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Archaeologists in southern England have discovered what may be one of the largest medieval royal palaces ever found – buried under the ground inside a vast prehistoric fortress.

 The probable 12th century palace was discovered by archaeologists, using geophysical ground-penetrating ‘x-ray’ technology to map a long-vanished medieval city which has lain under grass on the site for more than 700 years.

 Located inside the massive earthwork defences of an Iron Age hill fort at Old Sarum in Wiltshire, the medieval city was largely founded by William the Conqueror who made it the venue for one of Norman England’s most important political events – a gathering of the country’s nobility at which all England’s mainly Norman barons and lords swore loyalty to William.

 The Old Sarum geophysical survey is being carried out by archaeologists from the University of Southampton - and is giving scholars an unprecedented and unique opportunity to more fully understand Norman town planning.

 So far they have been able to reveal the buried foundations of literally dozens of ordinary houses – and a vast mystery complex that is likely to have been a huge royal palace.

 The 170 metre long, 65 metre wide complex, arranged around a large courtyard, had walls up to 3 metres thick – and included a 60 metre long probable great hall, what appears to have been a substantial tower and multi-story buildings with upper floors almost certainly supported by substantial columns.

 “The location, design and size of the courtyarded complex strongly suggests that it was a palace, probably a royal one. The prime candidate for constructing it is perhaps Henry I sometime in the early 12th century,” said one of Britain’s leading experts on high status medieval buildings, Dr Edward Impey, Director-General of the Royal Armouries.

 It is the first time that archaeologists in Britain have ever found what is probably a previously unknown medieval royal palace of that size. Up until now historians have thought that the only royal residence at the site was a much smaller complex on top of a man-made castle mound.

 “This is a discovery of immense importance. It reveals the monumental scale of building work taking place in the earlier 12th century,” said historian, Professor David Bates of the University of East Anglia, a leading authority on Norman England and author of the key modern study of the Norman world – The Normans and Empire.

 Because the city was largely abandoned up to 140 years after most of it had been built, and because it has remained a green field site ever since, it is giving academics a unique opportunity to study a Norman city.

 In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries 12 show all In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries 1/12 Ancient forest, discovered in February 2014 Ancient forest revealed by storms. The recent huge storms and gale force winds that have battered the coast of West Wales have stripped away much of the sand from stretches of the beach between Borth and Ynyslas. The disappearing sands have revealed ancients forests, with the remains of oak trees dating back to the Bronze Age, 6,000 years ago. The ancient remains are said by some to be the origins of the legend of ‚Cantre‚r Gwealod‚ , a mythical kingdom now submerged under the waters pif Cardigan Bay 2/12 Medieval royal palaces, discovered in November 2014 Archaeologists in southern England have discovered what may be one of the largest medieval royal palaces ever found – buried under the ground inside a vast prehistoric fortress at Old Sarum. The probable 12th century palace was discovered by archaeologists, using geophysical ground-penetrating ‘x-ray’ technology to map a long-vanished medieval city which has lain under grass on the site for more than 700 years 3/12 The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered ca. 1950 The Dead Sea Scrolls are almost 1,000 biblical manuscripts discovered in the decade after the Second World War in what is now the West Bank. The texts, mostly written on parchment but also on papyrus and bronze, are the earliest surviving copies of biblical and extra-biblical documents known to be in existence, dating over a 700-year period around the birth of Jesus. The ancient Jewish sect the Essenes is supposed to have authored the scrolls, written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, although no conclusive proof has been found to this effect 4/12 Diamond, discovered in March 2014 This rare diamond that survived a trip from deep within the Earth's interior confirmed that there is an ocean’s worth of water beneath the planet’s crust 5/12 Whale skeletons, discovered in February 2014 Chilean and Smithsonian paleontologists study several fossil whale skeletons at Cerro Ballena, next to the Pan-American Highway in the Atacama Region of Chile 6/12 Complete mammoth skeleton, discovered in November 2012 The first complete mammoth skeleton to be found in France for more than a century was uncovered in a gravel pit on the banks of the Marne, 30 miles north-east of Paris. Picture shows experts at work making a silicon cast of the mammoth's tusk 7/12 Million-year-old human footprints, discovered in February 2014 Photograph of the footprint hollows in situ on the beach as Happisburgh, Norfolk 8/12 Terracotta warrior, discovered in June 2010 Chinese archaeologists unearthed around 120 more clay figures in June 2010 excavations at the terracotta army site that surrounds the tomb of the nation's first emperor in the northwestern Shaanxi Province © Jason Lee / Reuters 9/12 Neolithic 'lost avenue' - prehistoric stone circle, discovered in September 1999 The discovery of a Neolithic 'lost avenue' was described as one of the most important finds of the last century. Since the 1700s, archeologists and historians have argued over the existence of the huge sarsen stones, which were unearthed at the site of the world's biggest prehistoric stone circle at Avebury in Wiltshire 10/12 Byzantine mosaic, discovered in February 2007 Plans for a walkway at the centre of the furious dispute over Jerusalem's holiest site were delayed by the discovery of a Byzantine mosaic 11/12 Ancient gold, discovered in March 2014 Gold fitting for a dagger sheath (around 1900 BC.) found near Stonehenge 12/12 Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799 The Rosetta Stone is a basalt slab inscribed with a decree of pharaoh Ptolemy Epiphanes (205-180 BC) in three languages, Greek, Hieroglyphic and Demotic script. Discovered near Rosetta in Egypt 1/12 Ancient forest, discovered in February 2014 Ancient forest revealed by storms. The recent huge storms and gale force winds that have battered the coast of West Wales have stripped away much of the sand from stretches of the beach between Borth and Ynyslas. The disappearing sands have revealed ancients forests, with the remains of oak trees dating back to the Bronze Age, 6,000 years ago. The ancient remains are said by some to be the origins of the legend of ‚Cantre‚r Gwealod‚ , a mythical kingdom now submerged under the waters pif Cardigan Bay 2/12 Medieval royal palaces, discovered in November 2014 Archaeologists in southern England have discovered what may be one of the largest medieval royal palaces ever found – buried under the ground inside a vast prehistoric fortress at Old Sarum. The probable 12th century palace was discovered by archaeologists, using geophysical ground-penetrating ‘x-ray’ technology to map a long-vanished medieval city which has lain under grass on the site for more than 700 years 3/12 The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered ca. 1950 The Dead Sea Scrolls are almost 1,000 biblical manuscripts discovered in the decade after the Second World War in what is now the West Bank. The texts, mostly written on parchment but also on papyrus and bronze, are the earliest surviving copies of biblical and extra-biblical documents known to be in existence, dating over a 700-year period around the birth of Jesus. The ancient Jewish sect the Essenes is supposed to have authored the scrolls, written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, although no conclusive proof has been found to this effect 4/12 Diamond, discovered in March 2014 This rare diamond that survived a trip from deep within the Earth's interior confirmed that there is an ocean’s worth of water beneath the planet’s crust 5/12 Whale skeletons, discovered in February 2014 Chilean and Smithsonian paleontologists study several fossil whale skeletons at Cerro Ballena, next to the Pan-American Highway in the Atacama Region of Chile 6/12 Complete mammoth skeleton, discovered in November 2012 The first complete mammoth skeleton to be found in France for more than a century was uncovered in a gravel pit on the banks of the Marne, 30 miles north-east of Paris. Picture shows experts at work making a silicon cast of the mammoth's tusk 7/12 Million-year-old human footprints, discovered in February 2014 Photograph of the footprint hollows in situ on the beach as Happisburgh, Norfolk 8/12 Terracotta warrior, discovered in June 2010 Chinese archaeologists unearthed around 120 more clay figures in June 2010 excavations at the terracotta army site that surrounds the tomb of the nation's first emperor in the northwestern Shaanxi Province © Jason Lee / Reuters 9/12 Neolithic 'lost avenue' - prehistoric stone circle, discovered in September 1999 The discovery of a Neolithic 'lost avenue' was described as one of the most important finds of the last century. Since the 1700s, archeologists and historians have argued over the existence of the huge sarsen stones, which were unearthed at the site of the world's biggest prehistoric stone circle at Avebury in Wiltshire 10/12 Byzantine mosaic, discovered in February 2007 Plans for a walkway at the centre of the furious dispute over Jerusalem's holiest site were delayed by the discovery of a Byzantine mosaic 11/12 Ancient gold, discovered in March 2014 Gold fitting for a dagger sheath (around 1900 BC.) found near Stonehenge 12/12 Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799 The Rosetta Stone is a basalt slab inscribed with a decree of pharaoh Ptolemy Epiphanes (205-180 BC) in three languages, Greek, Hieroglyphic and Demotic script. Discovered near Rosetta in Egypt

