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 A US court has awarded $500m (£395m) to a firm which sued Facebook and other defendants over the use of its virtual reality technology.

 The jury found Oculus, which Facebook bought in 2014, had breached a contract with video game developer Zenimax when launching its own VR headset.

 Oculus said it was "disappointed" and would appeal against the ruling.

 The case threatened to overshadow Facebook's latest results, which showed it enjoyed a strong end to the year.

 Facebook's net profit more than doubled to $3.6bn in the fourth quarter.

 The social network was helped by 53% growth in advertising revenues, and said it was on course to hit two billion users in the first half of 2017.

 'Trade secrets'

 Shortly before the results came out, the court awarded Zenimax damages from Facebook, Oculus and Oculus executives following a three-week trial.

 Zenimax had argued that its early innovations in virtual reality were unlawfully copied when Oculus built its own headset, the Rift.

 An Oculus spokesperson said the jury rejected this argument, but did find that Oculus breached a contract with Zenimax and infringed some of its copyright.

 "The heart of this case was about whether Oculus stole Zenimax's trade secrets, and the jury found decisively in our favour," the Oculus spokesperson said.

 The firm did not comment on the $500m damages.

 Copyright infringement

 Zenimax chief executive Robert Altman said: "We are pleased that the jury in our case in the US District Court in Dallas has awarded Zenimax $500m for defendants' unlawful infringement of our copyrights and trademarks."

 The co-founder of Oculus, Palmer Luckey, was found to have broken a non-disclosure agreement with the firm.

 Analysis

 Image copyright Getty Images

 By Dave Lee, BBC North America technology reporter

 Few people will have given Mark Zuckerberg as many headaches as Palmer Luckey.

 The 24-year-old founded Oculus VR, and when Facebook stepped in to buy the firm for $2bn, he was rewarded very handsomely indeed. Then it went a bit downhill.

 First, it was revealed he was using some of that money to fund a pro-Donald Trump trolling campaign, which led to Facebook removing him from public view. He didn't even turn up to his own company's developer's conference last year.

 And now, a jury has ruled that he broke a non-disclosure agreement that'll mean $500m in damages (unless Facebook wins on appeal).

 Mark Zuckerberg doesn't display many emotions - but you wonder what he'll be like behind closed doors on this one.

 As it stands, Palmer Luckey is still a Facebook employee, but what he's doing there is anyone's guess - the company won't even tell me his job title.

 Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg testified last month that "the idea that Oculus products are based on someone else's technology is just wrong".

 Zenimax, which owns id Software, a video games developer, was suing Facebook for $2bn.

 Along with the claims against Palmer Luckey, it alleged that John Carmack, co-founder of id, took intellectual property belonging to Zenimax when he left the firm to join Oculus as its full-time chief technology officer.

 'Stellar quarter'

 Virtual reality is only a small part of Facebook's current business, but is seen as important to the firm's strategy over the next 10 years.

 Most of Facebook's fourth-quarter revenue - which jumped 54% to $27.6bn - came from adverts on its social network.

 "Facebook had another stellar quarter, delivering record revenue, user growth and profitability, as it rides the shift of advertising to online," said Martin Garner, a senior analyst at CCS Insight.

 "However it expects advertising growth to slow in 2017, so it expects to be less profitable this year."

 Fake news

 Other challenges that Facebook face this year include a changing approach to privacy in Europe, an uncertain business landscape in the US and challenges in China, Mr Garner said.

 The social network has also been widely criticised after some users complained that fake news on its platform had influenced the US presidential election.

 In a call with analysts on Wednesday, Facebook executives signalled it would tackle the problem through the use of more artificial intelligence.

 They also said many of Facebook's new users were in India, where telecoms operators had offered free data packages for Facebook traffic.

 For the full year, Facebook grew its net profit by 177% to $10.2bn. ||||| (Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) cruised past Wall Street’s earnings and revenue expectations on Wednesday with strong growth in its mobile ad business, demonstrating that controversy over so-called “fake news” and inaccurate advertising measurements had little impact on its financial performance.

 With quarterly profit of $3.57 billion, more than double the $1.56 billion it reported a year ago, the company showed no signs of slowdown in growth. The results handily beat analysts’ expectations, and shares ticked up about 0.2 percent in after-hours trading.

 The company had warned in November that ad growth would likely slow “meaningfully” due to limits on ad load - the total number of ads Facebook can show to each user. But there was little sign of that in the fourth quarter as total revenue soared to $8.81 billion from $5.84 billion a year ago.

 “I think the rate of growth will decline, but it will remain very high,” said analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities. “They grew 57 percent in 2016, and our current model has ‘only’ 38 percent revenue growth in 2017. That’s still pretty impressive.”

 Facebook suffered a slight setback just before the market close when a jury in Texas ordered Facebook, its virtual reality unit Oculus, and other defendants to pay a combined $500 million to ZeniMax Media Inc, a video game publisher, for violating a non-disclosure agreement. [nL1N1FM20U]

 But the company’s core business continued to power ahead as mobile advertising accelerated; it now accounts for 84 percent of ad revenue, up from 80 percent a year ago.

 Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told analysts on a call on Wednesday that the company expects a major ramp-up in hiring and other spending during 2017 as it invests in video and other priorities.

 Zuckerberg said the focus would be on generating short-form, original videos, especially professionally created “episodic content” produced week-to-week.

 Users should come to Facebook “when they want to keep up-to-date on what’s going on with their favorite show or what’s going on with a public figure,” he said.

 U.S. President Donald Trump used the service for that on Tuesday, when he broadcast his announcement of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch on Facebook Live.

 THREAT TO NETFLIX

 The video push could ultimately pose a threat not only to YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google, but also to next-generation television companies like Netflix Inc (NFLX.O).

 The Facebook logo is displayed on their website in an illustration photo taken in Bordeaux, France, February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

 Facebook’s strong performance could also throw a shadow on the expected Snap Inc initial public offering. Facebook competes with Snap chiefly through its Messenger service, and also with WhatsApp and Instagram.

 The various Facebook apps have all been adding features rapidly to attract more users and retain those already on the network, and some of those features are clearly aimed at Snap.

 Facebook has also been building new tools to stem the spread of fake news and partisan propaganda on the network, which emerged as a major issue in last year’s U.S. presidential election.

 Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg played down the impact of U.S. election spending on the company’s finances. She compared it to the soccer World Cup or the Super Bowl and said it was not a “top 10 vertical” for the fourth quarter.

 “No one event is that big for our business,” she said.

 USERS GROWING

 The company inched closer to reaching 2 billion users, saying that about 1.86 billion people were using its service monthly as of Dec. 31, up 17 percent from a year earlier.

 China apparently will not contribute to that growth any time soon, as Zuckerberg all but ruled out an imminent expansion in the world’s most populous country.

 “We’re only going to do this in a way that we’re comfortable with in the long term,” he told analysts, adding that there would be “no news at all in the near term.”

 Mobile daily active users rose 23 percent to 1.15 billion, the company said. More than 90 percent of Facebook’s users access the network through mobile devices.

 Facebook is expected to generate about $29.71 billion in mobile ad revenue in 2017, according to research firm eMarketer, up about 35.2 percent from 2016.

 Net income attributable to Facebook shareholders for the quarter rose to $3.56 billion, or $1.21 per share, from $1.56 billion, or 54 cents per share, a year earlier.

 A Facebook logo is displayed on the side of a tour bus in New York's financial district July 28, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

 Excluding items, the company earned $1.41 per share.

 Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.31 per share on revenue of $8.51 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Facebook is going to have to cough up $500 million in real money for unlawfully using another company's virtual reality technology. A jury decided Wednesday that VR pioneer Oculus, which Facebook bought for $2 billion in 2014, infringed copyright and trademarks when it used code from games maker Zenimax to launch its own VR headset, the BBC reports. Zenimax had accused the company of stealing trade secrets, saying Oculus headsets were "primitive" before a former Zenimax employee used his insider knowledge to improve them. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg tells CNBC that the company is "disappointed in certain elements of" the ruling, but Facebook notes that while the jury found the company guilty of copyright infringement, failure to comply with a non-disclosure agreement, and misuse of Oculus trademarks, it did not find it guilty of stealing secrets. She says the $500 million verdict, which Facebook is considering appealing, is "not material to our financials." Reuters reports that Facebook released its latest financial results Wednesday, showing a $3.57 billion profit in the last quarter, up $2 billion year-over-year.


Article:

The seed for this crawl was a list of every host in the Wayback Machine

 This crawl was run at a level 1 (URLs including their embeds, plus the URLs of all outbound links including their embeds)

 The WARC files associated with this crawl are not currently available to the general public. ||||| Cory Monteith Cause of Death HEROIN AND ALCOHOL

 Cory Monteith Cause of Death -- HEROIN AND ALCOHOL

 EXCLUSIVE

 Officials are currently addressing the media about the death investigation.Cops wouldn't delve into specifics when asked if they found drugs in Cory's hotel room, but they certainly insinuated it ... saying, "There was evidence in the room that was consistant of a drug overdose."died from a lethal combination of heroin and alcohol ... this according to Canadian authorities.The British Columbia Coroners Service says an autopsy and toxicological analysis show that the 31-year-old "Glee" star died from a "mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol."Monteith's body was discovered by staffers at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver, Canada on July 13.Monteith had struggled with addiction for years and had been to rehab earlier this year.Monteith had said he began struggling with drugs and alcohol as a young teenager.Story developing ... |||||
What is a summary?

