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(CNN) A federal criminal investigation into a deadly duck boat sinking on a Missouri lake was initiated after the US Coast Guard determined the 17 deaths resulted from "misconduct, negligence or inattention to the duties" by the captain of the duck boat, according to a court document filed Wednesday.

 The new investigation also is looking at another duck boat captain and officials at the company that operates the tourist ride, the court document says.

 There are several investigations into the July 19 incident, including the state of Missouri, which is also looking into criminal liability, and the National Transportation Safety Board, which is trying to determine what caused the sinking.

 Survivors of some of the people who died are, in four cases, suing Ripley Entertainment, which runs the duck boat tours called Ride the Ducks Branson.

 On Wednesday, the US government attached a motion to the civil cases, asking that a court rule that federal investigators be allowed first to talk to the pertinent witnesses and participants in the case.

 Read More ||||| The captains of two Ride the Ducks boats that battled rough waters before one sank last month are targets of a criminal investigation, according to federal court documents filed Wednesday.

 Kenneth Scott McKee, captain of the sunken Stretch Duck 07, and Barry King, captain of Stretch Duck 54, “are aware of their status as targets of the Government action,” the document says. They are under investigation for allegedly operating the vessel in a manner that endangered lives.

 Seventeen of the 31 passengers on Duck 07 died when the boat sank in Table Rock Lake near Branson on July 19. Duck 54 was also on the water but made it to shore.

 The documents filed in U.S. District Court Wednesday also indicate that Ripley Entertainment, which owns the duck boats, is another “target” or “subject” of the investigation. And they say that “several Ripley agents, employees, or officers have been identified as targets and/or subjects of the Government action.”

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 The U.S. Attorneys’ manual defines a “target” as “a person as to whom the prosecutor or the grand jury has substantial evidence linking him or her to the commission of a crime and who, in the judgment of the prosecutor, is a putative defendant.” A “subject” of an investigation, the manual says, “is a person whose conduct is within the scope of the grand jury’s investigation.”

 King’s wife turned to social media after the sinking that night to tell Facebook friends her husband was OK. She wrote that he was also on the lake that night, at the same time, and faced rough weather.

 “He said he rode 4 ft waves and prayed,” she said. “He and his passengers rode on angels wings to safety. Our heart aches for the Captain and passengers of the Duck that capsized.”

 One woman responded: “So thankful Barry was guided to safety! Definitely on angels wings! Prayers for all.”

 The Star repeatedly has attempted to talk with both captains. Those attempts have been unsuccessful.

 SHARE COPY LINK Three members of a family describe the duck boat tragedy as seen from the Showboat Branson Belle on Thursday at Table Rock Lake near Branson.

 Cellphone video taken from the nearby Showboat Branson Belle, which was docked at the time of the storm, captured the two boats as they struggled in the lake. A viral video of the incident ended right before McKee’s boat went under. He was among the 14 survivors.

 The first 911 call about Stretch Duck 07 came at 7:09 p.m., 14 minutes after the boat entered the water that night.

 The National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 6:32 p.m., specifically naming Table Rock Lake. The warning said winds in excess of 60 mph were possible. In reality, winds on the lake reached 73 mph with waves of more than 3 feet.

 According to a recent report by the National Transportation Safety Board, the captain and driver were on board at 6:28 that evening when someone stepped onto the back of the boat and told the crew to take the water portion of the tour first. It isn’t known who that person is. The driver, whose job is to steer the duck boat on land, died in the sinking.

 The U.S. Coast Guard referred the investigation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri on Aug. 13 to pursue possible federal criminal charges. That office, based in Kansas City, includes the Table Rock Lake area.

 According to the document filed Wednesday, the Coast Guard notified the U.S. Attorney’s Office that its preliminary probable cause determination was that the sinking of Stretch Duck 07 and the loss of lives “resulted from the misconduct, negligence, or inattention to the duties of the captain of the vessel at the time of the sinking, which is a violation of federal criminal law.”

 The certificate of inspection for Stretch Duck 07 set stringent guidelines for wind and water conditions. It states that the “vessel shall not be operated waterborne when winds exceed 35 mph, and/or the wave height exceeds two feet.”

 The Coast Guard also notified the U.S. Attorney’s Office of its preliminary probable cause determination “that the operation of Stretch Duck 54 on July 19, 2018, was undertaken by the captain of that vessel in a grossly negligent manner that interfered with the safe operation of the vessel and endangered the lives or bodies of persons on board the vessel.”

 The federal investigation is being conducted in addition to a separate criminal probe by the Missouri attorney general.

 Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office confirmed to The Star on July 30 that it had opened a criminal investigation to explore the possibility of violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.

 The act forbids fraud and deception in the sale of goods and services.

 Several lawsuits have been filed in federal and state courts, three on behalf of passengers who died and one on behalf of a survivor. Another was filed earlier this month by a man who jumped in the lake to try to help pull passengers to safety.

 The latest suit was filed Aug. 20 in U.S. District Court by the daughter of William Asher, a St. Louis man who died in the tragedy. Jennifer Asher alleges that Ripley Entertainment “took the lives of seventeen people when it made the conscious decision to disregard the known dangers of its vehicles in volatile weather and instructed its employees to begin their excursion on the water.”

 Wednesday’s filing asked the court to put a hold on the discovery process for all lawsuits until the criminal investigation is complete. Prosecutors say the action is necessary to prevent civil lawsuits from interfering with a federal probe.

 Ripley spokeswoman Suzanne Smagala-Potts said last week that the company was cooperating fully with federal and state authorities.

 “We are providing all documentation and materials requested in the case,” she said in an email to The Star. “However, as a party to the ongoing NTSB investigation, we are refrained from commenting to the media on the matters being investigated.”

 The court documents filed Wednesday, however, cite a federal law regarding negligence or misconduct when operating a vessel.

 According to that law: “Every captain, engineer, pilot, or other person employed on any steamboat or vessel, by whose misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his duties on such vessel the life of any person is destroyed ... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.” |||||

– The duck boat sinking that killed 17 on a Missouri lake is now the subject of a federal criminal investigation after the Coast Guard found probable cause for negligence. The US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri is seeking to delay civil lawsuits over the July 19 incident until the end of its "wide-ranging" investigation to prevent revealing evidence too early, though two boat captains already know themselves to be targets. Per the Springfield News-Leader, the Coast Guard found probable cause for "misconduct, negligence, or inattention to the duties of the captain" by Kenneth McKee of Ride the Ducks Branson's sunken Stretch Duck 07, and also probable cause that Barry King acted in a "grossly negligent manner" while operating Stretch Duck 54, which made it to safety. The Branson area had been under a severe thunderstorm warning for 20 minutes before Stretch Duck 07 entered Table Rock Lake, where 73mph winds whipped up waves more than three feet high. Per the Wichita Eagle, the boat wasn't to be operated in winds exceeding 35mph or waves exceeding two feet. Civil cases also accuse Ride the Ducks Branson, owned by Ripley Entertainment, of putting passengers at risk through use of boat canopies, citing a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation to remove them following a 1999 tragedy. The NTSB is also investigating this case, along with the state, per CNN. "We continue to fully cooperate," Ripley says in a statement, adding "we are providing all documentation and materials requested in the case."


CARMEL, Ind.– Scott Jones, founder of ChaCha and inventor of voicemail, will hold an estate sale at his 27,000 square-foot Carmel estate in September.

 Jones has resided in Hawaii for the last few years and has decided to open the doors to his mansion and invite the public to peruse a lifetime of collections and household furnishings.

 The sale will run from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Sept. 14-17. The house is located at 1150 West 116th St, Carmel, IN 46032.

