Parents of Noblesville West Middle School students wait to pick up their children outside Noblesville High Schoolafter a shooting was reported at their children's school. (Photo: Arika_Herron/Indy_Star)

 IndyStar will update this story continuously with the latest confirmed information on the Noblesville West Middle School shooting this morning. A teacher and a student were injured, and a male student was detained.

 Male student in Noblesville school shooting had two handguns

 Update from the 2 p.m. press conference with local law enforcement: A boy in the class asked to be excused then returned to class with two handguns, Noblesville Police Chief Kevin Jowitt said.

 A teacher and a student were injured when the boy started shooting, Jowitt said.

 The student was apprehended either in the classroom or the immediate vicinity, Noblesville Police Lt. Bruce Barnes said.

 The school is a crime scene, Barnes said. The investigation is just five hours old.

 Police from multiple agencies have been assisting with the investigation. Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter expressed his frustration.

 "Here we go again," Carter said. "I wish I had the answer. It's just another sad day. Another cotton-picking sad day."

 Officials have not identified the shooter or the victims, nor given updates on the conditions of the two injured.

 Teacher stopped the shooting, parents say

 The teacher injured in the Noblesville West Middle School shooting Friday morning has been identified as Jason Seaman, according to multiple parents interviewed by IndyStar who have children in the school.

 Parents also described how Seaman intervened to help stop the shooter.

 Seaman has been a science teacher for Noblesville schools for nearly four years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also has been a football coach for seventh-graders for two years.

 Jeremie Lovall said his daughter, a seventh-grader in the school, was in the classroom when the shooting started. She called her dad, who lives in Kokomo, to tell him she was OK.

 “She kept saying, ‘I saw my teacher get shot,’” Lovall said.

 Seaman was shot three times and was undergoing surgery, according to his brother, Jeremy Seaman.

 Jason Seaman, a Noblesville West Middle School teacher who intervened in a school shooting Friday, formerly played football at Southern Illinois University. (Photo: Photo provided by Southern Illinois University)

 Seaman was awake and talking to his wife while en route to the hospital, his brother said.

 Jeremy Seaman said he wasn’t surprised his brother, a former defensive end for Southern Illinois University, put his own safety at risk on behalf of his students.

 “It’s not surprising, to be honest,” he said of his brother’s intervention in the shooting. “He’s not really ever been the person to run away. When the safety of the kids is at hand, it’s not surprising to me that he was going to do what he had to do.”

 More:Teacher identified as Jason Seaman

 Indiana middle school shooting details: one detained, two injured

 At 9:06 a.m., dispatchers received the call of an active shooter at Noblesville West Middle School, police said. Nearby police responded immediately.

 An adult teacher and teenage student were injured in the shooting. Both were taken to IU Health hospitals but the extent of their injuries has not been shared with media. Their families have been notified, Indiana State Police Capt. Dave Bursten said.

 A male student has been detained, Noblesville Police Chief Kevin Jowitt said.

 Around 11:10 a.m., police led someone in handcuffs from the high school into a police SUV.

 Jowitt said a second threat that locked down Noblesville High School on Friday morning is not believed to be related to this incident.

 There is "no information that this is anything other than a communicated threat," Jowitt said.

 Soon after the shooting, a hectic scene erupted outside of the middle school as parents frantically searched for their children and school officials worked to load students into buses.

 The middle-school students were bused to the high school.

 Parents wishing to pick up their children from Noblesville schools may do so throughout the day, school officials said.

 There are no more suspects at this time, police said.

 A press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m.

 Indiana middle school shooting:What we know now

 Related:Where is Noblesville, Indiana?

 Watch live video of the press conference here if video does not appear above.

 'This is surreal,' parent says of Indiana school shooting

 Jayden Williams, an eighth-grader, was in the locker room changing out of his gym clothes when an announcement came over the middle school’s speaker system.

 “It’s not a drill. Shots have been fired by the seventh-grade hallway.”

 He and his classmates escaped through the back of the building and ran through fields, over to the nearby Fox Prairie Golf Course.

 “We were all pretty scared,” he said.

 Eventually, they were bused to the high school to meet up with the rest of the classmates.

 Despite a recent spate of high-profile school shootings, many of the parents milling anxiously around the Noblesville High School parking lot — where parents were directed to pick up their kids — in the heat for hours Friday said they still didn’t expect it to happen here.

 Not in their schools. Not in their neighborhood. Not in Noblesville.

 “I never expected it at a middle school,” said Denisha Williams, Jayden’s mom.

 Jayden didn’t either. “I feel like our school’s generally happy,” Jayden said. “Kids are happy.”

 Chad Lancaster, who has an eighth-grade daughter and sixth-grade son at the middle school, said he heard from his ex-wife in a phone call.

 Their daughter, hiding under her desk, called the mother. She told her to run.

 Lancaster has been trying to reach his son all morning but has not heard back yet.

 “This is surreal," Lancaster said. "This happens in high school, not here."

 Maria Roney, whose son is an eighth-grade student, said that even with seeing school shootings across the country, she never expected it to happen at her son's school.

 “Never thought that this would happen,” she said. “Not in Noblesville.”

 Scene at Noblesville High School after an active shooter situation at the nearby middle school, Friday, May 25, 2018. (Photo: Kelly_Wilkinson/Indy_Star)

 Lilly Kempf, an eighth-grader at another middle school, Noblesville East, held back tears as she talked about the feelings she experienced as she learned the news.

 "I was really nervous for my best friend and my family and..." she briefly trailed off.

 "I wasn't really surprised because after everything had gone down, I had a feeling it would happen eventually, because, you know..." she said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "As soon as we got the code yellow, I knew that's what was going on."

 Mayor John Ditslear was on his way to work when his assistant called him about the shooting.

 He turned his car toward the middle school and arrived around 9:30 a.m., in time to see cops swarming the school, kids being loaded onto buses along Hague Road and some parents searching for their children.

 “We’re praying for everyone involved,” he said. “Those kids were scared to death. It’s a tragic day here in the city of Noblesvsille. You never think it’s going to be at your school.”

 Information on students: Here's where parents should go to get information on their children

 Vice president, governor respond to Indiana school shooting

 Elected officials have offered their prayers and support on Twitter.

 Vice President Mike Pence released a statement to his home state: "To everyone in the Noblesville community – you are on our hearts and in our prayers. Thanks for the swift response by Hoosier law enforcement and first responders."

 Karen and I are praying for the victims of the terrible shooting in Indiana. To everyone in the Noblesville community – you are on our hearts and in our prayers. Thanks for the swift response by Hoosier law enforcement and first responders. — Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) May 25, 2018

 Related: Parents, officials react to shooting

 Gov. Eric Holcomb, who is on the inaugural flight from Paris to Indianapolis, also tweeted: “Speaker Bosma, Pro Tem Long and I are monitoring the situation at Noblesville West Middle School from the air on our return trip to Indianapolis from Europe,” Holcomb said in a statement. “Approximately 100 state police officers have been made available to work with local responders and will offer all assistance needed. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this horrible situation.”

 Congresswoman Susan Brooks, Sen. Todd Young and Sen. Joe Donnelly also tweeted that they were monitoring the situation.

 “My team & I are aware of the horrific shooting at Noblesville West Middle School,” tweeted Brooks, who represents Noblesville in Congress. “My prayers are w/the Noblesville community, especially those who are injured & those who witnessed an active shooter situation- something no one should ever have to go through. Especially children.”

 Indiana Senate Democrats respond to shooting

 Indiana’s Republican-dominated General Assembly just held a one-day special legislative session earlier this month, in part to address school safety issues. Lawmakers approved an additional $5 million in safety improvements grants and made $35 million available for school safety loans. The bill also required school safety audits and allowed schools to barricade doors for three minutes during a fire alarm to investigate an active shooter situation.

 But Democrats criticized the legislation for failing to restrict access to guns. Republicans, who have supermajorities in both chambers, have loosened gun restrictions in recent years, including a 2014 law that allowed guns in locked cars in school parking lots.

 Hours after the Noblesville shooting, Democrats in the Indiana Senate called on lawmakers to impose more restrictions:“Legislators must admit and take seriously that we have to keep guns out of our schools, and restrict access to deadly weapons by dangerous individuals. No child should go through something this traumatizing and it’s our job to stop it."

 State teachers: 'Thoughts and prayers aren't enough'

 The Indiana State Teachers Association released a statement following the shooting:

 "Our hearts go out to the students, educators, families and community members of Noblesville who this morning faced a senseless act of gun violence at Noblesville West Middle School. We understand at least one student and an adult may be injured, and we are praying for the best.

 This national crisis has landed in our backyard. We all have a responsibility to keep our kids safe from violence, and it’s unconscionable that they live in fear that one day their school may be next. When is enough, enough?

 Thoughts and prayers aren’t enough to keep our students and educators safe. We need to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of dangerous people. We now know that it is up to communities, families, activists, educators and the students themselves to stand up and demand that those who are trusted with protecting them do their jobs."

 What else we know

 The American Red Cross Indiana Region is standing by to assist.

 This story will be updated.

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Write a summary.

– A male student opened fire at a suburban Indianapolis middle school Friday morning, wounding another student and a teacher before being taken into custody, authorities said. The attack at Noblesville West Middle School happened around 9am, police Chief Kevin Jowitt said at a news conference, per the AP. He said investigators believe the suspect acted alone, though he didn't release the boy's name or the names of the victims, who were taken to hospitals in Indianapolis. Indiana University Health spokeswoman Danielle Sirilla said the teacher was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital and the wounded student was taken to Riley Hospital for Children. She didn't know the seriousness of their injuries. After the attack, students were bused to the Noblesville High School gym, where their families could retrieve them. USA Today reports that the high school then received some kind of threat, which police suggested might have been a hoax. Erica Higgins, who was among the worried parents who rushed to get their kids, told WTHR-TV that she learned of the shooting from a relative who called her at home. "I just want to get my arms around my boy," she said. Higgins said her son was shaken up but knew little about what happened. "I got a 'Mom, I'm scared' text message and other than that, it was 'come get me at the high school,'" Higgins said.


