Sterling to sell his team

 The NBA's commissioner came down hard Tuesday on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, ordering him out of his team's business and pushing to force him to sell over racist remarks that caused a firestorm since becoming public days ago.

 Adam Silver detailed Sterling's punishment of a lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine -- the "maximum amount" allowed per league guidelines -- at a press conference eight hours before Sterling's Clippers were to tip off in the fifth game of a tightly contested first-round playoff series with the Golden State Warriors.

 Silver's decision was met with immediate support from NBA owners, players and others connected to the league who have been calling for swift, firm punishment ever since TMZ posted audio featuring the incendiary comments.

 "I hope that every bigot in this country sees what happened to Mr. Sterling and recognizes that if he can fall, so can you," Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA All-Star who was tasked with leading the NBA players union's efforts on this matter.

 Under the lifetime ban, Sterling is prohibited from attending NBA games or practices, stepping foot inside any Clippers' facility, taking part in business or personnel decisions, or having a role in league activities such as attending NBA Board of Governors meetings.

 Silver -- who succeeded longtime NBA leader David Stern in February -- also insisted he will do "everything in my power" to compel the NBA Board of Governors to "force a sale" of the Clippers. The commissioner said "I fully expect" to get the needed three-quarters of the league's owners -- meaning at least 23 -- to back the move, though Sterling could fight any such move in court.

 If Sterling does sell the team, he stands to profit considerably: He bought the Clippers for $12 million in 1981, and the team is now worth $575 million, according to Forbes magazine. And he'd likely have plenty of suitors: Among them is Hollywood mogul David Geffen, who spokeswoman Priscila Giraldo says is "interested" in buying the team.

 Rather than water cooler discussions of exciting NBA playoff action, people are talking about racist remarks by a team owner, said Gabe Feldman, head of Tulane University's sports law program.

 Estimating the team may be worth closer to $1 billion, Feldman added, "He may get a lot of money from the sale, but I think it will allow the NBA to shift their focus."

 That's what Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday night, commending Silver as "fantastic" for making "a decision that really was the right one." While the players aren't rejoicing, they are breathing easier knowing what happened earlier in the day, he said.

 "They were just happy that it was a resolution," Rivers said, expressing hope that playing the game will be a "safe haven" for all involved. "... We're all in a better place because of this."

 Clippers: 'Now the healing process begins'

 The inflammatory sentiments Silver referred to came packaged in a 10-minute recording that TMZ said occurred during an April 9 conversation between Sterling and girlfriend V. Stiviano

 On the recording, a man and woman argue about photos posted to Instagram in which she appears with African-Americans. The man says he doesn't want the woman bringing any black people to games with her.

 The sports website Deadspin on Sunday posted five additional minutes of what it said was part of the same audio recording.

 Neither website has said how it obtained the recordings; Stiviano's lawyer's office said Sunday that she didn't release them to TMZ, while stating they are legitimate.

 On Saturday, Clippers President Andy Roeser suggested the audio was aimed at "getting even" with Sterling over a lawsuit.

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 Rochelle Sterling filed a lawsuit last month against Stiviano, who she said was having an affair with her husband and accusing Stiviano of going after extremely wealthy older men.

 Roeser said that the offensive comments are "not consistent with, nor does it reflect (Sterling's) views, beliefs or feelings." Moreover, he cast doubt as to whether Sterling had made them, stating: "We do not know if it is legitimate or it has been altered."

 Silver expressed no such doubts Tuesday, saying the Clippers owner "acknowledged it was his voice on the tape." Asked whether the owner expressed any remorse, the commissioner said, "Mr. Sterling has not expressed those views directly to me."

 Moments after Silver's press conference concluded, the Clippers struck a different tone.

 "We wholeheartedly support and embrace the decision by the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver today," the team said. "Now the healing process begins."

 Silver says he shares sponsors' 'outrage'

 There is no question that Sterling rightfully owns the Clippers. Some observers question how comments, made privately, could serve as grounds for such punishment, including possibly forcing him to sell the team.

 Yet while there's no precedent in the NBA, there is in other sports. In the 1990s, Major League Baseball repeatedly suspended Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott over racist and other controversial comments, and she ultimately sold the franchise.

 Silver said Tuesday he'd "let the lawyers" address specifics, while stating flatly, "We have the authority to act as I've recommended."

 Feldman said some owners might be wary of setting a precedent in which anyone can be voted out "just based on something they don't like, whether it was said privately or just said publicly." That view notwithstanding, NBA owners universally backed Silver's judgment in statements Tuesday.

 If the owners follow through on the commissioner's recommendation to force him to sell, Sterling could fight back in the courts. But should he file a lawsuit, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin says his chances of success seem "basically zero."

 Sterling so far hasn't had found support in the court of public opinion, especially among past and present players.

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 Donald Sterling with girlfriend V. Stiviano.

 Members of his own team, the Clippers, debated boycotting their playoff game Saturday with the Warriors, according to coach Rivers. They decided against it, instead opting to stage a silent protest by removing their warmup shirts bearing team logos to reveal red T-shirts worn inside out, with the logos hidden.

 Silver said he talked to Rivers, Clippers star point guard Chris Paul (who is also the players union president) and other players prior to reaching his decision Tuesday morning.

 Dollars talked, too, to ramp up the pressure for Silver to act.

 Over a dozen companies -- including State Farm, Virgin America, CarMax and Red Bull -- halted their sponsorships with the Clippers over the remarks, CNN Money reported

 Speaking Tuesday, the commissioner said he shares these companies "outrage," adding "it will take some time" to get things right.

 "I can understand how upset they are, and I'll do my best to bring them back into the NBA family," Silver said.

 For some, his decision to ban Sterling was enough. Both Adidas and Samsung announced later Tuesday that they had renewed their "partnerships" in the wake of the owner's public punishment.

 Warriors coach Mark Jackson, who a day earlier urged fans to boycott Tuesday's game and said there was "a real discussion among the players" to do the same so long as Sterling remained in charge, thinks Silver gave everyone enough reason now to come out to a game.

 "I thought he was absolutely incredible ... with the way that he took control of the moment," Jackson said of the commissioner before his team's playoff showdown in Los Angeles. "... It was exactly what the doctor ordered."

 Magic Johnson: Players are 'very happy and satisfied'

 One man thrust into the controversy -- seemingly out of the blue -- was NBA great Magic Johnson. In the TMZ recording, the man seems mad about a photo the woman posted to Instagram with Johnson.

 "In your lousy f**ing Instagrams, you don't have to have yourself with -- walking with black people," the man says.

 "If it's white people, it's OK?" she responds. "If it was Larry Bird, would it make a difference?"

 Bird was Johnson's chief rival when Bird's Boston Celtics and Johnson's Los Angeles Lakers ruled the NBA.

 "I've known (Magic Johnson) well, and he should be admired. ... I'm just saying that it's too bad you can't admire him privately," the man on the recording says. "Admire him, bring him here, feed him, f**k him, but don't put (Magic) on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games."

 After the audio went public, Johnson -- who, since retiring from basketball, has become a successful businessman and part owner of baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers -- expressed dismay and insisted he'd never attend a Clippers game so long as Sterling was the owner.

 Johnson offered a very different tune Tuesday, commending Silver for exhibiting "great leadership" in saying he and others "are very happy and satisfied."

