Article:

By REUTERS

 Photo: Reuters

 Charlie Hebdo

 PARIS - France said it would temporarily close its embassies and schools in 20 countries on Friday after a French magazine published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, a move it fears will further inflame tensions over a film mocking the prophet."We have indeed decided as a precautionary measure to close our premises, embassies, consulates, cultural centers and schools," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said of the shut-down on Friday, prayer day across the Muslim world.The French satirical weekly published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad on Wednesday, a move criticized by the French authorities which sent riot police to protect the magazine's offices.In response, Muslim leaders criticized the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad as another Western insult to their faith and urged France's government to take firm action against it."We reject and condemn the French cartoons that dishonor the Prophet and we condemn any action that defames the sacred according to people's beliefs," the acting head of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Essam Erian, said.Issues of the magazine hit newsstands with a front cover showing an Orthodox Jew pushing a turbaned figure in a wheelchair with several caricatures of the Prophet on its inside pages, including some of him naked.The front page cartoon had the wheelchair-bound figure saying "You mustn't mock" under the headline "Untouchable 2", a reference to a hugely popular French movie about a paralyzed rich white man and his black assistant.The publication came amid widespread outrage over a short film, made with private funds in the United States, that mocks the Prophet and has ignited days of sometimes deadly protests in the Arab world, Africa, Asia and some Western countries.French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius criticized the move as a provocation and said he had ordered security beefed up at French diplomatic offices in the Muslim world.Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices were fire bombed last November after it published a mocking caricature of Mohammad. In 2005, Danish cartoons of the Prophet sparked a wave of violent protests across the Muslim world that killed at least 50 people.Many Muslims consider any representation of Allah or the Prophet Mohammad offensive."Is it relevant and intelligent in this environment to add fuel to the fire? The answer is no," Fabius told France Info radio. "I'm very worried... and when I saw this I immediately issued instructions for special security precautions to be taken in all the countries where it could be a problem."The government has called for restraint over the cartoons, restating the principles of free speech in France and urging those shocked by the images to take action through the courts.Muslim leaders in France, which has Europe's largest Muslim population, have appealed for calm.As outrage over the anti-Muslim film continues to fuel violence and protests across the Islamic world, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the authorities had rejected a request to hold a march against the film in Paris."There is no reason for us to allow conflicts that do not concern France to enter our country," Ayrault told RTL radio.Social media had circulated calls for a protest on Saturday against the film, after police arrested about 150 people who tried to take part in an unauthorized protest near the US Embassy in Paris last week. ||||| A FRENCH satirical magazine has published nude cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, a move that could further inflame tensions after violent protests in the Muslim world over an anti-Islam film.

 The cover of Charlie Hebdo today shows a Muslim in a wheelchair being pushed by an Orthodox Jew under the title Intouchables 2, referring to an award-winning French film about a poor black man who helps an aristocratic quadriplegic.

 Another cartoon on the back page of the weekly magazine shows a naked turbaned Mohammed exposing his posterior to a film director, a scene inspired by a 1963 film starring French film star Brigitte Bardot.

 Charlie Hebdo's website crashed today after being bombarded with comments that ranged from hate mail to approbation.

 The magazine is no stranger to controversy over issues relating to Islam.

 Last year it published an edition ''guest-edited'' by Prophet Mohammed that it called Sharia Hebdo.

 The magazine's offices in Paris were subsequently fire-bombed.

 French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said anyone offended by cartoons could take the matter to the courts after expressing his 'disapproval of all excesses''.

 But he emphasised France's tradition of free speech.

 ''We are in a country where freedom of expression is guaranteed, including the freedom to caricature,'' he said on RTL radio.

 ''If people really feel offended in their beliefs and think there has been an infringement of the law - and we are in a state where laws must be totally respected - they can go to court,'' Ayrault said.

 He also said a request to hold a demonstration in Paris against the controversial US-made anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims, which has sparked furious protests across the Muslim world, would be refused.

 Charlie Hebdo's latest move was greeted with immediate calls from political and religious leaders for the media to act responsibly and avoid inflaming the current situation.

 The magazine's editor, originally a cartoonist who uses the name Charb, denied he was being deliberately provocative at a delicate time.

 ''The freedom of the press, is that a provocation?'' he said.

 ''I'm not asking strict Muslims to read Charlie Hebdo, just like I wouldn't go to a mosque to listen to speeches that go against everything I believe.''

 Dalil Boubakeur, the senior cleric at Paris's biggest mosque, appealed for France's four million Muslims to remain calm.

 ''It is with astonishment, sadness and concern that I have learned that this publication is risking increasing the current outrage across the Muslim world,'' he said.

 ''I would appeal to them not to pour oil on the fire.''

 France's Muslim Council, the community's main representative body, also appealed for calm in the face of ''this new act of Islamaphobia''. ||||| France's leadership is barring a planned protest by people angry over a film produced in the United States that insults the Prophet Muhammad, but are defending a newspaper's right to publish caricatures of the prophet.

 France's foreign minister said security is being stepped up at some French embassies amid tensions in France and elsewhere around the film "The Innocence of Muslims." French authorities and Muslim leaders urged calm in the country with western Europe's largest Muslim population.

 Riot police took up positions outside the Paris offices of a satirical French weekly that published crude caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad on Wednesday that ridicule the film and the furor surrounding it. The provocative weekly, Charlie Hebdo, was firebombed last year after it released a special edition that was "guest edited" by the Prophet Muhammad and took aim at radical Islam. The investigation into that attack is still under way.

 Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that organizers of the planned demonstration Saturday against the film "Innocence of Muslims" won't receive police authorization for the protest.

 Ayrault told French radio RTL on Wednesday that "there's no reason for us to let a conflict that doesn't concern France come into our country. We are a republic that has no intention of being intimidated by anyone."

 A wave of protest has swept some Muslim countries over the amateurish video posted online. The total number of deaths linked to unrest over the film is at least 28.

 In Paris, prosecutors have opened an investigation into an unauthorized protest last Saturday around the American Embassy that drew about 150 people and led to scores of arrests.

 The tensions around the film in France provoked debate about the limits of free speech.

 Ayrault emphasized that the freedom of expression was guaranteed in France, but said it "should be exercised with responsibility and respect."

 Satirical, small-circulation weekly Charlie Hebdo often draws attention for ridiculing sensitivity around the Prophet Muhammad. Its website was down Wednesday, but it was unclear why.

 Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, speaking on France Inter radio, said Wednesday, "In France we have freedom of expression, very well, this principle must not be infringed." But he added, "Is it pertinent, intelligent, in this context to pour oil on the fire? The answer is no."

 He said that he had "sent instructions to all countries where this could pose problems, we are taking specific security measures."

 An umbrella group for French Muslims, the CFCM, issued a statement expressing its "deep concern" over the latest Charlie Hebdo caricatures and warned that "in a very tense context, it risks exacerbating tensions and provoking reactions."

 It urged French Muslims to "not cede to provocation and ... express their indignation in peace via legal means." |||||
What is a summary?

– France is on lockdown today after a satirical French newspaper published cartoons of the prophet Mohammed—including at least one featuring the prophet naked, reports ABC News. Fearing reprisals, Paris has closed embassies in 20 countries, reports the Jerusalem Post. The caricatures in the cheeky weekly Charlie Hebdo make fun of the anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims and the uproar surrounding it. The cover features the prophet being pushed in a wheelchair by an Orthodox Jew under the title Untouchables 2, in reference to a popular French movie featuring a friendship in France between a disabled white man and his black helper. The last time Charlie Hebdo printed an image of Mohammed as a "guest editor" on its cover, its Paris office was firebombed. French government officials have criticized the decision to print the images just as Innocence of Muslims has sparked angry protests in some 20 nations, reports the Herald Sun. Officials didn't try to block publication of the caricatures, but have barred a Saturday protest against the film, reports the AP. Paris police have stepped up security at Charlie Hebdo's offices and around the city, where the top cleric in the largest mosque is already appealing for calm. France is home to Europe's largest Muslim population.


News article:

by: Dave Huddleston Updated: Apr 14, 2017 - 12:07 AM

 ATLANTA - Local federal agents arrested a man who is accused of abusing a child, and made the arrest just before he tried to get out of the country.

 Sergio Morales Soto, 19, was on board a flight heading to Guatemala on April 5, but his flight was delayed because of severe weather.

 The storm gave agents enough time to arrest him.

 "We were able to locate which aircraft he was on, actually to the point of which seat he was on. Then we went on board the aircraft and apprehended him," Deputy Special Agent in Charge, Gregory Wiest, of Homeland Security Atlanta said.

 Channel 2 Action News was there when local agents handed Soto over to Caroline County Sheriff's Office agents and he boarded another plane -- this one headed back to Maryland, where Soto will face six felony sex assault charges.

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 "We are quickly able to identify where these people may be within Hartsfield, not even at Hartsfield yet, but booked on a flight. We have people who know the front of the airport to the back of the terminal. They do it every day," Wiest said.

 Port Director Carey Davis, with U.S .Customs Border Protection, said they arrest more than 20 suspects a day across the country.

 He said bad guys think that if they make it to the airport, or even get on a plane they are scot-free.

 “But they're wrong. They're wrong. This is the place we are going to get you," Davis said.

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What is a shorter version of the above article?

– An accused child rapist who tried to flee from Maryland to Guatemala was thwarted by bad weather, authorities say. Sergio Morales Soto, 19, was arrested on board a flight at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport the day after the alleged April 4 rape, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. After he was identified as a suspect, police discovered that Soto had boarded an early morning flight in Baltimore, with a connection in Atlanta. Homeland Security officials say flight delays caused by severe weather in the Southeast gave them enough time to catch up with him. Soto was detained in Georgia and put on a plane back to Maryland this week to face six felony assault charges, WSB-TV reports.