– Big news for fans of sugary breakfast cereals and social-media-driven brand promotions: Lucky Charms is giving people the chance to win "the unicorn of the cereal world," a box of Marshmallow Only Lucky Charms, People reports. According to General Mills, the contest is in response to the constant requests the company gets for an all-marshmallow box of the cereal. Also, Biz Markie is involved for some reason. To win one of only 10 boxes being made available, post a selfie of yourself holding an imaginary box of Lucky Charms to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and tag it #Lucky10Sweepstakes by Sunday. Or, you know, just buy one of these.

Expand this summary.

General Mills

 Although we have nothing against Lucky Charms cereal as a whole, we’ve got to admit: The marshmallow charms are and always will be the best part.

 And it looks like the good people over at General Mills (the HQ for all things Lucky Charms) are finally listening up.

 According to the General Mills blog, the company is releasing limited-edition marshmallow-only boxes after receiving “countless calls, emails, tweets, and Facebook posts” from fans begging for the cereal-free cereal. That’s right: A whole box filled with nothing but the classic, sugar-y marshmallow shapes.

 RELATED: Kylie Jenner Requests Lucky Charms Marshmallows Only — and Receives a One-of-a-Kind Box

 Of course, there’s a catch. Only 10 boxes of Marshmallow Only Lucky Charms will be available to the public. So, how do you get your hands on a “unicorn of the cereal world?” They can only be won via social media: The cereal manufacturer is asking fans to post a selfie of themselves holding an imaginary box of Lucky Charms (with the hashtag #Lucky10Sweepstakes) on Twitter or Instagram. Then, from the entries, 10 winners will be chosen.

 For the full rules, you’ll have to watch a video of Biz Markie rapping the fine print to the tune of his song “Just a Friend.”

 RELATED: John Mayer Tweets Cookie Dough Almond Butter Into Existence

 The brand previously gifted Kylie Jenner, Blake Shelton and Jessie Pitts custom boxes, while Khloé Kardashian revealed that she keeps a stash of them in her super-organized pantry.

 —Grace Gavilanes ||||| news

 Oct 14, 2015 • By Ashley Halladay

 Win a box of Marshmallow Only Lucky Charms

 A box of Marshmallow Only Lucky Charms has always been the unicorn of the cereal world – fantasized about, but never seen.

 The Lucky Charms team receives countless calls, emails, tweets and Facebook posts from marshmallow-obsessed fans longing for a box filled with only the magically-delicious marshmallows.

 Well marshmallow maniacs, Marshmallow Only Lucky Charms are here!

 Yes, you read that correctly.

 But there is a catch. There are only 10 boxes available.

 So, how can you become one of the Lucky 10?

 It’s simple! Just share a photo of yourself holding an imaginary box of Lucky Charms on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram between October 14 and 18 using #Lucky10Sweepstakes.

 Watch the #Lucky10Sweepstakes video, here.

 And yes, that’s Biz Markie! Why Biz? Well, the brand team says “he’s just a friend” with a great remix to sing about the Lucky 10.

 Watch another #Lucky10Sweepstakes video, here.

 The sweepstakes will live exclusively in social media because that’s where Lucky Charms fans continuously express their love for the brand, especially the marshmallows.

 “We wanted to tap into where that love is and it’s across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Lucky Charms is one of the most Instagrammed cereals and these platforms are the right place to ignite and connect to the passion we hear about,” says Amanda Hill, associate marketing manager, Lucky Charms.

 The Marshmallow Only sweepstakes is a way for the brand to show fans some love in return.

 “We wanted to have a little fun and connect with our fans. It needed to be easy and accessible for everyone to have a chance to win and celebrate what makes us, us – the marshmallows,” Amanda says.

 Let the marshmallow mania commence!

 *The sweepstakes ends October 18. You must be 18 to enter and a legal resident of the United States or District of Columbia. There are three ways to enter- via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Limit of three entries per person, one per entry method. Potential winners will be notified on or around Oct. 20, 2015. For full rules and regulations, visit the Lucky Charms Facebook page.

 Subscribe to “A Taste of General Mills” by email – here – and we’ll notify you about our latest posts. |||||


Summarize this article:

(CNN) Usaamah Rahim, who was fatally shot after waving a military knife at law enforcement officers in Boston, was originally plotting to behead Pamela Geller, an activist and conservative blogger, law enforcement sources told CNN on Wednesday.

 But Rahim, a 26-year-old security guard who officials believe was radicalized by ISIS and other extremists, decided instead to target the "boys in blue," a reference to police, according to court documents.

 "I can't wait that long," he said of the original beheading plan, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court in Boston

 Geller drew national attention last month after an off-duty police officer working security thwarted an attack at her organization's contest for Prophet Mohammed drawings in Garland, Texas. She's president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which includes subsidiary programs Stop Islamization of America and Stop Islamization of Nations.

 "They targeted me for violating Sharia blasphemy laws. They mean to kill everyone who doesn't do their bidding and abide by their law voluntarily," Geller told CNN's Erin Burnett after learning of the alleged plot.

 "This is a showdown for American freedom. Will we stand against this savagery or bow down to them and silence ourselves?"

 Geller said that she's had an "army of security" since last month's Texas incident.

 "This is what is required just to show a cartoon in America, 2015," she said. "It's striking. It's devastating, and people need to understand what's at stake. I mean, if we surrender on this point, what will we surrender next?"

 'The easiest target'

 About two hours before Rahim's confrontation Tuesday with officers on a Boston street, he allegedly told an associate he was "going to ... go after them, those boys in blue. 'Cause ... it's the easiest target," the documents say.

 Rahim's alleged associate, David Wright, 25, appeared in U.S. District Court in Boston to face a charge of obstructing a federal investigation by destroying electronic evidence on Rahim's smartphone. A detention hearing was scheduled for June 19 after prosecutors said he was a flight risk.

 Wright allegedly attempted to destroy Rahim's cell phone and conceal evidence of their plans, according to the documents. Wright faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted.

 Rahim purchased three military fighting knives with blades longer than 8 inches on Amazon.com, the court documents said.

 "I just got myself a nice little tool," Rahim allegedly told his associate, according to the court documents. "You know it's good for carving wood and ... carving sculptures."

 In a recorded conversation, the two men are then heard laughing. They apparently share some history.

 Under the alias "Abu Sufyaan," Rahim thanked his nephew, "Dawud Sharif Abdul-Khaliq," an alias of Wright, for witnessing his wedding, according to a 2013 Facebook post

 Wright's attorney called for caution.

 "I would urge the government, the FBI and law enforcement, in investigating this case and related cases, to be as transparent as possible, and in enforcing the law, to abide by the law," Jessica Hedges told reporters. "We have serious concerns about that already."

 24-hour surveillance

 Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said surveillance video shows four or five officers approach Rahim without their weapons drawn. The officers backtrack as he comes after them and gets "close enough to cause imminent harm." They eventually draw their weapons and open fire.

 "We never anticipated what his reaction would be and that he would pull out ... a military knife and approach the officers," Evans said.

 Police released this image of a knife Usaama Rahim allegedly waved at officers before being fatally shot.

 Anti-terrorism authorities had Rahim under 24-hour surveillance, said Vincent B. Lisi, FBI special agent in charge.

 Rahim was a subject of a terror investigation involving suspected Islamist extremists, law enforcement sources said.

 "We believe he was a threat," Evans said. "He was someone we were watching for quite some time."

 The FBI noted a recent change in Rahim's behavior, including social media threats against police, which prompted agents to try to approach him, according to an official.

 Shooting video

 Authorities showed the surveillance video of the incident during an unusual meeting with religious and civil rights leaders in an attempt to allay community concerns about the shooting.

 Rahim was not on the phone at the time of the shooting and was not shot in the back, as had been reported by a relative, according to clergy and civic leaders who met with authorities earlier Wednesday.

 "What the video does reveal to us very clearly is that the individual was not on the cell phone, the individual was not shot in the back and that the information reported by others that that was the case was inaccurate," Darnell Williams, president and chief executive of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, said at a news conference with the police commissioner and others.

 Rahim's brother has posted on social media that the suspect was on the phone with their father and was shot three times in the back during the confrontation with police.

 Williams said prosecutors want Rahim's family to see the video before showing it to the public.

 The religious and civic leaders said Rahim appeared to be shot three times -- in the shoulder, abdomen and chest. Police had earlier reported that he was struck two times.

 Imam Abdullah Faaruuq, speaking for the Muslim community, said the video was inconclusive.

 "I don't think that he was shot in the back. ... However we couldn't see clearly at all," he said.

 He added, "We can't say what happened. We weren't there. We do see a very vague video that is not clear as to what transpired. It wasn't at a bus stop. He wasn't shot in the back and there is not detail enough on the video to tell us exactly what happened."

 A third associate

 The FBI-led task force had been watching Rahim and two associates also believed to be radicalized, according to a law enforcement official. Rahim had been monitored for at least a couple of years. Investigators were talking to the associates, and various locations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island were being searched, officials said.

 The Rhode Island raid was connected to a third person believed to be associated with Wright and Usaamah Rahim, according to two federal law enforcement sources. The third person was connected by more than just an "Internet relationship," one law enforcement source said. The sources did not provide a name for the individual they were investigating.