 “Archaeologists and historians have known for centuries that there was a medieval city at Old Sarum, but until now there has been no proper plan of the site. Our survey shows where individual buildings are located – and from this we can piece together a detailed picture of the urban plan within the city walls,” said the archaeologist leading the geophysical survey, Kristian Strutt of the University of Southampton.

 The construction of the Norman city of Old Sarum - including a spectacular cathedral – was symbolic of a large-scale monumental building trend which was taking place around the country in the late 11th century. Bury St Edmunds, Norwich and Lincoln were all being massively expanded – and cathedrals were being built in Westminster, Winchester, Gloucester and York. In London the White Tower of the Tower of London was being constructed.

 However, by the early 13th century, the political and diocesan centre at Old Sarum was proving too cramped and exposed to the elements – and was therefore moved, lock, stock and barrel, to a totally new location, Salisbury, two and a half miles to the south. Even the masonry of the great Norman cathedral and other structures were transported and re-used to construct a new cathedral and other buildings in the newly established city of Salisbury.

 All that remained of Old Sarum, politically, was its right to send two MPs to Parliament – until, that is, the rotten boroughs were abolished with the passing of the Reform Act of 1832. Today the site, including the medieval castle and the visible foundations of the Norman cathedral, is in the care of English Heritage.

 Only now is geophysical survey work beginning to re-discover the long-vanished city – and what appears to have been its truly massive royal palace. ||||| Image copyright Environment Agency/University of Southampton Image caption The inner and outer baileys of the Old Sarum Iron Age fort were surveyed

 A detailed plan of a medieval city has been produced by experts without any digging at the site.

 The latest scanning techniques were used to uncover a network of buildings at the 11th Century Old Sarum near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

 The results include a series of large structures, possibly defences, with open areas of ground behind possibly for mustering resources or people.

 Old Sarum was the original site of Salisbury, which is two miles away.

 Image copyright English Heritage Image caption Old Sarum lies two miles north of the modern-day city of Salisbury, Wiltshire

 Image copyright University of Southampton Image caption Students from the University of Southampton spent the summer on site

 WHAT IS OLD SARUM?

 It was the location of the original Salisbury

 It combines a royal castle and cathedral within an Iron Age fortification

 Its ecclesiastical power waned during the 1220s when a new cathedral was built in New Sarum (present day Salisbury)

 Henry VIII ended the castle's use in 1514

 The Romans, Normans and Saxons have all left their mark there

 For 150 years it was a major centre of government but its influence declined during the 13th Century as New Sarum flourished

 Source: English Heritage

 It was originally an Iron Age fort, established around 400 BC, and occupied by the Romans after the conquest of Britain in AD 43.

 This latest survey of the site was carried out by the University of Southampton and concentrated on the inner and outer baileys of what would have been the fort.

 It sets those monuments within the context of a bustling, vibrant town established shortly after the Norman conquest Neil Holbrook, Cotswold Archaeology

 Other structures plotted on the plan include residential areas and industrial features such as kilns or furnaces.

 The university's director of archaeological prospection services, Kristian Strutt, said: "Archaeologists and historians have known for centuries that there was a medieval city at Old Sarum, but until now there has been no proper plan of the site.

 "Our survey shows where individual buildings are located and from this we can piece together a detailed picture of the urban plan within the city walls."

 He said the reinforcing of the entire outer bailey during the Middle Ages represented a "substantial urban centre" and more non-intrusive work was needed to build on this knowledge.

 The techniques used to survey the land included magnetometry, earth resistance, ground penetrating radar and electric resistivity tomography, which uses electrodes to probe underground.

 These new approaches are "exciting and innovative", according to Neil Holbrook from Cotswold Archaeology, and "could be applied pretty much anywhere".

 "The survey adds a whole new dimension to our understanding of a site which we thought we knew. In fact, there is so much more to be found out," he added.

 "The plan shows for the first time just how much other activity there was around the castle and cathedral which have long been known. It sets those monuments within the context of a bustling, vibrant town established shortly after the Norman conquest." ||||| University of Southampton

 Archaeologists reveal layout of medieval city at Old Sarum Ref: 14/219 03 December 2014

 Picture courtesy of English Heritage

 Archaeologists from the University of Southampton have revealed for the first time the plan of a network of buildings in a once thriving medieval city at the historic site of Old Sarum, near Salisbury.