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– A Tribe Called Quest rapper Phife Dawg lived in Atlanta for more than a decade, and there are apparently at least a couple Quest fans at Atlanta's WSB-TV. After the rapper's death Wednesday, the station's traffic reporter, Mark Arum, worked an impressive number of Quest references into his traffic report. The video went viral and was shared by sites including the Daily Dot and BuzzFeed, who note some of the best call-outs: "This rush hour comin' on with more hits than the Braves or the Yankees." "Are things ludicrously speedy or infectious with the slow-mo?" "[Interstate-]85 is stacked and packed now, heading into midtown Atlanta with a crash south of 400—tell your mother, tell your father, send a telegram." Anchor Fred Blankenship even got in on the action, noting at one point, "Sometimes the definition of traffic comes sideways and straightways." "Phife and Tribe were the soundtrack of my youth," Arum tells BuzzFeed. "I was crushed when I heard the news this morning just before we went on the air. I wanted to pay tribute to him somehow." He says he's been inserting hip-hop lyrics into his traffic reports for years, but he really "let them fly" Wednesday—he typically only includes one or two a show. Arum and Blankenship also discussed their love for A Tribe Called Quest in a Facebook video Thursday, with Blankenship expressing his amazement that Arum "dropped deep Tribe Called Quest lyrics, and then didn't short-change the traffic."

“Phife and Tribe were the soundtrack of my youth,” Arum told BuzzFeed of his inspired tribute. “I was crushed when I heard the news this morning just before we went on the air. I wanted to pay tribute to him somehow, so I just decided to mix in some of his lyrics into my traffic reports.”

 Arum said he’s been “dropping hip hop lyrics into my reports for years,” but usually only one or two per show. “I decided to let them fly this morning.” ||||| Rapper Malik Taylor, known to fans as Phife Dawg from the critically acclaimed A Tribe Called Quest, died today after complications from diabetes. Many of hip-hop's biggest artists took to social media to pay respects to the beloved rapper.

 So incredibly sad to hear the Great Phife Dawg of Tribe Called Quest has passed away at only 45 yrs. GREAT MC. Sincere Love and Respect. — ⭐Jill Scott⭐ (@missjillscott) March 23, 2016

 Phife-HipHop & Rap word Warrior, simple as that.Breathed it & lined rhyme into Sport.A true fire Social Narrator my bro #RIBeats ATCQforever — Chuck D (@MrChuckD) March 23, 2016

 To honor the late, great rapper, a WSB-TV Atlanta traffic reporter, Mark Arum, tributed Phife Dawg’s best lyrics—skillfully weaving references into his traffic update.

 [Placeholder for https://www.facebook.com/wsbtv/posts/10154225148970695/ embed.]

 Some of the best references included:

 “More hits than the Braves or the Yankees”

 "Are things ludicrously speedy or infectious with the slow-mo?"

 “Track record's longer than a DC-20 aircraft”

 “Do that, do that, do do that that that”

 “Tell your mother, tell your father, send a telegram”

 “One for the treble, two for the bass, you know the style”

 And to further celebrate Phife Dawg and A Tribe Called Quest, check out the band's Beats, Rhymes, and Life doc.

 Screengrab via WSBTV/Facebook |||||


News article:

CAIRO |

 CAIRO Dec 5 (Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood called for a protest on Wednesday outside the presidential palace in response to what it described as "oppressive abuses" by opposition parties.

 Islamist President Mohamed Mursi returned to work on Wednesday, a day after slipping out of the palace when it came under siege from protesters furious about his drive to push through a new constitution.

 Mahmoud Ghozlan, spokesman for the Brotherhood, was quoted on the group's Facebook page as saying the abuses were committed by groups that "imagined they could shake legitimacy or impose their view with force". ||||| * Rival factions hurl petrol bombs, stones outside palace

 * Clinton calls for dialogue on contested constitution

 * Vice president offers olive branch to opposition

 By Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad

 CAIRO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Islamists fought protesters outside the Egyptian president's palace on Wednesday, while inside the building his deputy proposed a way to end a crisis over a draft constitution that has split the most populous Arab nation.

 Stones and petrol bombs flew between opposition protesters and supporters of President Mohamed Mursi who had flocked to the palace in response to a call from the Muslim Brotherhood.

 Two Islamists were hit in the legs by what their friends said were bullets fired during the clashes in streets around the compound in northern Cairo. One of them was bleeding heavily.

 A leftist group said Islamists had cut off the ear of one of its members. Medical sources said 23 people had been wounded in clashes.

 Riot police deployed between the two sides to try to stop the confrontations which flared after dark despite an attempt by Vice President Mahmoud Mekky to calm the political crisis.

 He said amendments to disputed articles in the draft constitution could be agreed with the opposition. A written agreement could then be submitted to the next parliament, to be elected after a referendum on the constitution on Dec. 15.

 "There must be consensus," he told a news conference, saying opposition demands had to be respected to reach a solution.

 Facing the gravest crisis of his six-month-old tenure, Mursi has shown no sign of buckling, confident that Islamists can win the referendum and a parliamentary election to follow.

 Many Egyptians yearn for an end to political upheaval that has scared off investors and tourists, damaging the economy.

 Egypt's opposition coalition blamed Mursi for the violence around his palace and said it was ready for dialogue if the Islamist leader scrapped a decree he issued on Nov. 22 that gave him wide powers and shielded his decisions from judicial review.

 "We hold President Mursi and his government completely responsible for the violence happening in Egypt today," opposition coordinator Mohamed ElBaradei told a news conference.

 POLARISATION

 "We are ready for dialogue if the constitutional decree is cancelled ... and the referendum on this constitution is postponed," he said of the document written by an Islamist-led assembly that the opposition says ignores its concerns.

 "Today what is happening in the Egyptian street, polarisation and division, is something that could and is actually drawing us to violence and could draw us to something worse," the former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog added.

 Opposition leaders have previously urged Mursi to retract the Nov. 22 decree, defer the referendum and agree to revise the constitution, but have not echoed calls from street protesters for his overthrow and the "downfall of the regime".

 Mursi has said his decree was needed to prevent courts still full of judges appointed by ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak from derailing a constitution vital for Egypt's political transition.

 Rival groups skirmished outside the presidential palace earlier on Wednesday. Islamist supporters of Mursi tore down tents erected by leftist foes, who had begun a sit-in there.

 "They hit us and destroyed our tents. Are you happy, Mursi? Aren't we Egyptians too?" asked protester Haitham Ahmed.

 Mohamed Mohy, a pro-Mursi demonstrator who was filming the scene, said: "We are here to support our president and his decisions and save our country from traitors and agents."

 Mekky said street mobilisation by both sides posed a "real danger" to Egypt. "If we do not put a stop to this phenomenon right away ... where are we headed? We must calm down."

 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighed into Egypt's political debate, saying dialogue was urgently needed on the new constitution, which should "respect the rights of all citizens".

 DIALOGUE

 Clinton and Mursi worked together last month to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.

 "It needs to be a two-way dialogue ... among Egyptians themselves about the constitutional process and the substance of the constitution," Clinton told a news conference in Brussels.

 Washington is worried about rising Islamist power in Egypt, a staunch U.S. security partner under Mubarak, who preserved the U.S.-brokered peace treaty Cairo signed with Israel in 1979.

 The Muslim Brotherhood had summoned supporters to an open-ended demonstration at the presidential palace, a day after about 10,000 opposition protesters had encircled it for what organisers dubbed a "last warning" to Mursi.

 "The people want the downfall of the regime," they chanted, roaring the signature slogan of last year's anti-Mubarak revolt.

 The "last warning" may turn out to be one of the last gasps for a disparate opposition that has little chance of scuttling next week's vote on the draft constitution.

 State institutions, with the partial exception of the judiciary, have mostly fallen in behind Mursi.

 The army, the muscle behind all previous Egyptian presidents in the republic's six-decade history, has gone back to barracks, having apparently lost its appetite to intervene in politics.

 In a bold move, Mursi sacked Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the Mubarak-era army commander and defence minister, in August and removed the sweeping powers that the military council, which took over after Mubarak fell, had grabbed two months earlier.

 The liberals, leftists, Christians, ex-Mubarak followers and others opposed to Mursi have yet to generate a mass movement or a grassroots political base to challenge the Brotherhood.

 Investors have seized on hopes that Egypt's turbulent transition, which has buffeted the economy for two years, may soon head for calmer waters, sending stocks 1.6 percent higher after a 3.5 percent rally on Tuesday.

 Egypt has turned to the IMF for a $4.8 billion loan after the depletion of its foreign currency reserves. The government said on Wednesday the process was on track and its request would go to the IMF board as expected.

 The board is due to review the facility on Dec. 19.

 Elijah Zarwan, a fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that if Egypt was to find a compromise solution to its crisis, it would not be through slogans and blows.

 "It will be through quiet negotiation, not through duelling press conferences, street brawls, or civil strife." ||||| CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamists battled with protesters outside Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's palace on Thursday, after his vice president suggested amendments could be agreed to the draft constitution that has divided the nation.

 Fires burned in the streets near the palace perimeter where opponents and supporters of Mursi threw stones and petrol bombs. Riot police tried to separate the two sides, but failed to halt fighting that extended from Wednesday into the early morning.

 Residents, frustrated that police had not calmed the streets, set up makeshift road blocks nearby to check passers-by, scenes reminiscent of the popular uprising that toppled Mursi's autocratic predecessor Hosni Mubarak.

 Medical sources said 211 people were wounded, some with gunshot wounds.

 "No to dictatorship," Mursi's opponents chanted, while their rivals chanted: "Defending Mursi is defending Islam."