 "I wish I was in LA, I would be at the Clipper game tonight!" he tweeted. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– "It was almost like everybody wanted to exhale tonight, and it was good," LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers said last night when the team soared to a 113-103 victory over the Golden State Warriors just hours after the NBA banned owner Donald Sterling for life over racist remarks. With the cloud of controversy lifted, the Clippers "played as if on wings, flying around with hustle and heart" before ecstatic fans who gave a standing ovation when two fans wearing T-shirts with Sterling's face crossed out appeared on the video screen, writes Bill Plaschke at the Los Angeles Times. More: If the NBA hadn't chucked Sterling, the game would never have happened, because both teams had planned to walk off the court in protest moments before it was supposed to begin, Sports Illustrated reveals. "It was a real option," says Warriors coach Mark Jackson. V. Stiviano, the woman Sterling was recorded making racist remarks to, is "saddened" by the owner's lifetime ban and is "devastated" that the recording was released, her lawyer tells the Los Angeles Times. He says that his client wasn't Sterling's girlfriend and never had a romantic relationship with him. The lawyer says she was hired as an "archivist"—an archivist who received $1.8 million in gifts from Sterling, according to a lawsuit filed by his wife of more than 50 years. What now for Sterling? NBA Commissioner Adam Silver plans to push him to sell the team, and fellow team owners appear willing to follow the recommendation to force him out. He could fight back in the courts, but his chances of success are "basically zero," a CNN legal analyst says. If he does sell, it will be for a huge profit: He bought the team for $12 million in 1981 and it is now valued at $575 million, though some experts believe it could sell for closer to $1 billion.


Article:

Mitt Romney crushed Rick Santorum in the Illinois primary Tuesday night, padding his delegate lead and once again forcing his Republican opponents to find another moment to mount a guerrilla challenge to his campaign.

 With 55 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had 48 percent of the vote to Santorum’s 34 percent, Ron Paul’s 9 percent and Newt Gingrich’s 8 percent. That puts Illinois on track to be Romney’s biggest win in a large state since the Florida primary in January.

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 While Santorum campaigned in Illinois and spent money there, an adviser to his campaign acknowledged even before the polls closed that the state was likely lost to Romney.

 If Romney’s victory margin holds, it may prompt national Republicans to try more aggressively to conclude an already drawn-out primary season. And speaking to supporters in Schaumburg, Ill., Romney sought to cast the win as part of a national political tide in his direction.

 “Hundreds of thousands of people have joined millions of people around the country to join our cause,” he said. “We know our future is brighter than these troubled times. We believe in America and we deserve a president who believes in us.”

 Early exit polls pointed to a Romney-friendly electorate: 37 percent of voters said the top quality they wanted in a nominee was electability, according to CBS. Only 20 percent said their priority was finding a “true conservative.”

 In a reflection of Romney’s perceived advantage, both Santorum and Gingrich spent primary day outside Illinois. Santorum plans to speak tonight from Gettysburg, Pa., while Gingrich has been campaigning in Louisiana ahead of Saturday’s primary there.

 Only Romney was still in the Land of Lincoln, making a visit to Google’s Chicago office and holding an online event with Google+ users.

 Asked if he expected to win the primary, Romney told a pool reporter: “Sure hope so.”

 The race in Illinois played out in a now-familiar pattern: Romney’s conservative opponents charged into the state last week — in Santorum’s case, with some momentum from winning the March 13 primaries in Mississippi and Alabama.

 But Romney’s financial advantage took its toll on his foes. Romney’s campaign and the super PAC Restore Our Future spent a combined $3.7 million on paid advertising in Illinois. Santorum’s campaign and super PAC spent just $532,000. In the populous, expensive Chicago media market, pro-Romney spending outstripped pro-Santorum spending by some $2 million.

 “Fundraising is part of a campaign, so is organization,” said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul.

 She added that complaints about Romney flooding the zone are “like a basketball team complaining that they lost to another team because their players are too tall.”

 “That’s just ridiculous. This is all part of the game,” she said.

 Santorum also lost airspeed in Illinois when he took a multi-day trip to campaign in Puerto Rico, where he lost to Romney in Sunday’s primary by a gigantic gap.

 In the last 24 hours, the Illinois fight took a sharply confrontational turn after Santorum said at a campaign stop that he didn’t “care what the unemployment rate’s going to be” — a comment intended to convey that his whole campaign doesn’t rest on economic statistics.

 “I want the unemployment rate to go down, but I’m saying my candidacy doesn’t hinge on whether the unemployment rate goes up and down,” he later clarified. ||||| Rick Santorum gave a rambling, populist speech after losing the Illinois primary, one that showed he has no intention of dropping out of the race.

 He predicted a big win in Louisiana this Saturday, as well as a victory in Pennsylvania in five weeks, and added that he was thankful for the delegates he did get in Illinois.

 While he congratulated Romney on his victory in the state, Santorum also argued that he did better than Romney in the “areas that conservatives and Republicans populate.”

 Santorum called this race the most important since 1860, telling the crowd, “You know in your gut that big things are adrift and at stake in this election.”

 Romney’s speech was all about Obama; Santorum’s was all about Romney.

 Standing in front of a banner that read “FREEDOM,” Santorum said, “I am glad to hear that Governor Romney is now adopting that theme in his speech tonight, glad we’re moving the debate in the Republican party.”

 He argued that his rivals had been duped on global warming and on health care.

 “There was one [candidate] who said ‘I know this isn’t climate science, this is political science,’” Santorum said. On health care, “Obamacare, Romneycare, they’re interchangeable.”

 Santorum joked about not using a teleprompter, a barb that seemed directed at Romney as much as Obama.

 Santorum delivered his election night speech from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania rather than Illinois, calling the city a favorite spot.

 The full transcript:

 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It is great to be back in Pennsylvania. Thank you for joining us here.

 Let me just thank all of you for being here. And I know that they’re not going to be hearing me, but I -- I just feel so bad. We have about 1,000-1,500 people who couldn’t get in here. We’re just overwhelmed by the response here, and I just want to say: I feel welcomed back home to Pennsylvania, so thank you very, very much.

 It is -- it is -- first, I just want to congratulate Governor Romney. I gave him a call a little earlier and congratulated him on winning the state of Illinois. But I also want to say -- I just want to thank all of the folks in Illinois, all in the -- you know, if you look at what -- what’s going to happen tonight, we’re going to win downstate, we’re going to win central Illinois, we’re going to win western Illinois. We won the areas that conservatives and Republicans populate, and we’re very happy about that. We’re happy about the delegates we’re going to get, too.

 We wanted to come here tonight back to Pennsylvania, back to a favorite place of mine in Pennsylvania, the city and the town of Gettysburg. It’s...

 Obviously, it’s -- so many memories come to mind when we walk on here in the town and across the street where Abraham Lincoln finished the Gettysburg Address at the Wills House. And you think about the great elections of our past.

 And I’ve gone around this country over the past year now and said this is the most important election in our lifetimes. And, in fact, I think it’s the most important election since the election of 1860.

 The election in 1860 was about whether these united states -- which is what it was mostly referred to prior to the election of 1860 -- would become the United States, whether it would be a union, a country bound together to build a great and prosperous nation, a -- a nation based on a concept, a concept that we were birthed with, a concept birthed with our founding document of the Declaration of Independence.

 I’ve said throughout the course of this campaign that while other issues are certainly important -- the economy, joblessness, national security concerns, the family, the issue of life -- all of these issues are important, but the foundational issue in this race, the one that is, in fact, the cause of the other maladies that we are feeling, whether it’s in the economy or whether it’s in the budget crisis that we’re dealing with, all boils down to one word, and that’s what’s at stake in this election, and it’s right behind me on that banner, and that’s the word “freedom.”

 I was pleased to hear before I came out that Governor Romney is now adopting that theme as his speech tonight.

 I am -- I am glad we are moving the debate here in the Republican Party. But I’ve been focused on this, because I’ve actually been out talking to people across this country, doing over a thousand town hall meetings. And I know the anxiety and the concerns that people have in this country about an ever-expanding government, a government that is trying to dictate how we’re going to live our lives, trying to order us around, trample our freedoms, whether it’s our economic freedoms or our religious liberty.

 But in addition to trampling that freedom, in addition to building a dependency, a dependency on government, as we see government expand and grow, now almost half the people in this country depend on some form of federal payment to help them get -- make ends meet in America. And after and if Obamacare is implemented, every single American will depend upon the federal government for something that is critical, their health and their life.