– Cory Monteith's autopsy is in, and his cause of death is what everybody expected: Hard drugs and booze. The coroner in British Columbia lays the blame on "mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol," reports TMZ. The 31-year-old Glee actor was found in his Vancouver hotel room over the weekend, and he has a long history of trying to get his substance abuse under control. The results "seem to confirm this was an accident," reports ET Online.


News article:

TransCanada Corp. plans to launch a North American free-trade agreement claim seeking more than $15-billion (U.S.) in damages in response to the U.S. government’s decision to deny a permit for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

 Adding to the likely test of U.S.-Canada relations, TransCanada also said Wednesday it has launched a separate lawsuit in the U.S. Federal Court in Houston asserting that U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to deny construction of the $8-billion project exceeded his power under the U.S. Constitution.

 TransCanada also said it expects to take a writedown of $2.5-billion (Canadian) to $2.9-billion after tax in the fourth quarter related to the Keystone XL permit denial.

 After years of delays, the Obama administration quashed the project last November. The Calgary-based pipeline company says the United States has never before denied a cross-border oil pipeline from Canada, and the rejection of the project designed to transport vast quantities of Canadian oil sands and some Bakken crude to Gulf Coast refineries “was arbitrary and unjustified.”

 TransCanada’s announcement comes as Mr. Obama is due to host Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a state dinner in Washington in March. At the same time, Washington and Ottawa are working with the Mexican government to forge a North American energy and climate agreement that would move the three countries closer to a continental market.

 In rejecting the proposal last November, Obama called crude from Alberta’s oil sands “dirtier” but acknowledged that debate over the pipeline has played an “overinflated role” in his country’s political discourse.

 “This pipeline would neither be a silver bullet for the economy, as was promised by some, nor the express lane to climate disaster proclaimed by others,” the President said, before concluding that the project wouldn’t significantly help his country’s economy, lower gasoline prices or increase energy security.

 In its notice to claim to arbitration under Chapter 11 of NAFTA, TransCanada’s lawyers argue environmental activists turned opposition to Keystone XL into a litmus test for politicians to prove their environmental credentials. “The activists’ strategy succeeded.”

 On Wednesday, TransCanada said in a news release that the $15-billion (U.S.) claim it will make through its NAFTA action represents the initial estimated loss of value. “TransCanada has invested billions of dollars in assets that have now been rendered useless for the intended purpose, specifically the transportation of Canadian and American oil.”

 The midstream energy firm said it had every reason to expect its application would get a green light, as the application met the same criteria the U.S. State Department applied when approving applications to construct other, similar cross-border pipelines.

 “The U.S. State Department acknowledged the denial was not based on the merits of the project. Rather, it was a symbolic gesture based on speculation about the perceptions of the international community regarding the administration’s leadership on climate change and the President’s assertion of unprecedented, independent powers,” TransCanada said.

 The company noted that the U.S. has never before lost a NAFTA claim, however, “we have undertaken a careful evaluation of the administration’s action as it relates to NAFTA and believe there has been a clear violation of NAFTA in these circumstances.”

 Toronto trade lawyer Lawrence Herman said these types of lawsuits “are all long shots,” but TransCanada appears to have a solid case in arguing that it was unfairly treated and that the decision was politically motivated.

 “The argument is that they were not given fair and equitable treatment as required under the NAFTA,” he said.

 “I’ve thought for some time that that this was a politicized issue, and there are good arguments that decisions affecting Keystone were based on political considerations. To the degree that that is so, TransCanada has a viable if not a strong case.”

 Activists who opposed the pipeline insist the rejection was a legitimate policy decision, driven by concerns about rising greenhouse gas emissions in the oil sands, and by worries about local pollution from pipeline spills.

 “The rejection of Keystone XL was justified in order to protect the land, water and property rights of farmers and ranchers,” said Jane Kleeb, president of Bold Nebraska, a prominent local group. “This desperate attempt by TransCanada is a move to show their shareholders they have a viable project when they have hit a dead end.”

 Bill McKibben, founder of the climate group 350.org, said the legal action isn’t going to get the pipeline built. “The idea that some trade agreement should force us to overheat the planet’s atmosphere is, quite simply, insane. But the oil industry is so used to always winning that I fear this kind of tantrum is predictable.”

 The federal government offered little comment on the lawsuit, but said it would not undermine Ottawa’s effort to forge a closer energy relationship with the United States.

 “This is a private lawsuit that is being launched by TransCanada under Chapter 11 and the corporation has the right to launch and they’ve made the decision this is how they’d like to proceed,” said Adam Barratt, spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, said in a telephone interview. “It would be inappropriate for the government to comment any further at this time.”

 However, Mr. Barratt noted that the Liberal government had expressed its disappointment in November when President Obama announced the decision.

 “The relationship between Canada and the United States is on a very warm footing, and the discussions on energy in North America are much broader than Keystone,” he said.

 Report Typo/Error ||||| By Nia Williams and Valerie Volcovici

 CALGARY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp sued the U.S government on Wednesday to reverse President Barack Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline, and also plans to seek $15 billion in damages from a trade tribunal.

 TranCanada's lawsuit in a federal court in Houston, Texas, called rejection of its permit to build the pipeline unconstitutional. In a separate action under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the company said the pipeline permit denial was "arbitrary and unjustified."

 The company's U.S. lawsuit does not seek monetary damages but wants the permit denial invalidated and seeks a ruling that no future president can block construction. Its request for $15 billion under NAFTA reflects its desire to recover its investment in the pipeline.

 Defendants in the Houston lawsuit are U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Department of Interior.

 Obama, who is not named as a defendant, rejected the cross-border crude oil pipeline last November, seven years after it was first proposed, saying it would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to the U.S. economy.

 The Keystone XL was designed to link existing pipeline networks in Canada and the United States to bring crude from Alberta and North Dakota to refineries in Illinois and, eventually, the Gulf of Mexico coast.

 All the Democratic U.S. presidential candidates, including front runner Hillary Clinton, oppose the pipeline while most Republican candidates are in favor. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– See you in court, eh? TransCanada, a Canadian company hit hard by President Obama's rejection of its Keystone XL pipeline project, has filed twin lawsuits seeking $15 billion in damages and a reversal of the US decision, the New York Times reports. One lawsuit, filed under the North American Free Trade Agreement, seeks damages because the permit rejection was "arbitrary and unjustified," reports Reuters. The suit claims that Obama overstepped his authority because of his "unprecedented and symbolic grounds" for turning down the project, which he argued would bring "dirtier crude oil into our country" while doing little to boost the American economy. The second lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Houston, calls for a reversal of Obama's "unconstitutional" decision and a ruling that no future president can block the pipeline project, reports Reuters. A Canadian trade lawyer tells the Globe and Mail that it's tough to predict how these kinds of lawsuits will go, but that TransCanada's argument that it was treated unfairly because the issue had become politicized appears solid. The Times notes that a win for the Canadian company would be unprecedented: In the 22 years of the NAFTA agreement, the US has won all 12 of the challenges it faced from Canadian firms, while US firms have prevailed in trade agreement cases in Canada.


Summarize this article:

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2015 file photo, Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. An aide to Slaughter says the 88-year old Democratic congresswoman... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2015 file photo, Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. An aide to Slaughter says the 88-year old Democratic congresswoman from upstate New York has died. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (Associated Press)

 WASHINGTON (AP) — An aide to Rep. Louise Slaughter says the 88-year old Democratic congresswoman from upstate New York has died.

 Slaughter was serving her 16th term in Congress and was the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee. She was the first woman to chair that committee when she led it from 2007 through 2010.

 Liam Fitzsimmons is her chief of staff. In a statement, he says Slaughter died early Friday at George Washington University Hospital after injuring herself in a fall in her area home. Fitzsimmons said on Wednesday that she'd sustained a concussion but no broken bones.

 Slaughter was originally from Kentucky and had a degree in microbiology. She was repeatedly re-elected, sometimes narrowly, and was the longest-serving member of Congress from New York. ||||| CLOSE Here's a breakdown of the stories right now at www.democratandchronicle.com. Virginia Butler

 Rep. Louise Slaughter (Photo: Provided)

 Rep. Louise Slaughter remains hospitalized after falling at her home last week, her chief of staff announced Wednesday.

 Slaughter, D-Fairport, last week fell at her Washington, D.C., residence and was taken to George Washington University Hospital for treatment. There, medical professionals are also monitoring her for a concussion. She did not suffer any broken bones, according to a statement from her office.

 Her office confirmed Wednesday that she is in stable condition.

 Slaughter, the oldest member of Congress, is currently 88. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 1986, taking office in January 1987. She represents the 25th Congressional District, which comprises most of Monroe County.

 "The congresswoman is tough as nails and she will bring that same spirit to this recovery," said Liam Fitzsimmons, Slaughter's chief of staff. "We appreciate the outpouring of support and the community’s patience during her recuperation."

 Fitzsimmons said the office will release more information on Slaughter's condition "as it becomes available.”

 More: Ohio's Marcy Kaptur is about to become the longest-serving woman in the House

 Last month she announced plans to run for a 17th term in Congress. Dr. James Maxwell, a neurosurgeon at St. Mary's and Rochester General hospitals, is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Slaughter in November's race.

 Kentucky-born Slaughter holds a bachelor's degree in microbiology and a master's degree in public health. She has lived most of her life in Fairport, where she entered politics in the early 1970s after she and her late husband, Bob Slaughter, a legal administrator at Eastman Kodak Co., launched an aggressive but unsuccessful effort to keep bulldozers out of the beech and maple forest of Hart's Woods in Perinton.