 Mursi's opponents accused him of creating a new autocracy by awarding himself extraordinary powers in a decree on November 22 and were further angered when an Islamist-dominated assembly pushed through a draft constitution that opponents said did not properly represent the aspirations of the whole nation.

 The United States, worried about the stability of a state that has a peace deal with Israel and to which it gives $1.3 billion in military aid each year, called for dialogue.

 Bidding to end the worst crisis since Mursi took office less than six months ago, Vice President Mahmoud Mekky said amendments to disputed articles in the constitution could be agreed with the opposition. A written agreement could then go to parliament, to be elected after a referendum on the constitution on December 15.

 "There must be consensus," he told a news conference inside the presidential palace as fighting raged outside on Wednesday evening, saying opposition demands had to be respected.

 PROTESTS SPREAD

 Prime Minister Hisham Kandil called for calm to "give the opportunity" for efforts underway to start a national dialogue.

 Protests spread to other cities, and offices of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party in Ismailia and Suez were torched.

 But Mursi has shown no sign of buckling under pressure from protestors, confident that the Islamists, who have dominated both elections since Mubarak was overthrown in February 2011, can win the referendum and parliamentary election to follow.

 On top of the support of the Brotherhood, which backed him for the presidency in the June election, Mursi may also be able to rely on a popular yearning for stability and economic revival after almost two years of political turmoil.

 Egypt's opposition coalition blamed Mursi for the violence and said it was ready for dialogue if the Islamist leader scrapped the decree that gave him wide powers and shielded his decisions from judicial review.

 "Today what is happening in the Egyptian street, polarization and division, is something that could and is actually drawing us to violence and could draw us to something worse," opposition coordinator Mohamed ElBaradei said on Wednesday.

 "We are ready for dialogue if the constitutional decree is canceled ... and the referendum on this constitution is postponed," he told a news conference.

 But liberals, leftists, Christians, ex-Mubarak followers and others opposed to Mursi have yet to generate a mass movement or a grassroots base to challenge the Brotherhood.

 'REAL DANGER'

 Opposition leaders have previously urged Mursi to retract the decree, defer the referendum and agree to revise the constitution, but have not echoed calls from street protesters for his overthrow and the "downfall of the regime".

 Mursi has said his decree was needed to prevent courts still full of judges appointed by Mubarak from derailing a constitution vital for Egypt's political transition.

 Mekky said street mobilization by both sides posed a "real danger" to Egypt. "If we do not put a stop to this phenomenon right away ... where are we headed? We must calm down."

 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighed into Egypt's political debate, saying dialogue was urgently needed on the new constitution, which should "respect the rights of all citizens".

 Clinton and Mursi worked together last month to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.

 British Foreign Secretary William Hague called for restraint on all sides. He said Egypt's authorities had to make progress on the transition in an "inclusive manner" and urged dialogue.

 Both Islamists and their opponents have staged big shows of strength on the streets since Mursi's controversial decree, each bringing out tens of thousands of people.

 State institutions, with the partial exception of the judiciary, have mostly fallen in behind Mursi.

 The army, the muscle behind all previous Egyptian presidents in the republic's six-decade history, has gone back to barracks, having apparently lost its appetite to intervene in politics.

 (Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Will Waterman) |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi returned to the presidential palace today after fleeing yesterday when it was thronged by protesters, Reuters reports. Though 200 demonstrators camped out overnight, traffic was back to normal today and riot police had left the area. In yesterday's clashes, 35 protesters and 40 police officers were hurt. And things are looking to heat up again soon: The Muslim Brotherhood has called for a protest at the palace today against the "oppressive abuses" of the opposition, and the opposition in response called for leftist demonstrators to head back to the palace, leading to fears of violent clashes. Opposition protesters want Morsi to retract his expanded powers and stop a Dec. 15 vote on the new constitution hastily drafted by Islamists. Though they called yesterday's protest a "last warning" to the president, Reuters notes that they have little real chance of stopping the vote, which Morsi is confident will approve the constitution.


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– The Supreme Court heard arguments on California's Prop 8 yesterday; today, the federal Defense of Marriage Act is on the docket. What to expect: What is today's case about? DOMA defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, meaning that gay couples who legally wed in states that allow gay marriage are denied federal benefits. The high court must decide if the federal government can constitutionally do that. The specific case being considered involves Edith Windsor, 83, who married partner Thea Spyer in 2007. When Spyer died, Windsor was hit with a $363,000 estate tax bill because their marriage wasn't recognized. She's suing for a refund. Will Windsor be there? She is expected to be, but her health is declining, USA Today reports. How many people are affected? There are about 133,000 married gay couples not currently recognized by the feds, Reuters reports. The Washington Post points out that while yesterday's case involved people not yet married, today's involves people who are. What are the tax implications? If the Supreme Court strikes down DOMA, taxes for some same-sex couples might actually go up, Politico reports. The so-called "marriage penalty" means that when couples whose incomes are similar file a joint tax return, they don't get as many tax breaks as they would have had they filed separately. That "penalty" could end up applying to gay couples who currently skirt it. How will yesterday's session affect today's? It may not. Yesterday's case could potentially involve a much broader ruling; the court could theoretically strike down Prop 8 and also extend gay marriage rights to all states. But the justices seemed wary of doing that. So, Reuters notes, that case may have little bearing on today's, since DOMA is a much narrower question. And, as NPR reports, it's also "a much clearer question," and the themes that come up today aren't likely to be similar to yesterday's. The only two expected outcomes: Is DOMA constitutional or not? When is a decision expected? Late June. A ruling on the Prop 8 case is expected at the same time. Is there a possibility there won't be a decision? Yes. The Obama administration refuses to defend DOMA in court, so House Republican leaders are defending it. The court could decide that those members have not suffered an injury that would allow them to bring the case, and could thus decide not to rule on it.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misattributed some comments made by Chief Justice John Roberts to Justice Antonin Scalia. The story has been corrected.

 The Post’s Bob Barnes explains what went on inside the Supreme Court on Wednesday as the justices appeared skeptical during the oral arguments for the Defense of Marriage Act. (JulieAnn McKellogg and Jayne Orenstein/The Washington Post)

 The Post’s Bob Barnes explains what went on inside the Supreme Court on Wednesday as the justices appeared skeptical during the oral arguments for the Defense of Marriage Act. (JulieAnn McKellogg and Jayne Orenstein/The Washington Post)

 A majority of the Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared ready to strike down a key section of a law that withholds federal benefits from gay married couples, as the justices concluded two days of hearings that showed them to be as divided as the rest of the nation over same-sex marriage.

 Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the pivotal justice on the issue, said the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) may have intruded too deeply on the traditional role of state governments in defining marriage. The federal law recognizes marriages only between a man and a woman, and Kennedy said that ignores states “which have come to the conclusion that gay marriage is lawful.”

 “Citizens’ day-to-day life” is affected by the more than 1,100 references to marriage contained in federal laws and regulations, Kennedy said, creating a “real risk of running in conflict with what has always been thought to be the essence of the state police power, which is to regulate marriage, divorce, custody.”

 It appeared Kennedy’s interest in states’ rights might align with the concerns of the court’s four liberals that the law impermissibly targeted gay couples. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that the law, by withholding things such as tax advantages, Social Security benefits and leave to care for a spouse, raises a question: “What kind of marriage is it?”

 A decision on DOMA — passed in 1996 when same-sex marriages were only theoretical — might be the most tangible development to come from the court’s two days of hearings on same-sex marriage.

 On Tuesday, when considering an appeals court’s decision that overturned California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, the justices seemed to be looking for the narrowest way possible to resolve the case. They seemed reluctant to find that gay people have a constitutional right to marry.

 In Wednesday’s nearly two hours of argument, the court also spent little time on another important legal issue the cases raised: whether laws affecting homosexuals deserved the kind of heightened scrutiny that courts use when examining possible discrimination against racial minorities.

 But the arguments did reveal an unsurprising divide on the court, with liberal justices more supportive of gay rights and same-sex marriage and conservatives more tolerant of government action to protect “traditional marriage.”

 At Wednesday’s arguments, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was skeptical of the idea that gay people might lack political power when it comes to government actions.

 “You don’t doubt that the lobby supporting the enactment of same sex-marriage laws in different states is politically powerful, do you?” Roberts asked Roberta A. Kaplan, one of the lawyers bringing the challenge to DOMA. “As far as I can tell, political figures are falling over themselves to endorse your side of the case.”

 “The fact of the matter is, Mr. Chief Justice,” Kaplan responded, “that no other group in recent history has been subjected to popular referenda to take away rights that have already been given or exclude those rights the way gay people have.”

 Roberts was equally tough on the Obama administration. President Obama and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. decided two years ago that DOMA was unconstitutional and have declined to defend the law in court. But the administration has continued to enforce it until the Supreme Court decides its fate.

 If Obama has decided the law is unconstitutional, Roberts said, “I don’t see why he doesn’t have the courage of his convictions” to stop enforcing the law, “rather than saying, ‘Oh, we’ll wait till the Supreme Court tells us we have no choice.’ ”

 The liberal justices sharply questioned former George W. Bush administration solicitor general Paul D. Clement, who is representing House Republican leaders who are defending DOMA.

 He said the law, passed by overwhelming majorities in each chamber of Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton, was a reaction to the prospect that Hawaiian courts were on the verge of approving same-sex marriage.

 Congress feared that “by the operation of one state’s state judiciary, same-sex marriage is basically going to be recognized throughout the country,” Clement said. “And what Congress says is: ‘Wait a minute. Let’s take a timeout here. This is a redefinition of an age-old institution.’ ”

 Clement said Congress was within its powers to define marriage for the benefits it bestows and to strive for “uniformity” across the country by limiting those benefits to heterosexual couples.