 The FBI is still investigating whether more people are connected with the three. ||||| BOSTON (AP) — A knife-wielding man killed by the terror investigators who had him under surveillance was confronted because he had bought knives and talked of an imminent attack on "boys in blue," the FBI said Wednesday.

 In this courtroom sketch, David Wright, left, is depicted standing with his attorney Jessica Hedges, right, during a hearing Wednesday, June 3, 2015, in federal court in Boston. Wright was ordered held... (Associated Press)

 Abdullah Faaruuq, Imam of the Mosque for the Praising of Allah, left, speaks to reporters during a news conference as Darnell Williams, president of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, behind center,... (Associated Press)

 Community members and police officials at Boston Police Department Headquarters prepare to see video, Wednesday, June 3, 2015, in Boston, of a fatal police shooting on Tuesday, in the city's Roslindale... (Associated Press)

 In this courtroom sketch, David Wright, second from left, is depicted standing with his attorney Jessica Hedges, right, as Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley presides, left, during a hearing Wednesday, June... (Associated Press)

 Darnell Williams, head of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, left, speaks with reporters during a news conference as Rev. Mark Scott, of the Azusa Christian Community church, right, looks on,... (Associated Press)

 Community members and police officials at Boston Police Department Headquarters prepare to see a video, Wednesday, June 3, 2015, in Boston, of a fatal police shooting on Tuesday, in the city's Roslindale... (Associated Press)

 Usaama Rahim plotted for at least a week to attack police, the FBI said in a complaint against a family member who was arrested Tuesday, the day Rahim was shot to death. On Wednesday, the relative, David Wright, was ordered held on a charge of conspiracy with intent to obstruct a federal investigation.

 The FBI said Rahim, who had previously discussed beheadings, bought three fighting knives and a sharpener on or before May 26 and he told Wright on Tuesday he would begin trying to randomly kill police officers.

 An anti-terror task force of FBI agents and Boston police, faced with an imminent threat, confronted Rahim on a sidewalk and fatally shot him when he refused to drop his knife, authorities said.

 An affidavit written by an FBI agent assigned to Boston's Joint Terrorism Task Force refers to a recorded conversation between Rahim and Wright in which Wright made a comparison to "thinking with your head on your chest." The FBI said that was a reference to Islamic State propaganda videos showing severed heads on the chests of beheading victims.

 The FBI affidavit said Rahim initially told Wright about a plan to behead someone outside Massachusetts. On Sunday, Rahim, Wright and an unidentified man met on a beach in Rhode Island to "discuss their plans," the FBI affidavit said.

 "Wright indicated that he agreed with Rahim's plan and supported it," the affidavit states.

 Authorities searched a home in Warwick, Rhode Island, on Tuesday and Wednesday but wouldn't confirm the search was related to the investigation. They also wouldn't confirm how Rahim, 26, and Wright, 24, are related.

 Early Tuesday morning, Rahim called Wright and told him he had changed his plans and no longer planned to kill someone in another state, the affidavit says. Instead, he said he was going to "go after" the "boys in blue," it says, an apparent reference to police officers.

 During the recorded conversation, Rahim told Wright, "Yeah, I'm going to be on vacation right here in Massachusetts. ... I'm just going to, ah, go after them, those boys in blue. Cause, ah, it's the easiest target and, ah, the most common is the easiest for me," the affidavit says.

 The FBI said the phrase "going on vacation" refers to committing violent jihad.

 Authorities allege that during that conversation, Wright advised Rahim to destroy his smartphone, wipe his laptop computer and prepare his will.

 On Wednesday, authorities moved swiftly to manage perceptions of the shooting, which killed a black man whose family is well known among Muslims and African-Americans in Boston.

 Rahim's mother is a nurse at Boston University. His older brother, Ibrahim Rahim, is a scholar known for preaching after the Boston marathon bombings that violence is anti-Islamic.

 Ibrahim Rahim initially posted a message on Facebook alleging police repeatedly shot his brother in the back while he was on a cellphone calling their father for help. But his version unraveled Wednesday after police showed their video of the confrontation to community leaders.

 Darnell Williams, president of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, said he could "150 percent corroborate" the police account. The images clearly show that Usaama Rahim "was not on a cellphone and was not shot in the back," Williams said.

 Police Commissioner William Evans said officers confronted Rahim because "military and law enforcement lives were at threat."

 The video, which police did not make available publicly, shows that Rahim menaced the officers with a large military-style knife and they initially backed away before shooting him when he refused to drop it, police said.

 Williams said he's not ready to call the shooting justifiable, and a Boston Muslim leader, Imam Abdullah Faaruuq, said it was unclear from the "inconclusive" video whether police had to use deadly force.

 "They might have approached him in a different way," Faaruuq said.

 Ibrahim Rahim could not be reached for comment Wednesday as he traveled to Boston to bury his brother.

 Usaama Rahim was under investigation after spreading Islamic State propaganda online and communicating with other people about it, said U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.

 "These cases are a reminder of the dangers posed by individuals radicalized through social media," the Texas Republican said.

 Prosecutor Stephanie Siegmann said Wright posed a serious risk of fleeing or obstructing justice if not held pending a June 19 hearing. Wright's attorney, Jessica Hedges, denied that, saying he has deep roots in the Boston area and an "incredibly loving and supportive family."

 Hedges urged the government to be "as transparent as possible" and "abide by the law" as it investigates this case, saying "we have serious concerns about that already."

 Authorities quickly showed the video to black and Muslim community leaders. The meeting "was all about pulling the community together," Evans said.

 After the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, Ibrahim Rahim described Jihadis who promote terror as "hell-bent on Islam's destruction from within," and he urged fellow Islamic leaders to drive "a mass recall of the rhetoric of hate and to suppress any and all human desire to harm others based on any contrived justification."

 Yusufi Vali, executive director of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, where Usaama Rahim briefly worked as a guard, said Ibrahim Rahim "is a great guy and preaches a very moderate form of Islam." Vali said Usaama Rahim did not regularly pray at the center and did not volunteer there or serve in any leadership positions.

 Boston voter registration records describe Rahim as a student. Other records show he applied for a security guard license in Florida in 2011 but didn't follow through. A spokeswoman said Rahim had worked for CVS since March.

 Rahim's shooting is being investigated by the Suffolk district attorney's office and the FBI, routine for shootings involving police. The Council of American-Islamic Relations said it's monitoring them. The Black Community Information Center, an activist group in Boston, called for the U.S. Department of Justice to lead a more independent review.

 ___

 Associated Press writers Collin Binkley and Phil Marcelo contributed to this report from Boston, and Eric Tucker contributed from Washington.

 ___

 This story has been corrected to show the FBI alleges only Rahim, not Wright, bought three knives. |||||

– The man shot to death yesterday in Boston with a military-style knife originally planned to go after activist Pamela Geller, reports CNN. (She was the organizer of the Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas that drew an attack claimed by ISIS.) CNN quotes law enforcement sources who say that Usaama Rahim planned to behead Geller but got impatient and decided to go after local police because he saw them as an easier and quicker target. Authorities say that Rahim had been discussing his plans with a relative named David Wright, who has been arrested on charges of obstructing a federal investigation, reports AP. It's not clear how the men are related. "Yeah, I'm going to be on vacation right here in Massachusetts," Rahim says in a recorded conversation with Wright, according to a court affidavit. "I'm just going to, ah, go after them, those boys in blue. Cause, ah, it's the easiest target."


Summarize this article:

Many of us drink a cup of coffee on the way to work or chow down on some food while driving.But in New Jersey that could soon land you a ticket, or stiff fines.A controversial new bill, calling for hefty fines and even a driver's license suspension, is making its way through the legislature.Many are wondering, does this distracted driving bill go too far?However, while many are harping on the possibility that motorists would be pulled over simply for drinking coffee, the evidence strongly suggests something needs to be done to drastically reduce distracted driving.According to the latest figures from the federal government, in 2014 there were some 400,000 accidents involving distracted drivers, and 3,000 of those resulted in death.Those numbers are shocking, and sadly most of the accidents were preventable."There are 3,000 people who didn't make it home for reasons that are entirely preventable," said Assemblyman John Wisniewski. "Those reasons are keeping your eye on the road."The proposed law seeks to stop motorists who like to multi-task and take their attention away from driving to do such things as text, use computers, eat or drink without paying attention to the road.The proposed fines for violators are $200 to $400 for the first offense and $400 to $600 for a second offense.A third offense could mean a fine of $600 to $800 and up to a 90 day license suspension, as well as motor vehicle points.Some see the law as an overreach, but lawmakers say it's all about safety and saving lives. ||||| TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Drivers who drink coffee behind the wheel don't need to worry about getting a ticket in New Jersey any time soon.

 The sponsor of a bill targeting distracted driving says his measure doesn't specifically cite coffee, despite recent news reports focusing on the beverage.

 Democratic Assemblyman John Wisniewski said the legislation is aimed at discouraging distracted driving and that he cannot imagine that a police officer would pull anyone over for drinking coffee.

 Current law already prohibits texting or talking without a hands-free device. The new legislation is broader and would bar "any activity unrelated to the actual operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that interferes with the safe operation of the vehicle."

 Wisniewski says he sponsored the bill , which doesn't mention eating or drinking, to avoid the need for new legislation every time technology changes.

 He introduced the measure seven months ago, but he has yet to bring it up for a vote in a committee he leads. It also never came up for a vote in the two previous legislative sessions in which he introduced similar bills.

 Wisniewski said he was surprised by the reaction to the legislation. He said the outcry against the bill has been so strong that his inbox has filled up even more than when he proposed a 25-cent-per-gallon increase in the gas tax.

 Wisniewski said when he introduced the bill before, people worried he was trying to stop them from eating sandwiches while driving.

 "It was the 'ham sandwich bill' last time," he said. "Now it's coffee." ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| Put down the coffee, bagel or hairbrush and drive! Or else!