 “This sale will undoubtedly be one of the best estate sales ever conducted – not only in the state of Indiana, but the entire country,” said Aether Estate Sales Co.

 The Carmel home is built in the style of an English country manor. It cost $20 million and took seven years to build. The mansion’s features include a 33-foot high great room, an indoor tree house, a circular mahogany slide, a 25-foot long saltwater aquarium and an indoor basketball court. It also has many automation features.

 The estate has been on shows like HGTV’s Mega Mansions and MTV Cribs. It has served as an incubator for members of the tech scene over the years.

 Jones has amassed a collection of eclectic possessions, including:

 T-Rex skull cast

 High-end, original art

 Museum-quality, priceless antiques

 Custom-built furniture

 Kubota tractors

 Incredible clock collection

 Conversation pieces

 Home accents

 For more information, visit Aether Estate Sales Co. online here or call (317) 567-2319. ||||| Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Entrepreneur and coder Scott Jones opens his Carmel home up to Airbnb. Take a video tour. (August 2017) Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar

 Buy Photo The home of Scott Jones, now on the market for $4,995,000. (Photo: Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar)Buy Photo

 Scott Jones is simplifying.

 The tech maven with the big house on 116th Street — the one with the indoor tree house, the 25-foot saltwater aquarium, the spiral slide made of the finest mahogany — is selling his stuff.

 Jones has been living mostly in Hawaii for the past two years and has decided that the Carmel house's furnishings must go, all of them.

 This would include his Tyrannosaurus rex skull replica, for which he'll take $10,000, and his Steinway grand piano, $100,000. The sale runs Sept. 14-17, at the house, 1150 W. 116th St.

 It's not an auction; it's a sale. People can walk through the house and check out the merchandise as if the house were a store.

 "Everything will be bar coded," said Lee Parson of Fishers-based Aether Estate Sales Co., who's managing the sale.

 Jones' house — seven bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, 24,000 square feet — is for sale, too. The asking price is $4,995,000.

 You don't have to be Steinway-rich to file through the house next month and acquire a piece of Jones' legacy. Parson said everyday household items will be sold alongside the good stuff, including "half-opened bottles of Windex that'll be 50 cents."

 Jones, 56, has a second home in Honolulu, and a couple years ago, he began spending most of his time there. He kept his Carmel house occupied by running a computer coding school out of the great room and the theater and renting bedrooms on Airbnb.

 ► More on rich people liquidating: The job once fell to Earl Cornwell

 ► More: The dispersal of the vast (and often untouched) treasures of Nancy Irsay

 He moved to Indianapolis as a teenager and graduated from North Central High School and later Indiana University. At 25, while living in Boston, he invented the technology that made voicemail practical. He sold it for $50 million then started several other businesses.

 Jones returned to his hometown in the 1990s and, as a 30-something multimillionaire tech titan, quickly became a major player. He was one of the key voices lobbying for Indiana's move to daylight-saving time, a surprisingly hotly contested transition that he and other business leaders considered critical to aligning Indiana with business interests on the coasts.

 He gave money away, most notably $3 million to The Children's Museum for its "Dinosphere," a dinosaur exhibit.

 Along the way, Jones collected a wide variety of stuff from all over the world: antiques, artwork, a suit of armor, a model of the sailing ship that's the size of a fourth-grader, and a telescope so huge that it takes three people to move.

 Parson predicted dispensing it would be "the best estate sale ever held in Indiana."

 "Everything must go," said Jones' publicist, John Ross. "This will be a nice opportunity for people to see how the other half lives."

 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Have you ever wanted to peek inside the Carmel, Ind., mansion of tech guru Scott Jones? Now you can — and you might be able to walk away with a memento, too. Jones is selling all of his possessions from the Hamilton County home. Dwight Adams/IndyStar

 ► Subscribe: Get the IndyStar North newsletter delivered to your inbox

 Contact Star reporter Will Higgins at (317) 444-6043. Follow him on Twitter @WillRHiggins.

 Read or Share this story: http://indy.st/2wT9QwI |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Tech titan Scott Jones, best known for inventing voicemail and founding the search engine ChaCha, is moving on. The Indiana native has spent most of the past two years in Hawaii, and now he's decided to sell the Indiana house, which he has been renting out on Airbnb, for nearly $5 million and throw one of the country's "best estate sales ever conducted" per the company managing the sale, Aether Estate Sales Co. Fox59 reports that the Carmel home took seven years and $20 million to build in the tradition of an English country manor. It also boasts a 25-foot saltwater aquarium, circular mahogany slide, indoor tree house, and more. But what's for sale inside the 27,000-square-foot, 7-bedroom, 14-bathroom mega mansion is arguably more intriguing. That's because Jones, who is 56, is a collector with eclectic interests. Want a T. rex skull replica? That'll cost $10,000. A Steinway grand piano? That's a cool $100,000. He's also got "high-end, original art" and "museum-quality, priceless antiques," but because everything must go, there are even price tags on half-empty bottles of Windex (50 cents), reports IndyStar. The sale runs Sept. 14 through 17 and is open to the public; buyers can wander through the house to check out the wares as they would at any other estate sale. (Estate sales can turn up stolen masterpieces.)


News article:

Taylor Swift got PUNK’d by Justin Bieber in New First Episode!

 The MTV celebrity prank series “Punk’d” is officially back in business and it’s no longer only Ashton Kutcher to be afraid of!

 The Punk’d filming its first return episode on Friday in Los Angeles with Taylor Swift as the unsuspecting target, a source has revealed to Access Hollywood. However, it wasn’t Ashton at the scene. Instead, the prankster who “Punk’d” Taylor? Her good friend, Justin Bieber.

 While Ashton Kutcher will no longer host, he still serves as executive producer for the hidden camera series “punk’d”, which he first launched back in 2003. The show went on hiatus following its season finale in May 2007.

 As previously reported, Justin joined and surprised Taylor Swift onstage on Tuesday night during the Los Angeles stop of her “Speak Now” tour. The duo performed Bieber’s hit “Baby.” No further details on Friday’s “Punk’d” prank were immediately available.

 Will you watch Punk’d first episode featuring Justin and Taylor? ||||| Justin Bieber Fine After Minor Collision

 LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption Justin Bieber arrives at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, Los Angeles, on August 28, 2011Justin Bieber’s Ferrari is a little less pristine on Tuesday afternoon after the singer was involved in a minor car collision on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

 Authorities in the Valley area of LA confirmed to Access Hollywood that the Canadian singing sensation was involved in the collision around noon PT.

 According to the police, a Honda Civic collided with Justin’s Ferrari.

 Justin was driving at the time and he had a passenger in his car, the LA Police Department told Access. Authorities believe the passenger was the Biebs’ assistant.

 There was no injury or damage to either car, authorities confirmed.

 Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Relax, girls. Not a hair on Justin Bieber's head is out of place, even though a Honda Civic collided with the black Ferrari he was driving in Los Angeles yesterday. Neither driver was injured and Bieb's assistant, who was a passenger in his car, was similarly unharmed; no damage was reported, according to Access Hollywood. Maybe he didn't get out of the way fast enough because he was dreaming about winning the award for best male video at the MTV Video Music Awards—and punking pal Taylor Swift while filming the first new episode of Punk'd last week.


Article:

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 Children are being poisoned by a widely used dietary supplement which adults take for sexual enhancement, a new report warns.