 He was strongly challenged by Justice Elena Kagan. She said that when Congress “targets a group that is not everybody’s favorite group in the world,” the court has an obligation to examine, “with some rigor, to say, ‘Do we really think that Congress was doing this for uniformity reasons or do we think that Congress’s judgment was infected by dislike, by fear, by animus and so forth?’ ”

 She caused a stir in the courtroom, which appeared to be mostly filled with supporters of same-sex marriage, when she quoted language from a House committee’s analysis of the law: “Congress decided to reflect an honor of collective moral judgment and to express moral disapproval of homosexuality.”

 Clement replied: “Does the House report say that? Of course, the House report says that.” But he added that the court has never struck a statute “just because a couple of legislators may have had an improper motive.”

 Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., representing the Obama administration, also sought to convince the court that the section of DOMA being challenged was motivated by prejudice.

 When Roberts skeptically asked whether “the 84 senators who voted in favor of it and the president who signed it” were driven by animus, Verrilli said that was not the point.

 The section, he said, “is discrimination.”

 The case was brought by 83-year-old Edith Windsor, who watched from the second row. Windsor married Thea Spyer, her partner of more than 40 years, in Canada in 2007. Both were residents of New York. When Spyer died in 2009, she left her estate to Windsor.

 At that time, the state of New York recognized the marriage. But because the marriage was not recognized by the U.S. government, Windsor paid a federal estate tax bill of more than $360,000 that would not have been assessed if she were married to a man.

 The Obama administration agreed with the appeals court that ordered a refund but wanted the Supreme Court to render a definitive verdict on DOMA.

 That led to the legal wrangling that dominated the first part of the argument and could lead to a decision that the case is not properly before the court.

 A court-appointed lawyer, Harvard law professor Vicki C. Jackson, told the justices that Republican leaders in the House do not have proper standing to defend the law and that the Obama administration was not a viable party, because it agrees with the lower courts.

 Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia were the most critical of the approach the Obama administration has taken on the law. Roberts said the administration’s agreement with the lower court meant it was making an extraordinary request to have the Supreme Court consider it.

 “You’re asking us to do something we’ve never done before,” Roberts said.

 When Deputy Solicitor General Sri Srinivasan acknowledged that it was unusual, Roberts shot back: “No, not unusual — totally unprecedented.”

 Discuss this topic and other political issues in the politics discussion forums. ||||| 1 of 8. People wait in line, in the hopes of being seated, to hear the arguments in the case against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, March 27, 2013.

 WASHINGTON |

 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the second day running, the Supreme Court convened on Wednesday to tackle the issue of gay marriage, this time to hear arguments over a law that denies federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.

 Almost two hours of oral argument will be heard by the court on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The nine justices heard arguments on Tuesday on the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage.

 In those arguments, the justices displayed a reluctance to rule broadly on the right to marry for gays and lesbians, suggesting the court may be similarly cautious about DOMA.

 Rulings in both cases are expected by the end of June.

 The cases come before the court as polls show growing support among Americans for gay marriage but division among the 50 states. Nine states recognize it; 30 states have constitutional amendments banning it and others are in-between.

 DOMA limits the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. It permits benefits such as Social Security survivor payments and federal tax deductions only for married, opposite-sex couples, not for legally married same-sex couples.

 President Bill Clinton signed DOMA into law in 1996 after it passed Congress with only 81 of 535 lawmakers opposing it. Clinton, a Democrat, earlier this month said that times have changed since then and called for the law to be overturned.

 The atmosphere outside the courthouse was more subdued than on Tuesday, when thousands of raucous protesters filled the sidewalks. A largely pro-gay marriage crowd of several hundred held signs and waved American flags.

 Hundreds more waited patiently in line for a chance at the handful of seats in the courtroom allocated to the public.

 "It was pretty cold," said Liz Ghandakhy, 28, a lawyer who got in line at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday and slept overnight on the sidewalk. "It's one of the greatest civil rights cases of our time."

 A few minutes later, a beaming Ghandakhy was headed inside.

 The DOMA case is about whether Edith Windsor, who was married to a woman, should get the federal estate tax deduction available to heterosexuals when their spouses pass away.

 Windsor's marriage to Thea Spyer was recognized under New York law, but not under DOMA. When Spyer died in 2009, Windsor was forced to pay federal estate tax because the federal government would not recognize her marriage. She later sued the government, seeking a $363,000 tax refund.

 Windsor's lawyers say the federal government has no role in defining marriage, which is traditionally left to the states.

 Lower courts have ruled in her favor.

 The roughly 133,000 gay couples nationwide, married in one of the nine states where it is legal, are not recognized as married by the federal government, Windsor's supporters say.

 Various groups are calling for DOMA to be struck down, such as the Business Coalition for DOMA Repeal, whose members include Marriott International Inc, Aetna Inc, eBay Inc, and Thomson Reuters Corp, the corporate parent of the Reuters news agency.

 OBAMA TURNS BACK ON DOMA

 The Obama administration has agreed with Windsor that the section of law that defines marriage violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law. The Justice Department has thus declined to defend the statute, as it normally would when a federal statute is challenged.

 That has left a legal group acting on behalf of the Republican-dominated U.S. House of Representatives, known as the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, or BLAG, as the party defending the federal law. Its lawyer, Paul Clement, will argue that there are several reasons to support Congress's decision to enact DOMA.

 Noting the strong bipartisan support the law attracted when enacted, Clement said in court papers that a move to strike it down as unconstitutional "would be wholly unprecedented."

 Before the court reaches that bigger question, preliminary matters could prevent a decision. One is whether BLAG has legal standing. If such a procedural issue prevents the court from deciding the case on the merits, Windsor would win her refund.

 Yet DOMA would stay on the books in states where courts have not ruled on it. Further litigation would likely ensue.

 (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and David Ingram; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Eric Beech) |||||


This will appear next to all of your comments

 This will NOT appear anywhere on Newser ||||| Windi Thomas pleaded guilty to 3rd-degree murder and faces a recommended sentence of 18-36 years.

 An Erie woman accused of fatally attacking and crushing her boyfriend with her body at the couple's east Erie residence in March pleaded guilty to third-degree murder Monday.

 Windi C. Thomas, 44, agreed to a recommended sentence of 18 to 36 years in state prison as part of her plea agreement with prosecutors. Her sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 21.

 Erie County Judge William R. Cunningham accepted the plea shortly before 9 a.m. Assistant Erie County District Attorney Jeremy Lightner dropped charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and possession of the instrument of a crime in exchange for Thomas' plea in the death of her boyfriend, 44-year-old Keeno Butler.

 The recommended sentence of 18 to 36 years would cut two to four years from the maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years for third-degree murder, an unpremeditated killing with malice. Thomas had been scheduled to face trial in the case beginning Dec. 10.

 "It's a good result based upon the facts of the case," said Thomas' court-appointed lawyer, Mark Del Duca, of Pittsburgh. "I think it's fair for both sides."

 Sandra Butler, the victim's sister, said she wanted to see Thomas serve more time than the agreed-upon sentence.

 "I feel like she should have 40 or more," Butler said. "She deserved life."

 Erie police investigators charged that Thomas killed Butler during a March 18 attack at the couple's apartment at 1019 East Ave. Thomas told investigators that she cut Butler in the hand with a folding knife struck him in the head with a table leg during a confrontation.

 Thomas also said she placed her head on the couch so a portion of her body would be on Butler's head, police said. Investigators wrote in the affidavit of probable cause that Thomas weighs approximately 300 pounds and Butler weighed approximately 120 pounds.

 Butler's death was ruled a homicide "caused by respiratory insufficiency secondary to blunt force trauma to the neck and thoracic compression, exacerbated by blunt force trauma to the head," according to the affidavit.

 Police said Butler's body was found on the living room floor at the residence after Thomas called 911 and reported she had killed an individual.

 Thomas will remain in the Erie County Prison without bond while she awaits sentencing.

 Sandra Butler said her family is still struggling to cope with her brother's death.

 "My mother, she calls for him every night," Butler said.

 Madeleine O'Neill can be reached at 870-1728 or by email. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ETNoneill. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A 300-pound woman in Pennsylvania has pleaded guilty to murdering her boyfriend by stabbing him, hitting in the head with a table leg, and finally crushing the 120-pound man with her own weight. Windi Thomas, 44, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the March 18 death of Keeno Butler in exchange for a recommended sentence of 18 to 36 years in state prison, the Erie Times-News reports. Police say Thomas admitted crushing Butler after a fight at their Erie residence. She told them she positioned herself so that some of her weight would be on his head. The death was ruled a homicide "caused by respiratory insufficiency secondary to blunt force trauma to the neck and thoracic compression, exacerbated by blunt force trauma to the head," court papers state. Sandra Butler, the victim's sister, says Thomas should have gotten life. "My mother, she calls for him every night," she says. Thomas, who had been scheduled to go on trial next week, will be sentenced Dec. 21, the AP reports. (A Fitbit led to this man's arrest after he claimed an obese intruder killed his wife.)


Article:
And, it's off!

 Groupon priced its IPO last night at $20 a share and started trading this morning around $30.

 So, it's already been a hell of a ride.

 Right now, the big institutional investors who got the stock at $20 and swore up and down that they'd hold it forever are now gleefully flipping it to anyone who will buy it.

 And if I were a big institutional investor, I'd be doing exactly the same thing.

 There is NO WAY I would own Groupon's stock for the next few quarters at this price, given the business transition Groupon is currently undergoing.

 At ~$30 a share, Groupon's valuation is about $20 billion. If the next few quarters are as rough as I think they might be, the stock could easily trade down to ~$8 billion, or ~$12 a share. That's a long way down from here.