 A bill winding its way through Trenton would impose stiff fines and even a possible license suspension for drivers who eat, drink, groom, read or use electronic devices behind the wheel.

 Violators could face a $200 to $400 fine for the first offense and a $400 to $600 fine for a second offense. A third or subsequent offense could mean a fine of $600 to $800 and up to a 90 day license suspension, as well as motor vehicle points.

 The sponsors of the bill, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, D- Middlesex and Nicholas Chiaravalloti, D-Hudson, said it is modeled after a law in Maine and is intended to educate, not punish drivers.

 "The issue is that we need to try, in every way, to discourage distracted driving, it's dangerous," Wisniewski said. "Education and enforcement can change the attitudes of people."

 Some experts say that motorists must be discouraged from multitasking while driving. Others say the bill is an overreach and questioned how police could enforce it.

 "This proposed distracted driving law is not needed, since three statutes can be used when a distraction causes unsafe actions, like swerving or crossing a line," said Steve Carrellas, policy and government affairs director for the National Motorists Association state chapter. "There is unsafe driving, careless driving and reckless driving."

 Supporters of the bill must come to terms with the fact that a certain level of multitasking by drivers is a reality, Carrellas said.

 "Would [the bill] make changing the radio station or adjusting the volume illegal? What about talking to a passenger?" Carrellas asked.

 Arnold Anderson, the Essex County Community Traffic Safety Program coordinator, said its imperative that motorists break the habit of doing more than one thing while driving.

 "You've got to get people out of the mindset of multitasking," said Arnold Anderson, " You can't multitask. We are so far away from the mindset of ... just drive."

 This kills more drivers than anything else

 Officials from AAA said that a distraction law would be hard to enforce since an officer would have to observe how the driver was distracted, but also that the bill may have a higher purpose.

 "The legislation introduced by Assemblyman Wisniewski, while admirable in theory, may not help police enforce the law," said Tracy Noble, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokeswoman.

 But a distraction law could have a similar effect as seat belt laws, which Noble and Anderson credited for increasing seat belt use in the state, even without fines.

 "The more widespread the message of eliminating distractions becomes, the more likely it is to be ingrained in everyday behavior, similar to seat belt usage," Noble said.

 Currently, New Jersey has laws banning the use of hand-held cell phones and texting while driving, but no prohibitions of other behavior that is considered distracting, according to the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety.

 Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com . Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry . Find NJ.com on Facebook |||||

– A New Jersey lawmaker wants to slap stiff fines on motorists guilty of distracted driving, which his bill defines as "any activity unrelated to the actual operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that interferes with the safe operation of the vehicle." A story at NJ.com translates that to mean anyone caught drinking, eating, grooming, or reading an e-device, which in turn has led to a spate of stories suggesting that coffee will soon be outlawed in cars across the state. Not so much, reports the AP. Democratic Assemblyman John Wisniewski says his bill never mentions the beverage, adding that he'd be stunned if police pulled over a driver just for taking a morning sip. "It was the 'ham sandwich bill' last time," he says, referring to a previous iteration of the bill. "Now it's coffee." Still, he says he's serious about distracted driving, which was blamed for 400,000 accidents and 3,000 deaths in 2014, ABC7 reports. First-time offenders risk being slapped with a fine of up to $400—and $800 for a subsequent breach, plus a 90-day license suspension. Some critics say the legislation, inspired by a similar bill in Maine, goes too far. Steve Carrellas of the state National Motorists Association chapter told NJ.com that existing laws already cover “unsafe actions, like swerving or crossing a line.” He added, "Would [the bill] make changing the radio station or adjusting the volume illegal?" There's time to figure all that out: The measure has yet to come up for a vote even in committee. (A new report calls attention to drowsy drivers.)


– An elderly woman, knowing she was suffering from dementia, chose to leave the world on her own terms this week—and she left behind a website calling for the right to physician-assisted suicide. Gillian Bennett, of British Columbia, wrote on the site that she didn't want to end up a "carcass" living with "no one inside," the Vancouver Sun reports. In dying, she said, "all I lose is an indefinite number of years of being a vegetable in a hospital setting, eating up the country's money but not having the faintest idea of who I am." So she took a combination of whiskey and sleeping pills Monday. Bennett, who was in her 80s, called for a legally-required living will for everyone age 50 and over, saying she hoped that views toward assisted suicide would change, CTV News reports. She and her husband were aware that legally, no one else could contribute to her dying process, the Sun notes. "Gillian and I both disliked and disapproved of the laws making it impossible to help a loved one with something as important as death," he says. Bennett died on a mattress in a favorite outdoor spot as her husband sat beside her. As they sat together, "she was absolutely not frightened … She was as calm and peaceful as you could imagine," her husband says.

Expand this summary.

Josh Elliott, CTVNews.ca

 A B.C. woman experiencing the early stages of dementia has killed herself and left behind an open letter advocating for assisted suicide.

 Gillian Bennett, 83, said she didn't want to lose her "self" to dementia and leave behind an "empty husk" in a letter posted to her blog on Monday, shortly before she ended her life. "I will take my life today around noon," she wrote. "It is time. Dementia is taking its toll and I have nearly lost myself. I have nearly lost me."

 Bennett was diagnosed with dementia three years ago. Her blog post says she opted to end her life now, before she lost her ability to act, because she could feel the disease quickly eroding her mind. "Ever so gradually at first, much faster now, I am turning into a vegetable," Bennett wrote.

 She reportedly died at about 11:30 a.m. on Monday after ingesting a lethal drug. She spent her last moments laying on a foam mattress outside her Bowen Island home, with her husband at her side.

 "I just sat there and held her hand," her husband Jonathan Bennett told CTV Vancouver.

 Gillian Bennett said she wanted her death to spur the conversation around assisted suicide. "We do NOT talk much about how we die," she said. "Yet facing death is thoroughly interesting and absorbing and challenging."

 Bennett pointed to law, religion and medicine as three institutions that need to change their approaches to assisted suicide. "My hope is that these institutions will continue to transform themselves, and that the medical profession will mandate, through sensitive and appropriate protocols, the administration of a lethal dose to end the suffering of a terminally ill patient, in accordance with her Living Will," she wrote.

 Bennett said everyone by the age of 50 should have a living will that says how and under what circumstances they would like to die. "Legally, everyone should have an obligation to make a Will, which would be stored electronically, could not be destroyed, and would be available automatically to any hospital in the world," she wrote. "I do not have all the answers, but I do think I'm raising questions that need to be raised," she added.

 In her blog post, Bennett said she didn't want to leave behind a "living carcass" that would be a financial burden on the Canadian healthcare system, and a chore for her loved ones.

 "I can live or vegetate for perhaps 10 years in hospital at Canada's expense, costing anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000 per year," she wrote. "It is a ludicrous, wasteful affair."

 Bennett claimed that rising life expectancy and an aging population make the elderly a growing burden on society – a burden to which she does not want to contribute. "All I lose is an indefinite number of years of being a vegetable in a hospital setting, eating up the country's money but not having the faintest idea of who I am," she wrote.

 Bennett's husband and family were aware of her decision ahead of time, she said. "In our family it is recognized that any adult has the right to make her own decision," Bennett said. Her husband did not help her with the suicide but was present when she died, according to the blog post.

 Bennett's son and daughter spent the weekend visiting with her before she died.

 "She was just at complete peace," said her son, Guy. "My mom knew her window was closing. She knew that it was approaching the time when she could just wake up one morning and not remember her plan."

 Gillian Bennett is survived by her husband, two children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

 “I think of dying as a final adventure with a predictably abrupt end," Gillian Bennett said. "I know when it's time to leave and I do not find it scary."

 With files from CTV Vancouver's Maria Weisgarber ||||| How do you feel about this issue? Comment on Facebook.

 ===

 On Monday morning shortly before noon, Gillian Bennett dragged a foam mattress from her home on Bowen Island to one of her favourite spots on the grass, facing a craggy rock cliff, the place she had chosen to die.

 Bennett, who was 85 and in the early stages of dementia, chose to take her own life with a draught of good whiskey, a dose of Nembutal mixed with water and her husband of 60 years by her side.

 “I held her hand,” said Jonathan, a retired philosophy professor. His voice is reflective, resonant, measured. “I agreed with her choice.”

 Before the shadows of dementia began to cloak her mind, Bennett created a website, Deadatnoon.com, to be made public after her death, on which she makes a passionate case for physician-assisted options for the terminally ill and elderly.

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 VIEW MORE PHOTOS HERE, or if you're using a mobile device, tap the story image and swipe.

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 Bennett was painfully aware of the encroaching dementia. “I am becoming a vegetable,” she wrote.

 “Every day I lose bits of myself, and it’s obvious that I am heading towards the state that all dementia patients eventually get to: not knowing who I am and requiring full-time care.”

 Bennett wanted to face death as she faced the challenges of her life: with intellectual curiosity, courage and grace.

 She did not want to be a “carcass,” physically alive but “with no one inside.”

 So she decided to end her life before her mind was totally gone.

 “She wouldn’t let me help her, and I didn’t wish to,” said Jonathan. “I don’t know where she got the Nembutal or the instructions; she didn’t tell me.”

 Nor did she let him help her drag the mattress outside, although that final effort was physically difficult for her.

 One thing her husband does know for sure: “She was absolutely not frightened. Not even slightly. She was as calm and peaceful as you could imagine.”

 After she passed away, Jonathan let go of her hand and called his wife’s doctor, who came and confirmed death and notified the RCMP.

 An RCMP officer interviewed Jonathan and together they waited for the coroner.

 “The policeman asked me what happened and I told him. He was very good. Efficient and civilized and good,” said Jonathan.