 At least 275,000 calls — an average of one call every 24 minutes — were made to poison control centers because of exposure to all kinds of dietary supplements between 2002-2012, according to the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Central Ohio Poison Center, both at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

 But in the report published online Monday, researchers singled out yohimbe tree bark extract as the latest in a long list of dangerous substances that children are accidentally ingesting. Of all the calls made to the poison control centers in the past decade, yohimbe exposure had the largest proportion of serious outcome and has been found to cause heart beat rhythm changes and kidney failure in children.

 Yohimbe is the name of an evergreen tree found in parts of central and western Africa. The bark of yohimbe contains a chemical called yohimbine, which is used to make medicine. For centuries, yohimbe has been used in Africa to treat fever and leprosy or as an aphrodisiac, but currently its most popular use is to treat erectile dysfunction in men and low libido in women, even though there is scant evidence that it works.

 As a dietary supplement, the dried bark of the yohimbe tree is available in capsule and tablets forms as well as in tea. Since the dose range is narrow — take too little and it doesn’t work and take too much and it is toxic — use of this herb is not recommended. The Food and Drug Administration has received reports of seizures and kidney failure associated with yohimbe consumption.

 Even “safe” dosages may cause dizziness, nausea, insomnia, anxiety, a rise in blood pressure, and rapid heartbeat. Overdose can be fatal. Internet claims boast great results in the bedroom; however, there are many other FDA-approved medications for ED, like Viagra or Cialis, which are much safer and more effective.

 "Many consumers believe dietary supplements are held to the same safety and efficacy standards as over-the-counter medications," said Dr. Gary Smith, senior author of the study and director of the Center of Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's. "However, dietary supplements are not considered drugs, thus they are not required to undergo clinical trials or obtain approval from the FDA prior to sale, unless the product is labeled as intended for therapeutic use."

 In the study, 1,818 cases of yohimbe exposure were reported over the past ten years — 512 of which were considered serious. The report was published online Monday in the Journal of Medical Toxicology.

 Related: Caffeine Overdose Killed South Carolina Teen

 The study also found that 78 percent of yohimbe exposures occurred in children, ages six or older, although most supplement exposures occur in children under six. Among reported exposures, 3.2 percent were admitted to a critical care unit for treatment, with one reported death. At least 1.3 percent of cases were serious and more than a quarter caused moderate harm.

 The vast majority of exposures were unintentional.

 Henry Spiller, co-author of the study and director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children Hospital, says the findings show the need for child-resistant packaging, caregiver education and FDA regulation of yohimbe and other energy supplements. ||||| Regardless the type of dietary supplements—from vitamins, energy drinks, herbal medicines, homeopathic products, to some hormonal treatments—they usually come with big claims about boosting health and wellbeing. While those claims are questionable (and often unfounded), the products collectively do enhance one thing: the volume of calls to poison control centers.

 Between 2005 and 2012, the rate of supplement-related calls to poison centers increased 49.3 percent , researchers reported Monday in the Journal of Medical Toxicology. In the final year of data, the centers were getting calls at a rate of nearly 10 adverse exposures per 100,000 people.

 There didn’t seem to be a big jump in use of dietary supplements during that time. Self-reported use among adults has held steady, around 49 to 54 percent, the authors note. But, these supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration as are drugs—no FDA review or approval is required before supplements hit the market.

 “Lack of federal oversight has led to inconsistencies in the quality of dietary supplements, product mislabeling, and contamination with other substances,” Henry Spiller, a co-author and director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children’s, said in a statement.

 Examining nearly 275,000 reports from the National Poison Data System between 2000 and 2012, Spiller and his colleagues came up with trends and details about dietary supplement poisoning calls. Of all the exposures, 70 percent were in kids six years old or younger and 82.9 percent were unintentional. But not all the kinds of supplements were of equal concern.

 Of all the categories of products, homeopathic agents were the largest single cause of calls to poison control centers, accounting for 36 percent of calls. Between 2000 and 2010, the annual rate of exposures to homeopathic products jumped 227 percent and then fell by 18 percent between 2010 and 2012.

 Following homeopathic products, botanicals were the second leading cause of calls and accounted for 31.9 percent. Hormonal products, such as androgen supplements, came in third, accounting for 15.1 percent.

 But the most dangerous categories—those with the highest proportion of serious medical outcomes—included energy products, botanicals, and cultural medicines. Energy drinks can cause abnormal heart rhythms and breathing, as well as seizures. Two botanicals of note that seemed particularly dangerous were yohimbe, used for male sexual enhancement, and ma huang (aka ephedra), used for boosting energy, alertness, weight loss, and athletic performance. Yohimbe is linked to heart attacks, seizures, and kidney failure, while ma huang is linked to strokes, as well as heart attacks. In 2004, the FDA banned ma huang after it was linked to several deaths. The number of poisonings and deaths from ma huang plummeted after the ban.

 The ban even seemed to influence overall supplement-related poison calls. The rate of calls was on the rise between 2000 and 2002, jumping 46.1 percent, then decreased 8.8 percent around the time of the ban between 2002 and 2005 before increasing again 49.3 percent from 2005 to 2012.

 Though the data coming into poison centers may miss adult exposures and chronic, rather than acute, poisonings, the authors say it shows the FDA needs to do more. “Our results demonstrate the need for FDA regulation of yohimbe and energy products in the US as was done successfully with ma huang products in 2004,” the authors conclude.

 Journal of Medical Toxicology, 2017. DOI: 10.1007/s13181-017-0623-7 (About DOIs). ||||| (CNN) From 2005 to 2012, the rate of calls to poison control centers about dietary supplements increased by almost 50%, and most of the exposures were in children younger than 6 years old, according to a study published Monday in the Journal of Medical Toxicology .

 The study defines dietary supplements as any product that supplements the diet, including vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, homeopathic agents and amino acids, and concentrates, metabolites, constituents and extracts of these ingredients.

 The researchers used data from the National Poison Data System , to which poison control centers submit their call information. From 2000 to 2012, there were 274,998 dietary supplement exposures reported to poison control centers across the US: one call every 24 minutes, on average.

 The symptoms most associated with supplement ingestion included tachycardia, or rapid heart rate; vomiting; nausea; irritability; drowsiness and dizziness.

 Seventy percent of the dietary supplement exposures were in children younger than age 6; 99% of those were unintentional. Overall, only 4.5% of all supplement exposures resulted in serious medical outcomes, mostly in children under age 6.

 Henry Spiller , study author and director of Central Ohio Poison Control, said parents still need to be extremely cautious about leaving these products within access of children.

 "Sometimes, parents don't think of keeping dietary supplements away from their kids, because they're not medicines prescribed by the doctor. People think of them as natural," Spiller said. "But they need to be treated as if they were a medicine. Don't leave them out on the counter. Keep them out of reach."

 Spiller said the two most common ways for children to ingest a supplement are while they're exploring the house or when a parent mistakes it for another kind of medication.

 Jeannette Trella , managing director of the Poison Control Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, added that many dietary supplements do not have child-resistant packaging. Because of this, she says, parents should really consider whether they want to store supplements in their homes.

 "Parents should look at this as a risk-benefit analysis," said Trella, who is also a pharmacist and was not involved in the new study. "It should be considered whether the potential benefit of taking the supplement really outweighs the risk of your child accidentally ingesting something they shouldn't and becoming sick."

 But children under age 6 were not the only group adversely affected by dietary supplements; many older kids and adults were, too. Among those who called poison control centers about dietary supplements, 21% reported adverse effects, according to the study.

 From 1999 to 2012, the number of adults who reported using dietary supplements has remained steady in the range of 49% to 54%.

 The study named the most dangerous supplements as ma huang, yohimbe, homeopathic agents and energy drinks.

 Ma huang is a stimulant containing ephedra that was outlawed by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2004.

 Join the conversation See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter.