 Groupon's near-term upside, meanwhile, appears to be limited, at least based on the company's fundamentals. Groupon is already being valued at a fifth of Amazon's value. It has already picked the low-hanging fruit in its key markets. It is cutting back on marketing costs, which is bringing growth to a screeching halt. Its core business in the US is shrinking. And Groupon is already totally global--there aren't many new markets to roll out in.

 Long-term, I'm actually a Groupon bull. I think the company has discovered a huge new market, and its scale gives it a big barrier to entry. But that doesn't mean the ride will be smooth.

 Could Groupon, say, double from here over the next 6 months and never trade below this level again?

 Sure, it could. Anything's possible. But that doesn't seem likely. And, in any case, the risk/reward profile of 100% upside (25% probability) and ~75% downside just doesn't seem that compelling.

 So, enjoy the ride, Groupon shareholders! I'll be watching the next act from the sidelines.

 WHY COULD THE STOCK GET CRUSHED OVER THE NEXT FEW QUARTERS?

 Over short-term time frames, two factors drive stock prices:

 Some market observers like to pretend that all stocks have a precise value that analysts can determine by studying the company and then running the right numbers.

 This is a crock.

 The theoretical value of any stock is the "present value of future cash flows." And that means that, to estimate the intrinsic value of the stock, you have to know two things:

 The future cash flows

 The rate at which to discount the cash flows to get a "present value."

 Regardless of what you may think from watching financial TV, no one knows either of these things. And how could they? We have no idea what Groupon's cash flow will be this quarter, let alone two years from now or 10 years from now or 50 years from now, all of which count in the "present value" calculation. We also don't know what the "right" discount rate is. And adjusting the discount rate by even a percentage point or two makes a huge difference in the present value calculation.

 So don't believe anyone who tells you they know what Groupon's worth. They don't. All they know is what their estimate is of what Groupon is worth. And, unfortunately, the range of "reasonable" estimates of what Groupon (or any stock) is worth is wide enough to fly a 787 through.

 But still, we have to try.

 So let's start with the big picture.

 The big picture is this:

 Groupon generated ~$300 million of revenue last year and should generate about $1.7 billion of revenue this year .

 . Groupon is now operating basically at break-even , with the North American business earning a modest profit and the international business losing a modest amount.

 , with the North American business earning a modest profit and the international business losing a modest amount. Groupon is cash-flow positive and has ~$1 billion in the bank

 Groupon's growth rate is decelerating sharply, and this deceleration is likely to continue for at least several more quarters.

 Based on my experience (15 or so years of following tech stocks), that last factor is very important. "Momentum" investors HATE deceleration. And momentum investors have a big impact on the prices at which stocks trade. So we need to keep the deceleration in mind.

 In fact, let's start with the deceleration, because it will have a big impact on our fundamental estimates for the next couple of years.

 The reason Groupon's growth is decelerating is:

 the law of large numbers — the company's already huge, and the company is cutting back on marketing spending

 The second factor is very important. To become meaningfully profitable, Groupon will have to continue to clamp down on marketing. And this will likely lead to further deceleration.

 Here's a chart from Yipit that shows Groupon's deceleration. Growth is screeching to a halt:

 Yipit

 There may be another factor at work in the deceleration, which is "daily deal fatigue," as the novelty of Groupon's offering wears off. We need to keep that one in mind, too.

 WARNING: Deceleration Can Be Hazardous To Your Wealth

 Now, in my experience, when companies decide to transition from hyper-growth-and-losses to sustainable-growth-and-profitability, as Groupon is, the transition can be very rough.

 Importantly for this exercise, it also can be absolute hell on stock prices.

 The example that jumps to mind is Amazon.com.

 From 1996-2000, Amazon grew like a bat out of hell, in part because it was spending boatloads of money on marketing. In 2000, however, the funding markets for unprofitable Internet companies dried up, and Amazon had to change tack and focus on becoming profitable. This transition took two years, from 2000-2002. It led to major deceleration in the business. And it was absolutely brutal on Amazon's stock price.

 Specifically, as Amazon cut back on marketing spending and other profligate expenses in its drive to become profitable, the stock collapsed more than 95%, from $100+ to, if memory serves, about $6 a share. See the right half of the chart below.

 The painful transition from growth to profits: Amazon's stock price, 1997-2001. Google Finance

 Importantly, through this period, Amazon kept growing. It's just that its growth rate slowed sharply.

 During this period, Amazon also had some problems that Groupon probably won't, which is that many investors were convinced it could "never make money" and was going to "go bankrupt." Groupon's most recent quarter should have helped put these concerns about Groupon to rest.

 But Groupon's deceleration is a big issue for the stock price. Such a big issue, in fact, that I personally would not even consider buying the stock unless/until one of two things happened:

 The growth rate stabilized

 The stock price was so low that I felt like my downside was limited regardless of what happened to the growth rate.

 So where will Groupon's growth rate stabilize?

 One could certainly make the case that Groupon's growth rate will eventually go negative — the company will begin to shrink — because management will be forced to cut back so sharply on marketing costs.

 I think that's probably too negative a scenario. Groupon already has a huge base of email subscribers — 150 million — that it can market to for free. And the company should also be able to continue to spend $150+ million per quarter on marketing. And when revenue grows, the company should be able to increase this spending.

 So I think it's reasonable to assume that Groupon's growth rate will settle in the mid single-digits (sequential), which might translate to 20%-30% year-over-year growth.

 That transition will probably take a couple of quarters to play out.

 One, Two, Three ... Estimate!

 So now let's sketch out some numbers.

 If Groupon ends this year with a $500 million quarter, it will be operating at a $2 billion revenue run-rate. If the company can grow 20%+ next year off this run-rate, it would post 2012 revenue of ~$2.5 billion. And if it can grow another 20% in 2013, it will post 2013 revenue of about $3 billion.

 And what about profits?

 I realize I'm probably in the minority here, but I think Groupon will eventually have a nicely profitable business. The North American business had a 12% operating profit margin in Q3, and I think there's probably upside from there (there's also plenty of downside, obviously).

 International will likely drag the company's overall margin down for some time. But I think it's reasonable to assume that Groupon might generate a 10% operating profit margin in 2012 and a 15% operating margin in 2013.

 So what does that give us for preliminary estimates?

 2012 Revenue: ~$2.5 billion Operating Profit (assuming 10% margin): $250 million Net Income (assuming 35% tax rate): ~$150 million

 2013 Revenue: ~$3 billion Operating Profit (assuming 15% margin): ~$450 million Net Income (assuming 35% tax rate): ~$300 million

 So what might the stock be "worth" on those estimates?

 A fast-growing market-leader with a huge global opportunity should eventually trade at 20X-30X earnings. More in the early years, when the growth rate is faster and the company has not yet achieved its steady-state profit margin, less in the later years.

 So if Groupon were to trade at, say, 20X-30X 2013 earnings of $300 million, it would trade in a valuation range of $6 billion to $9 billion, with a central value of $7.5 billion. This would equate to a range of about $9-$13 per share.

 Notably, that's well below where the stock is trading.

 So ... Groupon Already Looks Overvalued

 Could Groupon do much better than that scenario?

 Of course it could.

 Its growth rate could stabilize at, say, 40%, and it could become much more profitable than I currently think.

 Goldman Sachs, who helped take the company public, thinks Groupon's revenue will grow at 40% for the next two years and that the company will have a 30% profit margin in 2013. Goldman thinks this will enable Groupon to earn almost $1 a share in 2013. If Groupon actually hits those numbers, or exceeds them, the stock's current valuation looks more reasonable.

 Of course, Groupon could also do much worse than my scenario.

 Namely, it could stop growing, and, thanks to competition or pushback from merchants, it could have a much lower profit margin than I think. And it could therefore be worth much less than the $6-$9 billion range I laid out.

 I think there's as much chance that the negative-case scenario will play out over the next couple of years than the positive-case one. So I would only consider buying the stock at a discount to "base case" scenario I outlined above.

 So, What's Groupon Worth?

 So what might I be willing to pay for Groupon's stock?

 Right now, based on the information I have and the assumptions I've made above, I wouldn't buy Groupon's stock unless it were trading at or below $5 billion (~$7 a share). This is in part because of the "deceleration" pattern I described above and in part because of the high level of riskiness I think goes along with owning the stock.

 So if I were managing a big institutional fund, here's what I would do:

 I'd have placed an order on the IPO for 1 million shares

 I'd have gotten my allocation of, say, 200,000 shares

 I'd have already flipped the stock to other investors

 (It's great to be a big institutional investor.)

 Then I would sit on the sidelines and watch Groupon and Groupon's stock for a couple of quarters.

 And if Groupon's growth rate stabilized at 40%-50%, I'd say, "you dope — you missed a big opportunity."

 And if Groupon's growth rate stabilized where I thought it would or below, I'd say, "Glad we dodged that bullet."

 And, of course, as time went by, I'd keep running new estimates, which I would compare to Groupon's stock price. And if the stock price ever dropped to a level relative to those estimates in which I thought I had a nice margin of safety in buying the stock, I'd buy it.

 After all, Groupon does seem to have identified a massive new e-commerce opportunity, and I'd like to go along for that ride.

 But that's me. And it's not a stock recommendation. I have no idea what your particular circumstances and investment goals are, and I couldn't care less whether or not you buy the stock.

 (And I should add here that, for me, at least, this exercise is totally academic. I don't buy individual stocks. I don't buy them because, having been a Wall Street insider for a decade, I learned firsthand just how much of a disadvantage most outsiders are at. I also learned that even the smartest, best-informed insiders are wrong about 50% of the time. And I learned that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most intelligent investment strategy for part-time investors not paid to manage someone else's money is to assemble a diversified portfolio of low-cost index funds. And that's what I've done for myself. So, beyond the entertainment value, I really couldn't care less what Groupon's stock does.)