 That’s why this election is so important. This is an election about fundamental and foundational things. This is an election about not who’s the best person to manage Washington or manage the economy. We don’t need a manager. We need someone who’s going to pull up government by the roots and throw it out and do something to liberate the private sector in America. That’s what we need.

 It’s great to have Wall Street experience. I don’t have Wall Street experience, but I have experience growing up in a small town in western Pennsylvania, growing up in a steel town, growing up in public housing in apartments and seeing how men and women of this country scraped and clawed because they had the opportunity to climb the ladder of success in America.

 A lot of those folks out there today feel like nobody in Washington and no one in this debate is really talking about them. That’s why this is a wonderful movement as I travel around this country and everywhere I go. I see people, people in work clothes, folks with children who are maybe not getting the educational opportunities that they hoped for so they could climb that ladder of success, people who are looking for someone to voice their concerns about how this economy is going to turn around for them, not just for those at the top of the income ladder.

 That’s why I’ve talked about a manufacturing plan, an energy plan, someone who believes that if we create opportunities by, yes, cutting taxes, but reducing the oppressive regulatory burden that this administration has put on businesspeople and people who want to drill for energy, it needs someone who’s got a strong and clear record that can appeal to voters all across this country and someone who you can trust, someone that you know when they say they’re going to do something, they’re not saying it because, well, that happens to be the popular theme of the moment, but someone who has a long track record of deep convictions, someone who’s going to go out and stand and fight, because it’s not just what the pollster tells them to say or what’s on their TelePrompTer. I don’t happen to have one here tonight.

 Because -- because they know in their gut from their life experiences, from living in America, that this is what America needs and America wants. They want someone who’s not going to go to Washington, D.C., because they want to be the most powerful person in the world to manage Washington. They want someone who’s going to take that power and give it back to the people of this country.

 There is one candidate in this race who can go out and make that contrast with the current occupant of the White House, someone who has a track record of being for you, being for limited government, being for solutions that empower people on the biggest issues of the day, whether it’s Obamacare, Romneycare. They’re interchangeable.

 We need someone who understands that the solution to the problem with almost 1/17th of the economy is not government control over that sector economy, but your control over that sector of the economy.

 We need someone who understands that we need to grow our energy supplies here in this country. And we need someone you can trust who when in good times and in bad, when times were tough and people thought, well, that -- all this oil and gas and coal in the ground is all a source of carbon dioxide, and we can’t take that out of the ground because, well, there’s a finite supply and it could -- it could damage our environment and cause global warming...

 .. when the climate -- when those who -- who -- who profess manmade global warming and climate science convinced many, many Republicans, including two who are running for president on the Republican ticket, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.

 But there was one who said: I know this isn’t climate science. This is political science.

 And this was another attempt of those who want to take power away from you and control your access to energy, your utilization, whether it’s in your car or in your home of energy, because they are better to make these decisions about how you use energy than you do.

 That’s what they believe. And unfortunately, just like in health care, Governor Romney and Speaker Gingrich went along with the ride. And guess what? When the climate changed, they changed their position. And now they’re all for drilling and they’re all for oil and gas and coal. I was for it because it was the right thing to do then; I’ll be for it tomorrow and the next day and the next day. I’m not going to change with the climate.

 Ladies and gentlemen, I grew up in this great state, and this is the first day -- this is the launch we wanted to come here to Pennsylvania, to launch our campaign here in Pennsylvania. We’ve got five weeks, five weeks to a big win and a big delegate sweep in Pennsylvania.

 I come as a son of Pennsylvania, someone who grew up in western Pennsylvania. Everyone knows the story, I hope, of my grandfather, my dad coming to Pennsylvania to work in those coal mines in Somerset County. I learned everything, everything about freedom and opportunity and hard work, and growing up with folks who worked in the mills and the mines in western Pennsylvania.

 And so when I speak and I speak from the heart, in the back of my mind are the pictures of those men and women who worked and scraped and clawed so their children and grandchildren could, yes, have a better quality of life, yes, maybe even go to college and not have to work in tough, manual labor, but, most importantly, they fought for the things that the people in this battlefield just down the road fought for.

 They fought for big things, things that America’s always stood for, that Ronald Reagan referred to as that shining city on the hill. It’s things that I’m fighting for here today, the reason Karen and I decided, in the face of having seven children ages 20 to 3 -- not exactly the best time to run for president of the United States when you have children 20 to 3...

 ... but Karen and I felt compelled. We felt compelled, because as Ronald Reagan said in one of his great speeches, we didn’t want to have to sit down someday and look at the eyes of our children and our children’s children and describe to them an America where once men were free.

 We don’t want to be that generation that lost the torch of freedom. That’s why Karen and the kids behind me, all of whom born in Pennsylvania, all of those folks who understand the -- the greatness of our state and the greatness of the values of this state, all of us understand what was sacrificed, in the mills and on the battlefields.

 And that’s why we must go out and fight this fight. That’s why we must go out and nominate someone who understands, not because some pollster tells them, because they know in their gut -- just like you do -- all across this country, you know in your gut big things are adrift and at stake in this election.

 So I ask each and every one of you to join us, to saddle up, like Reagan did in the cowboy movies, to saddle up, take on that responsibility over the next five weeks. We’re going to head to Louisiana from here. We’re feeling very, very good about winning Louisiana on Saturday, I might add.

 We’re heading to Louisiana for the rest of the week, and then we’re going to be back here in Pennsylvania, and we’re going to pick up a whole boatload of delegates and close this gap and on to victory.

 Thank you all very much. God bless you. Thank you. |||||
What is a summary?

– Rick Santorum has made it clear that he's sticking around despite his resounding defeat in Illinois. In a rambling election night speech in Gettysburg, he described this year's election as the most important since 1860, urged supporters to "saddle up, like Reagan did in the cowboy movies," and predicted a big win in Louisiana's primary on Saturday, reports the Washington Post. Speaking to Fox News, he blamed the Illinois loss on being outspent heavily in the Chicago media market, and said he didn't think super PACs should exist. In Chicago, "which has 70% of the population of the state of Illinois, we got outspent 21 to 1. We feel like we are up there, running against the machine,” he said, adding that Illinois is a moderate state that elects moderate Republicans. Romney won, he said, because of a super PAC funded by his billionaire friends. A Romney spokeswoman said Santorum complaining about being outspent was "like a basketball team complaining that they lost to another team because their players are too tall," Politico reports. "That’s just ridiculous," she said. "This is all part of the game."


– Police in Stanislaus County, Calif., say a 20-year veteran of the force was "executed" early Sunday after investigating a stolen van and a suspicious person outside Modesto. Sheriff's Deputy Dennis Wallace was shot twice in the head. Police say a suspect was arrested more than 150 miles away later in the day after allegedly carrying out a carjacking, an armed robbery at a convenience store, and an attempted purse-snatching, the Los Angeles Times reports. David Machado, a 37-year-old described by police as a "known criminal," was connected to the Wallace killing after police in Tulane County recognized his tattoos. Wallace, who was married with children, "was executed," Sheriff Adam Christianson told reporters. "We believe that Dep. Wallace was killed outside of the car and we know for a fact that the gun used in this crime was in direct contact with his head when the trigger was pulled twice." He said Wallace, 53, had been involved in programs including youth soccer and early intervention, NBC News reports. "We need to keep the Wallace family in our thoughts and prayers. We need to keep law enforcement in our thoughts and prayers," he said. The Bradenton Herald reports after a knee injury in 2007, Wallace was off for two years without pay and fought a long legal battle to get his job back.

Expand this summary.