 A research team of students and academics carried out a geophysical survey of the ancient monument, scanning ground at the site with state-of-the-art equipment to map the remains of buried structures. They concentrated their survey around the inner and outer baileys of what was once a fortification, with its origins in the Iron Age and the Roman conquest.1

 Their investigations reveal the layout of a settlement including structures from the late 11th century, contemporary with the construction of a cathedral and castle. The city was inhabited for over 300 years, but declined in the 13th century with the rise of New Sarum (Salisbury).

 The project findings mainly concentrate on the medieval period and highlight:

 • A series of massive structures along the southern edge of the outer bailey defensive wall, perhaps suggesting large buildings of a defensive nature.

 • An open area of ground behind these large structures, perhaps for mustering resources or people, or as part of a circular route through the city.

 • Residential areas in the south east and south west quadrants of the outer bailey alongside the inner bailey ditch.

 • Evidence of deposits indicating industrial features, such as kilns or furnaces.

 • Features suggesting quarrying at the site after the 1300s and following the city’s decline – indicating a later period of habitation at the site.

 Archaeologist Kristian Strutt, Experimental Officer and Director of Archaeological Prospection Services at the University of Southampton, says: “Archaeologists and historians have known for centuries that there was a medieval city at Old Sarum, but until now there has been no proper plan of the site.

 “Our survey shows where individual buildings are located and from this we can piece together a detailed picture of the urban plan within the city walls.”

 The research was conducted as part of the Old Sarum and Stratford-Sub-Castle Archaeological Survey Project, directed by Kristian Strutt and fellow Southampton archaeologists Timothy Sly and Dominic Barker. Old Sarum is under the custodianship of English Heritage, who kindly granted permission for the investigation to take place.

 Heather Sebire, Property Curator at English Heritage, comments: “Having the team of archaeologists on site over the summer gave our visitors a chance to find out more about how important historic landscapes are surveyed. The use of modern, non-invasive surveying is a great start to further research at Old Sarum.

 “From this work we can surmise much about the site’s past and, whilst we can’t conclusively date the findings, it adds a new layer to Old Sarum’s story. We welcome the chance to find out more about our sites, and look forward to exploring ideas for further research in the future.”

 The team used a variety of techniques to examine the outer and inner bailey of the site. These included the use of topographic survey methods and geophysical survey techniques – comprising of magnetometry, earth resistance, ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electric resistivity tomography (ERT) survey.

 Kristian Strutt concludes: “Our research so far has shown how the entire outer bailey of the monument was heavily built up in the Middle Ages, representing a substantial urban centre. Results have given us compelling evidence as to the nature of some of the structures. It is clear, however, that there is more non-intrusive work that could be carried out to further expand our understanding of the site.”

 The team hopes to return to complete the survey of the inner and outer baileys and survey the Romano-British settlement to the south of Old Sarum in Easter 2015. The project fieldwork in 2014 was used as a training season for undergraduate and postgraduate archaeology students at the University, continuing a long tradition of research-led teaching at some of the most impressive archaeological sites in the south of England. Previous fieldwork has been conducted by students at Portchester Castle, Netley Abbey and Bishop’s Waltham Palace in Hampshire, and at Bodiam Castle in East Sussex.

 Ends

 Archaeology at Southampton

 Notes for editors |||||

– A prehistoric fortress is home to a much later structure: what may be one of the biggest medieval palaces ever discovered, one whose remnants remain buried beneath the ground, the Independent reports. The site in southern England is surrounded by huge earthworks that date to the Iron Age. Researchers used ground-penetrating radar and other technology to investigate what's under the grass within the inner and outer baileys of the former fort, the BBC reports. Without doing any digging, they found a large complex that leading medieval-building expert Dr. Edward Impey believes is an early 12th-century castle. It measures about 560 feet by 210 feet and features 10-foot-thick walls and what appears to be a 200-foot-long great hall, the Independent notes. "The prime candidate for constructing it is perhaps Henry I," says Impey. "Archaeologists and historians have known for centuries that there was a medieval city at Old Sarum," notes survey leader Kristian Strutt, "but until now there has been no proper plan of the site." The archaeologists' survey uncovered residential areas, evidence of kilns or furnaces, and an open area—"perhaps for mustering resources or people"—near some large structures, per a press release. "From this we can piece together a detailed picture of the urban plan," says Strutt. The Iron Age fort at the site was likely built around 400 BC and taken over by Romans in 43 AD, the BBC notes. But by the onset of the 13th century, the city built in the same place became too tight and weather-beaten for habitation and was abandoned in favor of today's Salisbury, which is located roughly two miles away. (Another 'lost city' was recently investigated using similar techniques in Cambodia.)


Article:
During a hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on Wednesday, Rep Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) pressed Philip Duffy, president of Woods Hole Research Center, to identify reasons that sea levels might be rising.

 They are rising, without dispute, at an estimated rate of 3.3 millimeters a year. Much of that increase is attributed by scientists to melting surface ice. The planet loses tens of billions of tons of ice each year. Enough is lost from Antarctica alone to increase global sea levels by a millimeter every three years, but that figure isn’t steady. Sea level rise is occurring at an increasing rate.

 Brooks asked Duffy what else might be contributing to that rise. Duffy pointed to ground subsidence, which is the sinking of the ground in places that can exacerbate the problem of rising sea levels. Cities like New Orleans are sinking quickly, even faster in many places than the seas are rising.

 Brooks asked if any other factors were contributing to sea level rise.

 “Those are all that I know of,” Duffy replied.

 “What about erosion!” Brooks exclaimed. “Every single year that we’re on Earth, you have huge tons of silt deposited by the Mississippi River, by the Amazon River, by the Nile, by every major river system — and for that matter, creek, all the way down to the smallest systems. And every time you have that soil or rock whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise. Because now you’ve got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving up.”

 “I’m pretty sure that’s …” Duffy tried to interject.

 “What about the white cliffs of Dover?” Brooks continued. “California, where you have the waves crashing against the shorelines and time and time again you have the cliffs crash into the sea. All of that displaces the water which forces it to rise, does it not?”

 “I’m pretty sure that on human time scales,” Duffy replied, “those are minuscule effects.”

 Duffy is correct.