 Spurred to get more involved, Slaughter ran three times for Monroe County Legislature before being elected in 1976. She served there until 1978. She was a member of the state Assembly from 1982 to 1986 before she was elected to the House of Representatives. She's currently serving her 16th two-year term in Congress.

 VFREILE@Gannett.com

 Read or Share this story: http://on.rocne.ws/2Grp0ek ||||| (CNN) Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, the first female chair of the House Rules Committee and one of the longest-serving Democrats in Congress, died Friday at age 88, her office announced.

 The dean of the New York congressional delegation had fallen near her D.C. home last week, suffered an injury, and had been hospitalized at George Washington University Hospital.

 A major fixture in Democratic politics, she was serving her 16th term in Congress.

 House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday in a statement that she was "heartbroken by the passing of the congresswoman," just one of several top Democrats who used the term "heartbroken" to describe their feelings about Slaughter's death.

 "In her lifetime of public service and unwavering commitment to working families, Congresswoman Slaughter embodied the very best of the American spirit and ideals. With her passing, the Congressional community has lost a beloved leader and a cherished friend," Pelosi said. "Louise was a trailblazer. ... Her strong example inspired countless young women to know their power, and seek their rightful place at the head of the decision-making table."

 Slaughter, a microbiologist, won a seat in Congress in 1986 and was known for securing infrastructure money for her district as well as fighting for the troops. Slaughter spent years trying to set safety standards for military body armor after a report revealed that many casualties in the Iraq War had been born of the fact that the protective armor troops were wearing was inadequate.

 Slaughter was born in Kentucky, and although she relocated with her family to upstate New York, she never lost her trademark southern twang. As the top Democrat on the committee that set terms of House floor debate, she often sparred with her GOP colleagues about policy, often late into the night. But Republicans on the panel respected her and regarded her as a fierce protector of her party's agenda.

 "Louise was a fearless leader, deeply committed to her constituents, and a dear friend," Republican Pete Sessions, the Rules Committee chairman, said in a statement "I have had the immense privilege of working side by side with her for the past 20 years. I will always cherish our friendship, comradery, and of course, her rhubarb pie. Although we sat on different sides of the aisle, I have always considered her a partner and have the utmost respect for her."

 House Speaker Paul Ryan issued a statement Friday ordering Capitol flag lowered to half-staff.

 "Louise was a giant in the people's House, the first woman ever to chair the Rules Committee," the Wisconsin Republican said in his statement. "That said, Louise did not need a gavel to make a dent in history. She was unrelenting in fighting for her ideas and the people back home in Western New York."

 Slaughter's chief of staff Liam Fitzsimmons released a statement Friday morning on his boss's death.

 "To have met Louise Slaughter is to have known a force of nature," he said. "She was a relentless advocate for Western New York whose visionary leadership brought infrastructure upgrades, technology and research investments, and two federal manufacturing institutes to Rochester that will transform the local economy for generations to come."

 He added, "As the first chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, Louise blazed a path that many women continue to follow. It is difficult to find a segment of society that Louise didn't help shape over the course of more than 30 years in Congress, from health care to genetic nondiscrimination to historic ethics reforms."

 In recent years, Slaughter had some health issues, and missed some votes and meetings, but after one absence around the efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act last year, the senior Democrat returned for the vote, which was expected to be very close, telling CNN, "I wasn't going to miss this one." She noted she was proud to be a part of passing the Democrats' signature health care law in 2009.

 She was genuinely curious and often stopped Capitol Hill reporters in the hallway to check on what stories they were working on, and offer her own two cents.

 According to her office, "in 2009, she secured the recall and replacement of 16,000 pieces of unsafe body armor from the front lines. Her effort led to improved armor testing protocols and ended the practice of outsourcing testing to private companies."

 She also was the author of other pieces of landmark pieces of legislation in Congress, including one that barred members of Congress from insider trading, and was the co-author of the Violence Against Women Act.

 This story has been updated with additional developments and biographical details about the congresswoman. |||||

– An aide to Rep. Louise Slaughter says the 88-year-old Democratic congresswoman from upstate New York has died. Slaughter was serving her 16th term in Congress and was the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, per the AP. She was the first woman to chair that committee when she led it from 2007 through 2010. Liam Fitzsimmons, Slaughter's chief of staff, said in a statement she died early Friday at George Washington University Hospital after injuring herself in a fall in her area home. Fitzsimmons said on Wednesday that she'd sustained a concussion but no broken bones, and her office had expressed hope for her recuperation. "The congresswoman is tough as nails and she will bring that same spirit to this recovery," he said at the time, per the Democrat & Chronicle. Slaughter was originally from Kentucky and had a bachelor's degree in microbiology, as well as a master's degree in public health. She was repeatedly re-elected, sometimes narrowly, and was the longest-serving member of Congress from New York. Per the Democrat & Chronicle, she'd just announced last month she was planning on a 17th term. CNN notes she was also known for her efforts in fortifying military body armor after an Iraq War report cited all of the casualties linked to inadequate equipment. Both sides of the aisle offered their condolences upon hearing of her death. "Congresswoman Slaughter embodied the very best of the American spirit and ideals," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, while the head of the House Rules Committee, the GOP's Pete Sessions, called Slaughter "a fearless leader, deeply committed to her constituents, and a dear friend."


Here is a news article: Cops: Connecticut Burglar Gets Tripped Up By Stolen Sweatshirt And Its Vigilant Owner Share

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 A Connecticut man already facing multiple burglary charges has been arrested on new criminal counts after he was spotted wearing a stolen sweatshirt in a mug shot photo, police report.

 According to cops, a Glastonbury residence was burglarized in July 2014, but the probe of the crime was suspended after no leads were developed.

 However, two months ago, the victimized homeowner contacted cops to report seeing a booking photo of Derek Benson, 30, who was arrested late last year in connection with a series of burglaries during which expensive golf equipment was stolen.

 “In the photo, Benson was wearing the victim’s sweatshirt, which had been stolen during the burglary of his residence,” the Glastonbury Police Department reported.

 The stolen gray sweatshirt contains the logo for Coco Libre, the “pure organic coconut water.” The victim, a police spokesperson said, works for Coco Libre. Benson is seen in the above mug shot wearing the purloined garment.

 After being tipped by the homeowner, cops noted, “A subsequent investigation linked Benson to the burglary.” In addition to the sweatshirt, jewelry was stolen during last year’s burglary.

 Benson was arrested last week on burglary, larceny, and criminal mischief counts. He remains locked up in lieu of $125,000 bond. ||||| 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. |||||
A summary of this is?

– Derek Benson wore a sweatshirt that said "libre" ("freedom") on it for a 2014 mugshot, but he got quite the opposite after a man contacted police in Glastonbury, Conn., to report he had seen the mugshot and that Benson, 30, was wearing the victim's Coco Libre sweatshirt—which had been stolen from his residence in July 2014, the Smoking Gun reports. The victim works for the coconut water company, a police rep says. A "subsequent investigation" led to Benson's Sept. 16 arrest for that home burglary as well, a Glastonbury Police Department press release notes, and Benson was charged with burglary, larceny, criminal trespass, and criminal larceny, Fox Connecticut reports. (This suspected burglar didn't just take stuff with him—he left stuff behind.)


Here is a news article: News articles, blogs, organizational websites, and social media related to the 2013 Supreme Court hearings and subsequent rulings for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's Proposition 8. ||||| Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman may be trailing in the polls, but he has become the first of the candidates to put up a parody of former tobacco lobbyist Herman Cain’s already-notorious “smoking man” ad.

 Huntman’s ad features his three daughters in horn-rimmed glasses and false mustaches

 “Tomorrow is Friday, one day closer to the weekend,” one deadpans.

 “We strongly believe that our dad has the experience and proven track record to revive America’s economy and create jobs,” the second intones, adding, “Even if we didn’t believe that, we’d still have to be here.”

 “We are shamelessly promoting out dad like no other family ever has,” the third continues.

 In conclusion, at the point where Cain’s aide takes a drag on a cigarette, all three women blow soap bubbles in unison.

 This video is from Jon2012Girls, posted to YouTube October 28, 2011. |||||
A summary of this is?

– First Jon Huntsman's daughters made a splash on Twitter, thanks to their tactical deployment of wit and snark. Now they're taking to YouTube, featuring a parody of the infamous "smoking man" video put out earlier in the week by Herman Cain's campaign manager, Mark Block, reports Raw Story. All the women sport big mustaches, like Block, and intone their lines with much seriousness, also like Block. But where Block said, "Tomorrow is one day closer to the White House," Liddy Huntsman deadpans, "Tomorrow is Friday, one day closer to the weekend." And instead of Block's line, "If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be here," family ties apparently nix such freedom: “Even if we didn’t believe that, we’d still have to be here,” says Abby Huntsman. And for the big finish? No, they don't puff a cigarette like Block did. But they do blow soap bubbles (very moodily, of course). For some choice snarking from the Huntsman daughters, check this out.


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Skip in Skip x Embed x Share A Georgia mother has lost custody of her five children after police say she hosted a sex party for her 16-year-old daughter with alcohol, drugs, a hot tub and a naked game of Twister. VPC

 Rachel Lehnardt, 35, of Evans, Ga., was charged with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in connection with a recent party at her home near Augusta. (Photo: Columbia County Sheriff's Office)

 A 35-year-old Georgia mother has lost custody of her five children after being arrested for allegedly hosting a party for her teenage daughter and partaking of booze, pot, sex, a hot tub and naked Twister.

 Rachel Lehnardt was charged with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for the party at her home in Evans, an Augusta suburb. She was arrested Monday after her new Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor alerted the Columbia County Sheriff's Office on Saturday following a meeting with Lehnardt, according to the investigation report.