These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| And on Oct. 19, Modoc County Sheriff's Deputy Jack Hopkins was gunned down while responding to a disturbance call. Modoc officials said Hopkins was killed as he entered a property about eight miles south of Alturas when he was confronted and shot by Jack Lee Breiner. The deputy was killed instantly. As he fled, Breiner, 47, engaged another deputy in a gunbattle and was shot and wounded, authorities said. He has been charged with murder and other crimes in connection with the killing. |||||


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– John Fisher has no beef with voters calling him on his personal phone, but please don't call his 91-year-old mother. The Michigan Democrat, who's running for a state House seat, is fired up after a GOP campaign mailer was sent out this week telling people in the city of Portage to call him and "tell him hard-working Michiganders are being hurt by ObamaCare and the health care policies [Democrats] support." Which would've been fine, except the phone number on the mailer was the direct line to his mother's room at a local nursing home, where she's being given hospice care for congestive heart failure, Fisher's campaign manager tells Michigan Live. Fisher didn't recognize the number when he got his hands on the mailer. "When I dialed it, it came up on my cellphone, and it said, 'Mom,'" he tells WWMT. Meanwhile, Isabel Kramb fielded her son's calls from her room, giving a stock answer of "I'm sorry, he's not here, I'm his mother," she tells the station. The Michigan GOP says it discovered the number online under Fisher's name and apologized "for any distress that was caused" by Kramb receiving the phone calls. In a statement cited by Michigan Live, Fisher railed on the campaign promo, noting that "to direct people to call a suffering woman who deserves peace and comfort is beyond the pale." He also spoke about the mailer outside the nursing home—with his mother present. WMMT asked him if that was perhaps also in poor taste. "I don't know how it could be underhanded to try to remind people not to call my mom," Fisher said.

PORTAGE, MI — A local Democratic state House candidate is crying foul after the Michigan GOP sent out campaign mailers this week directing Republicans to call him at a number for his 91-year-old mother's room at a Portage-based nursing home.

 The mailers, which were paid for by the Michigan Republican Party, urge voters to call John Fisher, a candidate for the 61st state House District, and "Tell him hard-working Michiganders are being hurt by Obamacare and the health care policies (Democrats) support."

 Fisher's campaign acknowledged it had no issue with past Republican mailers that told voters to call him at his personal number, but the candidate said Republicans took it too far by directing citizens to call Fisher at his mother's number. The number is registered under Fisher's name, but is a direct line to his mother's room at Tendercare Portage, where Isabel Kramb is currently receiving hospice care for congestive heart failure, said Fisher's campaign manager David Topping.

 Fisher, a 64-year-old Oshtemo Township pastor, is running against Republican Kalamazoo County Commissioner Brandt Iden and Libertarian Michael Stampfler in a bid to represent the state's 61st House District, which covers the city of Portage as well as Oshtemo, Schoolcraft, Texas and Prairie Ronde townships.

 "To direct people to call a suffering woman who deserves peace and comfort is beyond the pale," Fisher said in a prepared statement. "Their lack of ethics and contempt for personal privacy is just another reason for people to question what – or better, who – the Republican Party stands for, so that they can make a wise decision at the ballot box on Nov. 4."

 Iden, 31, said in a brief statement that he does not condone the tactics utilized by his party in this instance.

 "Obviously, as you know, it was not sent out by our campaign," Iden said. "I don't condone negative campaign tactics and it's not something my campaign has done or anticipates doing.

 "I hope Mr. Fisher would do the same."

 A Michigan Republican Party spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

 Meanwhile, Fisher called on Iden to distance himself from the Michigan GOP.

 "My competitor, Brandt Iden, should denounce the Michigan Republican Party for such appalling tactics in his name," Fisher said in the news release. "Lansing Republicans showed contempt for all seniors when they forced them to pay extra in order to fund giveaways for major corporations.

 "The men and women who worked hard all their lives so that their families could succeed deserve better than that, and I will work hard to protect the dignity and security of Michigan seniors when I am in Lansing."

 Alex Mitchell covers county government and taxes for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Email him at amitche5@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter. ||||| PORTAGE, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - The Newschannel 3 I-Team is taking a closer look at what some are calling a case of politics at its worst.

 When it comes to political ads and campaigns, especially in an election year, fact and fiction are never easily separated.

 But Newschannel 3 worked with both sides of the aisle Thursday night, and gave it a shot in the name of bipartisanship.

 Now that 91-year-old Isabel Kramb's son, Reverend John Fisher, is running for office, she's getting a good dose of politics.

 "Frustrating doesn't begin to touch it," Fisher said.

 It started with Fisher received a mailer directing voters to call and complain about the Affordable Care Act at a number he didn't recognize.

 "When I dialed it, it came up on my cellphone, and it said, 'Mom,'" Fisher said.

 It turns out, he wasn't the only one to call her at her nursing home.

 "I said, 'I'm sorry, he's not here, I'm his mother,'" Kramb said.

 The Michigan Republican Party says they accept responsibility for the mailer, and sent a statement which apologized for any distress that was caused, adding that it wasn't their intention to have people call Fisher's mother.

 "You have to dig to find this phone number being connected with me," Fisher said.

 The Republican Party says it found the number under John Fisher on an Internet directory, which Newschannel 3 was also able to do in a matter of minutes.

 "It's just unconscionable that people would be steered to call her and complain," Fisher said.

 Newschannel 3 also asked Fisher if wheeling his mother out of her nursing home to talk about the unconsionable acts by Republicans wasn't equally underhanded.

 "I don't know how it could be underhanded to try to remind people not to call my mom," Fisher said. "I'm doing it in part to point out the lack of responsibility and thoughtfulness which is what I'm running against."

 Newschannel 3 left several messages for the Republican candidate in the 61st State District House race, Kalamazoo County Commissioner Brandt Iden, but we have not received a comment on the incident from his campaign. |||||


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– It's tough to comprehend: The FBI says the owner of a Dallas-area hospice ordered nurses to increase drug dosages for patients to speed their deaths and maximize profits, reports the AP. The revelations come via KXAS-TV, which obtained an affidavit filed to justify a search warrant of Novus Health Services in Frisco. The affidavit alleges that owner Brad Harris, 34, texted nurses orders such as, "You need to make this patient go bye-bye." More specifically, it accuses Harris of ordering too-high dosages for at least four patients with drugs such as morphine, though it's unclear whether any patients died as a result. No charges have been filed as the investigation continues. The FBI also accuses of Harris, during a meeting with two other execs, of expressing the wish to "find patients who would die within 24 hours." In regard to one patient in particular, he said "words to the effect of, 'If this fu**** would just die,'" according to the affidavit. The FBI says Harris was worried that if patients lingered too long in hospice care, it would cut into his company's profits. Several employees left the company after the FBI raid, and now Harris is suing them for breach of contract, reports a separate KXAS story.

The owner of a Frisco medical company regularly directed nurses to overdose hospice patients with drugs such as morphine to speed up their deaths and maximize profits, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit for a search warrant obtained by NBC 5. (Published Tuesday, March 29, 2016)

 The owner of a North Texas medical company regularly directed nurses to give hospice patients overdoses of drugs such as morphine to speed up their deaths and maximize profits, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit for a search warrant obtained by NBC 5.

 Executive Brad Harris, 34, founded Novus Health Care Services, Inc., in July 2012, according to state records. The Novus office is located on Dallas Parkway in Frisco.

 Harris, an accountant, instructed a nurse to administer overdoses to three patients and directed another employee to increase a patient's medication to four-times the maximum allowed, the FBI said. He allegedly sent text messages like, "You need to make this patient go bye-bye."

 In the first case, the employee refused to follow Harris' alleged instructions, according to the FBI affidavit. The document does not say whether the other three patients were actually harmed.

 Frisco Hospice Sued Employees Who Left After FBI Raid

 The owner of a Frisco hospice agency accused of telling nurses to overdose patients on morphine to speed their deaths filed lawsuits against several employees and two executives who quit in the days after an FBI raid. (Published Wednesday, March 30, 2016)

 Harris also told other health-care executives over a lunch meeting that he wanted to "find patients who would die within 24 hours," and made comments like, "if this f----- would just die," an FBI agent wrote in the warrant.