 Brooks has a vision in his head like the classic experiment by Archimedes, in which the scientist sank down into his bath and noticed the water overflow — providing a way to determine the volume of his body. But the amount of water displaced by even a giant boulder falling into the ocean is not like a body going into a bathtub. It is, as Duffy said, minuscule.

 Certainly 3.3 millimeters doesn’t sound like a lot of water to displace, and it does seem, to Brooks’s point, that it’s an amount — about 0.1 inch — that would be easy to displace with a cliff collapse near San Diego. The equivalent rise relative to surface area in an Olympic-sized swimming pool would be 0.0000000000114 millimeters. That’s not possible, though, since a water molecule isn’t that small.

 But when you apply 3.3 millimeters of rise to the entire ocean? We’re talking about a lot of water that’s displaced — 3.3 millimeters across about 362 million square kilometers of surface area. The total volume displaced, then, would be 1.19 trillion cubic meters of water.

 We know from Archimedes’ work that the amount of earth required to displace that much water is the same volume: 1.19 trillion cubic meters. Here’s a corny video by a science teacher showing how it works.

 So to make the oceans rise 3.3 millimeters, we would need to displace that 1.2 trillion cubic meters of water upward by dropping in 1.2 trillion cubic meters of dirt or stone or whatever.

 How much is that? It’s a sphere of earth a bit over 8 miles in diameter. If we were to balance it at the top of the Capitol building, it would look like this.

 If the sphere were stone, it would weigh about 6.6 quadrillion pounds. Just drop that in the ocean and — bloop! — 3.3 millimeters of sea-level increase. (We’re ignoring here that dropping it in some parts of the ocean would result in a mountain in that location. For the sake of explaining things, we’re pretending that the oceans are just one big uniform pool of water and that the sea level rise is similarly consistent. This isn’t how it works, of course.)

 Put another way, it’s a volume of earth equivalent to taking the top five inches of every one of the United States’ 9.1 million square miles of land area and using it to coat the bottom of the world’s oceans. That would push sea levels up by 3.3 millimeters.

 But, remember: That sea level rise happens annually. So every year, we’d need to take the top five inches of the United States, roll it in a ball and drop it in the ocean to get the sort of sea level rise we’re currently seeing. Don’t worry, though; assuming that the depth of Earth’s crust is about 40 kilometers in the United States, it would take 309,000 years for us to get to the mantle.

 Except, of course, that sea level rise is occurring at an increasing rate. If someone could check on the white cliffs of Dover for us, we’d appreciate it. ||||| Mo Brooks rejects notion that global warming is causing sea levels to increase, and says: ‘What about the White Cliffs of Dover?’

 A member of Congress has suggested that the White Cliffs of Dover tumbling into the English Channel was causing rising sea levels.

 Everglades under threat as Florida's mangroves face death by rising sea level Read more

 Republican Mo Brooks of Alabama pushed back at the notion that rising sea levels were the result of global warming in a hearing of the House Science, Space and Technology on Wednesday.

 Instead, Brooks pointed to silt deposition as well as erosion as a cause of rising sea levels. Questioning scientist Phil Duffy of the Woods Hole Research Center, Brooks postulated that silt and mud washed by rivers into the ocean caused water levels to rise as it settled on the sea floor. “Now you have got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving up,” he said.

 He went on: “What about the White Cliffs of Dover … [and] California, where you have the waves crashing against the shorelines, and time and time again you have the cliffs crashing into the sea? All of that displaces water which forces it to rise, does it not?”

 Duffy answered: “I’m pretty sure on human timescales, those are minuscule effects.”

 The questioning went on as Brooks argued the Antarctic ice sheet was actually growing. A recent study reported that the ice sheet had shrunk by 1,463km from 2010 to 2016.

 Duffy disagreed, noting that “we have satellite records clearly documenting a shrinkage of the Antarctic ice sheet and an acceleration of that shrinkage”, citing “the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration” for his data.

 However, Brooks insisted: “Well, I’ve got a Nasa base in my district, and apparently, they’re telling you one thing and me a different thing.”

 Brooks said: “There are plenty of studies that have come that show with respect to Antarctica that the total ice sheet, particularly that above land, is increasing, not decreasing. Now, you could make a different argument if you want to talk about Greenland or the Arctic.”

 Brooks, a graduate of Duke University and University of Alabama School of Law, was first elected to Congress in 2010 from his North Alabama district. In 2017, he mounted an unsuccessful bid for the US Senate vacated by attorney general Jeff Sessions. Brooks finished third in the Republican primary behind the eventual nominee Roy Moore as well as appointed incumbent Luther Strange. ||||| The interactive transcript could not be loaded.

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 This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| North Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks is making headlines again for blaming sea level rise on rocks falling into the ocean and silt washing from major rivers.

 Brooks was one of several Republican lawmakers sparring with a climate scientist at a Wednesday hearing of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

 Included in the arguing were Republicans Lamar Smith of Texas, the committee's chairman, and California's Dana Rohrabacher, but the websites for Science and Esquire used Brooks' picture to illustrate their coverage.

 "Republican lawmaker: Rocks tumbling into ocean causing sea level rise," read the Science site's headline.

 "Is the Human Race Too Dumb to Survive on This Planet?" asked Esquire also featuring Brooks.

 "Here's how big a rock you'd have to drop into the ocean to see the rise in sea level happening now," chimed in the Washington Post.

 Brooks was quoted saying, "Every time you have that soil or rock or whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise, because now you have less space in those oceans, because the bottom is moving up." He referred to erosion on the California coastline and England's White Cliffs of Dover and silt from the Mississippi and Nile rivers.

 Brooks also said Antarctic ice is growing, not shrinking, and that statement was challenged by Philip Duffy, president of the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts and former senior adviser to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Duffy cited NASA as one of his sources, and Brooks replied that, "I've got a NASA base in my district and, apparently, they're telling you one thing and me a different thing."

 Brooks at length

 Brooks spoke at greater length Thursday afternoon between votes on the House floor.

 "You put it all together, erosion is the primary cause of sea level rise in the history of our planet," Brooks said, "and these people who say to the contrary may know something about climate but they don't know squat about geology."

 "Keep in mind I'm talking millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of years, erosion is the primary cause of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of cubic miles of sea displacement that in turn forces the sea levels to rise," he said.

 "But if you're talking a shorter historical time span," Brooks said, "you're going to have great fluctuations up and down due to the quantities of ice that exist on a planet." In an ice age, sea levels drop significantly, he said.