 The sponsor said Lehnardt, who is divorcing her husband, an Iraq war veteran, told her she had lost custody of the children — ages 4, 6, 8, 10 and 16 — at an emergency hearing April 6 after he learned about the recent party. The sheriff's report did not indicate when it occurred.

 The children were with their father one night when the 16-year-old daughter texted her mother to ask if she and some friends could come over "to party," according to the sponsor's account.

 "Come on, let's party," Lehnardt replied.

 The teens drank alcohol and smoked marijuana, Lehnardt said she joined them playing naked Twister, her sponsor told investigators. She then had sex in the bathroom with an 18-year-old boy, the report said.

 The sponsor said Lenhardt later recounted waking up at 3:30 a.m. to discover her daughter's 16-year-old boyfriend having sex with her.

 He is not facing charges because "there is no evidence of rape" because Lehnardt "refuses to discuss the case," Capt. Steve Morris told the New York Daily News.

 Lehnardt, who works in an Augusta bridal shop, had been attending a sexual-addiction workshop at her local Mormon church, the sponsor added.

 She was released after posting a $3,200 bond.

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1ywNEUD ||||| 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. ||||| A Georgia mother was arrested for throwing a wild, naked Twister party for her teen daughter and her friends after her Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor ratted her out, deputies said.

 The crazy night began after Rachel Lehnardt's 16-year-old daughter texted her asking if she could bring friends over "to party," according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.

 "Come on, let's party," the 35-year-old mother of five replied.

 Lehnardt provided weed and alcohol to the partying teens at her Evans home before joining them in a game of naked Twister, the sponsor told authorities.

 The former Mormon Sunday school teacher found an 18-year-old to have a private game with and the two snuck off to a bathroom to have sex, according to the sheriff's report.

 The bridal shop employee was still "horny," so she brought her sex toys into the living room and used them in front of the group, according to the police report.

 "The party continued" in Lehnardt's hot tub before Lenhardt passed out in her bed, the report said.

 She woke up around 3:30 a.m. to find her daughter's well-endowed 16-year-old boyfriend having sex with her, the sponsor said.

 "Her daughter 'felt guilty' because the 16-year-old was 10-inches long and huge, and if she had been able to take it he wouldn't have needed to rape her mother," the sponsor said.

 The boy is not facing a rape charge because "there is no evidence of rape," since Lehnardt "refuses to discuss the case," Captain Steve Morris told the Daily News.

 A source close to Lehnardt said the alleged rape made her realize that her drinking, which she started doing when she separated from her husband in November, was a problem.

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 The raucous party also forced Lehnardt to lose custody of her children, ages 4, 6, 8, 10 and 16, on April 6, the sponsor said.

 Growing up in the Mormon Church, Lehnardt never touched a drop of alcohol before her husband of 15 years came back from a deployment to Iraq with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and anger issues in 2010, the source said.

 "People who have never drunk a day in their life tend not to know how to handle their alcohol," the source said.

 The party made Lehnardt decide to go sober, and four days later, she met with a woman in Alcoholics Anonymous who she knew from her Mormon church. She spilled the salacious details and reportedly admitted to showing photos of her having sex with her boyfriend to her 16-year-old daughter.

 The sponsor, who "struggled" to look like she wasn't judging Lehnardt during the tale, reported the rager to police Friday.

 Lehnardt was arrested on two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and was released on $3,200 bond, Morris said.

 “Just when you think you’ve seen everything or heard everything, we find that we haven’t,” Morris said.

 Her attorney, Shawn P. Hammond, told the Daily News that some of the accusations "were exaggerated."

 "It's a difficult situation for the entire family," Hammond said. "This mom is attempting to accept responsibility for her conduct and will do everything in her power to make amends to the public and her children and will never allow this conduct to be repeated."

 Lehnardt plans to attend counseling and will continue to attend AA meetings, he said.

 Sign up for BREAKING NEWS Emails privacy policy Thanks for subscribing! ||||| An Evans woman opened up to her Alcoholic Anonymous sponsor and ended up in jail based partly on what she revealed about an underage party and sex romp at her home, according to authorities.

 Rachel Lenhardt, 35, was charged Monday with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly providing marijuana and alcohol to minors at her home on Whitney Pass in Evans.

 The sponsor told investigators that she was recently asked to help Lenhardt, so she asked her over for coffee on April 10 to talk about Lenhardt’s plans for sobriety and such.

 Lenhardt informed her she was four days sober since April 6 when she lost custody of her five children ages 4, 6, 8, 10 and 16. Lenhardt told her that an emergency hearing was conducted this month when her kids were taken away from her due to an incident that occurred at her house.

 According to a sheriff’s report, Lenhardt gave her sponsor this account of the party:

 Her kids were with their father one night when her 16-year-old daughter texted her and asked if her and some friends could come over “to party.” Lenhardt replied “come on, let`s party.” Lenhardt allowed her teen daughter and her friends to smoke marijuana and drink her alcohol in her home. The group of minors and her played naked Twister in the living room.

 Lenhardt had sex with an 18 year old in the bathroom while the others continued to play Twister. Lenhardt told her sponsor she was still “horny” afterward so she brought her sex toys out in the living room and began to use them on herself in front of the group.

 The group and Lenhardt then got in her hot tub naked where the party continued. Lenhardt said she was asleep in her bed and woke up around 3:30 a.m. when she felt someone having sex with her. She thought it was the 18-year-old but realized it was her daughter’s 16-year-old boyfriend. The daughter later told her mother that she felt guilty because the boyfriend’s 10-inch penis was too large for her and he needed to have sex instead with the mother.

 Lenhardt also told her sponsor that she had shown her daughter pornographic photos, including photos of her and her current boyfriend having sex.

 The sponsor told investigators that Lenhardt has opened up about being a sexual deviant and porn addict.

 Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris said this week’s arrest of Lenhardt is based partially on the account given to them by the AA sponsor. He said no sexual crime charges were being filed because 16 is the legal age of consent. |||||

– A Georgia woman who decided she needed to stop drinking was arrested after telling her Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor the reason why. According to an arrest report, the sponsor went to the cops after Rachel Lenhardt confessed to allowing her 16-year-old daughter and her daughter's friends to party at her house, where she supplied weed and alcohol, joined a game of naked Twister, had sex with an 18-year-old, then played with her sex toys in front of the group. The 35-year-old, who lives in suburban Georgia, told the sponsor that because of the party, she had lost custody of the teen and another four children—ages 4, 6, 8, and 10—who were with their father that night, USA Today reports. Lenhardt was charged on Monday with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, reports Augusta Crime. Lenhardt also told her sponsor that she woke up the night of the party to find her daughter's 16-year-old boyfriend having sex with her. He is not being charged because she "refuses to discuss the case," a police spokesman tells the New York Daily News. According to the arrest report, Lenhardt's sponsor said she was put in touch with her by a friend who went to the same sex-addiction group at a local church. A source tells the Daily News that Lenhardt, a former Sunday school teacher who was raised in the Mormon church, didn't start drinking until last fall when she separated from her husband, an Iraq vet who came back with PTSD and anger issues. "People who have never drunk a day in their life tend not to know how to handle their alcohol," the source says.


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 In a 2007 purchase of medicines from Merck KGaA, drugmaker Mylan picked up a decades-old product, the EpiPen auto injector for food allergy and bee-sting emergencies. Management first thought to divest the aging device, which logged only $200 million in revenue. Then Heather Bresch, now Mylan’s chief executive officer, hit on the idea of using old-fashioned marketing in part to boost sales among concerned parents of children with allergies. That started EpiPen, which delivers about $1 worth of the hormone epinephrine, on a run that’s resulted in its becoming a $1 billion-a-year product that clobbers its rivals and provides about 40 percent of Mylan’s operating profits, says researcher ABR|Healthco. EpiPen margins were 55 percent in 2014, up from 9 percent in 2008, ABR|Healthco estimates.

 Photo illustration: 731

 How Mylan pulled that off is a textbook case in savvy branding combined with a massive public awareness campaign on the dangers of child allergies. Along the way, EpiPen’s wholesale price rose roughly 400 percent from about $57 each when Mylan acquired the product. “They have done a tremendous job of taking an asset that nobody thought you could do much with and making it a blockbuster product,” says Jason Gerberry, a Leerink Partners analyst.

 But while EpiPen has given countless parents a sense of security that their children can go out in the world safely, the device’s soaring price—up 32 percent in the past year alone—has forced some families to make difficult choices in order to afford the life-saving medicine. The price increases are among the biggest of any top-selling brand drug, according to DRX, a unit of Connecture that tracks drug pricing. After insurance company discounts, a package of two EpiPens costs about $415, DRX says. By comparison, in France, where Meda sells the drug, two EpiPens cost about $85. “There is a danger with that,” says George Sillup, chairman of the pharmaceutical and health-care marketing department at Saint Joseph’s University. If the company raises the price too much, “that could create some backlash.”

 The company sees it differently. “Mylan has worked tirelessly over the past years advocating for increased anaphylaxis awareness, preparedness, and access to treatment,” Mylan spokeswoman Nina Devlin said in a statement. She said the company doesn’t control final retail prices for EpiPen and offers coupons that eliminate co-pays for most patients. Bresch declined to comment for this story.

 The CEO has made no secret of her strategy to increase demand for EpiPens by getting them stocked for emergency use in more schools and other public places. (So-called entity prescriptions allow for this.) “We are continuing to open up new markets, new access with public entity legislation that would allow restaurants and hotels and really anywhere you are congregating, there should be access to an EpiPen,” Bresch said at a conference on Sept. 17.