 The officer’s respectful treatment was a small comfort. He and his wife knew that if anyone assisted her, they would be breaking the law.

 “Gillian and I both disliked and disapproved of the laws making it impossible to help a loved one with something as important as death.”

 His brilliant, beautiful wife — who once had a thriving clinical psychotherapy practice — had made the choice she felt was morally and ethically correct.

 Dementia had crept in bit by bit.

 Lately, Bennett became increasingly forgetful, hyperfocused on certain things, obsessing non-stop about others.

 “She was failing more quickly in the last six months,” said her daughter Sara, “and she knew it.”

 During lucid moments in the last two years, Bennett wrote about her decision. Vegetating for years in a hospital — in diapers, incompetent, a financial and physical burden — was a prospect she perceived as “ludicrous and wasteful.”

 “Her position wasn’t just that she didn’t want to be a burden to others,” said Jonathan. “She was also considering the kind of life she would have. It would have been hard on the rest of us and not good enough for her.”

 Her final gift to her children Sara, 56, and Guy, 55, was to call them home for a last weekend together on Bowen.

 For the last few months, Guy said, his mother’s condition was declining. “She was in and out. She was very aware of the window closing.”

 So when she called them to say that Monday would be the last day, the children were shocked but not surprised.

 “The last weekend with her was surreal. It was just so painful. Really, really difficult,” said Guy.

 But it was also extraordinary. Their mother had caught a “last wind,” Guy said. Her wit and humour were sharper than ever. She was on her game.

 During a night in the house that seemed like any other night, Bennett got into a dispute with her husband about the themes of Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale. She argued vehemently that the play had to do with the mixing of blood, inbreeding, genes. Her husband argued that the play was all about class.

 Jonathan didn’t hold back, telling his wife she was wrong and pulling examples from the text to support his argument in a last battle of two formidable intellects.

 “He was very clearly right,” said Guy, “but my mother came up to me in the kitchen and said, ‘Your father appears to have a point.’” She glanced in her husband’s direction and added in a sly aside, “But we won’t tell him that.”

 Bennett had private moments with each of her children, taking Guy on a vigorous hike to the top of a high hill where they could take in the view. The next day she went for a walk alone with his sister.

 “The last thing she said to me, I was crying, she held my hand and said, ‘The only thing you need to do is just keep being you.’”

 In spite of going public with her choice, Sara describes her mother as very private. Funny. Smart. Irreverent.

 For Sara, her mother is gone too soon. She believes that had there been legal, humane medical options, her mother might still be alive.

 “If someone could have helped her, she wouldn’t have had to die yesterday. She could have waited. If the law was different so that she could have had help, she would not have had to choose to end her life as soon as she did. That is the hardest thing.”

 Sara struggles to hold back her tears. “Even though my mom died painlessly in exactly the way she chose, at the time she chose, knowing that she left the legacy she chose, it’s still unbelievably painful.”

 Bennett, a mother of two, grandmother of six and great-grandmother of two, wanted to be remembered for who she was, said Jonathan: “Lively and full of life and ideas and encouragement. An opener of doors.”

 The final door she wanted to open for others, as she carefully closed her own, was simply, said Sara, “A conversation. About this.”

 dryan@vancouversun.com

 READ ORIGINAL STORY: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Dead+noon+woman+ends+life+rather+than+suffer+indignity/10132068/story.html

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 Is there more to this story? We'd like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. CLICK HERE or go to vancouversun.com/moretothestory |||||


Article:
I’ve generally been of the view that the earlier that the Republican primaries and caucuses begin, the better off Mitt Romney’s campaign will be.

 This is a pretty straightforward case: Mr. Romney is a well-prepared candidate and leads the field right now according to most polling and non-polling indicators. It isn’t a very large lead, and as Chuck Todd notes, I’d be a little bit careful in anointing any candidate with the “inevitability” label when he’s still polling at just 20 or 25 percent. But it’s a lead nevertheless, and the sooner the voting begins, the less chance there will be for another candidate like Gov. Rick Perry to gain a firmer footing as his campaign gains experience. (Earlier voting dates have also made it much harder for additional candidates like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to enter the race.)

 Mr. Romney’s campaign evidently agrees with this thinking: it pushed for an earlier date for the Nevada caucuses, according to reporting by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Des Moines Register, which were recently moved to Jan. 14 from Feb. 18.

 But there is one potential wrench the works — which could cause the plan to blow up on Mr. Romney and harm his chances of winning the nomination. That is if New Hampshire were to move its primary date all the way up to December, as New Hampshire secretary of state Bill Gardner has threatened to do in response to the moves made by Nevada and other states.

 New Hampshire’s laws require that the state’s primary be held on a Tuesday, that it occur before any other primary (but not necessarily any other caucus), and that there is a full week’s buffer between it and the next nomination contest. The latest date that would meet these rules is Dec. 27, 2011. But that date, as well as Dec. 20, would come too close to the Christmas holiday, so Mr. Gardner has instead suggested dates of Dec. 6 or Dec. 13.

 This would leave New Hampshire as something of an orphan on the schedule. Holding its primary on Dec. 6, for instance, would leave a four-week gap between it and the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, during which time much egg nog would be consumed and much of the momentum from the contest might be lost. Some research suggests that the “bounce” from winning an early primary, while it can be significant, tends to evaporate relatively quickly.

 Meanwhile, although the first four or five states have moved up their dates, the primary calendar is still fairly back-loaded overall. Based on the dates listed at Josh Putnam’s excellent Web site, Frontloading HQ, the bulk of primaries and caucus are not taking place until March or later, with some important contests like California and New Jersey not scheduled until June.

 So chances are that a December date would diminish the importance of New Hampshire from an electoral perspective, both because it is so disconnected from the rest of the calendar and because Mr. Romney’s rivals might have more of an excuse for a poor performance there. Candidates like Mr. Perry and Herman Cain could cite the difficulty of competing in New Hampshire on a compressed schedule, and against a candidate in Mr. Romney who has a residence in the state and is something of a native son. The news media, annoyed that the earlier date would require them to revisit their own plans for the campaign, might be happy to play along. It’s hard to know exactly how the spin war would unfold, but it’s possible that New Hampshire could come to be regarded as something of a curiosity or even a beauty contest.

 Now consider how these scenarios might play out given the rest of the calendar. First, imagine that we had a schedule like in 2008, with Iowa voting in the first week of January and New Hampshire about a week later. A loss in Iowa would not be good news for Mr. Romney — particularly given that in the past, New Hampshire has shown something of a penchant for underdog, up-and-coming candidates. Still, New Hampshire would represent a hedge or buffer for Mr. Romney, and a win there would allow his campaign to recover from any loss in momentum.

 If New Hampshire were already to have voted in December, however, the sting of a poor performance from Mr. Romney in Iowa could linger. While the next voting contest — Nevada on Jan. 14 — would still be a relatively good one for Mr. Romney because of the high number of Mormons there, he’d be more likely to enter the contest with unfavorable rater than favorable momentum. By the time Nevada voted, and South Carolina voted the following week, any gains Mr. Romney might have made by winning New Hampshire in December would long have been forgotten about.

 Fortunately for Mr. Romney, there is a relatively elegant solution to this problem. Although Mr. Gardner has threatened the “nuclear option” of moving his state’s primary to December, he ultimately isn’t asking for all that much. If Nevada moved its caucus date to Tuesday, Jan. 17 from Saturday, Jan. 14 — just a 72-hour shift — New Hampshire’s statutory requirements would allow it to slot in on Jan. 10, giving us a January calendar that very much resembled the one we had in 2008.

 If Mr. Romney’s campaign had significant enough influence on Nevada to compel it to move its caucus to January in the first place, it might now benefit from encouraging the state to comply with Mr. Gardner’s demands and move its caucus back a few days. ||||| Bill Gardner just flipped the Republicans the bird. Again.

 In a three-page statement released Wednesday afternoon, the New Hampshire secretary of state reiterated his independence and said he’ll move the primary up as far as necessary to maintain first-in-the-nation status and comply with state law.

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 reset POLITICO 44

 “If Nevada does not adjust its caucus date to a later time, I cannot rule out the possibility of a December primary,” Gardner wrote. “If Nevada does not accept a date of Tuesday, January 17th or later for its caucus, it leaves New Hampshire no choice but to consider December of this year. The dates of Tuesday, December 13th and Tuesday, December 6th are realistic options, and we have logistics in place to make either date happen if needed.”

 But Gardner didn’t make that point directly to Nevada GOP Chairwoman Amy Tarkanian, who learned of the statement from POLITICO.

 She replied, via text message: “WHAT??!!!”

 Complete control over setting the nation’s first primary date has made Gardner a quirky fixture of presidential politics for four decades. But with this year’s suddenly upended calendar, Gardner’s disinterested approach is infuriating other early state chairs and the Republican National Committee, who can’t even get him on the phone.

 “It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” said former Ohio GOP chairman Robert Bennett, a member of the RNC’s delegate selection committee. “What are you going to do, have a suspension over the holidays of presidential campaigning? Every operative that I’ve talked to said it’s the worst thing that could have happened.”

 A lot hinges on Gardner’s decision, which took on new importance after Florida moved its primary to Jan. 31 and South Carolina and Nevada moved up their dates in response. If he schedules the primary in December, ahead of Iowa’s caucus, he could unilaterally alter the the entire nature of the campaign, giving an advantage to Mitt Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, who’s remained far ahead in local polls.

 But Gardner, who’s so set in his ways that he doesn’t use a cell phone or e-mail, has shown no interest in negotiating. Nor was he involved in the regular conference calls held by those responsible for setting the primary calendar for the other early-nominating states. Tarkanian said that after her party’s initial efforts to speak with Gardner were unsuccessful, she reached out through an intermediary. That person told her Gardner had no plans to set his date until the New Hampshire filing period for candidates to get on the ballot begins Oct. 17.