 SEE ALSO: Congratulations, Groupon! ||||| Getty Images

 Holy stock pop.

 In its first minutes as a public company, Groupon’s stock soared about 40% from its $20-a-share IPO price.

 Groupon shares in morning trading bumped around, trading as high as 56% above the IPO price. UPDATE: Groupon shares ended the first day of trading at $26.11, up 31% from the IPO price.

 The three-year-old company with a long line of critics, debuted as a public company last night with a market value of $12.7 billion — more than Xerox, Research in Motion or The Gap. Right now, Groupon’s market value is $16.5 billion.

 Yes, that’s right. The Wall Street bankers may have rigged this IPO baby juuust right. But while the stock surge makes the Groupon IPO look like the greatest thing since sliced bread, there are a couple of huge caution flags.

 First, this stock increase means the privileged investors who landed Groupon IPO shares now are flipping their stock for a quick profit. That’s not a great sign (even though it happens all the time).

 And second, Groupon has sold only a teeny slice of the company to the public — less than 6%. That means the stock price is going to be very, very bumpy, maybe even today.

 READ MORE ABOUT THE GROUPON IPO:

 * Meet the Groupon IPO Millionaires (and Billionaires)

 * Groupon: Officially the Biggest Internet IPO Since Google

 * Groupon’s Stock Pop Is Pathetic by Dotcom Standards (And That’s a Good Thing.)

 * Groupon Who? Today’s “Other” IPO

 * Former IPO Stars: Where Are They Now? |||||Summary:

– Groupon is having a big debut as a public company. The stock was selling for about $30 a share at the market's open today, way above the $20 IPO price the company set last night, reports the Wall Street Journal. Which means that, on paper anyway, the company is valued at about $20 billion. Part of the surge: Institutional investors who got the stock early are flipping it for profit just as fast as they can, notes Henry Blodget at Business Insider. You won't catch him on the bandwagon: "There is NO WAY I would own Groupon's stock for the next few quarters at this price, given the business transition Groupon is currently undergoing," he writes. Sure, it's possible the stock might double, but from the looks of things, it could easily drop to $12 a share in the near future.


Just One More Thing...

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 Close ||||| Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) speaks to members of the media after a hearing in November 2012. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

 Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), one of the Republicans most vulnerable to a conservative primary challenge, will retire in 2014 rather than seek a third term.

 Chambliss denied in a statement Friday morning that the potential primary was a factor in his decision, saying he was confident he would have won re-election.

 “Instead, this is about frustration, both at a lack of leadership from the White House and at the dearth of meaningful action from Congress, especially on issues that are the foundation of our nation’s economic health," Chambliss said. "The debt-ceiling debacle of 2011 and the recent fiscal-cliff vote showed Congress at its worst and, sadly, I don’t see the legislative gridlock and partisan posturing improving anytime soon."

 The news of Chambliss's retirement was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

 Two Republican House members, Paul Broun and Tom Price, were considering campaigns against Chambliss. Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel was also interested in the race.

 Despite his largely conservative record, Chambliss has attracted conservative ire for his interest in bipartisan compromise. His recent public break with anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist earned him particular scrutiny. He also struggled in the 2008 election, forced into a runoff with Democrat Jim Martin.

 Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), another senator vulnerable to a primary challenge, responded with "great sadness and disappointment" to the news of his friend's retirement.

 Given how many big names were already interested in the seat, there will almost certainly be a crowded primary. Polling suggests former presidential candidate Herman Cain would be a strong contender, but he said again Friday that he is not running.

 Democrats are also expressing interest.

 “Georgia will now offer Democrats one of our best pick-up opportunities of the cycle," said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Executive Director Guy Cecil, noting changing demographics and a potentially divisive GOP primary. "This will be a top priority.” Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is considered a top Democratic prospect, along with Rep. John Barrow. ||||| Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss is theoretically very vulnerable to a primary challenger in 2014: it's just a question of whether any of the folks interested in taking him on can run a strong enough campaign to take advantage of that vulnerability.

 Only 38% of Republican primary voters say they want Chambliss to be their nominee next year, compared to 43% who would prefer someone more conservative. But Chambliss stomps most of the people who've shown the most interest in taking him on. He leads Congressman Paul Broun by a 57/14 margin in a head to head, has a 50/22 advantage over Congressman Tom Price, and leads former Secretary of State Karen Handel 52/23.

 By far and away the Republican who would pose the greatest threat to Chambliss in a primary, if he changed his mind about running, is Herman Cain. Cain would lead Chambliss 50-36 in a hypothetical match up. Cain has a 68/20 favorability rating with GOP primary voters, which compares quite favorably to Chambliss' 45/36 approval spread. Other long shot candidates we tested against Chambliss were Allen West, who trails 47/26, and Erick Erickson who trails 51/22.

 Chambliss is extremely weak with Republicans describing themselves as 'very conservative.' 61% of them would like to replace him, compared to only 23% who would like to see him nominated again. He would trail Cain 68/19 with that group of voters.

 In terms of the general election the Georgia Senate race is somewhat reminiscent of the Indiana contest this cycle- if Chambliss is the nominee the seat is probably safe for the GOP, but if someone far to his right wins the primary the Democrats might have a chance if everything goes their way. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Saxby Chambliss will announce today that he doesn't intend to run for re-election when his Senate term ends in 2014, sources tell the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Chambliss reportedly told his senior staff about the decision this morning. Chambliss was considered one of the Republicans most ripe for a primary challenge, the Washington Post observes, thanks to his track record of bipartisan compromise and recent break with Grover Norquist. Potential successors are sure to come out of the woodwork now. Two House members, Paul Broun and Tom Price, had already been considering primary challenges, and more, including Phil Gingrey and Tom Graves, are likely to consider throwing their hats in now. But there are also some bigger name possibilities: A recent poll, for instance, shows that Herman Cain would have trounced Chambliss in a primary, meaning he would be an early favorite if he decided to run.


News article:

Mr. McCue of Flipboard says Twitter and its C.E.O. are pushing the traditional limits of what it means to be a company that delivers media to people. It is neither a technology company nor a media company, he says.

 “Twitter is an entirely new thing,” Mr. McCue says. “I like the fact that Twitter is unapologetic to that. Dick is the same way with his decisions.”

 Twitter has defended the privacy of its users. It has taken on New York City courts to protect the identities of Occupy Wall Street protesters, and gone up against the United States Justice Department, which tried to gain information about WikiLeaks supporters.

 “No one wants a pen that’s going to rat them out,” says Alexander Macgillivray, Twitter’s chief lawyer. “We all want pens that can be used to write anything, and that will stand up for who we are.”

 IN Twitter’s early days, Mr. Stone, nicknamed Biz, said this of the company’s growth: “It’s like we’re on a rocket ship that we were just painting, and suddenly it took off and we’re holding onto the ship with our fingernails.”

 Nowadays, Mr. Costolo is the one trying to steer that rocket.

 He didn’t plan to end up at Twitter. In 2009, Mr. Costolo and his wife, Lorin, and their two children grew tired of Chicago’s weather and decided to move to California. He started at Twitter as chief operations officer and became chief executive in 2010, after Mr. Williams, one of the Twitter co-founders, stepped down to focus on other projects. Mr. Williams, who is still on Twitter’s board, and Mr. Stone now run Obvious, a start-up incubator.

 Last year, Mr. Costolo brought back Mr. Dorsey, who left the company in 2008 after he struggled to fix engineering problems that knocked Twitter offline for hours at a time. Such problems still occasionally plague the service.

 Mr. Dorsey’s role has since been reduced after employees complained that he was difficult to work with and repeatedly changed his mind about product directions. He no longer has anyone directly reporting to him, although he is still involved in strategic decisions.

 Mr. Dorsey declined to comment on how people feel about working with him. But, in a statement, he said he considered Mr. Costolo to be one of Twitter’s founders. “He’s had a dramatic impact on the company and the culture,” Mr. Dorsey said. “He’s questioned everything we started with and made it better.”

 Mr. Costolo says he looks to Mr. Dorsey for ideas and sometimes has to pull them out of him. Although Mr. Dorsey is a regular on the media circuit, appearing on CNN, as well as “Charlie Rose” and other programs, he tends to be quiet in meetings.

 “Dick does a good job of saying ‘Jack, what do you think?’ ” says Michael Sippey, director of consumer product at Twitter. Mr. Sippey works with Mr. Dorsey to make sure that new features are “Twittery.”

 Mr. Costolo’s quick decision-making can be both good for a company that is growing so quickly, but bad for people who move more slowly than him. Employees say he can come across as insensitive. Earlier this year, for example, he ousted a senior employee over the phone to save time. He has also pushed some stockholders off the board.

 Mr. Costolo has also evicted some third-party applications from Twitter, a decision that some see as insensitive to early adopters who helped the company grow.

 “The techno-enthusiasts that helped Twitter grow are far less valuable to them today,” says Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner. “It’s the same way that Apple now cares more about the 10 million consumers than catering to the 10,000 hard-core consumers.”

 When Mr. Costolo doesn’t get his way, he tends to bang his fingers on a tablet as if he’s playing an imaginary piano that won’t make any sounds. Even so, his work ethic — and comedy — have come to permeate Twitter’s culture. ||||| Twitter Mulls an In-House Video-Hosting Service

 If you want something done right, do it yourself.

 Twitter is considering building its own video-hosting technology, according to sources. That means users could upload video directly via the service’s mobile apps, instead of using hosting services like yFrog, TwitVid and Vodpod.

 That potential change would be in line with a number of tweaks the site has made to its applications throughout 2012. Until recently, Twitter also delegated photo hosting to third-party services; Twitter moved that hosting in-house with the most recent app updates.