 Over the past seven years, Mylan has hired consultants who had worked with Medtronic to get defibrillators stocked in public places. Bresch, the daughter of Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), turned to Washington for help. Along with patient groups, Mylan pushed for federal legislation encouraging states to stock epinephrine devices in schools.

 CEO Bresch Photographer: Chris Goodney/Bloomberg

 In 2010 new federal guidelines said patients who had severe allergic reactions should be prescribed two epinephrine doses, and soon after Mylan stopped selling single pens in favor of twin-packs. At the time, 35 percent of prescriptions were for single EpiPens. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had changed label rules to allow the devices to be marketed to anyone at risk, rather than only those who’d already had an anaphylaxis reaction. “Those were both big events that we’ve started to capitalize on,” Bresch said in October 2011.

 In 2013, the year following the widely publicized death of a 7-year-old girl at a school in Virginia after an allergic reaction to peanuts, Congress passed legislation encouraging states to have epinephrine devices on hand in schools. Now 47 states require or encourage schools to stock the devices.

 Since 2012, Mylan has helped popularize its brand by handing out free EpiPens to more than 59,000 schools. Last year it signed a deal with Walt Disney to stock EpiPens in Disney’s theme parks and on cruise ships. And Mylan spent $35.2 million on EpiPen TV ads in 2014, up from $4.8 million in 2011, according to researcher Nielsen. Mylan disputes the ad spending figures but declines to offer alternatives.

 In part because of Mylan’s efforts, the number of patients using EpiPen has grown 67 percent over the past seven years. Many kids with allergies own multiple sets, for school and home. And for doctors, who write prescriptions for the name they know best, the EpiPen brand “is like Kleenex,” says Robert Wood, a pediatric allergist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

 So far rivals haven’t been able to break Mylan’s market grip. Sanofi’s Auvi-Q, introduced in 2013, is in the shape of a credit card and—unlike EpiPen—gives step-by step audio instructions. But Sanofi priced Auvi-Q about the same as EpiPen, and the product struggled initially to gain insurance coverage. Sanofi says 9 out of 10 patients with commercial insurance can now receive coverage for Auvi-Q prescriptions. Yet in the first half of 2015, EpiPen had about an 85 percent share of epinephrine prescriptions vs. only 10 percent for Auvi-Q, according to Symphony Health Solutions data compiled by Bloomberg.

 Still, allergy sufferers without generous health benefits feel the pain. Denise Ure, a social worker in Seattle, has a peanut allergy so severe that the last time she ingested a nut crumb in 2011, she needed three EpiPens and was hospitalized. Ure says she cried last year when she found out a prescription for two EpiPens would cost her about $350. “I was terrified because there’s this life-saving medicine that I needed, and I couldn’t afford it,” she says. Ure now carries two EpiPens she got in Canada, where they cost about half as much.

 The biggest threat to EpiPen could come from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. It settled a patent lawsuit in 2012 allowing it to market a generic version of EpiPen as early as this year, if it wins FDA approval. Mylan isn’t too worried. Predicted Bresch in August: “You would not see the traditional market loss because of just the brand equity with EpiPen.”

 The bottom line: When Mylan bought EpiPen in 2007, the devices had $200 million in annual sales. Today revenue exceeds $1 billion.

 (This story updated the graphic to show a more accurate usage of the EpiPen.)

 (This story updated the graphic to show a more accurate usage of the EpiPen.) ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

 / Updated By Ben Popken

 The cost of saving your child's life has gotten a lot more expensive.

 Parents getting ready for back-to-school season have another item to toss in the basket along with Trapper Keepers and boxes of pencils — and they're facing sticker shock at the latest price increase.

 Doctors and patients say the Mylan pharmaceutical company has jacked up the prices for an EpiPen — the portable device that can stop a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction — from around $100 in 2008 to $500 and up today.

 That's a hike of over 400 percent.

 Mylan didn't invent the EpiPen, it acquired it in 2007, getting a drug that had been approved since 1987 and had 90 percent market dominance. Nor does it manufacture the EpiPen itself. Mylan buys it from a wholly owned Pfizer subsidiary for $34.50 per pen.

 Then in 2009, Mylan launched an upgraded device. A medical device technology expert and a doctor who took apart the "before" and "after" versions of the EpiPen found that despite safety and graphics upgrades, the auto-injectors shared a similar "core."

 Now former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has weighed in, calling the Mylan company "vultures."

 U.S. Senators are scrutinizing the price hikes, with one calling for an FTC probe. Connecticut Senator Richard Bluemnthal, who pushed for emergency epinephrine to be stocked in public schools, pledged Friday to investigate the "shocking increase."

 UPDATE: On 9/21/16, the House Oversight Committee grilled Mylan and the FDA in a hearing on the EpiPen price hike.

 "Patients are calling and saying they can't afford it," said Dr. Douglas McMahon, an allergy specialist in Maplewood, Minnesota. "They're between a rock and a hard place."

 Following a recall by Mylan's chief competitor last year, the company now enjoys a near monopoly.

 Because of aggressive marketing and branding campaigns, and lobbying for legislation that requires the product to be stocked in schools, they have a brand dominance equal to that of Kleenex, doctors say.

 About the size of a fat marker, they are carried by many parents of kids with severe allergies wherever they go — ready to jam the gizmo into their child's thigh to deliver epinephrine and stop anaphylactic shock from a potentially fatal bee sting or bit of peanut.

 An EpiPen. Carlos Osorio / AP file

 And because they have a stated expiration date of one year, parents refill them annually, incurring an additional co-pay each time.

 Tracy Bush, a 42-year-old mom and food allergy consultant, never goes anywhere without two EpiPens on her. Her son, age 14, carries another. She began doing so after he was diagnosed with severe allergies as a 2-year-old.

 For the past 10 years, she has watched the price she paid for her refills rise higher and higher with no discernible improvement to the device or medicine.

 In 2008, Bush said the price was $145.99. In 2010, it was $220.99, then jumped to $649.99. This year her pre-insurance costs were $1,118.08.

 Despite the hikes, Bush was glad to have the device two years ago when her son had a bad reaction while eating some watermelon.

 "He said it felt like a potato chip was caught in his throat. Then he got a look of terror on his face. His voice was totally different, it sounded like he had sucked helium. I was like 'Oh my goodness, I'm going to have to use an EpiPen,'" she said. "I will never forget the look that I saw."

 In a statement, Mylan said that the prices have "changed over time to better reflect important product features and the value the product provides," and that "we've made a significant investment to support the device over the past years."

 The company also offers coupons on its website that can reduce costs. This year, for the first time, Bush was able to use those coupons and her "good" insurance plan to bring down her out-of-pocket costs to zero. But not everyone can do the same.

 "When epinephrine only costs a few cents, but they're going up to $500, personally I don't think that's ethically responsible," said Dr. McMahon.

 And he understands better than most what costs are involved: For the past few years he's been developing his own, smaller version of the EpiPen, and trying to get it approved by the FDA and bring it to market. He estimates that process costs about $1.5 million. In 2015, Mylan's profits from the sale of EpiPens rose to $1.2 billion.

 McMahon says his device will retail for about $50.

 Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the former presidential contender and a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, told NBC News in a statement:

 "The drug industry's greed knows no bounds. There's no reason an EpiPen, which costs Mylan just a few dollars to make, should cost families more than $600. The only explanation for Mylan raising the price by six times since 2009 is that the company values profits more than the lives of millions of Americans." ||||| Families with severe allergies often rely on EpiPens to deliver a dose of potentially life-saving medicine if a child has a bad reaction. But the cost of the EpiPen is surging, putting the pinch on many families.

 The EpiPen is filled with epinephrine, which can counter the effects of a severe allergic reaction. The auto-injector's price has risen by more than 480 percent since 2009. The actual cost of the drug inside the EpiPen is only a couple bucks, reports CBS News correspondent Vinita Nair. So the manufacturer is essentially charging hundreds of dollars for a case -- and a trusted name.

 An EpiPen is never far away in the Henegar household where dinner time is a cautious time. Of the family's six children, two have severe food allergies: 3-year-old Cora and 7-year-old Ellie.

 Ellie has a laundry list of foods to avoid, including dairy, wheat, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and sesame seeds. It's why both girls never leave their Indianapolis-area home without their fanny packs.

 As a baby, Ellie's allergic reactions were so severe, hives covered her entire body. Her family has twice used the EpiPen to save her life.

 "Her lips turned blue, she started swelling, she wasn't able to breathe," mother Lexi Henegar recalled.

 They have to replace the injectors every year when they expire. The Henegars remember paying as little as $80 for them five or six years ago before they switched to a high-deductible health plan.

 "We really noticed it in the past year, year and a half when we went to go have it filled. It was $600," Lexi said.

 "When the pharmacist first told you the bill, did you think 'You must be wrong?'" Nair asked.

 "I did. I had her look it up again and she didn't have to because she had answered that question many times with many other people who asked her the same question of, 'Are you sure that the EpiPen is that expensive -- and it is," Lexi said.

 In 2009, pharmacies paid slightly more than $100 for a 2-pack of EpiPens. The price has since skyrocketed to more than $600.

 "If they don't have [the EpiPen], it could mean life or death," pharmacist Leon Tarasenko said.

 Tarasenko said the high prices are forcing some families to take risks.

 "Within the last two months, we've had about three patients who had issues with the price of an EpiPen. And we actually -- they did not receive it. They just refused to take it," Tarasenko said.

 Bloomberg senior medical reporter Robert Langreth says the manufacturer of the device, Mylan, has a virtual monopoly after its main competitor launched a recall last fall.