 Ultimately, Nevada last week announced its caucus would be Jan. 14, eliminating Jan. 10 from Gardner’s potential options because New Hampshire law requires the primary be held at least seven days before any “similar election.”

 “We were hoping to get a specific date out of them but that didn’t happen,” Tarkanian said. “We decided, ‘This is crazy, we can’t sit around and wait any longer.’” |||||Summary:

– New Hampshire may be forced to hold its GOP primary as early as Dec. 6, and it will be all Nevada's fault for moving up its caucus date, the Granite State's top election official warns. Secretary of State William Gardner says New Hampshire has no intention of surrendering its tradition of being the second state to choose a nominee, and the combination of state laws and the Christmas holiday make Dec. 6 or 13 the only realistic dates for a primary if Nevada refuses to move its date back by at least three days, Politico reports. Iowa's caucus is set for Jan. 3, and Nevada's is schedule for Jan. 14. The parties "can discourage other states from trying to leapfrog onto our tradition," Gardner said in a statement. "Right now, the problem is the date of Nevada. We cannot allow the political process to squeeze us into a date that wedges us by just a few days between two major caucus states." Mitt Romney is expected to win in both New Hampshire and Nevada, but an early December win in New England will leave a long time, and probably a big loss in Iowa, between victories, notes Nate Silver at the New York Times.


Article:

Japanese writer Haruki Murakami receives the ''XXIII Premi Internacional Catalunya'' prize from Catalunya's Regional President Artur Mas during an awards ceremony in Barcelona, June 9, 2011.

 TOKYO Worried about your future, the meaning of life or the realness of unreal things? Ask Japanese author Haruki Murakami for enlightenment - or as much as a surrealist can give.

 Though a perennial favorite for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Murakami is so notoriously reclusive that nobody knows for sure where in the world he lives, and he has joked about biting fans who get too close.

 But for a short period this spring, the global bestselling author, 65, will take any and all questions posed to him by readers, answering those that pique his interest, his publisher Shinchosha said on Tuesday.

 "He likes to engage with readers, but there's so much interest it's hard for him to interact well. This should be smoother," a company spokeswoman added.

 The company will take questions from Jan 15 to 31, and Murakami's responses will run until the end of March on a special page called "Murakami's Place" on the company's website.

 Born in Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto to schoolteachers, Murakami's often surreal books have been translated into more than 50 languages and feature characters bonding through pain. He has lived in self-imposed exile for years and is often a harsh critic of his home country.

 His most recent novel, "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage", was an instant bestseller that had Japanese fans queueing to buy it at a midnight release in 2013.

 Murakami is known to be a passionate runner, fan of cats and devout supporter of Tokyo's Yakult Swallows, a perennially cellar-dwelling baseball team, and questions are likely to touch on these topics as well as literature, the spokeswoman said.

 "We expect there to be some rather strange questions as well," she added. "Which ones he answers depends on him."

 (Editing by Tony Tharakan) ||||| This article is over 3 years old

 Publisher for the Japanese novelist says he will answer ‘questions of any kind’ from readers on his own website

 Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami is to offer advice to troubled readers in an agony uncle column on his website, his publisher said Tuesday.

 The website, named “Murakami-san no tokoro” or “Mr. Murakami’s place” will solicit problems from fans of the surrealist, whose novels are published in dozens of languages around the world.

 The publicity-shy writer will pen answers to queries, offering his opinions and advice on how to tackle all manner of difficulties, said Shinchosha Publishing.

 “He will receive questions of any kind,” a company spokesman said, adding that he will answer queries written in a variety of languages.

 Murakami will also answer fans’ questions on his likes and dislikes - including cats, a favourite animal of his, and the Yakult Swallows, the Japanese baseball team he supports.

 Problems and queries will be accepted until the end of January, and Murakami’s answers will be published over the following two months.

 The scheme echoes a similar project in 2006, and offers a rare chance for Murakami’s legions of fans to communicate directly with a writer who spends much of his time hiding from the glare of the media.

 “After so long, I want to exchange emails with readers,” Murakami was quoted by the publisher as saying.

 Murakami is one of Japan’s best known writers and has repeatedly been tipped as a future Nobel Literature laureate.

 The 65-year-old, who reportedly spends much of his time in the United States, has a cult following for his intricately-crafted tales of the absurdity and loneliness of modern life, and peppers his work with references to pop culture.

 The website’s URL or email address for questions is not yet available, the publisher’s spokesman said. ||||| Candy Windows

 He runs in slow-mo with a wall of flame

 Boiling behind him like Valhalla’s fall

 In Götterdämmerung. He made his name

 From being bulletproof. He summons all

 His skills to get the girl from Bucharest

 To Rome or Paris or wherever suits

 The budget. Somewhere she can get un-dressed:

 The only scene for which we give two hoots.

 The heavies blast the road or bomb the train.

 The dialogue is dreck, the plot inane.

 They make love. Breasts and bottoms fill the frame

 When suddenly the whole motel explodes:

 The bad guys in a tank. Devoid of shame,

 He frisks her lovely corpse for the launch codes

 Of the secret anthrax time-bomb missile thing.

 They’re tattooed on her thigh. But look, she stirs.

 The soundtrack fills with strings that soar and sing.

 When has he ever seen a face like hers

 Since his last movie? They run for the car,

 She is the jail-bait, he the veteran star.

 The enemy is an army: all the same

 He kills the lot, but finds himself alone.

 The girl is gone, and gradually the game

 Changes. He fails to steal the new nose-cone

 His HQ wants, and where once he could burst

 Through candy windows, now he fears they might

 Be real glass, and – much worse, the very worst –

 The gathering night could really be the night

 When he, immortal once, but not again,

 Must bruise, and bleed, and die like other men.

 Published in the NS of 31 July. Clive James’s most recent collection is Sentenced to Life (Picador). His Collected Poems will be published in spring 2016.

 Fred

 “Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were sexy, but only with their feet, like butterflies.” – Clive James

 Forget dancing backwards in high heels and all that jazz –

 I’ve told you before, I want to be Fred.

 A sparrow of a chap turned shining black-

 bird, magpie-tuxed, woodpecker heel

 and toe, but gliding swallow-tailed, smooth

 as you please. Mr Anti-Gravity. Impossible

 geometries of flair and speed. No map.

 I ache for the ease, the froth of her skirt,

 the gloss of his shoes. And yet am sick

 of so much breeziness, balsawood plots,

 paper plane trajectories. She can fluff those ostrich

 feathers up all she likes, if he’s in love

 with anything it’s the steps. Sometimes

 in a solo, there’s a glint, a glimpse – of what?

 All of this perfect lightness.

 Where on earth did you find it, Mr Auster-litz?

 Published in the New Statesman of 9 January 2015. Isobel Dixon’s col-lections include A Fold in the Map (Salt). “Fred” appears in Double Bill: Poems Inspired by Popular Cul-ture (Red Squirrel Press).

 All illustrations by Max Gregor

 The Glen

 April morning, rising mist,

 last fugitive snow-drifts

 cooried below the dykes’ north sides;

 a naked mountain

 ash tree next a tumbling burn . . .

 Ay, it’s a different season here, different world . . .

 So if you don’t mind, heather of the hillside,

 and it’s alright by you, small invin-cible bird,

 I’ll lean on this here boulder

 by the old drove road,

 and get my eye in, lighting on this and that.

 “It’s nothing to us” you might shrug,

 – and you’d be right. Under the bright-hemmed clouds

 above the ridge

 a dozen jackdaws chack.

 Published in the NS of 27 March 2015. “The Glen”, which fea-tured in the Bristol Festival of Ideas new Lyrical Ballads project, also appears in Kathleen Jamie’s latest collection, The Bonniest Companie (Picador).

 The adulteress

 was her joke name for herself though

 unfashionable & (except in the literal

 sense) incorrect. She had to stop

 attending dinner parties as someone

 would inevitably say something

 like, “I didn’t know which husband to

 expect tonight!” or “Your husband” this/

 “Your husband” that with her partner

 sitting right there. She did not view herself

 as a joke & yet this joke word “adulteress”

 was in her head so she said to her daughter

 who was learning to sew, “Can you make

 a big red A & sew it on my black dress?”

 Her daughter said, “Which black dress?”

 & the woman said, “Every black dress.”

 Published in the NS of 2 October 2015. Kathryn Maris’s most recent collection is God Loves You (Seren). Origi-nally from New York, she now lives in London.

 Words

 I know that when the words are clear and bright

 nothing else is, as the milk of street lamps

 dims out the stars, but I can only keep echoing my own footsteps

 longing for brightness, for streets lit by the stars alone, dark and shining.

 I want to learn the language of these trees that line my streets, dreaming

 upright

 all through the dark till light wakes in them and crows slowly

 make their own blacks out from the dawn. But the words of trees

 are so large we cannot hear them. I want to make them out

 from the hungry waking-up of the crows

 in the dawn coming from the bay, like a song

 of the light itself. I’m stranded in our dream of learning ceaseless

 ripple-waves of language I cannot quite but always almost

 can make out the words of. Words care-fully,

 like marsh waders in silvery after-dawn light as the tide comes in

 meandering to shore, picking their way towards us.

 Published in the NS of 5 June 2015. Patrick Daly lives in California. His work has been published in the New York Times and his chapbook Playing With Fire (Jacaranda Press) won an Abby Niebauer Memorial prize.

 On approaching Pendle Hill

 The path up to Pendle. The sleeping beast. The purple skies.

 Folk tell of witches burned or branded or drowned or hung

 up there. They tell of failed crops, stillborn calves, murrain.