 No charges have been filed against Novus or Harris, who did not return messages left with a receptionist and at his Frisco home.

 An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment on the investigation.

 Novus' website says the company offers hospice and home health-care services.

 "We have a saying at Novus, be fast and treat people the way we would want to be treated," the website says. "This encourages us to go the extra mile to make patients feel comfortable and secure about their special needs and requests."

 "AGGREGATOR CAP"

 Video Partial Human Skeleton Uncovered in Anna

 Health-care providers do not necessarily make more money for longer hospice stays.

 That's because hospices are subject to an "aggregator cap," which limits Medicare and Medicaid payments based on the yearly average hospice stay, the FBI said.

 If patients live too long, the provider can be forced to pay back part of their payments to the government.

 "Hence, hospice providers have an incentive to enroll patients whose hospice stays will be short relative to the cap," an agent wrote in the affidavit.

 THE INVESTIGATION

 The FBI said its investigation into Novus started in October 2014 and initially focused on allegations that, over the previous two years, the company recruited patients "who did not qualify for services" and charged the government for services that were not medically necessary.

 The investigation revealed that "as part of this scheme, Harris, who has no medical training or licenses, would direct his employed nurses to overdose hospice patients with palliative medications such as morphine to hasten death, and thereby minimize Novus' (paybacks) under the cap."

 The search – for emails and other electronic documents – was executed in early February, but the paperwork was obtained Tuesday by NBC 5.

 The warrant refers to an FBI raid of Novus' offices in September 2015 but court records related to that search could not be found and appear to be under seal.

 The FBI said investigators had interviewed several Novus employees.

 One worker said Harris himself decided which home health care patients would be moved to hospice.

 "He did this by having employees who were not doctors sign the certifications with the names of doctors also employed by Novus," the agent said. "If a patient was on hospice care for too long, Harris would direct the patient be moved back to home health, irrespective of whether the patient needed continued hospice care."

 In a lunch meeting, the FBI said Harris asked two health care executives to "find patients who would die within 24 hours" because that would "save my ass toward the cap."

 Speaking of one of his patients, Harris said "words to the effect of, 'If this fu**** would just die.'"

 Another Novus employee told agents that in late 2013, Harris sent a text message asking the worker to "administer an overdose of medication to a hospice patient … by increasing the patient's medication dosage to approximately four times the maximum allowed."

 The employee did not comply with the request because it would have killed the patient, the FBI said.

 One worker said Harris regularly directed nurses to "overdose hospice patients when they have been on hospice service for too long" by sending text messages like, "You need to make this patient go bye-bye," the FBI said.

 SEARCH WARRANT

 The search warrant required that a data storage company that Novus had hired, Smarsh, of Portland, Ore., turn over all of Novus' emails and medical records.

 The company turned over the information the same day, according to court records.

 In the warrant, signed Feb. 3, the FBI said it was investigating health care fraud, false statements relating to health care matters, and obstruction of a criminal investigation into health care offenses.

 The FBI said it searched Novus' offices on Sept. 17, 2015, and seized 18 DVDs of the company's emails. Another 44 were subpoenaed from the attorney of a former unnamed executive.

 Agents needed a password to read the emails, according to the records. Smarsh turned over the password along with a hard drive and account and search histories, records showed.

 Smarsh, which is not accused of any wrongdoing, did not respond to a request for comment.

 An FBI agent investigating the case said he was working with investigators from the Department of Health and Human Services' Inspector General's office.

 HHS administers the Medicare program, which provides health benefits for people 65 and older.

 Medicaid, which is funded mostly by federal tax dollars and administered by the state of Texas, provides health care for poor people. ||||| The owner of a Frisco hospice agency accused of telling nurses to overdose patients on morphine to speed their deaths filed lawsuits against several employees and two executives who quit in the days after an FBI raid. (Published Wednesday, March 30, 2016)

 The owner of a Frisco hospice agency accused of telling nurses to overdose patients on morphine to speed their deaths filed lawsuits against several employees and two executives who quit in the days after an FBI raid.

 On Sept. 17, 2015, agents searched Novus Health Services, claiming in a warrant that the company’s founder, Brad Harris, was suspected of committing health care fraud and had made comments to employees like, “You need to make this patient go bye-bye.”

 In late October, the company filed a lawsuit against nursing director Patricia Armstrong, accusing her of violating a no-compete contract when she left on Oct. 6, 2015, and went to work for another company.

 The suit asked for between $200,000 and $1 million.

 FBI: Hospice Owner Directed Overdoses of Patients

 The owner of a Frisco medical company regularly directed nurses to overdose hospice patients with drugs such as morphine to speed up their deaths and maximize profits, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit for a search warrant obtained by NBC 5. (Published Tuesday, March 29, 2016)

 The following month, Novus also sued four former marketing executives, also accusing them of violating their contracts.

 In court papers, an attorney for the executives, Jacob Kring, blasted the company for not disclosing the FBI investigation in its lawsuit.

 "Novus and its CEO Brad Harris had their offices raided by the FBI ... for euthanizing patients for profits and committing Medicaid/Medicare fraud,” Kring wrote. “(Novus) never disclosed this fact to the court."

 He also said the raid had effectively put Novus out of business.

 “To compound the injury, (Novus) in a Grinch-like act of spite, refused to pay each Defendant their final check,” he wrote.

 Both cases were later dropped.

 A separate lawsuit named two of Harris' own business partners who left soon after the FBI search.

 The suit, filed by Novus' parent company, HNA Holdings, named Preston Huffington and Samuel Anderson and two law firms.

 The suit claimed: "In short, Huffington and Anderson grabbed $200,000 of HNA's money for their personal benefit on their way out the door."

 The executives said the money went to the lawyers because Harris had promised to pay their legal fees.

 Court records show this case was closed in January.

 Harris has not responded to repeated requests for comment.

 Nobody has been charged in the case.

 An FBI spokeswoman has declined comment.

 Staff Writer Valerie Wigglesworth of The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report. ||||| DALLAS (AP) — The owner of a Dallas-area hospice ordered nurses to increase drug dosages for patients to speed their deaths and maximize profits, according to an FBI affidavit.

 A copy of the affidavit for a search warrant obtained by KXAS-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth (http://bit.ly/1VTzfeh ) alleges Brad Harris ordered higher dosages for at least four patients at Novus Health Services in Frisco. It's unclear whether any deaths resulted from overdoses of drugs like morphine.

 Harris has not been charged. The FBI on Wednesday declined to say whether an investigation is ongoing.

 The warrant refers to an FBI raid on the hospice in September. It alleges Harris sent text messages to workers such as, "You need to make this patient go bye-bye." On another occasion, Harris told administrators during a lunch meeting that he wanted to "find patients who would die within 24 hours."

 In at least one instance, an employee refused to follow orders to increase a dosage, the warrant said.

 The document explains that federal reimbursements can diminish the longer a patient receives care. A provider eventually can be forced to return federal payments.

 A woman who answered the phone Wednesday at Novus declined to comment. Attempts to reach Harris for comment on Wednesday were unsuccessful. A working number for him could not be found; listings for a Brad Harris in the Dallas and Houston areas had either been disconnected or turned out not to be his. The Associated Press also sent a request for comment to two email addresses believed to be his.

 Harris, 34, is an accountant who founded Novus in 2012, according to KXAS, citing state records.

 Novus' website says the company offers hospice and home health care services.

 The FBI investigation of Novus, which included interviewing several employees, began in 2014 and initially focused on allegations that the company sought federal reimbursements for patients recruited by Novus who didn't qualify for services, according to KXAS. |||||


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In this courtroom drawing, Clare Bronfman, right, is arraigned at federal court in New York, Tuesday, July 24, 2018. Bronfman, a daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman... (Associated Press)

 In this courtroom drawing, Clare Bronfman, right, is arraigned at federal court in New York, Tuesday, July 24, 2018. Bronfman, a daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr., and three other people associated with the NXIVM organization were taken into... (Associated Press)

 NEW YORK (AP) — An heiress to the Seagram's liquor fortune and three other people were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the investigation of a self-improvement organization accused of branding some of its female followers and forcing them into unwanted sex.