 Mind you, this doesn’t mean Twitter expects users to start using its homegrown solution for the bulk of the videos people share of the service. It still expects most people to post clips using links from sites like YouTube, Hulu and Vimeo.

 People familiar with Twitter’s thinking say the switch would be a way of further refining Twitter’s consistency and user experience, better shaping how users encounter Twitter content. It’s Twitter’s theme over the past year. (Example: The LinkedIn situation from months ago.)

 While these video services take some of the heavy lifting off of Twitter, they also create difficulties. For one, Twitter has no control over the changes others make to their products. Yet often, Twitter must deal with the fallout when these changes occur. So, say, a third-party Twitter developer screws something up for its users — those users don’t necessarily go to the developer with complaints, but instead take it directly to Twitter.

 I’d imagine, too, that every time Twitter updates one of its clients, it is frustrating to configure the new version to work with a number of outside hosting services. Add in the fact that Twitter has clients across multiple operating systems, and it fast becomes a logistical headache.

 It’s not only about tech problems, but creating better ways to make tweets richer. Over the past few months, Twitter has slowly, increasingly updated the product to be more media-friendly, with full photos, videos and snippets of news articles now viewable from within individual tweets themselves.

 Owning that rich video experience has monetization upside. One source says building a more effective video player could be a way of better enhancing the company’s existing advertising products, namely the promoted suite.

 Look at it this way: If a big brand buys a promoted tweet, the advertiser needs to make that tweet as compelling as possible to get their money’s worth. The better the tweet, the higher the likelihood of click-through or, at minimum, brand awareness. A simpler, more reliable way for partners to host their video makes for a better, media-rich stream. In theory, it’s good for both users and advertisers.

 Who it’s not so good for: These third-party hosting services. Were Twitter to follow through with the plan, this would seriously dampen the number of video uploads these services would receive. Users could still upload video to these third-party services and then add the link in manually, but the loss of official Twitter app integration would sting.

 As of today, it’s not a done deal; Folks inside the company are still hashing out whether to make the change. But if it were to come about, I’d expect it to come quietly in a future product update.

 (Image courtesy of Juan Manuel Romo) |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Twitter is looking into the idea of developing its own video hosting capabilities, so users won't have to turn to third-party services like yFrog, TwitVid, or Vodpod to share their videos with the world, sources tell All Things Digital. While Twitter still expects most users to upload their videos on services like YouTube or Vimeo, it thinks offering its homegrown option will help refine Twitter's user experience. Meanwhile, Twitter co-founder and Executive Chairman Jack Dorsey confirmed that he'd taken a step back from his operational role in the company, but denied a New York Times report that it was because "employees complained that he was difficult to work with." In a Tumblr post, Dorsey said he stepped back because he wanted to spend "the majority of my time with Square, where I'm CEO."


– WikiLeaks' founder has a "thermonuclear device" of unreleased files that he says he'll detonate if he's killed or brought to trial. Julian Assange has widely distributed an encrypted 1.3-gigabyte file containing the full versions of all the US documents the site has received, and his lawyer says the encryption key will be released if Assange is forced to appear before Swedish authorities on sexual assault charges or American authorities on treason charges, the Globe and Mail reports. Assange has referred to the file as his insurance policy, claiming it contains names, addresses, and other details that were removed to protect spies, soldiers, and other sources. WikiLeaks "has been subject to cyber attacks and censorship around the world and they need to protect themselves. This is what they believe to be a thermonuclear device in the information age," said Assange's lawyer.

Expand this summary.

At the centre of a tightening web of death threats, sex-crime accusations and high-level demands for a treason trial, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange threatened to unleash a “thermonuclear device” of completely unexpurgated government files if he is forced to appear before authorities.

 Mr. Assange, the 39-year-old Australian Internet activist whose online document-leaking service has embarrassed the United States and other countries by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic and military documents, has referred to the huge, unfiltered document as his “insurance policy.”

 More related to this story

 The 1.3-gigabyte file, distributed through file-sharing services this summer and protected with an unbreakable 256-bit encryption key, contains full versions of all the U.S. documents received by WikiLeaks to date – including those that have been withheld from publication or have had names and details removed in order to protect the lives of spies, sources and soldiers.

 Silent for the better part of a week as WikiLeaks made daily headlines around the globe, Mr. Assange has been increasingly vocal in recent days, defending his actions, decrying his critics and defying world leaders.

 Mr. Assange’s lawyer Mark Stephens warned that if Mr. Assange were to be brought to trial on rape accusations he faces in Sweden, or for treason charges that have been suggested by U.S. politicians, he would release the encryption key. The tens of thousands of people who have downloaded the file would instantly have access to the names, addresses and details contained in the file.

 WikiLeaks, Mr. Stephens said, has “been subject to cyberattacks and censorship around the world and they need to protect themselves ... This is what they believe to be a thermonuclear device in the information age.”

 He uttered that threat as his client was believed to be in hiding in Britain, with prominent U.S. and Saudi officials calling for Mr. Assange’s arrest or death, justice officials attempting to shut down his websites in many countries, and the Swedish justice system seeking him for questioning on the sexual-crime allegations.

 Mr. Assange has denied the accusation, made by two women who hosted a party for him in Stockholm in August. He has acknowledged having had consensual sex with the complainants. Reports say the sex became non-consensual over disagreements about condom use.

 This weekend he refused to respond to a European arrest warrant issued by Sweden, and an Interpol alert related to the accusation. His lawyers argued that the accusations amount to a smear campaign and suggested that U.S. officials might be behind them.

 The Swedish prosecutor took the unusual step of going before the news media to say she has received no pressure or communication of any sort from international or political authorities and that the charges are unrelated to the leaks scandal.

 “This investigation has proceeded perfectly normally without any political pressure of any kind,” prosecutor Marianne Ny told the Agence France-Presse wire service. “It is completely independent.”

 A number of high-profile U.S. figures, including Republicans Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, have called for the prosecution of Mr. Assange.

 “Julian Assange is engaged in warfare,” Mr. Gingrich said, echoing similar words spoken by Ms. Palin and others last week. “Information terrorism, which leads to people getting killed, is terrorism. And Julian Assange is engaged in terrorism. He should be treated as an enemy combatant and WikiLeaks should be closed down permanently and decisively.”

 However, U.S. charges against Mr. Assange are unlikely: He is not a U.S. citizen and, because he did not steal the documents himself, but only participated in their publication, he would likely be protected under the U.S. Constitution’s free-speech provisions.

 The documents were reportedly stolen from a U.S. military installation by Bradley Manning, a former private in the U.S. Army who copied years of secret Pentagon and State Department communiqués and passed them to Mr. Assange, who in turn brokered deals with worldwide media outlets to publish details from them. Those details, despite some censorship by Mr. Assange and the publishers, have shaken relations between the United States and Gulf countries, Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 Mr. Manning is already being held in solitary confinement, and will likely face treason and espionage charges. This has not stopped a growing chorus of U.S. and foreign figures from pushing for punishment for Mr. Assange.

 U.S. newspapers reported that a team of Justice Department and Pentagon investigators is looking into the possibility of charges against Mr. Assange under the Espionage Act. Attorney-General Eric Holder said “this is not sabre-rattling” when asked by reporters about the possibility of charges. Justice officials in Australia, where Mr. Assange was born, are reportedly also looking into a prosecution.

 That did not stop more figures from suggesting that Mr. Assange should be harmed or killed – a circle that includes Canadian Tom Flanagan, a former campaign manager to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who told a TV interviewer last week that Mr. Assange should be assassinated (he later apologized for the remark).

 In an online interview with the Guardian newspaper, Mr. Assange said Mr. Flanagan “should be charged with incitement to commit murder.”

 He also told reporters Barack Obama and his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, should resign if they are shown to have authorized an operation to spy on United Nations top officials – one of the many secrets revealed in the leaked State Department cables.

 “Obama must answer what he knew about this illegal order and when. If he refuses to answer or there is evidence he approved of these actions, he must resign,” the WikiLeaks founder told the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

 He suggested, not for the first time, that he believes his document service has had a profound effect on world history: “I believe geopolitics will be separated into pre- and post-Cablegate phases.” ||||| WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange 'will release poison pill of damaging secrets if killed or arrested'

 Threat: WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, has warned that if he he is arrested or killed his followers will release more damaging information

 The founder of WikiLeaks has warned that his supporters are primed to publish a 'deluge' of leaked government documents should his activities be curtailed by any country.

 Julian Assange has distributed to fellow hackers an encrypted 'poison pill' of damaging secrets, thought to include details on BP and Guantanamo Bay.

 He believes the file is his 'insurance' in case he is killed, arrested or the whistleblowing website is removed permanently from the internet.

 Mr Assange - understood to be lying low in Britain - could be arrested by Scotland Yard officers as early as tomorrow.

 A warrant for his arrest was issued last Thursday by Swedish prosecutors who want to quiz him over rape allegations.

 The developments came as fresh revelations were published on the WikiLeaks website. They include:

 A leading Chinese politician coordinated the hacking of Google - which forced it to quit the Communist country - after finding unflattering articles about him on the website.

 UK firm Rolls-Royce lost out on a £200million contract to supply helicopter engines to Spain after the U.S. lobbied Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero in Madrid. The deal was eventually signed by American company GE.

 And European Union President Herman Van Rompuy told a U.S. ambassador that European troops were still in Afghanistan only 'out of deference' to America.

 Mr Assange, a reclusive Australian, has infuriated and embarrassed the U.S. in recent months by releasing hundreds of thousands of classified documents.

 First, he published Army logs from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that suggested soldiers were complicit in murder and torture.

 And last week he published the first of around 250,000 diplomatic cables from U.S. embassies, many containing sensitive information and embarrassing verdicts on leaders including David Cameron.