 Always the women. Always the witches. Never the men.

 Never the frost, never mastitis or scours or footrot; never

 blackthorn or angel trumpet, hemlock, ragwort or lupine.

 Never in drink or lust or fear or guilt. Never in penance or

 madness. It’s always the women. It’s always the witches.

 The path past Pendle. The buried bones. The violaceous skies.

 Published in the NS of 24 April 2015. Benjamin Myers’s novels in-clude Pig Iron and Beast-ings. “On Approaching Pendle Hill” features in his collection Heathcliff Adrift (New Writing North). |||||
What is a summary?

– Who better to offer advice to the lovelorn, the beleaguered, and the downtrodden than a hermit-like Japanese novelist? That's the plan for Haruki Murakami, known recluse and one of Japan's most famous writers, his publisher said today, per the Guardian. According to Shinchosha Publishing, the 65-year-old surrealist author will serve as what the Brits call an "agony uncle" on a page called "Murakami's Place" on its website, dispensing wisdom in response to questions submitted by readers from Jan. 15 through Jan. 31, Reuters reports. He'll tackle "questions of any kind," a company rep says per the Guardian. "After so long, I want to exchange emails with readers," Murakami is quoted as saying by Shinchosha, with the rep adding to Reuters that "he likes to engage with readers, but there's so much interest it's hard for him to interact well. This should be smoother." Marukami once referred to himself as "an endangered species [that] may get intimidated and bite" if people got too close to him, the New Statesman reported in 2013. No one's sure where the self-banished Murakami—often brought up as a possible Nobel Prize candidate—lives, though the Guardian notes he "spends much of his time" in the US; the New Statesman claims he resides in both Japan and Hawaii. Some of the Qs he may receive will likely touch on some of his favorite topics, including cats and the Yakult Swallows, a pro Japanese baseball team. Or they may be more fitting for a writer known for what the Guardian calls "intricately-crafted tales of the absurdity and loneliness of modern life": "We expect there to be some rather strange questions," the rep says, per Reuters. "Which ones he answers depends on him." (Hopefully it will turn out better than this lad-mag column.)


File- This May 11, 2017, file photo shows an Obamacare sign being displayed on the storefront of an insurance agency in Hialeah, Fla. A conservative federal judge in Texas on Friday, Dec. 14, 2018, ruled... (Associated Press)

 File- This May 11, 2017, file photo shows an Obamacare sign being displayed on the storefront of an insurance agency in Hialeah, Fla. A conservative federal judge in Texas on Friday, Dec. 14, 2018, ruled the Affordable Care Act “invalid” on the eve of the sign-up deadline for next year. But with appeals... (Associated Press)

 WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge's ruling that the Obama health law is unconstitutional has landed like a stink bomb among Republicans, who've seen the politics of health care flip as Americans increasingly value the overhaul's core parts, including protections for pre-existing medical conditions and Medicaid for more low-income people.

 While the decision by the Republican-appointed judge in Texas was sweeping, it has little immediate practical impact because the Affordable Care Act remains in place while the legal battle continues, possibly to the Supreme Court.

 HealthCare.gov , the government's site for signing up, was taking applications Saturday, the deadline in most states for enrolling for coverage next year, and those benefits will take effect as scheduled Jan. 1. Medicaid expansion will proceed in Virginia, one of the latest states to accept that option. Employers will still be required to cover the young adult children of workers, and Medicare recipients will still get discounted prescription drugs.

 But Republicans, still stinging from their loss of the House in the midterm elections, are facing a fresh political quandary after U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor said the entire 2010 health law was invalid.

 Warnings about the Texas lawsuit were part of the political narrative behind Democrats' electoral gains. Health care was the top issue for about one-fourth of voters in the November election, ahead of immigration and jobs and the economy, according to VoteCast, a nationwide survey for The Associated Press. Those most concerned with health care supported Democrats overwhelmingly.

 In his ruling, O'Connor reasoned that the body of the law could not be surgically separated from its now-meaningless requirement for people to have health insurance.

 "On the assumption that the Supreme Court upholds, we will get great, great health care for our people," President Donald Trump told reporters during a visit Saturday to Arlington National Cemetery. "We'll have to sit down with the Democrats to do it, but I'm sure they want to do it also."

 Economist Gail Wilensky, who oversaw the Medicare program for President George H.W. Bush, said the state attorneys general from GOP strongholds who filed the lawsuit really weren't very considerate of their fellow Republicans.

 "The fact that they could cause their fellow Republicans harm did not seem to bother them," said Wilensky, a critic of President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement.

 "The people who raised it are a bunch of guys who don't have serious election issues, mostly from states where saber-rattling against the ACA is fine," she added. "How many elections do you have to get battered before you find another issue?"

 Douglas Holtz-Eakin, top policy adviser to Republican John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, said he was struck by the relative silence from top Republicans after the ruling issued.

 A prominent example: "The House was not party to this suit, and we are reviewing the ruling and its impact," said AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

 Republicans are "going to have to figure out what to do," Holtz-Eakin said. "If it's invalidated by the courts, it's not ... 'We're going to do it our way.' They're going to have to get together with the Democrats in the House."

 The GOP's failed effort last year to repeal the law showed there's no consensus within the party itself.

 Trump tweeted Friday night that "Congress must pass a STRONG law that provides GREAT healthcare and protects pre-existing conditions."

 "Get it done!" he told Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is expected to be speaker in January. But Trump had no plan of his own to offer in the 2017 "repeal and replace" debate.

 Two top House Republicans issued diverging statements.

 Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said "Obamacare is a broken law," but added, "I am committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make sure America's healthcare system works for all Americans."

 The third-ranking GOP leader, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, praised the judge's ruling and made no mention of working with Democrats, whom he accused of "running a fear-mongering campaign" to win control of the House last month.

 The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said that if the law is ultimately overturned, then members of Congress from both parties should start over, working together. He urged maintaining provisions such as protections for pre-existing medical conditions, no lifetime dollar limits on insurance coverage, and allowing young adults to stay on parental coverage until age 26.

 Democrats were united in condemning the ruling.

 Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said voters will remember. "What will stand is Republican ownership of such a harmful and disastrous lawsuit," Schumer tweeted.

 The next chapter in the legal case could take months to play out.

 A coalition of Democratic state officials led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra will appeal O'Connor's decision, most likely to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans.

 "The legal merits of the case are frivolous," said University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley. "The notion that the unconstitutionality of an unenforceable mandate somehow requires toppling the entire ACA is bonkers." Bagley supports the law generally, but has been critical of how it has been put into effect. ||||| CLOSE A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that nearly 60 percent of likely voters across the nation want the Affordable Care Act to remain in place. Buzz60

 Hundreds of people march through downtown Los Angeles protesting President Donald Trump's plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, his predecessor's signature health care law, March 23, 2017. (Photo: Reed Saxon, AP)

 On Friday, a federal judge fulfilled a wish conservatives have held for more than eight years by ruling the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, unconstitutional.

 U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor agreed with a group of 20 states with Republican governors or legislatures that argued the constitutionality of the law's individual mandate dissolved when Congress removed the tax penalty for the uninsured.

 In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld the law and its mandate requiring people purchase insurance on the grounds that it fell within Congress' taxation power. O’Connor said when the tax penalty was removed so was the central argument upholding the 2010 law's constitutionality. His ruling declared not only the individual mandate but the entire law unconstitutional.

 That decision leaves Republican and Democratic lawmakers, as well as millions of Americans, wondering, "So, what happens now?"

 For the immediate future, the answer is nothing. The ACA will remain in place while the law's future is handled in the courts, a process could take months or years to resolve. People who bought coverage on the health care exchanges before Saturday's deadline will be insured for 2019.

 President Trump: Ruling against Obamacare offers another chance for repeal and replace

 'Republicans will never stop': Obama slams GOP after ruling against Affordable Care Act

 The legal battle

 The Justice Department under President Donald Trump announced in June that it would not defend ACA's individual mandate and other provisions, such as protections for people with pre-existing conditions, but asked that the law not be struck down in its entirety.

 So, the Justice Department seems unlikely to appeal O'Connor's ruling. But after the Trump administration dropped its defense of the ACA, a number of Democratic states, led by California, took it up. Those states intend to appeal Friday's decision.

 "The ACA has already survived more than 70 unsuccessful repeal attempts and withstood scrutiny in the Supreme Court. Today’s misguided ruling will not deter us: our coalition will continue to fight in court for the health and well-being of all Americans," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Friday in response to the ruling.

 House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has vowed that Democrats will intervene and direct House counsel to defend the ACA when they take control of the chamber next month.

 The case would go the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which is dominated 11-5 by judges who were nominated by Republican presidents. Yale Law professor Abbe Gluck said the 5th Circuit will almost certainly grant a stay, keeping O'Connor's ruling on hold pending their decision.

 A three-judge panel for the 5th Circuit will then accept briefs and hear oral arguments in the case before giving their decision. From there, it's possible the entire panel of 5th Circuit judges will ask to review the case.

 "You'd be lucky if you had an opinion out of them before June," Gluck said.

 Whatever the 5th Circuit's decision, one side or the other is almost certain to appeal. But Gluck said she believes the "current Supreme Court will not accept the case" if O'Connor's decision is overturned because "the case is extremely weak on the law and I don't think anyone on the court has the appetite for another politicized Obamacare showdown."

 If O'Connor's ruling is upheld, on the other hand, the Supreme Court "will have to take the case." Barring a rare special session to hear the case, Gluck said it is most likely the Court will hear arguments in the case in early October.

 Severability

 Gluck, who called the ruling "shocking" in a New York Times op-ed co-authored with Case Western Reserve University School of Law professor Johnathan Adler, expects the case will be overturned and never even make it the Supreme Court.