 The oceans "are always rising," Brooks said, except during times of ice buildup that offset erosion. Look at the "huge alluvial planes that exist around the great rivers like the Mississippi, the Amazon, the Mekong, the Danube, the Yangtze and you'll see these huge alluvial planes made up entirely of erosion," he said.

 Brooks disagreed with Duffy during the hearing about whether Antarctic ice is growing or shrinking. Duffy said satellite records "clearly" show shrinkage and a speedup of that shrinkage.

 Brooks questioned Duffy's data, and Duffy said it came from the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration." That's when Brooks mentioned the NASA base in his district and said it was telling him something different.

 Wrong in the '60s

 "You've got to make sure you're careful in terminology," Brooks said later Thursday. "I'm talking ice quantity. He's talking about surface area. Two entirely different things."

 Brooks said the "total ice quantity, which is what affects sea levels, has been increasing. The Antarctica sea ice varies from year to year and from decade to decade." The ice is growing in quantity on the interior of Antarctica, he said.

 "I never said anything about Antarctic sea ice, but that's the comparison they make," Brooks said of the press. "I'm talking about Antarctica ice, which is both the sea ice and the interior of Antarctica. And the interior is where the vast majority of ice is."

 "I've never been skeptical of climate change," Brooks said. "The climate is always changing. The planet is always either heating up or cooling down. It is very rarely constant."

 Brooks was asked about the theory that current warming is a threat and human activity is part of its cause. "In the late '60s and early '70s, the climate scare was cooling, that we're going to enter into a new ice age...," Brooks said. "They turned out to be wrong."

 "What I'm trying to establish is that a lot of these climatologists have no idea what they're really talking about," Brooks said, "and it's because we have not had a long enough period time with exact scientific measurement to know what the climate's going to be like 50 years from now or 100 years from now."

 Brooks said studies and projections made in the 1990s by "these so-called climatologists" were almost all wrong "on the hot side as to where we would be in 2018." Over 90 percent were wrong, he said.

 The bottom line

 "The bottom line is nobody is smart enough to know with the evidence we have and the relatively small time frame we have - 50 years in the history of the planet. That's just not enough information with which to make accurate predictions."

 So what is motivating scientists to say the Earth is dangerously warming?

 "Money," Brooks said. "Money to invest in a certain kind of resources where you might have a financial interest. There's also politics as you're trying to cobble together the votes to win an election, that's probably part of it, too." ||||| Washington (CNN) A member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology evinced skepticism about climate change during an exchange with a witness about rising sea levels.

 Instead, Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks offered an additional culprit: soil or rock deposits into the world's waters.

 E&E News reported on the comments of Brooks and others at the hearing, including California GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher who said he was "disturbed" that he heard people warning against questioning the link between human activity and climate change.

 On Wednesday, at a hearing titled "using technology to address climate change," Brooks began by raising a broad question about rising ocean levels to the witness panel.

 Philip Duffy, president of Woods Hole Research Center, said in response to the question that "the last 100-year increase in sea-level rise, as I mentioned earlier, has clearly been attributed to human activities, greenhouse gas emissions."

 Brooks interjected and rephrased his question again, asking if there "are other factors."

 "What about erosion?" Brooks offered during the exchange. He added: "Every time you have that soil or rock, whatever it is, that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise because now you've got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving up."

 Duffy responded that he did not believe that explained sea-level rise.

 "I'm pretty sure that on human time scales those are minuscule effects," Duffy said.

 Brooks then moved to ice levels and asserted that Antarctic ice is growing, to which Duffy responded that satellite records have documented "shrinkage of the Antarctic ice sheet and an acceleration of that shrinkage."

 Brooks wrapped up his questioning by saying he had heard differently from NASA, and said there were "plenty of studies" showing an ice sheet increase in Antarctica.

 "I've got a NASA base in my district," Brooks said. "And apparently, they're telling you one thing and me a different thing."

 A day after the hearing, the committee tweeted a link to an op-ed from The Wall Street Journal denying climate change caused sea-level rise.

 The Sea Is Rising, but Not Because of Climate Change

 https://t.co/5IohGvDCHW — Sci,Space,&Tech Cmte (@HouseScience) May 17, 2018

 According to NASA, Antarctica's ice sheets have lost mass since 2002.

 The agency's site also said , "Sea level rise is caused primarily by two factors related to global warming: the added water from melting ice sheets and glaciers and the expansion of seawater as it warms."

 Duffy, who worked on climate change policy in the Obama administration, told CNN on Thursday that while he had "never heard that particular line" on sea level rise before, he essentially had expected the tone of the hearing to feature climate change skepticism.

 "None of that is new," Duffy said. "They've been doing that forever."

 Duffy said he would have hoped a "productive" science committee would seek to formulate aggressive policy on climate change as well as expand the nation's scientific capabilities.

 And as for the question of sea level rise, Duffy said, "It's really caused by climate change." |||||Summary:

– "What about the White Cliffs of Dover?" With that, a member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology made clear his skepticism about human-driven climate change Wednesday, suggesting rocks falling into the sea accounted for sea level rise. Alabama Republican Mo Brooks responded to a scientist's comment that "the last 100-year increase in sea-level rise … has clearly been attributed to human activities, greenhouse gas emissions" by asking if "other factors" like erosion could be at play. As "huge tons of silt" are deposited in the sea, "the bottom is moving up," Brooks said during the hearing about using technology to address climate change. Plus "you have the cliffs crashing into the sea. All of that displaces water," Brooks said, per the Guardian. Scientist Philip Duffy responded by noting erosion was responsible for "minuscule effects" in sea level rise; it would take a ball of earth 8 miles in diameter to raise ocean levels by about 0.1 inches, per the Washington Post. On Thursday, Brooks circled back to the topic on the House floor, per AL.com. "Erosion is the primary cause of sea level rise in the history of our planet," he added, "and these people who say to the contrary may know something about climate but they don't know squat about geology. Keep in mind I'm talking millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of years." Duffy also had follow-up comments Thursday, telling CNN sea-level rise is "really caused by climate change."


Skip in Skip x Embed x Share A Jacksonville, Florida dentist is being sued by several former patients after claims that he abused and tortured them. VPC

 A lawsuit accuses Dr. Howard Schneider of assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentionally inflicting "severe emotional distress." Florida also is investigating the Jacksonville, Fla., pediatric dentist. (Photo: WTLV-TV/WJXX-TV, Jacksonville, Fla.)

 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville pediatric dentist under investigation by the state of Florida is now the target of a class-action lawsuit alleging his practice is a front for a "sadistic and systematic scheme of physical and psychological torture and abuse" of "utterly defenseless" children.