 Clare Bronfman, 39, a daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr., surrendered to the FBI and pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges.

 She was freed from custody following a late-afternoon court appearance where she pledged to post a $100 million bond to ensure her return to court.

 U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis set the high amount after hearing prosecutors label her a flight risk and learning she has a net worth of roughly $200 million, including a stake in an island resort in Fiji.

 Bronfman, who appeared in court wearing flip-flops and a T-shirt, didn't comment as she left a federal courthouse in Brooklyn. She was to remain under house arrest following her release.

 A former competitor in international equestrian show jumping competitions, Bronfman is accused in an indictment of taking a number of steps to help NXIVM's founder and leader, Keith Raniere, exercise control over members of the upstate New York group, including identity theft, interception of electronic communications and money laundering.

 She was part of an "inner circle" of loyalists who "committed a broad range of serious crimes from identity theft and obstruction of justice to sex trafficking, all to promote and protect Raniere and NXIVM," U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement.

 Raniere was arrested in Mexico this year and was brought to the U.S. to face charges that he, along with an adherent, the TV actress Allison Mack, coerced followers into becoming slaves to senior members.

 In a statement, a lawyer for Bronfman, Susan Necheles, called the charges "the result of government overreaching and charging an individual with crimes just because the government disagrees with some beliefs taught by NXIVM and held by Clare."

 "We are confident that Clare will be exonerated," she said.

 Also arrested Tuesday were Nancy Salzman, who was the organization's longtime president; her daughter, Lauren Salzman; and a former bookkeeper for the group, Kathy Russell. All three were released on bail without entering pleas.

 Despite criticism for years by ex-followers who called NXIVM a cult and a pyramid scheme, the organization's intense self-improvement classes had, at one point, earned it thousands of adherents, including some with Hollywood ties. They included Nicki Clyne, an actress who appeared on "Battlestar Galactica"; Bronfman's sister Sara Bronfman; a son of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari; and India Oxenberg, a daughter of "Dynasty" actress Catherine Oxenberg.

 In an indictment, prosecutors say Mack, who played a teenage friend of Superman in the CW network's "Smallville," helped Raniere recruit women to a secret sub-society within NXIVM whose members were branded by way of a surgical tool with a symbol that resembled his initials. Women were expected to be subservient to "masters," prosecutors said, including giving in to demands for sex.

 The arrest of Bronfman, who has long been affiliated with NXIVM, wasn't a surprise. At a court hearing in June, a judge rejected an attempt to get Raniere released on $10 million bail paid for by Bronfman after prosecutors labeled her a co-conspirator.

 In earlier court filings, the government detailed how Bronfman gave away tens of millions of dollars of her fortune to support Raniere and his group, including paying for private air travel at a cost of $65,000 a flight. It also said Bronfman has "paid for numerous lawyers to bring suits against Nxivm critics."

 In a website post last year, Bronfman called the secret society a "sorority" that "has truly benefited the lives of its members, and does so freely." She added, "I find no fault in a group of women (or men for that matter) freely taking a vow of loyalty and friendship with one another to feel safe while pushing back against the fears that have stifled their personal and professional growth."

 Raniere and Mack have also denied the allegations. In their court papers, the defense lawyers have said the supposed victims of the group were never abused and were in fact "independent, smart, curious adults" searching for "happiness, fulfillment and meaning."

 Raniere, Mack and some of the other defendants were expected to appear together at a pretrial hearing on Wednesday in Brooklyn.

 ___

 Associated Press Writer Mary Esch contributed to this report from Albany, New York. ||||| Image copyright Reuters Image caption Clare Bronfman is the daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist Edgar Bronfman

 A liquor heiress is facing charges of funding a suspected US sex cult whose recruits were allegedly branded with the initials of its founder.

 Seagram scion Clare Bronfman, 39, is accused of using her fortune to help finance Nxivm's operations.

 Investigators say the organisation is a sex-trafficking operation disguised as a mentoring group.

 Six people have now been charged as part of the inquiry, including 35-year-old Smallville actress Allison Mack.

 Ms Bronfman's lawyer said her client "did nothing wrong".

 She was formally charged on Tuesday before being released on a $100m (£75m) bail bond.

 What is Nxivm?

 On its website Nxivm (pronounced nexium) describes itself as a "community guided by humanitarian principles that seek to empower people and answer important questions about what it means to be human".

 Based in Albany in upstate New York, the group was founded as Executive Success Programs in 1998 and says it has worked with more than 16,000 people.

 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Smallville actress Allison Mack was charged earlier this year with sex trafficking

 Members of the group are reported to include the son of a former Mexican president and Hollywood actresses.

 Federal prosecutors allege Nxivm's leader Keith Raniere, 57, oversaw a "slave and master" system within the group. Female members were expected to have sex with him and were branded with his initials, say former members.

 According to the group's website, it has suspended enrolment and events because of the "extraordinary circumstances facing the company at this time".

 What is Clare Bronfman accused of?

 Ms Bronfman, the daughter of late billionaire philanthropist and Seagram head Edgar Bronfman, was arrested on Tuesday along with three others on charges of racketeering conspiracy, US prosecutors say.

 Court documents allege Ms Bronfman, a member of Nxivm's executive board, was involved in the identity theft of at least two women - including a deceased sexual partner of Mr Raniere.

 She is also accused of encouraging and assisting in an alleged Nxivm victim's illegal entry into the US.

 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Ms Bronfman had been a competitive equestrian, but reportedly sold her horses in recent years

 In a note published on her website last December, Ms Bronfman said she still supported Nxivm after seeing "so much good come from both our programmes and from Keith himself".

 Her lawyer Susan Necheles said in a statement that Nxivm was "not a criminal enterprise" but "an organisation that helped thousands of people," according to US media.

 "The charges against Clare are the result of government overreaching and charging an individual with crimes just because the government disagrees with some beliefs taught by Nxivm and held by Clare," Ms Necheles said.

 Who else has been charged?

 Keith Raniere himself was arrested by the FBI in Mexico in March.

 He and actress Allison Mack were charged with sex trafficking and forced labour conspiracy the following month.

 Image copyright Keith Raniere Conversations/YouTube Image caption Keith Raniere was detained in Mexico, where he has reportedly been living for several months

 Both face mandatory minimum sentences of 15 years and a maximum of life imprisonment for the sex-trafficking charges.

 Mr Raniere, whose trial is scheduled for 1 October, has been denied bail because of fears that Ms Bronfman might use her financial clout to help him escape.

 Nxivm co-founder Nancy Salzman, 64, her daughter, Lauren Salzman, 42, and the group's 60-year-old bookkeeper, Kathy Russell, were all arrested alongside Ms Brofman on Tuesday.

 All six are accused of racketeering conspiracy, or attempting to illegally obtain or extort money, and could face up to 20 years in jail, plus an additional maximum 15 years for identity theft conspiracy.

 The US Department of Justice says the group committed "an array of crimes, including identity theft, extortion, forced labour, sex trafficking, money laundering, wire fraud and obstruction of justice".

 FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said on Tuesday that "the details of these alleged crimes become more and more grim as we continue to dig deeper into the conduct of this organisation and its intended mission". |||||

– Liquor heiress Clare Bronfman was among four people arrested Tuesday as part of an investigation into what prosecutors say was a sex trafficking organization masquerading as a self-help group. Bronfman, the 39-year-old daughter of late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr., pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges and was freed after agreeing to pay $100 million, which is half of her estimated $200 million fortune, the AP reports. She is accused of using her fortune to assist and protect the NXIVM group and leader Keith Raniere, the BBC reports. Prosecutors say female recruits were expected to have sex with Raniere and were branded with his initials. Bronfman and other members of the group's inner circle "committed a broad range of serious crimes from identity theft and obstruction of justice to sex trafficking, all to promote and protect Raniere and NXIVM," US Attorney Richard Donoghue said Tuesday. Bronfman has described the group as a "sorority" that truly benefits its members. Her lawyer, Susan Nechele, described the charges as "overreach" from a government that disagrees with the group's teachings. Organization co-founder Nancy Salzman, her daughter Lauren, and bookkeeper Kathy Russell were also arrested on racketeering charges and released on bail Tuesday. Raniere and Smallville actress Allison Mack were indicted on sex trafficking charges in April.