 However, yohimbe -- often promoted as enhancing male sexual performance -- and energy drinks containing caffeine or other stimulant ingredients, as well as homeopathic agents that are supposed to help with migraines, asthma and other conditions, are still on the market.

 During the study's 13-year period, 34 people died of exposure to dietary supplements. Six deaths were associated with ma huang, three with homeopathic agents and one with yohimbe, the researchers said. These types of dietary supplements were also closely associated with serious medical outcomes.

 "More than 170 million Americans take dietary supplements each year, and the responsible industry is invested in bringing safe and quality products to meet this demand," the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the leading trade association for the dietary supplement and functional food industry, said in a statement. "We recommend that consumers store dietary supplement products in safe places, out of a child's reach. In addition, we recommend that consumers talk with their doctor or pediatrician about their family's supplement use."

 The group added that homeopathic agents, which were included in the study, are not dietary supplements and are regulated differently. The FDA said they are regulated as unapproved drugs

 According to the FDA's website, the agency "regulates dietary supplements under a different set of regulations than those covering 'conventional' foods and drug products. Unless the products are intended to treat or prevent a disease, this means the FDA does not require companies to conduct clinical trials of dietary supplements."

 The FDA said it does not comment on specific studies, but it is reviewing these findings. Additionally, the agency suggests certain safety guidelines for consumers and parents who might use dietary supplements, including storing them out of sight of children and informing your health care practitioner if you are taking them.

 The FDA encourages consumers to report adverse events related to dietary supplements on its safety reporting portal

 For Trella, minimal FDA regulation is the most troubling aspect.

 "Because dietary supplements are not regulated by the FDA, there are not robust studies done to ensure that they are efficacious or have a reliable safety profile," she said. "We're often going down a path of unknowns, and for possibly no benefit at all."

 "We really don't know if there's a benefit to taking any of these supplements, because of the lack of studies," she said. "People need to be aware of that."

 Spiller also said people should reconsider how they think about dietary supplements.

 "Just because it's a natural supplement doesn't mean it's safe," he said. "I often use the example, technically, that cocaine is also natural. But that doesn't mean it's safe." |||||
What is a summary?

– A Journal of Medical Toxicology study of calls made to poison control centers over the past 12 years finds one herbal supplement to be particularly concerning. Of those calls, the ones with the biggest proportion of serious medical outcomes had to do with yohimbe tree bark extract, NBC News reports. The extract, which comes from an evergreen tree found in Africa, has been used there for centuries to treat various maladies, but it's most popular as a libido booster for both men and women—though there's little evidence of its efficacy. It can cause changes to heartbeat rhythm and even kidney failure in kids. Overall, the study found that between 2005 and 2012 there was a 49.3% increase in calls to poison control centers related to dietary supplements, including vitamins, energy drinks, homeopathic products, herbal medicines, and some hormonal treatments, Ars Technica reports. The senior author of the study notes that products classified as supplements aren't considered drugs, and thus don't go through the FDA approval process (and may not be stored in childproof containers). In the case of yohimbe, the FDA doesn't recommend its use, as it's easy to overdose. Even the recommended dosage can lead to problems such as high blood pressure and rapid heartbeat, and overdose can lead to seizures and even death. The study found 1,818 cases of yohimbe exposure reported between 2002 and 2012, 78% of them in children. Of all the cases, 512 were serious; 3.2% of patients were admitted to a critical care unit, and one died. "Sometimes, parents don't think of keeping dietary supplements away from their kids, because they're not medicines prescribed by the doctor. People think of them as natural," another lead author tells CNN. "But they need to be treated as if they were a medicine. Don't leave them out on the counter. Keep them out of reach." (This herbal "detox" sent a woman to the ER.)


Article:

Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival on June 2, 2017 in Nuerburg following an evcuation alert (AFP Photo/Thomas Frey)

 Berlin (AFP) - Germany's biggest rock festival will resume after being disrupted by fears of a possible "terrorist threat" which have proved to be unfounded, the organisers said Saturday.

 Police told AFP searches at the three-day "Rock am Ring," held near the southwestern city of Koblenz were over. Live music will resume at 1:30 pm (1130 GMT).

 Some 90,000 people are expected to attend the event which ends on Sunday.

 "After a series of intensive searches across the site the fears of an imminent danger were not confirmed," the organisers said.

 "The police gave the go-ahead" for the festival to restart, they said.

 The festival was evacuated on Friday evening after Koblenz police said they were in possession of "concrete elements, in the light of which a possible terrorist threat cannot be ruled out".

 Police said three people suspected of being members of a Salafist group in the neighbouring state of Hesse were detained but released on Saturday.

 "One person who is not of German origin and is known to the police as having links to the Islamist terror network had access to" backstage areas, police spokesman Wolfgang Fromm said.

 The three had been hired to set up security barriers at the venue.

 Security for the festival had already been stepped up, with an additional 1,200 staff, in response to the May 22 Manchester bombing which occurred after a concert by US singer Ariana Grande.

 The region's interior minister Roger Lewentz defended the decision to evacuate the festival, saying: "We cannot take risks."

 Last year's Rock am Ring programme was curtailed by violent storms in which dozens of people were injured by lightning.

 The country remains on high alert after a jihadist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin on December 19.

 Anis Amri, a 24-year-old Tunisian, hijacked a truck, killed its Polish driver and ploughed the vehicle through the market, claiming 11 more lives and wounding dozens. ||||| A rock festival in Germany has been closed down for the day after police received information on a suspected terror threat. Thousands of people were evacuated from the Rock am Ring, at the Nürburgring in the north-west of the country on Friday.

 Police said they were investigating after getting “concrete indications” that meant they could not “exclude a possible terrorist threat”. Festival organisers said they had been asked by police to shut down the festival “due to a terrorist threat”.

 The incident comes less than a fortnight after a terrorist killed 22 people at a concert in Manchester.

 It was not immediately clear how many fans were in attendance, but about 90,000 were expected by the end of the weekend at the annual three-day event.

 The German band Rammstein were Friday night’s headliners, but had not started playing. The festival’s organisers said they hoped to be able to go ahead on Saturday.

 “As safety is paramount, and it is necessary to exclude a threat to festival visitors in any case as far as possible, it was decided to suspend the festival for this day,” police said.

 Police said they had changed their security plans in the light of the Manchester attack and had increased their forces to 1,200 officers.

 “After a threat could not be ruled out, all necessary measures were taken immediately. This led to the event being interrupted today for security reasons.”

 Rock am Ring’s organisers said: “We ask all the festival visitors to leave the site in a calm and controlled manner towards the exits and camping grounds. We have to support the police investigations.” |||||
What is a summary?

– A "possible terrorist threat" shut down Rock am Ring, one of Germany's biggest music festivals, Friday near Nuerburg, AFP reports. Police say they have "concrete elements, in the light of which a possible terrorist threat cannot be ruled out." But no other details were released. According to the Guardian, thousands of people were asked to leave the festival calmly "in order to help police investigations." It's unclear how many people were in attendance Friday, but about 90,000 were expected over the three-day festival. Organizers hoped the festival would resume Saturday. Rock am Ring had already increased security, adding 1,200 additional staff, after the recent Manchester bombing at an Ariana Grande concert. (Rock am Ring was also suspended last year after dozens were injured by lightning.)


President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Martin Luther King III, son of Martin Luther King Jr. at Trump Tower in New York, Monday, Jan. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press)

 President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Martin Luther King III, son of Martin Luther King Jr. at Trump Tower in New York, Monday, Jan. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press)

 President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Martin Luther King III, son of Martin Luther King Jr. at Trump Tower in New York, Monday, Jan. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press) President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Martin Luther King III, son of Martin Luther King Jr. at Trump Tower in New York, Monday, Jan. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press)

 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):

 8:39 a.m.