 High-profile politicians in the U.S. including Sarah Palin, a narrow loser in the race to become the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, have suggested the computer programmer should be 'executed' for publishing leaked U.S. state secrets.

 Mr Assange's British lawyer, Mark Stephens, warned today that WikiLeaks was holding further secret material which he dubbed a 'thermo-nuclear device' to be released if the organisation needed to protect itself.

 He said many of the papers being retained contained 'material of equal importance to news-gathering' as those already published.

 He said: 'They [WikiLeaks] have been subject to cyber-attacks and censorship around the world and they need to protect themselves.

 Mr Assange's lawyer has warned WikiLeaks was holding a 'thermo-nuclear device' of further secret information

 'This is what they believe to be a thermo-nuclear device in the information age.

 'It's interesting to note people as high up the American tree as Sarah Palin have called for him to be hunted down by American special forces and assassinated.

 'We've seen a number of suggestions that he should be assassinated, again from credible sources around the world.

 'This is all about a man who is a journalist. He received, unbidden, an electronic brown envelope that journalists receive.

 'This particular journalist has put it out. What they are doing is criminalising him, criminalising journalistic activity.'

 Sarah Palin has called for Mr Assange to be hunted down by American special forces

 The prime suspect in the hunt for the person who stole the files is Bradley Manning, a 23-year-old U.S. Army intelligence analyst who is now in military custody.

 The 'doomsday files' which have been downloaded from the WikiLeaks website by tens of thousands of supporters are understood to include information on Guantanamo Bay, and aerial video of a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that killed civilians, BP reports and Bank of America documents.

 The files are encoded with a 256-digit key. Experts have said it is virtually unbreakable.

 Mr Stephens told the BBC that legal moves to arrest Mr Assange, who is wanted for questioning over the rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion of two women during a visit to Sweden in August, appeared to be a 'political stunt'.

 Originally the entire case was dropped by Sweden's chief prosecutor.

 Mr Stephens said that only 'after the intervention of a Swedish politician' that a new prosecutor in Gothenburg - not Stockholm, where his client and two women had been - began a new case.

 He denies the allegations vehemently and has described them as a 'smear'.

 Mr Stephens said that Sweden had allowed U.S. planes carrying terror suspects - the illegal practice of extraordinary rendition - to use its airfields.

 He said: 'It doesn't escape me that Sweden was one of those lick-spittle states which used its resources and facilities for rendition flights.'

 He also confirmed that the WikiLeaks site had come under siege from 'a huge number of cyber-attacks'.

 We're being watched, say Assange's lawyers

 Lawyers representing Mr Assange claim they have become surveillance targets and have accused the US state department of 'inappropriate' behaviour for failing to respect UN rules on attorney-client protocol.

 Mark Stephens and Jennifer Robinson told the Guardian they had been watched by people parked outside their houses for the past seven days.

 Ms Robinson said: 'I've noticed people consistently sitting outside my house in the same cars with newspapers.'

 The lawyers, from firm Finers Stephens Innocent, also claimed to be experiencing 'other forms of pressure' from Washington.

 Ms Robinson references a letter from a state department legal adviser addressed to both herself and Mr Assange - appearing to suggest that Wikileaks and its lawyers were one and the same.

 She said: 'By eliding client and lawyer, that was a very inappropriate attempt to implicate me. That is really inappropriate to come from the state department of all places; they understand very well the rules on attorney-client protocol.' |||||


Published on Jun 10, 2018

 In Boyd Huppert’s latest edition of Land of 10,000 Stories, DNA tests confirm Denice Juneski and Linda Jourdeans were switched at birth in 1945. https://kare11.tv/2JFKYyf

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 EAGAN, Minn. - Denice Juneski and Linda Jourdeans struggle to even come up with a word for the bond they share.

 Sisters? Cousins? Nothing seems to apply.

 There’s no playbook, after all, for two women in their 70s who’ve just found out they were switched at birth.

 “It’s a crazy thing,” Denice says. “People just automatically assume they got the right family.”

 Linda Jourdeans points to herself in a family photo. (Photo: Boyd Huppert, KARE 11)

 Only a few weeks have passed since Denice and Linda learned they didn’t, as infants, go home with the right family.

 In the journey that brought them to this strange place, Denice, who lives in Eagan, took the first step.

 Already an ancestry buff, the 72-year-old grandmother submitted DNA to the genealogy website 23andMe, hoping to learn more about her health history.

 A few weeks later, when her list of DNA relatives arrived, she was taken aback.

 “I didn't match anybody,” she said. Actually, Denice matched several people, but not one name among them she’d ever heard of.

 Denice Juneski (left) and Linda Jourdeans recently learned they were switched at birth. (Photo: Boyd Huppert, KARE 11)

 Denice took the test a second time.

 Same result.

 “Either 23andMe made a mistake,” Denice concluded, “or I was switched at birth.”

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 But if Denice had grown up in someone else's family, who had grown up in hers?

 The answer came from 40 miles away, in Hammond, Wisconsin, after Linda’s niece noticed Denice on her own DNA report.

 “We believe you've been switched at birth,” Linda’s daughter and her husband informed Linda, after they too were let in on the discovery.

 Baby photo of Linda Jourdeans. (Photo: Boyd Huppert, KARE 11)

 Linda didn’t waste any time. “I did my DNA right away, because I've got to see this on paper,” she said.

 The DNA provided the proof. A 72-year secret had been uncovered.

 Denice and Linda quickly put together the pieces.

 In the early morning hours of December 19, 1945, at Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul, two baby girls were born: Denice Mary Mayer at 2:17 a.m. and Linda Jean Nielsen, 31 minutes later.

 How exactly they were switched, is probably lost to the ages.

 “We'll never know,” Linda said, “and I'm sure the nurses are dead that probably took care of us.”

 This is known: For 72 years, Denice and Linda have unknowingly walked in each other’s footsteps.

 Linda Jourdeans (lower right) was the only redhead in her family. (Photo furnished by: Linda Jourdeans)

 Family photos offer anecdotal support for the DNA’s scientific conclusion. Linda, the redhead, is pictured growing up in a family of blondes - while Denice, the blonde, is surrounded by brunettes and redheads in pictures with her siblings and cousins.

 Denice, lacking both stamina and coordination, found herself in a family of athletes.

 For years, her father played baseball around the Twin Cities, including a stint with the St. Paul Saints. Her brother was a ballplayer, too. Denice’s sister is in the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame.

 “Sometimes I had that sense that I didn't quite fit in,” Denice said.

 Denice Juneski (far left) was the lone blonde in her family. (Photo furnished by: Denice Juneski)

 But Linda would have fit in quite nicely. The only athlete in her family, Linda played softball into her 50s.

 For seven decades they’d been living each other’s life, even answering to each other's name.

 “I was really supposed to be another person,” Denice said.

 Baby photo of Denice Juneski. (Photo furnished by: Denice Juneski)

 Linda’s daughter, Michelle, may have been the least surprised. “You don’t look like the rest,” she used to tell her mother. In 2002, she went as far as checking public birth records, but eventually dropped her pursuit.

 Since finding each other in April, Denice and Linda have met several times. They have someone in common. At 99 and in memory care, Marianne Mayer is now getting visits from Denice, the daughter she raised, and Linda, the daughter to whom she gave birth.

 The women retell the story on every visit. Marianne seems accepting of what happened and enjoys the company of both.

 “Now you have more grandchildren - red haired ones,” Denice says, as mother and daughters share a laugh.

 Marianne Mayer, 99, gets a visit from the daughter she raised and the daughter to whom she gave birth. (Photo: Boyd Huppert, KARE 11)

 Rochelle Nielsen, the other mother in the hospital that 1945 morning, died of cancer at 42.

 “She's been gone so long,” Linda says, wiping away tears.

 At 17 Linda lost a mother. At 72 she found another.

 “Unbelievable,” Linda says.

 Linda Jourdeans holds a photo of the mother who raised her, Rochelle Nielsen. (Photo: Boyd Huppert, KARE 11)

 Despite the shock, Denice and Linda agree it was better to find out about the mistake, than remain in the dark.

 Denice says good things are already coming of it. “I consider it a gift,” she says.

 They’ve begun meeting the families to which they should have belonged. Later this month, members of both families plan to attend a reunion where the introductions will continue.

 As for what to call the bond that now connects them, “We’re just new friends,” Linda said, as Denice nods in agreement.

 You'd probably be friends too with the person who's been tending to your life. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A fun foray into finding out more about her ancestry through a popular genealogy website led to a shocking revelation for 72-year-old Denice Juneski: She wasn't related to any of her own relatives—at least not the ones she'd grown up knowing. KARE reports that as Minnesota's Juneski was puzzling over her test results from 23andMe, a woman in a nearby town in Wisconsin took her own DNA test. Linda Jourdeans' results showed that "M. Mayer" was her mother—but that wasn't the woman who had raised her, she tells KARE. The murkiness of this all soon cleared up: Juneski and Jourdeans had been somehow switched at birth sometime after being born on Dec. 19, 1945, at Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul, Minn. The news offered context for things both women had long noticed: Juneski was the only blonde among redheads and brunettes, while Jourdeans, a redhead, was surrounded by lighter-haired kin. Juneski said she also felt out of place in a family of athletes, while Jourdeans was the only athlete in her family. The women tracked each other down in April and have since met a few times, and they're celebrating their special new bond. "I consider it a gift," Juneski says. Together, the women visit one other person at her memory care facility: 99-year-old Marianne Mayer, the woman who raised Juneski and is Jourdeans' biological mother. Rochelle Nielsen, Juneski's biological mother and the mom who raised Jourdeans, died of cancer when Jourdeans was 17. (Were these birth switches done on purpose?)