 "This brand name, EpiPen, it's like Kleenex to allergists," Langreth said. "You know, it's a name they know and trust. It's what they prescribe."

 He said the company has remarketed the decades-old device without making any significant changes since acquiring it in 2007. It has spent tens of millions of dollars on TV ads and donated the device to schools across the U.S., ensuring it was a familiar product.

 "It's a totally established brand name with little competition," Langreth said. "That gives them freedom to raise the price every year."

 In a statement, Mylan tells CBS News the EpiPen's price "has changed over time to better reflect important product features and the value the product provides," saying "we've made a significant investment to support the device over the past years."

 The company offers coupons, which have allowed many patients to pay nothing out-of-pocket. Those coupons are worth up to $100, so families with high deductibles like the Henegars are still on the hook for the majority of the cost. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– It's the size of a marker and as common as Band-Aids in a school nurse's office. EpiPen, a device that delivers a dose of epinephrine that can stop an extreme allergic reaction, has been credited with saving the lives of children for whom a peanut or a bee sting could be fatal. But drugmaker Mylan has hiked the price of the device by nearly 500% over the past few years, CBS News reports, and parents and doctors aren't happy. "When epinephrine only costs a few cents, but they're going up to $500, personally I don't think that's ethically responsible," allergy specialist Dr. Douglas McMahon told NBC News. “Patients are calling and saying they can't afford it.” (McMahon is seeking FDA approval for his own device that he says will cost $50.) Twice in her seven years, Ellie Henegar’s life was saved with an EpiPen, but her parents were stunned last year when the bill came to $600, they told CBS. Compare that to 2009, when the bill was about $100 for the same two-pack of EpiPen. While insurance covers varying degrees of the cost, not everyone is lucky enough to have a plan that does, NBC notes. With a near monopoly, Mylan has little incentive to cut the price, Bloomberg reports. In fact, Mylan execs considered dumping the aging product in 2007. Instead, they launched a marketing campaign that turned the device into an essential, donating EpiPens to schools and dropping $35 million on TV ads. A law passed by Congress in 2013 requiring schools to stock epinephrine devices also boosted sales, which last year totaled $1 billion. Mylan contends it has made a "significant investment" to improve the device and offers coupons. "It's a totally established brand name with little competition," Bloomberg’s Robert Langreth tells CBS. "That gives them freedom to raise the price every year."


Steven Seagal has joined fellow actor Gérard Depardieu on a blacklist of cultural figures barred from entering Ukraine.

 The Under Siege star, 65, whose grandmother was from Vladivostok, has been branded a national security threat after he was granted Russian citizenship last year and voiced support for Russia's seizure of Crimea.

 Ukraine's security service said it had banned him from the country for five years, according to news site Apostrophe, which published a letter from the service saying he had “committed socially dangerous actions … that contradict the interests of maintaining Ukraine’s security”. ||||| Security service says it has forbidden Seagal entry into country for five years, after actor received Russian citizenship

 Ukraine has banned American action movie star Steven Seagal as a national security threat, making him the latest of several cultural figures to be blacklisted.

 The Ukrainian security service said it had forbidden Seagal entry to the country for five years, in a letter published by the news site Apostrophe. The service’s press secretary later confirmed the ban to other media.

 Vladimir Putin presents Steven Seagal with Russian passport Read more

 The letter said such a decision is made when a person has “committed socially dangerous actions … that contradict the interests of maintaining Ukraine’s security”. The move comes after the actor received citizenship in Russia, which has backed separatists in a simmering conflict in eastern Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin handed Seagal a Russian passport and told him he hoped their “personal relationship will remain and continue” during a meeting in the Kremlin last year.

 Ukraine previously banned Russia’s entry to the Eurovision song contest that Kiev is hosting next week.

 Seagal, the star of the 1992 hit Under Siege as well as straight-to-video films such as Kill Switch, Out for a Kill and Driven to Kill, has had a long love affair with the former Soviet Union. He has eaten carrots with “Europe’s last dictator” Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, ridden a horse in a suit of armour at the Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan and taken part in a traditional dance while visiting Chechnya strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.

 But Seagal’s outspoken support for Putin and his policies have earned the enmity of the Ukrainian authorities. The actor called Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine “very reasonable”. He later played with his blues band at a concert in Crimea put on by a pro-Putin biker club, with the flag of eastern Ukraine separatists flying onstage.

 In 2015, Seagal was included in a proposed blacklist of foreign cultural figures who “speak out in support of violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine” along with French actor Gérard Depardieu and many Russian artists. Ukraine later banned Depardieu and has also blacklisted more than 100 Russian films.

 The cultural war with Moscow continued this year when Kiev banned Russia’s Eurovision entrant, Yulia Samoilova, for performing in Crimea in 2015. Samoilova plans to give another concert in Crimea when the contest is held in Kiev on 13 May.

 Ukraine earned the right to host the competition when its 2016 entrant, Jamala, won with a song about Joseph Stalin’s deportation of the Crimean Tatars, which was also interpreted as a commentary on the 2014 annexation. |||||

Write a summary.

– Steven Seagal spends a lot of time in the nations that used to make up the USSR, but one of them has now declared him persona non grata. Ukraine has slapped the actor with a 5-year ban from the country, labelling him a threat to national security, the Guardian reports. Seagal, who has called Russia's 2014 seizure of Crimea "very reasonable" and played at a concert put on by separatists in the region, became a Russian citizen in November with an executive order signed by Vladimir Putin, who personally delivered his Russian passport. Ukraine says Crimea is still part of its territory and anybody who travels there needs to get permission from Kiev. The order from Ukraine's security service states that Seagal has "committed socially dangerous actions" that "contradict the interests of maintaining Ukraine’s security." Other stars banned from Ukraine over the Crimea issue include Gerard Depardieu, who was granted Russian citizenship in 2013. The Telegraph reports that the country has also banned Russian singer Yulia Samoylova, the country's Eurovision Song Contest nominee, meaning she won't be able to compete in the finals in Kiev this month.


Article:
Frances Cobain Lends Her Voice to Song 'My Space'

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 When Frances Cobain agreed to be a guest vocalist on pal Amanda Palmer's new concept album, headlines swirled that the 17-year-old daughter of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love was following in her parents' musical footsteps.Not so fast."She's got a great voice," Palmer says. "But she's a really good visual artist. She's really interested in graphic novels."Cobain was intrigued by Palmer and fellow musician Jason Webley's concept for the album, Evelyn Evelyn, which focuses on twin singer-songwriter duo. Palmer was impressed with Cobain for more than her singing."She's really smart, level-headed, motivated, and incredibly funny," says Palmer, who met Cobain for the first time while with her fiancé, graphic novelist Neil Gaiman, of which Cobain is a fan. "She has her own really strong personal work ethic and she wants to find her own voice and make her own art and she's going to do it by playing by her own rules."Cobain's voice was mixed into a chorus with those of "Weird Al" Yankovic, Tegan and Sara and Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance. "We wanted to have a list of really random people on it as a joke," explains Palmer. The album dropped Tuesday. |||||

 Evelyn Evelyn Evelyn Evelyn 11/8ft

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 Somewhere deep in the untamed wilds of MySpace, producers Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley discovered Evelyn Evelyn Neville—a pair of conjoined twins sharing three legs, two arms, three lungs, two hearts, and a single liver. Isolated in a hotel in Walla Walla Washington, the girls developed their obsession with The Andrews Sisters and Joy Divison into a series of lovingly executed ukulele covers. Or so the story goes. I hate to point fingers, but certainly one of twins (as Webley himself pointed out in a blog entry) "has a conspicuously deep voice for a 24-year-old girl." Shockingly, the other Evelyn sounds like a missing member of another punk cabaret twosome. Chalk it up to serendipity.

 Webley and Palmer, conjoined-Martha Stewarts of the theatrically macabre, frame Evelyn and Evelyn's album through a series of spoken word segments, where the sisters recount their picaresque tale of woe—a tale that includes flying chickens, sexual abuse, societal marginalization, circus freaks, conjoined elephants, and social networking. Despite such obviously campy origins, the sisters' music often manages to rise above mere spectacle, their back-story flavoring oddball tracks such as "Chicken Man" and "Elephant Elephant" with surprising gravity, elevating the songs above mere musical curiosity.

 Of course it doesn't hurt that the girls are fair musicians in their own right. "Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn" is a straight-up cabaret gem, and opening track "Evelyn Evelyn" could fit as a bonus cut on 2008's Who Killed Amanda Palmer. The genre-hopping, which the sisters brag about early on, is often jarring—but Palmer and Webley assure their protégées acquit themselves nicely on country-tinged "You Only Want Me 'Cause You Want My Sister" and the '80s cheese of "My Space." Much has been made about the host of cameos—including Frances Bean Cobain, Andrew WK, and Tegan and Sara—but negated to the role of chorus it's impossible to pick out individual voices. However, the additional star power isn't needed. Closing the album with a stripped-down version of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," Evelyn and Evelyn prove that with or without their friends, they've got personality to spare. (www.evelynevelyn.com)

 Author rating: 7/10 ||||| As an admirer of both the work of Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley, I've really been looking forward to this project. The premise is a little confusing- Evelyn Evelyn are a fictional set of conjoined twin sisters (Eva and Lyn Neville) played by Palmer and Webley. The record is the story of Eva and Lyn, intermixed with Andrews Sisters style numbers. It is not unlike listening to a Broadway musical soundtrack, with three tracks devoted to the narration of the sisters' tragic life.