 Russian President Vladimir Putin is accusing the Obama administration of trying to undermine President-elect Donald Trump by spreading fake allegations.

 Putin, speaking at a news conference in Moscow Tuesday, described a dossier on Trump as part of efforts by the Obama administration to "undermine the legitimacy of the president-elect" despite his "convincing" victory.

 Putin dismissed as "fake" the dossier's unverified allegations about Trump's sexual activities at a Moscow hotel. He added that people who ordered it are "worse than prostitutes."

 Trump has rejected the allegations as "fake news" and "phony stuff."

 ___

 8:10 a.m.

 Donald Trump is shrugging off polls that show him with low approval ratings.

 The president-elect tweeted early Tuesday, "The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before."

 ___

 3:49 a.m.

 A son of Martin Luther King Jr. says Donald Trump is talking unity.

 Martin Luther King III said the president-elect spoke in a private meeting Sunday of representing all Americans. King III said he believes "that's his intent."

 Trump met with King's son on the holiday marking the life of the assassinated civil rights icon, just days after the president-elect had gone on Twitter to strike back fiercely at Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the billionaire businessman's election as president. Lewis and the elder King were among the Big Six civil rights leaders of the 1960s. ||||| REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed back on Tuesday against unverified claims that Russia worked with Donald Trump during the US presidential election to undermine Hillary Clinton.

 "We are witnessing an ongoing acute political struggle in the US, whose task is to undermine the legitimacy of the president-elect," Putin said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

 He added that those behind the claims, included in a dossier made public last week, were "worse than prostitutes."

 "I have an impression they practiced in Kiev and are ready to organize a Maidan in Washington, just to not let Trump take office," Putin said, referring to the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine that led to the ouster of the country's pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, in February 2014.

 "The media frenzy surrounding Trump speaks of the degradation of US political elites," Putin said, adding that he was "not acquainted with Trump" and therefore had "no reasons either to defend or attack him."

 The dossier was part of an opposition-research project conducted by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, at the behest of anti-Trump Republicans and, later, Democrats. Steele was the former head of the Russia desk in Moscow for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6. The memos he wrote made their way to US intelligence officials sometime last year.

 A summary of his findings, collected from the network of Russian intelligence sources he had cultivated, was presented to Trump, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and the country's top lawmakers on intelligence matters earlier this month as part of a classified briefing about Russia's intervention in the US presidential election.

 The dossier suggested, among other things, that Russian officials fed hacked Democratic documents to WikiLeaks in exchange for Trump sidelining Ukraine as a campaign issue; that Trump hired sex workers to perform lewd acts in a Moscow Ritz-Carlton presidential suite where President Barack Obama once stayed; and that what the dossier described as "Trump's unorthodox behavior in Russia over the years" provided Russians with information they could use to blackmail him.

 Putin mocked the claims contained in the dossier, which he described as "an obvious fake" and "nonsense."

 Russian intelligence services "don't chase every American billionaire," Putin said. He added that Trump "has been with the most beautiful women in the world, so why would he need prostitutes in Moscow?"

 "Trump organized beauty contests," Putin continued. "I find it hard to believe that he rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world."

 Putin also slammed the new sanctions imposed on Russia by the Obama administration in late December, claiming that attempts were being made to tie Trump's "hands and feet" while he was performing his election campaign promises to try to improve relations with Russia.

 "Some people leave without saying goodbye, and some say goodbye without leaving," Putin said. "The Obama administration belongs to the second category."

 Throughout the campaign, Trump broke from traditional GOP orthodoxy and established himself as the most sympathetic Republican candidate toward Russia, stressing a need to work with the country on various geopolitical issues.

 Trump has not commented on the dossier's specific claims, but has called the dossier itself "fake news" and "a complete fraud."

 Watch Putin's remarks here: ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the outgoing US administration of trying to undermine the legitimacy of US President-elect Donald Trump.

 "What we see is the continuing sharp domestic political struggle although the presidential elections are over and they ended with a convincing victory of Mr. Trump," Putin told reporters after talks with Moldovan President Igor Dodon.

 This struggle has several goals, Putin said, adding that the first of them is to "undermine legitimacy of the US president-elect."

 "Whether the people who have been doing that really wish it or not, they do cause harm to the interests of the United States and that harm is enormous," Putin said. "One has the impression that upon gaining the required experience they may go as far as staging Maidan type of protests in Washington in a bid to prevent Trump from taking office."

 "Another aim they pursue is to bind the president-elect by hand and foot to not let him act on home and foreign policy election pledges," Putin said.

 "Look, how can anything be done to improve the Russian-US relations if such hoax as the interference of some hackers in the election campaign emerges?" Putin said. He noted that hackers did not invent anything but they only got access to the materials of the US Democratic Party’s campaign headquarters.

 Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama thanked each other for their joint work at their latest bilateral meeting in Peru in November and there are no other meetings in plans, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has added.

 "They have thanked each other for their joint work, it was their concluding meeting [on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru] and they have bid farewells during that bilateral meeting," Peskov said. "There are no other contacts in plans. |||||

Write a summary.

– Donald Trump isn't the only person making recent claims of phony news stories. Vladimir Putin says an explosive dossier on Trump published by BuzzFeed last week, which included allegations Russia had compromising information on the president-elect, is an "obvious fake" and "nonsense," Russia's Interfax and TASS news agencies report, via Business Insider and the AP. Not only that, but any individuals behind the claims in the dossier are "worse than prostitutes," Putin said at a Tuesday press conference in Moscow. Speaking of prostitutes, Trump "has been with the most beautiful women in the world, so why would he need prostitutes in Moscow? Trump organized beauty contests. I find it hard to believe that he rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world." He further said that Russian spies "don't chase every American billionaire." Putin called Trump's win in November a "convincing victory" and added that the Obama administration is behind the "ongoing acute political struggle … whose task is to undermine the legitimacy of the president-elect." He also emphasized that he doesn't know Trump personally and so wouldn't have a motive to make moves for or against him.


HOTEL worker Jason Garnett is recovering from a medical problem that left him squirming with pain – and embarrassment.

 The 23-year-old ended up in hospital where his penis had to be drained of two pints of blood – after suffering from an erection lasting 17 hours.

 Doctors at his local hospital in Harrogate found he was suffering from a condition known as priapism – a condition that is regarded as a medical emergency.

 Jason first woke up with the condition last Friday morning and initially didn’t worry about it.

 However by lunchtime he was beginning to get concerned and tried to address the situation by taking an ice bath and then going for a jog.

 He went to the hospital where his condition was diagnosed and doctors drew off two pints of blood to try and reduce the pressure. They also had to inject medication 24 times to restrict the blood flow.

 If untreated such a problem can cause serious problems but all is now well with Jason, who described the pain of his treatment as “ten out of ten.”

 “It is completely normal now,” he added, “apart from the fact that it looks like it’s been through a war. It’s all a bit black and blue.” ||||| Facebook

 Jason Garnett will always remember last Friday.

 Garnett, 23, woke up that morning with an erection that refused to go down. In fact, Garnett's penis stood at rapt attention for more than 17 hours, the Northern Echo newspaper reports.

 At first, Garnett wasn't worried much about it, and went to his job at a hotel in Harrogate, U.K.

 But around lunchtime he became concerned. When taking an ice bath and going for a jog didn't alter the situation, he realized something was up.

 Eight hours after waking up, Garnett told his roommate about his problem.