 In a lawsuit filed this week in the 4th Judicial Circuit Court in Duval County, Fla., four plaintiffs accuse Dr. Howard Schneider of assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentionally inflicting "severe emotional distress" spanning decades from his office.

 The lawsuit filed Wednesday follows days of protests outside Schneider's office and a wave of complaints from parents alleging he physically abused their children, botched their dental work, and stonewalled parents and investigators when his methods were questioned.

 It also comes just days after the Florida Attorney General's Office confirmed Schneider's practice was under active investigation for alleged Medicaid fraud.

 The plaintiffs are seeking damages exceeding $15,000 and a jury trial, alleging his practice was a "house of horrors," where some parents say their children were at times strapped down and left with visible injuries and marks to their faces and necks, that "has little to do with dentistry, but much to do with the Doctor's deviant sadistic appetites."

 The suit claims that Schneider's practice specifically preyed on low-income, uneducated and non-English speaking clients to "limit the ability of these initially unsuspecting parents and families to protect their children" from his "deviant and violent" methods and threatened them to avoid exposure.

 "Dentist Schneider's deep need to inflict pain, torture, mutilate and humiliate, has driven him to create a specialized dental 'practice', which, by its very design and structure, provided him with a constant supply of especially defenseless, indigent, children to victimize," the complaint said.

 The suit — citing testimony from patients, parents and past employees of Schneider's — also accuses him of being a "pathological sadist" suffering from a "psychosexual disorder" who derives "sexual excitement" from inflicting pain or humiliation on another person, consenting or otherwise.

 (Photo: WTLV-TV/WJXX-TV, Jacksonville, Fla.)

 Schneider, 78, has been practicing in Jacksonville for more than 40 years. He has never been charged with a crime in connection to the jarring allegations, which the suit says include:

 • "Choking children to the point of unconsciousness rather than using appropriate anesthetic prior to doing tooth extractions..."

 • "Performing non-medically necessary dental procedures" without anesthetic and "fraudulently" billing Medicaid for them

 • "Using fear and threats to scare and thereby silence his victims, including threats not limited to saying things like 'Your mom will die' if you tell her what happened..."

 Twice, though, first in 2001 and more recently in 2013, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has been called to his practice to deal with complaints about the dentist using excessive force on young patients. Court records also show that there were two malpractice suits brought against him in 1995 but they were later dismissed.

 This week's lawsuit alleges one mother called the Department of Children and Families after a visit to the dentist's office April 15 when she said he pulled four of her 2-year-old son's baby teeth instead of two. It said he was returned to his mother "crying profusely and covered in blood and bruises" and had been "cut on the bottom front outer gum line from ear to ear."

 "(The Department of Children and Families) documented the scene, and attempted to contact (Schneider), who repeatedly refused to make an appointment to give a statement to DCF," according to the complaint. His wife allegedly told the Department of Children and Families the child had injured himself during the procedure and "this type of thing happens all the time."

 That complaint is one of four accounts detailed vividly in the lawsuit, which says attorneys for the plaintiffs have identified at least 60 victims of Schneider's, some of whom are now adults. The suit suggests there could be as many as 1,000 victims from over the years who have yet to come forward.

 John Harrell, a spokesman for the Department of Children and Families, said it was possible the department received a call about that complaint, but noted that the agency does not have jurisdiction over doctors and dentists.

 "Legally, we don't have the authority to investigate (them)," said Harrell, who encouraged parents to contact law enforcement to investigate claims of abuse involving medical professionals.

 The agency, Harrell said, generally only gets involved when it comes to allegations of abuse or neglect at the hands of parents, caretakers and educators.

 It's not clear whether the Florida Board of Dentistry, which investigates allegations of malpractice and could revoke his license if the claims are founded, has intervened. The board's investigations remain confidential until they're complete.

 An attorney representing Schneider did not return calls for comment about the lawsuit. However, in an earlier interview, Schneider dismissed the allegations.

 "I'm sure in my lifetime I've done something that is off color, but it ain't mistreat kids," he said.

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1H5Olay ||||| Dr. Howard Schneider has worked for years as a pediatric dentist, catering to children of low-income parents on Medicaid.

 But Schneider's reputation is now clouded over claims that many of those same kids were harmed in his clinic. More than 100 families have accused the Jacksonville, Florida, dentist of harming their children and making millions of dollars while wrecking their mouths. Parents say Schneider extracted healthy baby teeth from their children.

 In 2014, Brandi Motley brought in her daughter Bri-el, then 6 years old, for an appointment with Schneider.

 Motley said Schneider told her that he needed to extract one of Bri-el's baby teeth. After waiting three hours in the lobby, Motley said a nurse assistant came to get her.

 "She said, 'There's been an accident.' That's when I see the blood,” Motley recalled. “Blood on the floor and everything. She [Bri-el] was hyperventilating…and she was face-first on the floor.”

 Motley said Bri-el had scratches, bruises and a mouthful of bloody gauze, and her daughter told her a different story of what happened in the dentist chair.

 "She says, 'Mommy, they're lying to you ... he was choking me while he was pulling my teeth,'" said Motley.

 And when Bri-el took her gauze out, Motley saw that Schneider had taken out all eight of her front teeth even though Motley said her daughter was scheduled to go in for only one extraction.

 Motley wanted to sue Dr. Schneider -- but the attorney she called, John Phillips, didn’t take the case. “It’s the worse he-said-she-said you'd ever want to be part of," he said.

 So Motley turned her mini-van into a rolling billboard attack on Schneider, and in April of last year, she posted her grievances and photos of Bri-el after the procedure on Facebook. The post was shared over 350,000 times.

 ABC News

 Realizing she was not alone, Motley and several other moms who said their children had similar experiences to Bri-el began protesting with signs outside of Schneider's clinic every day.

 ABC News met with some of Schneider's alleged victims.

 "He [doesn't] care about people. He definitely [doesn't] care about innocent children who can't even defend themselves," Sherraine Christopher told ABC News.

 Christopher said that when Zion, then 3 years old, began screaming during his treatment, she pulled out her cellphone and recorded what was happening.

 Zion was hysterical while Schneider continued grinding down the first of 16 teeth that he would eventually fit with metal crowns. Christopher said she never received an explanation for the 16 caps in Zion's teeth.

 Some dentists, who perform the same procedure as Zion's on other children, argue that it can prevent serious problems, especially among some poorer kids who eat more sugar and brush less.