 After a few listens, I found myself immersed in the sad and strange world of the Neville sisters. The tale is compelling and the emotion and expression of the songs draws you in, from the show-tune style "Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?" to the folky "You Only Want Me 'Cause You Want My Sister," to the power ballad "My Space" (which is indeed about MySpace, which features an impressive guest line up.

 Webley and Palmer are in top form. The vocals are impressive and poignant. One of my favorite parts of the album is the closing track, a cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart", one of my favorite songs of all time. Evelyn Evelyn's version is stripped down to just Palmer and Webley trading broken down vocals over soft ukulele accompaniment.

 If you haven't already gotten the impression, this album is eccentric. It isn't going to be for everyone, like Webley and Palmer's solo work. However, those who give this project the chance and time will appreciate it immensely.

 Evelyn Evelyn - Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?

 Evelyn Evelyn will be released on 11 Records on March 30th. |||||Summary:

– Frances Bean Cobain made her musical debut yesterday—albeit in cameo form—with the release of Evelyn Evelyn. “She’s got a great voice,” says Amanda Palmer, who put together the concept album with Jason Webley. The 17-year-old is featured on the track “My Space” along with other “really random people,” Palmer says, including Weird Al Yankovic, Tegan and Sara, and Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, People reports. The album has “personality to spare,” writes Laura Studarus on Under the Radar, but as for Cobain, the proliferation of cameos on “My Space” means “it's impossible to pick out individual voices.” A blogger on The Ruckus calls the track a “power ballad” and says the album as a whole is “eccentric.” So will Cobain be following in her parents’ footsteps? Palmer isn’t so sure: “She's a really good visual artist. She's really interested in graphic novels.”


NEW YORK — A 27-year-old man detonated a crude pipe bomb strapped to his body inside a crowded Manhattan subway passage Monday morning, according to police — sending terrified commuters running for the exits and counterterrorism officials racing to unravel the second terrorist attack in the city in less than two months.

 Authorities identified the suspect as Akayed Ullah, an immigrant from Bangladesh who came to the United States in 2011. The attack — which left the suspect wounded but otherwise caused only minor injuries to three commuters — immediately rekindled public debates about terrorism, public safety and immigration.

 The pipe bomb, affixed to Ullah’s clothes with Velcro and zip ties, detonated about 7:20 a.m. as he walked in an underground passageway from the subway station at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue to a nearby station at Seventh Avenue, police said. The attack brought Monday’s morning commute in crowded Times Square to a standstill as a massive police response locked down the area while authorities searched for other bombs.

 Ullah told investigators that he was inspired by propaganda from the Islamic State terror group, according to law enforcement officials. The FBI and the New York Police Department were investigating, and charges in federal court were expected to be filed against Ullah soon.

 Security video shows a man walking down the crowded tunnel, seemingly just another passerby until a giant puff of smoke knocks him to the ground. For a moment he is still and then starts to move his leg, clearly in pain.

 Ullah sustained burns and cuts to his hands and abdomen, authorities said. The three people who suffered minor injuries complained of ringing in their ears and headaches, and they took themselves to hospitals.

 Police rushed to secure the scene and evacuate pedestrians. Ullah began talking to authorities as he lay on the ground, according to law enforcement officials. He has told investigators that he acted alone, and in those first moments after the explosion, police focused on ruling out the possibility that he might have planted other bombs in the city’s subway system, officials said.

 Investigators were able to determine he meant to detonate the bomb at that spot in the tunnel, in part because that is where he surreptitiously connected a small battery to a set of Christmas lights in the pipe bomb, officials said

 Sam and Patricia Sladnick, who had been in town visiting relatives, were entering the Port Authority bus terminal when they heard an explosion and saw people start to run.

 “I heard something, but didn’t know what it was,’’ said Sam. At first, Patricia froze, and Sam had to pull her out of the way. “I guess I should have stopped to help other people, make sure they got out okay, but I didn’t know whether there was going to be another explosion or what so we left.’’

 Ullah was taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, where he again spoke to investigators, law enforcement officials said.

 Officials said he came to the United States on a type of visa for relatives of people already living legally in the country. President Trump said the incident was another example of why the United States needs to curb immigration.

 “Today’s attempted mass murder attack in New York City — the second terrorist attack in New York in the last two months — once again highlights the urgent need for Congress to enact legislative reforms to protect the American people,” the president said in a statement, also referring to a deadly truck attack in Manhattan on Oct. 31. “America must fix its lax immigration system, which allows far too many dangerous, inadequately vetted people to access our country. Today’s terror suspect entered our country through extended-family chain migration, which is incompatible with national security.”

 He also said that people convicted of terrorism charges “deserve the strongest penalty allowed by law, including the death penalty in appropriate cases.”

 Attorney General Jeff Sessions also weighed in, saying “the 20-year-old son of the sister of a U.S. citizen should not get priority to come to this country ahead of someone who is high-skilled, well-educated, has learned English, and is likely to assimilate and flourish here.’’

 New York officials focused their remarks on how quick thinking by police and poor craftsmanship by the suspect saved lives.

 Mayor Bill de Blasio called an attack on the subway system “incredibly upsetting. And let’s also be clear, this was an attempted terrorist attack. Thank God the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals.”

 New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) called the attacker’s weapon an “effectively low-tech device,” saying: “Anyone can go on the Internet and download garbage and vileness and how to put together an amateur-level explosive device, and that is the reality that we live with. The counter-reality is that this is New York and we all pitch together and we are a savvy people.”

 The explosion Monday came just weeks after a man driving a truck plowed through pedestrians and bicyclists on a path along Manhattan’s West Side, killing eight people and wounding a dozen others. Prosecutors have charged that driver with murder, saying he confessed to carrying out the attack in the name of the Islamic State .

 “This is a fact of life, whether you’re in New York or London or Paris,” said John Miller, who leads counterterrorism work at the NYPD. “The question is can it happen here, and the answer is it can happen anywhere.”

 Miller said investigators have collected remnants of the bomb to better understand its construction. The NYPD and the FBI appealed for any witnesses to the explosion to come forward, and said commuters should expect to see additional security around the city’s transportation network.

 While there were no immediate assertions of responsibility for the explosion, a pro-Islamic State media group, Maqdisi Media, suggested that it was carried out in response to President Trump’s recent statement recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity.

 Ullah also told investigators he was angry about U.S. policy toward Muslim countries stretching back more than a decade, including the Obama and George W. Bush administrations, according to law enforcement officials.

 At the Brooklyn home where officials say Ullah lived with relatives, neighbors said the young man had worked as a cabdriver and seemed quiet.

 Police also searched a nearby apartment where one of Ullah’s relatives was believed to live.

 Across the street was Iskandar Voseev, 16, who said he has lived in a neighboring building in Kensington with his family for eight years.

 “This place is a really peaceful place, you know?” the teen said, watching the commotion. “It’s really messed up what happened. I’m scared.”

 Voseev said the residents of his block are mostly immigrants from Uzbekistan and Yemen. He is worried people will blame all Muslims for the actions of someone with roots in his community.

 “In one tree, if an apple is bad, it doesn’t mean all the apples are bad,” the teen added.

 Mark Berman, John Wagner, Renae Merle and Julie Tate contributed to this report. ||||| On the surface, Akayed Ullah seemed to be an ordinary member of a Bangladeshi enclave in Brooklyn. He often prayed at a mosque in an unassuming brownstone in the Kensington section of the borough, where a few thousand of his countrymen reside. Like many immigrants in New York, he made his living — at least for a while — driving for a car service.

 But on Monday morning, Mr. Ullah, 27, strapped a pipe bomb to his body and set out to detonate it in a Times Square subway station, the police said, not only causing chaos among crowds of commuters, but also leaving behind a trail of mystery that baffled those who knew him.

 “He was a good guy,” said Mohammad Yousuf, a cabdriver who prayed with Mr. Ullah at the mosque. “I can’t believe he would do anything like this.” ||||| Wires ran from the suspect's jacket to his pants with something on his body under his coat, sources said. He was reaching for a cell phone. The officers cuffed him and took the backpack and anything else that might be a threat. |||||

Write a summary.

– The man accused of detonating a bomb in a subway corridor near Times Square Monday morning carried the device strapped to himself on a 55-minute subway ride from his Brooklyn home, law enforcement officials say. Akayed Ullah, who came to the US from Bangladesh in 2011, injured himself and three others in the blast. Law enforcement officials tell the New York Daily News that the 27-year-old, who says he was inspired by ISIS, decided to set off the bomb in a commuter-packed passageway connecting three stations after seeing a Christmas poster. The pipe bomb was packed with explosive powder and detonated with a broken Christmas light, authorities say, but the explosion was not powerful enough to turn the pipe into deadly shrapnel. After the blast, Ullah was subdued by four Port Authority police officers. Ullah, who's expected to face numerous federal charges, was hospitalized with serious burns, while another three people received minor injuries. Law enforcement officials tell the New York Times that Ullah, who apparently worked for a car service after arriving in the US and more recently worked as an electrician, has told them he was radicalized online and found bomb-making instructions on the internet. Ullah came to the US on a preferential visa for people with relatives already in the US, and President Trump says the attempted terrorist attack is another reason to tighten immigration rules, the Washington Post reports. "Today's terror suspect entered our country through extended-family chain migration, which is incompatible with national security," he said Monday.


Write a summary based on this article:

Winning changes everything.

 It took Democrats a while to warm up to super PACs, but their glee over 2012 is — for now — eclipsing any moral qualms about big money eroding democracy, and they’re already busy at work courting their wealthiest supporters and planning even more ambitious efforts for future elections.