 “You should have seen the look on his face when I told him what was wrong,” Garnett told The Sun. “He was in hysterics at first, but then he realized how serious the situation was.”

 Garnett was taken to a hospital and was diagnosed with priapism, a rare condition where erections do not subside. It is not caused by sexual desire or stimulation, but, untreated, it can permanently damage the penis, News.com.au reports.

 Doctors had to drain two pints of blood from his penis to reduce the pressure on his organ, HuffPost UK reports. When that didn’t work, they were forced to inject him with 24 rounds of medication before things settled down.

 “Seeing them stab my penis with a needle was a horrible experience, like something out of a horror film," Garnett told the Sun. "The pain was 10 out of 10.”

 He said it's completely normal now "apart from the fact that it looks like it's been through a war," according to UPI.com.

 Also on HuffPost: Bad Sex Bad Sex

 1 of 17 Not Good Enough Michigan woman Sadie Bell was convicted in April, 2014 of shooting her lover because he didn't 'produce enough ejaculate' when they had sex. Share this slide:

 Oakland County ||||| HARROGATE, England, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- A British man who woke up with an erection that wouldn't go away said doctors drained more than 2 pints of blood from his member.

 Jason Garnett, 23, a hotel worker in Harrogate, England, said he woke up Friday morning after having sex the previous night and found he had an erection that would not go away.

 Garnett said he tried an ice bath, jogging and other arousal-defeating techniques, but nothing was able to make his penis go flaccid.

 The man said he sought advice from his roommate after eight hours of unsuccessful erection-stopping attempts and Garnett was taken to a hospital, where doctors said the condition is known as priapism. The condition can permanently damage the penis if it is not immediately treated.

 Garnett said doctors drained more than 2 pints of blood from his penis and injected it with medication 24 times to make the unwanted erection go away.

 "Seeing them stab my penis with a needle was a horrible experience -- like something out of a horror film. The pain was a 10 out of 10," Garnett told The Sun.

 He said his penis was finally tamed after 17 hours of rigidity.

 "It is completely normal now, apart from the fact that it looks like it's been through a war. It's all a bit black and blue," he said. ||||| Video

 Image What's in a sex tape? 3:17 Play video Sydney Confidential's Jonathon Moran explains the big business of sex tapes and celebrity.

 A HOTEL worker has described “probably the most embarrassing day of my life” of going to hospital with an erection that has lasted 17 hours.

 Jason Garnett, a 23-year-old hotel worker from the spa town of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, UK, said he woke up with “morning glory” at 9am last Friday after sex with a friend, The Sun reported.

 SEVEN WEEK ERECTION: Man treated for unwanted condition

 BANNED: The ‘herbal’ energy drink that gives an erection

 He thought nothing of it and had previous erections lasting for an hour. But by lunchtime he began to get concerned. He thought an ice bath would work — it didn’t. Then he went for an uncomfortable jog — it too failed.

 Eight hours after waking up, he told a flatmate of his situation.

 “You should have seen the look on his face when I told him what was wrong,” jason told The Sun.

 “He was in hysterics at first, but then he realised how serious the situation was.”

 Jason was taken to hospital where he was found to be suffering from priapism, a rare condition that is not caused by sexual desire or sexual stimulation. Untreated, it can permanently damage the penis.

 Doctors drained more than 1.1 litres (two pints) of blood from his manhood and injected his penis 24 times with medication to try to restrict blood flow.

 “Seeing them stab my penis with a needle was a horrible experience — like something out of a horror film. The pain was a 10 out of 10,” Jason said.

 After 17 hours Jason’s erection was no more and he says everything is working as normal.

 “It is completely normal now, apart from the fact that it looks like it’s been through a war. It’s all a bit black and blue,” he said. |||||

Write a summary.

– Last Friday, Jason Garnett greeted a new day, as many men do, with an erection. But 17 hours later, doctors were stabbing the British man's penis with needles in order to end his member's persistent salute, UPI reports. The 23-year-old North Yorkshire man didn't worry when his erection stuck around the morning after a night of love-making, reports Northern Echo. He changed his tune around lunch time and tried to tame it with an ice bath and a jog, but after a stiff eight hours, he finally asked his roommate for help. "You should have seen the look on his face … he was in hysterics at first, but then he realized how serious the situation was," Garnett says, according to Huffington Post. Garnett's erection wasn't a blessing, but a serious medical condition called priapism. The rare malady has nothing to do with arousal or desire and can cause permanent damage if left untreated, reports News.com.au. The "most embarrassing day" of Garnett's life got worse when doctors drew two pints of blood from his penis and injected it 24 times with erection-reducing meds. "Seeing them stab my penis with a needle was … like something out of a horror film. The pain was a 10 out of 10," he says. Garnett says his penis now "looks like it's been through a war. It's all a bit black and blue." (Read about a woman whose medication caused "unwelcome" orgasms.)


Summarize this article:

Men sit outside the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M., Thursday, July 3, 2014. A veteran who collapsed in an Albuquerque Veteran Affairs hospital cafeteria 500 yards from the emergency... (Associated Press)

 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A veteran who collapsed in an Albuquerque Veteran Affairs hospital cafeteria — 500 yards from the emergency room — died after waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance, officials confirmed Thursday.

 It took a half an hour for the ambulance to be dispatched and take the man from one building to the other, which is about a five-minute walk, officials at the hospital said.

 Kirtland Air Force Medical Group personnel performed CPR until the ambulance arrived, VA spokeswoman Sonja Brown said.

 Staff followed policy in calling 911 when the man collapsed on Monday, she said. "Our policy is under expedited review," Brown said.

 That policy is a local one, she said.

 The man's name hasn't been released.

 News of the man's death spread Thursday at the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center among veterans who were visiting for various medical reasons.

 Lorenzo Calbert, 65, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, said it was sad that a fellow veteran had to die so close to where he could have received help.

 "There's no reason for it," he said. "They have so many workers. They could have put him on the gurney and run faster than that ambulance."

 Paul Bronston, a California emergency-room physician and chair of Ethics and Professional Policy Committee of the American College of Medical Quality, said it may sound ridiculous that staff had to call 911 but that practice is the standard at hospitals. Typically, an ambulance would arrive faster, and other factors can stall workers trying to rush patients to the emergency room on foot, he said.

 "The question I would have (is) ... was there an AED (automated external defibrillator) on site as required?" he said. Bronston said 90 percent of those who collapse are afflicted by heart problems and an AED could help them.

 It was not known what caused the man to collapse or whether an AED was nearby.

 The death comes as the Department of Veterans Affairs remains under scrutiny for widespread reports of long delays for treatment and medical appointments and of veterans dying while on waiting lists.

 A review last week cited "significant and chronic system failures" in the nation's health system for veterans. The review also portrayed the struggling agency as one battling a corrosive culture of distrust, lacking in resources and ill-prepared to deal with an influx of new and older veterans with a range of medical and mental health care needs.

 The scathing report by Deputy White House chief of staff Rob Nabors said the Veterans Health Administration, the VA sub agency that provides health care to about 8.8 million veterans a year, has systematically ignored warnings about its deficiencies and must be fundamentally restructured.

 Marc Landy, a political science professor at Boston College, said the Department of Veterans Affairs is a large bureaucracy with various local policies like the one under review in Albuquerque.

 Although the agency needs to undergo reform, Landy said it's unfair to attack the VA too harshly on the recent Albuquerque death because it appears to be so unusual.

 "I think we have to be careful," he said. "Let's not beat up too much on the VA while they are already facing criticism."

 ___

 Follow Russell Contreras at http://twitter.com/russcontreras ||||| A military veteran died Monday after waiting for an ambulance to take him 500 yards to the emergency room.