 "This case turned on a very simple and established legal principle, which conservative and liberal judges alike apply," she said. That principle, known as "severability" is that when a court rules part of a law unconstitutional, the rest of the law should stand "unless Congress clearly indicates otherwise."

 "Sometimes severability cases are difficult because it is hard to guess how much importance Congress attributed to one provision, especially in a lengthy law like the Affordable Care Act," Gluck and Adler wrote in the Times. "But this is an easy case: It was Congress, not a court, that eliminated the mandate penalty and left the rest of the statute in place. How can a court conclude that Congress never intended the rest of the statute to exist without an operational mandate, when it was the 2017 Congress itself that decided it was fine to eliminate the penalty and leave the rest of the law intact?"

 O'Connor said Republicans in Congress eliminated the tax penalty but left the rest of the law intact because they didn't have the vote for a full repeal.

 Gluck and Adler called that argument "ridiculous" and said Congress' intent has to be determined by how it votes.

 "Congress thinks the law works without an operational mandate. To believe otherwise is to assume Congress enacts unworkable laws and that is not what courts are allowed to presume," they wrote.

 Market effect

 The legal uncertainty around the law could have negative impacts on the health insurance markets, said UCLA Law professor Jill Horwitz.

 "Insurance markets depend on stability," said explained. "That kind of roiling of the waters leads to an uncertain legal landscape that insurance companies don't like to operate in."

 The instability makes it difficult for insurance company executives to plan because they don't know if the exchanges will continue to function or how many people are going to be eligible to shop in them, Horwitz said.

 "The rates are set for next year, but I imagine that this kind of uncertainty only is going to lead to higher prices for the year after," she said.

 "And if it's difficult for experts to follow all the twists and turns of the state of the ACA, imagine how hard it is for somebody who's working a full-time job, trying to live their lives, not an expert in insurance markets, without the help of outreach because we've cut down on the funding for enrollment counselors," Horwitz said. "Imagine how hard it is for those people just to find insurance."

 Even if O'Connor's decision is reversed by the 5th Circuit or Supreme Court, Horwitz said markets could still see price increases for three reasons.

 "One is the insurance companies just don't like to live under that kind of uncertainty and so they're going to price that uncertainty into their products," she said.

 The second risk is that consumers "are going to get the wrong message" and, without a major effort at outreach, fewer of them will go to the insurance marketplaces.

 Third, it could mean that "instead of policy makers spending their time improving the health care system for the people who need it, they're spending their time litigating this case."

 More: Trump administration touts 2019 drop in average Obamacare premiums after big increases this year

 Search for a legislative solution

 The solution offering the most stability and predictability for both insurance company and consumers would be a legislative one, Horwitz said.

 "On the assumption that the Supreme Court upholds, we will get great, great health care for our people," President Donald Trump told reporters Saturday. "We’ll have to sit down with the Democrats to do it, but I’m sure they want to do it also."

 Democrats will undoubtedly want to pass health care legislation, but getting them to agree with Trump and Senate Republicans on the specifics will be a challenge.

 A call for "Medicaid for all" and to expand a public insurance option is popular among Democrats. Health insurance, and retaining coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, was a central campaign issue for Democrats who won a House majority in the midterm election.

 And Democrats believe they have a political advantage in the debate. As the likely incoming Speaker Pelosi will be able to order the House counsel to intervene in the ACA without a vote. But she intends to bring one anyway to get Republicans on record, Politico reported. Schumer said Sunday he plans to push for a similar vote in the Senate, for similar reasons.

 But those House Democrats will need the Republican-controlled Senate to go along with any measure to make it Trump's desk in the next two years and "Medicaid for all" is unlikely to have the same appeal across the aisle.

 Republicans have expressed more willingness to keep provisions of the Affordable Care Act in place since their failed efforts to "repeal and replace" the law and some have suggested a more step-by-step approach.

 For example, keeping insurance for people with pre-existing conditions has been an area where Republicans and Democrats could work together. Other popular provisions such as parents being able to keep their children on their plan until age 26 could also possibly make it through as separate pieces of legislation.

 Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Sunday that O'Connor's ruling was "far too sweeping" and that she believes "it will be overturned."

 "There are many good provisions of the law. Those should be retained," Collins said.

 Law professor Gluck said she is glad Collins and other lawmakers recognize the weak legal standing of O'Connor's ruling but fear it could lead to inaction.

 "It's good that there's so much agreement among legal experts that the decision will likely be overturned, and I'm glad that message is getting out," she said. "I think there's a danger in that message becoming widespread to the extent that it makes the members of Congress and the White House feel that they can just sit back and do nothing."

 Contributing: Richard Wolf

 More: While Republicans tried to end Obamacare, uninsured rate unchanged in Trump's first year

 More: Donald Trump ‘better’ at managing Obamacare than Obama, health secretary says

 Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/17/what-next-affordable-care-act/2330715002/ |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A Texas judge delivered a bombshell ruling on ObamaCare Friday night, declaring that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. US District Court Judge Reed O'Connor ruled that the individual mandate—the penalty those who forgo insurance must pay—is unconstitutional. And because the individual mandate is so integral to the ACA, the entire ACA is unconstitutional as well, he declared. All of which has lawmakers in both parties, as well as millions of Americans who get their coverage from the ACA, wondering, "Now what?" Here's what we know, including a debate over the legal principle of "severability": What's next: In terms of the immediate future, nothing changes, reports USA Today. Though much uncertainty is now in the mix, the ACA remains in place while this plays out in the courts—perhaps even at the Supreme Court, for the third time—and the process could take months, if not years. Those insured under the ACA, including those who just enrolled, remain covered. The stakes: Here's how the Washington Post puts it: "The opinion, if upheld on appeal, would upend the health insurance industry, the way doctors and hospitals function, and the ability of millions of Americans to access treatments they need to combat serious diseases." Core provisions: As the AP notes, key provisions of the ACA have become popular with Americans, including its protections for pre-existing conditions, expanded Medicaid for lower-income Americans, and the ability of parents to keep their kids covered through age 26. All of which makes the politics tricky for the GOP; the AP says the decision "has landed like a stink bomb among Republicans."


Here is a news article: Vera Mol, a 17-year-old from the Netherlands, was standing on a 130-foot-high bridge on Spain’s northern coast, bracing for her first bungee jump.

 It was 8:30 p.m., and she was the last in a group of 13 teenagers to go, when the instructor gave a command.

 “No jump, it’s important, no jump,” he said in English, according to court documents. But Ms. Mol, apparently misunderstanding his pronunciation, heard, “Now jump.” She threw herself from the ledge — and plunged to her death. The harness she was wearing had not yet been secured to the bridge.

 This month, an appeals court in Cantabria, in northern Spain, upheld a ruling that the instructor for Aqua21 Aventura, the company that had organized the bungee jump in August 2015, could face criminal charges, including accidental homicide, should prosecutors decide to proceed with the case. ||||| A Spanish bungee jumping instructor's "poor English" contributed to the 2015 death of a Dutch teenager who leaped from a bridge before her rope was attached, a judge has said, ruling his employer will face prosecution.

 Vera Mol, 17, died in August 2015 when she jumped from a viaduct on a highway in Cantabria as part of a group trip organised by a local adventure sports company.

 The girl had misunderstood an instruction from the instructor to "No jump" as "Now jump", when he in fact intended to say "don't jump", the judge wrote in the ruling reported by EuropaPress. ||||| A 17-year-old girl who died after a botched bungee jump from a bridge in Spain was killed in part because of her instructor’s “poor English”, a court has ruled.

 Dutch national Vera Mol died in August 2015 when she went bungee jumping with a group of teenagers outside Cabezón de la Sal, in Spain’s northern region of Cantabria.

 The teenager died when she jumped from a road bridge before her rope had been secured to anything, after her instructor said “no jump”, which she may have heard as “now jump”.

 The instructor has appeared before a court in Cantabria accused of causing the teenager’s death. The director of the company that organised the bungee jump will now face prosecution for homicide through negligence, The Telegraph reported.

 “The use of the poor English ‘no jump’ could perfectly well be understood as an explicit order to jump by the victim,” the judgement read.

 Bungee jumping from the road bridge is allegedly banned under Spanish regulation. (YouTube)

 Vera’s death could have been avoided had the instructor used the phrase “don’t jump”, the court heard, which is reportedly the correct terminology, according to the Daily Mail.

 The judges on the case added that the instructor should also have checked the teenager’s ID that she was over the age of 18.

 It was also alleged that bungee jumping from the road bridge is banned under Spanish regulation. |||||
A summary of this is?

– A simple mispronunciation possibly cost a teenager her life in a bungee jumping accident, a Spanish appeals court ruled this month. The Independent reports 17-year-old Vera Mol of the Netherlands died in 2015 after jumping from a bridge in Spain before her cord was secured to anything. According to the New York Times, court documents state an unnamed Spanish instructor told Mol in English: "No jump, it's important, no jump." The appeals court ruled it's clear Mol could have heard "now jump" due to the instructor's "incorrect use and pronunciation of English" as she immediately leaped from the bridge. The court ruled the instructor should have said "don't jump." The Daily Mail notes protocol called for the instructor to say exactly that. The ruling clears the way for the instructor to face criminal charges, including accidental homicide, should prosecutors choose to bring them. The Telegraph reports the director of the company that employs the instructor will face prosecution for homicide through negligence. The court found a number of faults with the company beyond ruling the instructor didn't speak English well enough to instruct foreigners in something as dangerous as bungee jumping. It states Mol was not attached to a safety line on her way to the ledge, the instructor didn't check for parental consent as Mol was a minor, the company didn't have proper permits to jump from the 130-foot-high bridge, and more. (Girl survives 3,500-foot fall, wins $760,000.)