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 reset Allen on Democratic super PACs

 Shortly after Election Day, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and top White House aides spoke at a three-day secret meeting of major Democratic donors and officials from liberal outside groups gearing up for 2014, POLITICO has learned.

 Among the groups represented: Priorities USA Action, the super PAC that is vowing to remain a player in Democratic politics, even though President Barack Obama won’t run for office again; American Bridge 21st Century, the oppo shop that helped sink Missouri Rep. Todd Akin’s GOP Senate bid; the Pelosi-backed House Majority PAC; the secret-money organizing nonprofit America Votes; and the pro-choice group EMILY’s List.

 Some of those groups or their allies are considering expanding into state politics, policy fights or even primaries on both sides. And they have already gone back to their 2012 donors to ask for more cash while the euphoria from winning is still fresh.

 Their goal: a permanent network of officially blessed independent groups that leverages liberals’ increasing acceptance and appreciation of outside money to compete with a much-better-funded Republican shadow party.

 The three-day conference — the annual winter conference of the Democracy Alliance, an exclusive club composed of some of the biggest liberal donors — at Washington’s W Hotel featured presentations by top Obama campaign and administration officials including Mitch Stewart, Matthew Barzun, Gene Sperling and Jon Carson.

 Democracy Alliance donors gave or pledged more than $14 million to super PACs and secret-money nonprofits this year after a vigorous debate about whether Democrats should participate in the wave of unlimited political spending that Republicans rode to control of the House of Representatives in 2010. Some of the left’s biggest traditional donors argued that joining the big money fight would be akin to condoning the recent court decisions that sparked it — most notably the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which Democrats up to and including Obama decried as facilitating a corporate takeover of democracy. They either abstained entirely or were slow to open their checkbooks.

 But their hesitance also led to the development of a new crop of Democratic megadonors in 2012, who are pledging to be quicker to respond in coming elections.

 “There will be less reluctance — and more willingness — to participate in super PACs this time,” said Steve Mostyn, a Houston trial lawyer and rookie megadonor who along with his wife and their law firm donated $4.2 million to liberal super PACs. “We hope it’s a mutual disarmament, but if it’s not, then we’ll be back.”

 Democrats need to balance distaste for big money politics with pragmatism, said Rodell Mollineau, president of American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC and nonprofit that combined to spend $15 million in 2012 circulating damaging information on GOP candidates, including the clip of Akin’s “legitimate rape” comment that tanked his Missouri Senate campaign. ||||| Gov. Jerry Brown campaigns on behalf of Proposition 30, his tax measure. The nonprofit Americans for Job Security donated $11 million to oppose the measure in what California authorities called "campaign money laundering." (Gary Friedman, Los Angeles Times / )

 WASHINGTON — Tax-exempt advocacy groups that played an aggressive role in this year's election are coming under increasing scrutiny from state regulators, who are cracking down on organizations seeking to engage in campaigns without revealing their financial backers.

 The pressure in states with stringent campaign finance rules contrasts sharply with the federal level, where nonprofits that spent hundreds of millions of dollars to influence races this year have not been required to disclose their donors.

 This month, California's Fair Political Practices Commission forced an Arizona-based group to reveal the source of $11 million it gave for two ballot initiative campaigns. The funds were traced to a Virginia nonprofit that also does not reveal its donors. That hasn't satisfied the commission, which has begun an investigation to uncover the original source.

 Shortly before election day, judges in Idaho and Montana required the disclosure of contributors to two nonprofit organizations that had drawn the attention of state regulators with their political activity.

 "Frankly, if we didn't take a stand on this, we might as well just pack up our campaign disclosure law and send it away," said Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa. "The fact that federal campaign laws are deficient or you've got a deadlocked Federal Election Commission — that doesn't mean the states are powerless."

 Ysursa sued a group called Education Voters of Idaho, which gave more than $200,000 for ads backing three state ballot measures, accusing it of failing to comply with the state's sunshine law. After the court order, the organization revealed it had received money from New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Albertsons supermarket scion Joseph P. Scott, among others.

 The clashes between state elections officials and advocacy groups are a byproduct of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which lifted the ban on direct political expenditures by corporations. That triggered a surge of election activity by groups incorporated under the tax code's section 501(c)4 as social welfare organizations, which are allowed to engage in issue advocacy.

 At the federal level, political action committees are required to report their contributors, but so far the nonprofits are not.

 The Federal Election Commission, which has six members split evenly between the major parties, is frozen in partisan gridlock on questions regarding nonprofit activity. The Internal Revenue Service said this summer that it had begun examining some of the groups, but had yet to take any public action. And efforts to pass new disclosure laws have so far foundered in Congress.

 But the picture is different in many states, where lawmakers have toughened disclosure rules to require any organization making a political expenditure to report its financial backers.

 Disclosure opponents have systematically challenged the state measures in court, arguing that the Supreme Court has said a group must have politics as its "major purpose" in order to be considered a political committee.

 Advocates for more campaign finance reporting have countered — largely successfully — that the high court has repeatedly endorsed disclosure and has not limited it to political committees.

 "If you look at the federal issue, you would be inclined to throw up your hands," said Derek Cressman, vice president for state operations at Common Cause, which advocates for more transparency. "The progress that some states are making proves that these disclosure issues are problems we can solve."

 Take the case of Americans for Job Security, a Virginia-based nonprofit that has been a serious political player for at least a dozen years, spending millions on ads without disclosing its backers.

 In 2008, the FEC's general counsel concluded the trade group met the definition of a political committee that is required to report its donors, and requested approval to pursue a formal investigation. But the commission deadlocked, and no action was taken.

 Early this month, Americans for Job Security played a role in one of California's most closely watched election-year dramas — unmasked as the source of an $11-million donation to oppose Gov. Jerry Brown's tax increase measure and support another measure intended to curb the ability of unions to raise money for political activity.

 The money had first been routed to an Arizona group called the Center to Protect Patient Rights, which sent it to another nonprofit also based in Arizona called Americans for Responsible Leadership, which in turn gave the money to the conservative Small Business Action Committee in California to run ads about the ballot measures.

 State authorities called it "campaign money laundering."

 Ann Ravel, chairwoman of the Fair Political Practices Commission, said the contribution may have violated a rule implemented in May to prevent donors from anonymously shuttling money through nonprofits with the intention of spending it on California campaigns. If found in violation, the nonprofits involved could face millions of dollars in fines.

 The Small Business Action Committee could also be forced to pay $11 million to the state's general fund if authorities prove it knowingly failed to report the original source of its funds, Ravel said.

 The committee and Americans for Responsible Leadership have denied breaking any rules.

 State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) said he planned to introduce legislation that would require more complete disclosure.

 "How can anyone allow organizations of whatever kind to come into this state and not disclose the true source of money?" he said.

 A similar fight is playing out in Montana, where a group called American Tradition Partnership has been locked in a battle with the agency that enforces the state's campaign finance rule.

 In October 2010, Montana's commissioner of political practices concluded that the group's activities, which included sending mailers attacking Democratic and moderate Republican lawmakers, meant it had to file reports as a political committee. ATP sued, challenging the disclosure laws as unconstitutional and arguing that it is an educational group.

 ATP has remained active in state politics, sending out a mock newspaper this fall that featured gubernatorial candidate Steve Bullock, the state's attorney general, in a photo array of sex offenders as part of an article that slammed his handling of the state's sex offender database.

 The legal wrangling between state officials and ATP is ongoing, but has already pulled back the curtain on the group's contributors. Shortly before election day, the state judge hearing the case released a cache of the group's financial documents that state prosecutors had subpoenaed from Wells Fargo. The documents, which the PBS show "Frontline" and the investigative website ProPublica had requested, showed that ATP donors have included nonprofits linked to Republican activists in Colorado, as well as some major GOP donors.

 In Maine, state ethics officials are investigating the National Organization for Marriage, which has refused to release the names of donors that financed its efforts to defeat a 2009 measure to legalize same-sex marriage.

 The nonprofit groups under scrutiny say they are caught between conflicting state and federal regulations.

 John Foster, the Boise-based lobbyist and political consultant behind Education Voters of Idaho, said he set it up as a 501(c)4 because its activities fall squarely within the IRS definition of a social welfare organization. Donors gave money for education reform, not earmarked for political campaigns, he said, so the group should not have to reveal names.

 "We are very proud of our donors, and the prospect of releasing them publicly was never an issue for us," Foster said. "It was always about whether we get to decide who we are, or whether a state regulator gets to decide who we are."

 "The rules are not entirely clear," he added. "This just highlights the continuing need for a realistic, constitutional approach to campaign finance reform in this country."

 matea.gold@latimes.com

 chris.megerian@latimes.com |||||

– The Federal Election Commission is stuck in partisan gridlock—so states are taking nonprofit donor disclosure into their own hands. California this month called on an Arizona group to uncover the source of $11 million used for ballot measure fights; recent court cases in Idaho and Minnesota have forced political organizations to reveal their backers; and Maine is investigating a secretive group opposed to gay marriage. "The fact that federal campaign laws are deficient or you've got a deadlocked Federal Election Commission—that doesn't mean the states are powerless," says Idaho's secretary of state. "Frankly, if we didn't take a stand on this, we might as well just pack up our campaign disclosure law and send it away," he adds. While political action committees are required under federal law to reveal their donors, nonprofits aren't subject to those rules, the Los Angeles Times notes. Meanwhile, Democrats are looking a lot less concerned about super PACs after their successes this time around, and party leaders are already preparing for 2014 and 2016, Politico reports. A secret three-day donor meeting convened just after the election, aiming to trump a big financial advantage on the Republican side.