 As it turns out, the problem was he was already at the Veterans Affairs Hospital.

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 A 71-year-old Albuquerque veteran died Monday at the VA hospital. He collapsed in the cafeteria, which is next to the main hospital building.

 Staff followed VA policy that said personnel must call 911 for a medical emergency that happens outside the main hospital.

 Target 7 spoke with the veteran's family. They asked that he remain unidentified because they are considering legal action.

 VA officials told the man's family he collapsed at 12:19 p.m. The Albuquerque Fire Department said they dispatched a rescue unit at 12:26 p.m. That unit arrived at the hospital at 12:33 p.m.

 Albuquerque ambulance said their paramedics got to the veteran at 12:39 p.m.

 Nearly 14 minutes passed from the time he collapsed to the time medics arrived at the scene.

 They drove him on the complex from one building to the other. It takes four minutes to walk from the cafeteria to the VA's emergency room.

 By the time the ambulance got to the cafeteria, loaded up the veteran and drove him around the building, it was too late to save the veteran.

 When Action 7 News asked the VA why the man wasn't helped on property or even wheeled on a gurney to the ER, a spokesperson said, "We are currently reviewing our policy on it."

 Officials cannot confirm if any doctors were present in the cafeteria when the man went down. Workers are required to call 911.

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 A veteran who collapsed in a cafeteria at Albuquerque’s Veterans Affairs hospital died after waiting 20 to 25 minutes to get to the same hospital’s emergency room, located about 500 yards away, a VA spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.

 An Albuquerque Fire Department spokeswoman said it took an ambulance about 11 minutes to be dispatched and arrive at the cafeteria, which is about a five-minute walk from the emergency room, officials at the hospital said. VA spokeswoman Sonja Brown said VA staff told her that at least 20 minutes elapsed between the man’s medical episode and when he arrived at the ER.

 Kirtland Air Force Medical Group personnel, who regularly eat lunch at the cafeteria, performed CPR until the ambulance arrived, Brown said.

 Staff followed policy in calling 911 when the man collapsed on Monday, she said.

 “Our policy is under expedited review,” Brown said.

 Brown said the policy is a local one, and Jean Schaefer, spokeswoman for the Phoenix-based regional VA network, said these types of medical center policies vary across VA campuses, depending on what facilities are there.

 Brown also said she’s not aware of any vehicles owned by the VA that could have transported the veteran.

 National Veterans Affairs representatives did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

 The man’s name hasn’t been released.

 News of the man’s death at the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center spread Thursday among veterans who were visiting the center for various medical reasons.

 Lorenzo Calbert, 65, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, said it was sad that a fellow veteran had to die so close to where he could have received help.

 “There’s no reason for it,” he said. “They have so many workers. They could have put him on the gurney and run faster than that ambulance.”

 An Albuquerque Fire Department spokeswoman said law prohibits disclosing how long it took for the ambulance to get from the cafeteria to the hospital. She also said Albuquerque Ambulance arrived before AFD, and a spokeswoman there said the ambulance arrived “well within” 10 minutes, which Brown said is unlikely.

 However, Brown said that, if the ambulance company and AFD are correct about their response times, it would have taken at least 10 minutes for the veteran to be driven the 500 yards between the cafeteria to the hospital.

 Under a policy instituted in 2010 and signed by then-director George Marnell, the VA medical center Code Blue Team is to respond to medical emergencies in six buildings on the 88-acre property off of San Pedro SE. The buildings include the main hospital in Building 41, but the cafeteria or canteen aren’t mentioned.

 Code Blue Team members include a physician, an intensive care unit nurse, a health technician, a nursing supervisor, an anesthesiologist, a respiratory therapist and a pharmacist, if needed.

 The policy goes on to state: “For medical emergencies out of the Code Blue Team response areas, the Albuquerque EMS system via 911 will be activated,” the policy states. Outpatients or non-patients responded to by Albuquerque EMS who have suffered a cardiac and/or respiratory arrest will be transported to the VA medical center’s emergency department, the policy adds.

 Outpatients or non-patients who haven’t suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest will be transported per Albuquerque EMS protocols. And all medical emergencies involving children regardless of the location on the VA Medical Center campus are to be dealt with by Albuquerque EMS via a 911 call.

 The policy requires medical center staff who witness a life-threatening event to give CPR or emergency aid regardless of the location. Staff members are to remain with the individual until emergency help arrives.

 Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement Thursday, saying her office has been trying for two days to get information from the VA about “whether its policy may have contributed to the delay in care.

 “In any case, the inability of officials to answer basic questions in a timely fashion is yet another reason the public has lost faith, and why we are demanding an outside investigation and immediate reform at the Albuquerque VA.”

 The death comes as the Department of Veterans Affairs remains under scrutiny for widespread reports of long delays for treatment and medical appointments and of veterans dying while on waiting lists.

 A review last week cited “significant and chronic system failures” in the nation’s health system for veterans. The review also portrayed the struggling agency as one battling a corrosive culture of distrust, lacking in resources and ill-prepared to deal with an influx of new and older veterans with a range of medical and mental health care needs.

 The scathing report by Deputy White House chief of staff Rob Nabors said the Veterans Health Administration, the VA sub agency that provides health care to about 8.8 million veterans a year, has systematically ignored warnings about its deficiencies and must be fundamentally restructured.

 Marc Landy, a political science professor at Boston College, said the Department of Veterans Affairs is a large bureaucracy with various local policies like the one under review in Albuquerque.

 Although the agency needs to undergo reform, Landy said it’s unfair to attack the VA too harshly on the recent Albuquerque death, because it appears to be so unusual.

 “I think we have to be careful,” he said. “Let’s not beat up too much on the VA while they are already facing criticism.” |||||

– Another black eye for the Veterans Health Administration? A 71-year-old veteran died on Monday after waiting up to 30 minutes for an ambulance—while already at a Veteran Affairs hospital. Officials say the man collapsed in the Albuquerque hospital's cafeteria, which is around 1,500 feet from the emergency room, about a four-minute walk, the AP reports. By the time medics arrived, loaded him into the ambulance, and drove him around the building, it was too late to save him. A VA spokeswoman says staff followed policy by calling 911 when the man collapsed, but that "policy is under expedited review." The man's family has asked that he remain unidentified because they are considering legal action, KOAT reports. The case comes after a long series of reports of serious deficiencies at the VA, including dozens of veterans dying while on "secret waiting lists," the Albuquerque Journal reports. Rep. Michelle Grisham says her office has been trying for days to get the VA to answer "whether its policy may have contributed to the delay in care." In any case, she says, "the inability of officials to answer basic questions in a timely fashion is yet another reason the public has lost faith, and why we are demanding an outside investigation and immediate reform at the Albuquerque VA."


Here is a news article: The most stolen car of 2012 isn't fancy, expensive, or even new. For the fourth year in a row, the 'winner' is the 1994 Honda Accord. Here's why the popular family car topped thieves' lists.

 Airbnb adopts new anti-discrimination: Do they go far enough?

 A logo of Honda Motor Co is pictured at a Honda dealer in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo last month. For the fourth consecutive year, the 1994 Honda Accord had the dubious honor of being the most stolen car in the United States.

 The singling out of the 1994 Honda Accord as the most-stolen car in the United States last year isn’t exactly music to the ears of owners of the popular family car. According to the latest report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the 1994 Accord once again tops the list, making this the car’s fourth consecutive appearance as the car thieves most love to steal.

 The ’94 Accord’s lack of security features and its popularity as the main reasons why the car is so frequently stolen. In 1997, Honda began equipping its vehicles with immobilizer systems, preventing them from running unless the driver had the key.