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Rumer Maujean's cancer fight

 My name is Sacha Maujean and I am a sole parent to my 2 beautiful daughters Romany Maujean aged 10 and Rumer Maujean aged 2. Unfortunately just before Christmas at 2am one morning I rushed little Rumer to the Cairns Base Hospital where they did extensive tests and then told me the devastating news that my gorgeous little baby girl has a large cancerous growth measuring 11cm long. They flew us down to the Lady Cilento Childrens Hospital immediately.

 More and more awful testing and on Christmas eve they told me Rumer had a large neuroblastoma tumor and stage 3 cancer. She has a 50% chance of recovery.

 Luckily Queensland Health supplied us with our flights down to the Hospital and allow me to live with Rumer in the hospital. But we are looking at around a 2 year stay down here, away from our home, family, and friends. If anyone would like to help my daughters and I out by donationg we would be VERY grateful, as this is a difficult time for us and Rumer's big sister Romany who is still in Cairns.

 Thank you!

 Love Sacha and Romany and Rumer :)

 2.8K SHARES Share Tweet Donate COPY, PASTE & SHARE: https://www.gofundme.com/rumer

 What is GoFundMe? ||||| Adam Koessler is a loving father who was arrested on 2nd January 2015 for administering medicinal cannabis oil to his daughter Rumer Rose after she was diagnosed with stage 4 Neuroblastoma.

 Adams bail conditions prohibit him from having direct or indirect contact with his own child who is in the Lady Cilento Children's hospital - South Brisbane. On the 9th January 2015, Rumer was moved to Intensive care after having seizures.

 It is inhumane and unjust to keep a parent, who acted out of love for his child, wanting to prolong her life, away from her during such severe illness.

 Aside from the excruciating cruelty of eliminating his parental rights set down on his bail conditions, this decision is contrary to what is already known and well documented with respect to the benefits of medical grade cannabis oil.

 Adam is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates court on the 20th January 2015 charged with possession of a dangerous drug (cannabis) and administering a dangerous drug (cannabis) to a minor under the age of 16.

 Medical Cannabis has been legalised in many countries and jurisdictions around the globe. There is ample evidence to show that it has many beneficial effects for cancer patients without the harmful side effects and other associated risks of current drug treatments. In fact working in conjunction with the recommended treatment regime, medical cannabis has also been proven to alleviate these adverse side effects.

 Adam Koessler deserves to have his parental rights to see his child reinstated, the charges against him dismissed by a court, and the right to decide the treatment options for his own child.

 In the case of Cooper Wallace in Victoria and his parents Cassie Batten and Rhett Wallace.

 His parents are no longer being pursued for administering medical cannabis oil which has had a significant positive effect on Coopers seizures, however this family were put through a nightmare that should never have been their burden whilst dealing with a severely ill child.

 Medicinal cannabis oil, its supply and use, should be decriminalised in Australia without further delay.

 Close to 200,000 Australians support this proposition as evidenced by the Change.org petition in support of Dan Haslam www.change.org/p/jillian-skinner-decriminalise-the-use-of-medicinal-cannabis-for-people-with-terminal-cancer-like-my-son .

 Please join our Facebook page to read more. www.facebook.com/adamfearlessfather

  ||||| Rumer Rose- Road to Recovery

 Dear Friends, Family and Internet community. My name is Adam Koessler and this is my daughter Rumer Rose. In the afternoon of 18/12/2014 our lives were turned upside down. We left our family, work and friends in Cairns and are now living out of a suitcase at Lady Cilento Childrens Hospital in Brisbane.

 Rumer is two and a half years old and has been diagnosed with aggressive cancer stemming from her adrenal glands. Rumer is absolutely delightful. A strong willed, articulate little lady who is the center of my universe.

 I have left my job at St Andrews Catholic College in Cairns to support my daughter and her mother full-time. I aim to aid her recovery by providing the best possible nutrition and natural therapies to complement her chemotherapy treatment. Not to mention 24/7 emotional support. Rumer is Daddys girl and his biggest inspiration. xx

 I am truly blessed, I feel the love of the greater community rallying around us and humbly accept any monetary assistance/donations to give Rumer the best chance of recovery.

 With much gratitude,

 Adam Koessler & Rumer Rose

 3.4K SHARES Share Tweet Donate COPY, PASTE & SHARE: https://www.gofundme.com/rumer_rose

 What is GoFundMe? ||||| Cairns community continues to donate to help cancer-affected toddler Rumer

 THE father of cancer-affected toddler Rumer Rose Maujean has praised the outpouring of support from the Cairns community, which has so far raised more than $8000 for his daughter.

 Adam Koessler said his family was over the moon at the amount of generosity, with all donations going towards paying for the costs of Rumer’s treatment and accommodation in Brisbane.

 The youngster was formally diagnosed with advanced neuroblastoma, a type of cancer, on Christmas Day.

 “I can’t believe how generous people are. It’s been really fantastic,” Mr Koessler said.

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 The family is hoping to raise a total of $20,000.

 “There’s all sorts of expenses setting up when we’re living out of our suitcases to make it a bit homely for Rumer,” Mr Koessler said.

 “I was completely devastated when we were told about the diagnosis.

 “But ... I’m feeling really strong and confident now.”

 Rumer will start her first bout of chemotherapy at Brisbane’s Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital today and finish Friday, before a two-week break.

 The treatment will aim to shrink the 11cm cancerous tumour in Rumer’s adrenal glands.

 “We’re doing as well as we can. Everything is in place,” Mr Koessler said.

 “Things are as good as they can be in this situation.”

 Mr Koessler, who was forced to leave his job to look after Rumer, said he hoped the family could return to Cairns within 12 months.

 “It’s been really hard leaving Cairns and all our family,” he said.

 “Any donations and support we can get really helps us.

 To give to Rumer’s treatment visit, gofundme.com/rumer_rose

 Her progress can be followed at facebook.com/rumersrecovery |||||

– A 2-year-old girl was recently given a 50/50 chance of surviving stage 4 neuroblastoma cancer, and dad Adam Koessler wants to do everything in his power to boost those chances. The Australian man started putting cannabis oil in Rumer's food and noticed "extremely beneficial" and even "miraculous" results, he says—but on Jan. 2, he was arrested and charged with supplying dangerous drugs to a person under 16. While on the cannabis oil (which does not contain the compound that gets marijuana users high), Rumer was in less pain, had more energy, and was able to eat, gain weight, and even go outside. "Her skin color came back, her eyes were sparkling again," her father says. "Her cancer-ridden little body was alive again." Without the cannabis oil, her condition has declined and she's in intensive care on morphine, the Newcastle Herald reports. Medical marijuana advocates are standing behind Koessler, who—as part of his bail conditions—is not allowed any contact with Rumer. The NSW Hemp Party spokesman points out the fact that Rumer was put on opiate painkillers after being forced off cannabis oil and says, "The current legal position regarding the enforced medical treatment of an innocent child is unconscionable." The Cairns community is also rallying behind Rumer and her family, donating money toward Rumer's treatment, the Cairns Post reported last month, shortly after Rumer was diagnosed on Christmas Day. Two crowdfunding campaigns have raised more than $30,000, and a Change.org petition for Koessler to see his parental rights reinstated and medicinal cannabis oil to be decriminalized has more than 157,000 supporters. A Facebook page apparently run by Rumer's mother (her parents are not together, according to her dad's GoFundMe page) says her cancer was recently downgraded to stage 3. (This dad credits his son's recovery from cancer to cannabis oil.)