 Christopher shared the video she recorded of Zion at the clinic -- and it went viral.

 Seeing the video, John Phillips, the attorney who was initially reluctant to take on Motley's case, eventually took on 131 individual cases of families against Schneider.

 After weeks of protests, Schneider closed his clinic and voluntarily surrendered his license to practice dentistry, allowing him to avoid a full dental board investigation.

 In November 2015, the state attorney general arrested Schneider and charged him with 11 counts of Medicaid provider fraud. Schneider pleaded not guilty. In only five years, Schneider had collected nearly $4 million in payments from the government program.

 Schneider still faces a possible criminal trial on the Medicaid fraud charges. He will be back in court in November for a hearing on a defense motion to avoid a trial by having him declared mentally incompetent.

 Meanwhile, he has settled 104 of Phillips’ total 131 lawsuits, including those brought by the families of Zion and Bri-el, without any admission of wrongdoing.

 "I think he's just an old, greedy, selfish man," Motley told ABC News.

 Schneider maintains the allegations against him are false and that giving up his medical practice was in no way an admission of guilt. He insists he used anesthesia and that he was a great dentist, practicing for over 50 years. ||||| JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A judge has appointed a third psychologist to conduct a mental evaluation of an embattled pediatric dentist, who is facing 11 counts of Medicaid fraud.

 The prosecution and defense in the case of Dr. Howard S. Schneider, 78, each hired medical experts to diagnose Schneider, who has pleaded not guilty to those charges and one count of scheme to defraud.

 Schneider's trial was set to begin June 13, but the expert hired by the defense said he's not competent to stand trial, and until that issue is settled, the trial has been postponed. The prosecution's medical expert disagreed with the defense expert's assessment.

 The results of the two evaluations have not been released.

 Both sides have agreed to hire a third medical expert, who will essentially be the deciding factor in whether Schneider will stand trial.

 Thursday, the trial judge appointed the third psychologist to conduct a mental of Schneider.

 The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Nov. 14. No trial date has been set.

 The state claims the pediatric dentist billed Medicaid hundreds of thousands of dollars for procedures he didn’t actually perform. Parents claim that Schneider abused children.

 "You shouldn't be able to use incompetency as a shield now, when you weren't able to use it as a shield when you were treating these children," Schneider said.

 Schneider remains free on $110,000 bond, and is now living in St. Simons Island, Georgia.

 COURT DOCUMENTS:

 Motion to dismiss | Motion for protective order | Motion to declare defendant incompetent

 Parents report abuse by dentist

 Included in the state's evidence gathered for the fraud case are nearly a dozen similar accounts from parents telling investigators what they and their kids experienced in Schneider’s office:

 "That man doctor threw me."

 "He choked me and pulled my teeth."

 "They’re lying to you."

 The Office of the Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Control Unit interviewed them as a part of its investigation of the dentist. Parents of Schneider's patients recounted hearing screams, children injured during procedures, and children getting procedures the parents didn't even know about.

 Parents reported that their children's lips were bruised, their kids were very scared, and one patient was found face down on the floor.

 One parent told investigators they took their child to Schneider's office for a procedure they were told would only take 30 minutes. After three hours, the parent went to the window three times, and an assistant finally said there was an incident.

 When the parent was finally able to see the child, the child was hyperventilating and had marks, scratches and blood all over.

 According to one document, Schneider’s assistant told the person the child was on a papoose board and, “We stepped out, came back and (he/she) was face first on the floor.”

 But the child had a different story, telling investigators: “They’re lying to you. That man doctor threw me, and that lady picked me up when I was on the board, and she was laughing at me and sat on me and choked me.”

 The parent told investigators, “I saw that my baby was missing all (his/her) teeth.”

 The documents also include what experts told investigators about Schneider, including:

 His consent form is too general, and he should get consent from parents before performing additional procedures.

 His charts had poor progress notes.

 The quality of work performed on the patients was low and below standards of care.

 The type and amount of sedation that Schneider was using on the children was very mild and would not be strong enough for a child 3 years or older.

 One dentist who treated patients after they had seen Schneider told investigators, "It was like if Dr. Schneider had done crowns, the crown was gone. If Schneider had done a filling, the filling was gone."

 DOCUMENTS IN EVIDENCE IN SCHNEIDER CASE:

 Patient depositions: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Doctor depositions 1 | 2

 Schneider is also facing civil lawsuits from former patients.

 Copyright 2016 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A Florida mother says she brought her then-6-year-old daughter in for a dental appointment to get a tooth extracted with Dr. Howard Schneider in 2014—but, instead, she came in to the procedure room to find her daughter "face-first" on the bloody floor with scratches, bruises, and all eight of her front teeth extracted. When Brandi Motley couldn't get an attorney to take her case, she "turned her minivan into a rolling billboard attack on Schneider," ABC News reports. Then, in April 2015, she posted about her experience on Facebook, and the post went viral. She found other parents who said they'd had similar experiences—they allege Schneider, who catered to children in low-income families, performed unnecessary procedures, harming their kids in the process, in order to collect millions in Medicaid funds—and they started protesting outside Schneider's clinic. Ultimately, the attorney who'd at first refused the case took on 131 individual lawsuits against Schneider, settling 104 of them thus far, but Schneider continues to insist he's done nothing wrong. After the protests had been going on for weeks, Schneider shut down his clinic after more than 50 years of practicing dentistry, and voluntarily gave up his dental license—which meant he avoided a full investigation by the dental board. In November 2015, he was arrested and charged with 11 counts of Medicaid provider fraud; he pleaded not guilty and may go to trial, although his defense team is seeking to have the 78-year-old declared mentally incompetent in order to avoid a trial, News 4 Jax reports. In May, USA Today reported that some parents accuse Schneider of going so far as to choke his patients into unconsciousness rather than using anesthetic.


Media caption Myuran Sukumaran's mother: "Call off the execution, please don't kill my son"

 A group of prisoners due to be executed for drugs offences in Indonesia have spent what are believed to be their final moments with their families.

 Relatives of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were visibly distressed. Sukumaran's sister collapsed and had to be carried.

 Chan, Sukumaran and seven others are expected to be executed by firing squad as early as Tuesday night local time.

 A French national still has his appeal under review.

 Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws, but Jakarta has justified this due to the country's own drugs problem - 33 Indonesians die every day as a result of drugs, according to Indonesia's National Narcotics Agency.