 The NICB compiles its annual “Hot Wheels” report by crunching data submitted to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) by law enforcement agencies across the country.

 Number two on the list is also a Honda, the 1998 Honda Civic. A surprise entry in the top three is the 2006 Ford F-150 pickup, the first time a truck ranked so high on the most-stolen list since the NICB began tracking thefts in 2000. Two other full-size pickups, the 1999 Chevrolet pickup and the 2004 Dodge pickup, came in at spots number seven and eight, respectively. The 2002 Ford Explorer SUV ranked ninth.

 Fourth place belongs to the 1991 Toyota Camry, another traditionally best-selling family sedan. Two other sedans, the 1994 Acura Integra and the 1994 Nissan Sentra, ranked in sixth and 10th place. The Dodge Caravan, the only minivan on the list, was the fifth most-stolen vehicle last year nationally.

 As for the increase in thefts of later-model vehicles, the NICB says that’s the result of thieves being able to illegally obtain replacement key codes for specific vehicles.

 There is some good news though in that overall, thefts are decreasing. According to FBI crime statistics, thefts haven’t been this low since 1967. ||||| NICB Names 10 Most-Stolen Vehicles for 2011

 Key Code Thefts a Growing Concern

 The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) today released Hot Wheels −its list of the 10 most-stolen vehicles in the United States. The report examines vehicle theft data submitted by law enforcement to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and determines the vehicle make, model and model year most reported stolen in 2011.

 See the full report at www.nicb.org.

 For 2011, the most-stolen vehicles* in the nation were:

 1994 Honda Accord 1998 Honda Civic 2006 Ford Pickup (Full Size) 1991 Toyota Camry 2000 Dodge Caravan 1994 Acura Integra 1999 Chevrolet Pickup (Full Size) 2004 Dodge Pickup (Full Size) 2002 Ford Explorer 1994 Nissan Sentra

 Each year, NICB reviews all NCIC vehicle theft records to produce its national and state lists of the 10 most-stolen vehicles. Hot Wheels is the only report that examines all theft data without regard to a vehicle’s insured status − if a vehicle was reported stolen to law enforcement, it is captured in this report.

 The top 10 places were evenly split in 2011 with five belonging to foreign brands and five to U.S. automakers. Most popular models among the domestic brands were Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet pickup trucks each holding one spot with the Dodge Caravan and Ford Explorer rounding out the domestic models.

 Once again, 2011 is on track to continue the national vehicle theft decline. Preliminary 2011 FBI crime statistics indicate a 3.3 percent reduction from the 737,142 thefts recorded in 2010. Vehicle thefts have not been this low since 1967.

 “While overall thefts continue to decline, we are seeing a trend toward increases in the thefts of late model vehicles − ones that are theoretically harder to steal due to sophisticated key code technology,” said NICB President and CEO Joe Wehrle.

 “Today’s vehicle thieves are typically professional criminals who have figured out how to get the key code for a specific vehicle, have a replacement key made, and steal the vehicle within a matter of days. We are aware of nearly 300 thefts that took place in the first three months of this year in which we believe replacement keys using illegally obtained key codes were used to steal the vehicle. We are working closely with our member companies, law enforcement, and the vehicle manufacturers to track these illegal key code transactions and stop the thefts or recover the stolen vehicles before they can be resold here or shipped out of the country to be sold overseas.”

 For more on key code thefts, watch this video.

 Even one theft is one too many if it happens to you. NICB urges motorists to follow its “layered approach” to auto theft prevention. By employing these simple, low-cost suggestions, people can make their vehicles less attractive to thieves.

 NICB’s four layers of protection are:

 Common Sense: Lock your car and take your keys. It’s simple enough, but many thefts occur because owners make it easy for thieves to steal their cars.

 Warning Device: Having and using a visible or audible warning device is another item that can ensure that your car remains where you left it.

 Immobilizing Device: Generally speaking, if your vehicle can’t be started, it can’t be stolen. “Kill” switches, fuel cut-offs and smart keys are among the devices that are extremely effective.

 Tracking Device: A tracking device emits a signal to the police or to a monitoring station when the vehicle is stolen. Tracking devices are very effective in helping authorities recover stolen vehicles. Some systems employ “telematics,” which combine GPS and wireless technologies to allow remote monitoring of a vehicle. If the vehicle is moved, the system will alert the owner and the vehicle can be tracked via computer.

 Considering a used vehicle purchase? Check out VINCheckSM, a free vehicle history service for consumers. Since 2005, NICB has offered this limited service made possible by its participating member companies. Check it out at: www.nicb.org/vincheck.

 Anyone with information concerning vehicle theft and insurance fraud can report it anonymously by calling toll-free 1-800-TEL-NICB (1-800-835-6422), texting keyword “fraud” to TIP411 (847411) or by visiting our website at www.nicb.org.

 About the National Insurance Crime Bureau: headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., the NICB is the nation’s leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through data analytics, investigations, training, legislative advocacy and public awareness. The NICB is supported by more than 1,100 property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. NICB member companies wrote over $339 billion in insurance premiums in 2011, or approximately 80 percent of the nation’s property/casualty insurance. That includes more than 94 percent ($156 billion) of the nation’s personal auto insurance. To learn more visit www.nicb.org.

 * This report reflects stolen vehicle data reported to NCIC in 2011. No further filtering of information is conducted (i.e., determining the total number of a particular make and model currently registered in the U.S. for comparison purposes). For purposes of this report, full size pickups include half ton and larger capacity models for all makes. |||||
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– What do car thieves want? Flashy sports cars? Posh luxury vehicles? Powerful trucks? Nope, nope, and nope. The most stolen car in America last year was again the humble 1994 Honda Accord, the National Insurance Crime Bureau has announced in a new report. That's because the '94 Accord was both extremely popular, and lacked the security features Honda started implementing in 1997, the Christian Science Monitor explains. Another Honda family car, the 1998 Civic, ranks second. Perhaps the most surprising entry on the list: The 2006 Ford F-150 pickup, which comes in at No. 3, the highest a truck has ever climbed in the annual report. Here's the full top 10: 1994 Honda Accord 1998 Honda Civic 2006 Ford F-150 Pickup 1991 Toyota Camry 2000 Dodge Caravan 1994 Acura Integra 1999 Chevy Pickup 2004 Dodge Pickup 2002 Ford Explorer 1994 Nissan Sentra


Here is a news article: Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. ||||| Sandra Bullock Home Intruder May Have Kept Diary About Her

 It may not have been a random act of misfortune when Sandra Bullock's home was broken into early Sunday morning The 39-year-old intruder, identified as Joshua Corbett, may have been obsessed with the Oscar-winning actress, law enforcement sources tell Today . Corbett, who was arrested on suspicion of burglary after rummaging through her personal belongings, might have even kept a diary devoted to Bullock.The break-in came just hours after Bullock, whose security is considered among the best in Hollywood, celebrated her win at Saturday's Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards. Officers responded to the call of a prowler around 6:30 a.m.At the time of the encounter, the actress was inside her home with 4-year-old son Louis."She is unharmed and is fine," her rep told PEOPLE at the time.

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A summary of this is?

– An intruder broke into Sandra Bullock's home early yesterday—and the actress was home at the time, along with her 4-year-old son. Law enforcement sources tell Today that suspect Joshua Corbett, 39, may have been obsessed with Bullock and kept a diary about her. He allegedly rummaged through her belongings before police responded to a call about a prowler at 6:30am and arrested him on suspicion of burglary. Bullock "is unharmed and she is fine," her rep tells People.