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– The War on Christmas existed long before Fox News. In the 17th century, it was an indisputable fact: Boston Puritans canceled Christmas for 22 years, and those caught celebrating were hit with a fine, Mental Floss explains. A court order in 1659 warned against "observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way"; the ban remained until 1681. Working was required, and concerned Puritans actually sent out town criers to yell, "No Christmas! No Christmas!" At the time, however, holiday celebrations were quite different from today's. For instance, the practice of "wassailing" saw less-wealthy colonists seeking food and drink from their richer counterparts—and when they didn't get it, things could get violent. The Rev. Increase Mather, meanwhile, was troubled by holidays spent "playing at Cards, in Revellings, in excess of Wine, in Mad Mirth," he wrote in 1687, as Slate and the Massachusetts Travel Journal have noted. In 1681, governor Sir Edmund Andros ended the ban—but it wasn't until the late 19th century that Christmas celebrations got popular in the area.

For 22 years, Bostonians who wished a fellow colonist so much as a "Merry Christmas" would have to shell out five shillings for flaunting their Yuletide spirit. On May 11, 1659, Puritanical theocrats brought the hammer down on Christmas celebrations, enacting a political ban on the holiday and charging fines to Christmas sympathizers. The records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's general court shed some light on just how the Puritans managed to shutter holiday celebrations, stating:

 ...It is therefore ordered by this court and the authority thereof that whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way, upon any such account as aforesaid, every such person so offending shall pay for every such offence five shilling as a fine to the county.

 The ban, enacted to put the kibosh on general holiday rowdiness—Reverend Increase Mather (pictured above), a New Englander and father of Salem Witch Trials figurehead Cotton Mather, denounced the holiday season as "consumed in Compotations, in Interludes, in playing at Cards, in Revellings, in excess of Wine, in Mad Mirth"—held steady through 1681.

 Christmas customs prior to the ban were a little more unruly than hanging wreaths and caroling. One popular tradition, called wassailing, involved lower class colonists demanding food and drink from citizens of wealthier stature in exchange for toasting their good health. If denied, proceedings often got violent.

 Though Christmas wasn't officially banned until 1659, journals from the Puritans' first Christmas in the colony illustrate that the number of settlers who celebrated Christmas was split. By the second Christmas—after a sickness-plagued year—the holiday was already unofficially prohibited.

 Puritan rule, which banned seasonal delicacies like mince pies and pudding, decreed working on Christmas as mandatory and dispatched town criers on Christmas Eve to shout "No Christmas, No Christmas" through the streets of Boston. The outlawing of Christmas was also a regional, purely Puritanian restriction—farther south, Jamestown settler John Smith reported that Christmas was "enjoyed by all and passed without incident."

 Christmas returned to the Massachusetts Colony in 1681—sort of. When newly appointed royal governor Sir Edmund Andros (who also turned back a Puritan ban on Saturday night activities) sponsored and attended Christmas services in 1686, he was heavily guarded by a regiment of redcoats.

 Bostonian judge Samuel Sewall kept a chronicle of how Christmas was celebrated in his native colony, noting that celebrations remained sparse. Wrote Sewall in a 1685 diary entry: "Carts come to Town and Shops open as is usual." Working was no longer a necessity on Christmas Day, but had become a staple after a 22-year lack of Yuletide traditions.

 Celebrating Christmas in Boston stayed out of vogue through the mid-1800s; public school students caught skipping class on Christmas Day in 1869, the year before Ulysses S. Grant named Christmas a national holiday, still risked expulsion. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow put a poetic spin on Boston's Christmas cold spell in 1858, acknowledging the Puritanical footprint left on New England's holiday spirit. ||||| Complaining about Christmas is one of the most enduring of Christmas traditions. It's not so much the holiday itself that bothers us. It's the way other people insist on celebrating it. In his new book The War on Christmas, Fox News host John Gibson argues for a more Christian Christmas, one that includes crèches and carols in public schools and city halls. "Christians are coming to retake their place in the public square, and the most natural battleground in this war is Christmas," he writes. With their campaign for the phrase "Merry Christmas" in stores and their brief boycott of Target, religious advocacy groups like the Alliance Defense Fund and the American Family Association are trying to prove him right.

 Gibson begins his book with an ode to the Christmas of his youth and says that he's defending traditional public celebration of the holiday from bullying ACLU lawyers and other secularists who are perpetrating a "Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday," as the subtitle of his book puts it. As a matter of American history, however, some of the strongest complaints about the public celebration of Christmas have been lodged from within the Christian tradition—by devout Christians who had little use for the holiday. For a surprising number of American believers, the chief concern wasn't putting Christ back into Christmas. It was taking Christmas out of Christianity.

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 Liberal plots notwithstanding, the Americans who succeeded in banning the holiday were the Puritans of 17th-century Massachusetts. Between 1659 and 1681, Christmas celebrations were outlawed in the colony, and the law declared that anyone caught "observing, by abstinence from labor, feasting or any other way any such days as Christmas day, shall pay for every such offense five shillings." Finding no biblical authority for celebrating Jesus' birth on Dec. 25, the theocrats who ran Massachusetts regarded the holiday as a mere human invention, a remnant of a heathen past. They also disapproved of the rowdy celebrations that went along with it. "How few there are comparatively that spend those holidays … after an holy manner," the Rev. Increase Mather lamented in 1687. "But they are consumed in Compotations, in Interludes, in playing at Cards, in Revellings, in excess of Wine, in Mad Mirth."

 After the English Restoration government reclaimed control of Massachusetts from the Puritans in the 1680s, one of the first acts of the newly appointed royal governor of the colony was to sponsor and attend Christmas religious services. Perhaps fearing a militant Puritan backlash, for the 1686 services he was flanked by redcoats. The Puritan disdain for the holiday endured: As late as 1869, public-school kids in Boston could be expelled for skipping class on Christmas Day.

 The Puritans are the most cited example of anti-Christmas spirit, but not the only one. Quakers, too, took a pass, reasoning that, in the words of 17th-century Quaker apologist Robert Barclay, "All days are alike holy in the sight of God." The Quakers never translated their dismissal of Christmas into legislation in their stronghold in Colonial Pennsylvania. But local meetings, as the Quakers call their assemblies, urged their members to disdain Christmas and to be "zealous in their testimony against the holding up of such days." As late as 1810, the Philadelphia Democratic Press reported that few Pennsylvanians celebrated the holiday.

 Observance of Christmas, or the lack thereof, was one way to differentiate among the Christian sects of Colonial and 19th-century America. Anglicans, Moravians, Dutch Reformed, and Lutherans, to name just a few, did; Quakers, Puritans, Separatists, Baptists, and some Presbyteriansdid not. An 1855 New York Times report on Christmas services in the city noted that Baptist and Methodist churches were closed because they "do not accept the day as a holy one," while Episcopal and Catholic churches were open and "decked with evergreens." New England Congregationalist preacher Henry Ward Beecher remembered decorative greenery as an exotic touch that one could see only in Episcopal churches, "a Romish institution kept up by the Romish church."

 Naturally, some celebrants of the holiday complained about the abstainers. In 1867, Reformed Church minister Henry Harbaugh protested that Presbyterians in his Pennsylvania neighborhood "spend the day working as on any other day. Their children grow up knowing nothing of brightly lit Christmas trees, nor Christmas presents. God have mercy on these Presbyterians, these pagans." You can hear the echo of that sentiment today, in the criticism of the megachurches that have announced that they will be closed on Christmas, because their leaders think congregations and church staff would rather remain home with their families. "Our culture does not need any encouragement to be more self-centered or narcissistic, or to stay at home on Sunday," Bible scholar Ben Witherington III wrote on Beliefnet last week. "Shame on you, megachurches." ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||