 Australian media reported that families of Chan and Sukumaran were given about five hours to say their goodbyes, and that the men had been denied their own choice of spiritual adviser in their final hours, instead being given Christian guides nominated by the authorities.

 Image copyright AFP Image caption Andrew Chan's mother Helen (right) broke down in tears as she arrived on Nusakambangan island

 Image copyright AP Image caption The cousin of Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte following her meeting with him

 After the meeting, the brothers of the Australians made an appeal via the media for final clemency, with Michael Chan describing the goodbye as "torture".

 "I saw today something that no other family should ever have to go through. To walk out of there and say goodbye for the last time, it is torture. No family should go through that."

 Chintu Sukumaran said: "There were so many things to talk about. We did talk about the death penalty and he knows this is just a waste... I ask the president [of Indonesia] to please show mercy, please don't let my mum and my sister have to bury my brother."

 The relatives of Philippines convict Mary Jane Veloso were each given a blessing by a Filipino priest as they arrived at the prison on Nusakambangan Island, AFP reported.

 "The family was so silent. It's really very sad. We see a kind of deep pain," he told the agency.

 The nine prisoners, who also include three Nigerians, a Brazilian and a Ghanaian, were formally notified on Saturday that they would be executed. Under Indonesian law, criminals must be given 72 hours notice, which means that they can be killed as early as Tuesday night local time (Tuesday afternoon GMT).

 Media caption The BBC looks at the prison which has been called 'the Alcatraz of Indonesia', where condemned prisoners are executed by firing squad

 Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop earlier urged Indonesia to delay the execution of its two nationals until a corruption investigation into their case was complete.

 'No legal standing'

 But Indonesia's attorney general later confirmed that the nine death row convicts would be executed as planned.

 Attorney General HM Prasetyo told the BBC a judicial review "could not amend [a] previous court ruling" and that "foreigners do not have any legal standing for a judicial review on the Constitutional Court".

 Claims that the Indonesian judges in the trial had asked for bribes for lighter sentences first surfaced earlier this year.

 One of the judges involved in the case denied there had been political interference or negotiations about bribes.

 "I can assure you there was none," the judge told Fairfax Media. "We protected ourselves from everybody. It was purely our decision."

 Image copyright AFP Image caption Andrew Chan (left) and Myuran Sukumaran were sentenced to death in 2006

 Who is facing execution?

 Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan

 Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso

 Frenchman Serge Areski Atlaoui

 Ghanaian Martin Anderson

 Indonesian Zainal Abidin bin Mgs Mahmud Badarudin

 Nigerians Raheem Agbaje Salami, Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Okwudili Oyatanze

 Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte

 The head of Europe's 47-nation human rights organisation, the Council of Europe, also issued a statement on Tuesday calling on Indonesia to call off the execution.

 "The death penalty is a terrible injustice which can never be put right," said Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland.

 Chan and Sukumaran, along with seven other Australians, were arrested in Bali in 2005 for trying to smuggle more than 18lb (8.2kg) of heroin from Indonesia to Australia.

 The pair were later found to be the ringleaders of the group and sentenced to death. The other seven members of the "Bali Nine" are currently serving either life or 20 years in prison.

 Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world and ended a four-year moratorium on executions in 2013. ||||| Australian pair, four Nigerians, a Brazilian and a Filipino face a firing squad within the next 24 hours after mercy pleas for drug smugglers fail

 The distraught relatives of two Australians on death row in Indonesia had to be carried through a media pack on Tuesday as they arrived for what is expected to be their last visit to see their loved ones.

 Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are among a group of convicted drug smugglers facing execution, which also includes four Nigerians, a Brazilian, an Indonesian and a Filipino woman.

 No official time has been set for when the group will face the firing squad on an island prison off the coast of Java, but a 72-hour notice period expires at midnight on Tuesday local time (5pm GMT).

 Police on Tuesday morning used dogs to clear a path through surging media at the port of Cilacap as Chan and Sukumaran’s visibly distressed relatives arrived.

 Sukumaran’s sister Brintha collapsed in the melee and had to be carried into the port office by her father Sam.

 An Australian journalist was bitten by a police dog, several reporters were pushed to the ground and a passer-by was shoved from a scooter in the crush around the families.

 Relatives were already upset by news that Chan and Sukumaran have been denied their choice of spiritual guide in their final hours. The men will have only Christian leaders nominated by authorities to accompany them, rather than the ones they chose.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Myuran Sukumaran self-portraits are displayed as Andrew Chan’s brother pleads for mercy on Monday

 The families will spend approximately five hours with the men at the prison on Nusa Kambanang and return around 2pm local time.

 Last-ditch diplomatic efforts have failed to secure a reprieve for the pair.

 Pleas for clemency for 30-year-old Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino woman arrested for smuggling heroin into Indonesia in 2010, have also failed. She maintains she was unaware the drugs were hidden in her suitcase.

 Her two sons, aged six and 12, have visited her on the prison island, where, according to her older sister, Marites Veloso-Laurente, Veloso told them: “If Mumma does not go home, just think Mumma is in heaven.”

 Vigils have been held outside Indonesian embassies in Manila, Melbourne and Sydney, but have failed to sway the country’s leader, Joko Widodo, to show clemency.

 “We don’t want to make enemies with any country, but we are fighting narcotics whose impacts are horrific, especially in Indonesia,” the Indonesian attorney-general, Muhammad Prasetyo, said.

 Sukumaran, 34, and Chan, 31, were sentenced to death in 2006 for their role in a plot to export 8.3kg of heroin from Bali into Australia. The remaining seven of the so-called Bali Nine were given life sentences.

 Many who encountered the men during their time on death row say they were fully rehabilitated. Chan converted to Christianity and Sukumaran became an accomplished painter.

 They were notified on Tuesday that the spiritual advisers they had chosen to accompany them for the remaining hours to midnight were rejected by Indonesian authorities, which Chan’s brother, Andrew, slammed as the “last bit of dignity denied”.

 The artist Ben Quilty, a friend of Sukumaran, said the Sydney man would decline to be blindfolded before the firing squad.

 “Myuran always said to me that he would never take this lying down; that he would stare them down, that no one would cover his eyes, that he would face it with dignity,” Quilty said in an interview on 2GB radio.

 All nine prisoners will be executed together by squads of 12 gunmen, only three of whom will carrying live rounds. Ambulances arrived at Cilacap earlier on Tuesday carrying nine coffins.

 The other condemned prisoners are Raheem Agbaje Salami (also known as Jamiu Owolabi Abashin), Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Martin Anderson and Okwuduli Oyatanze, all from Nigeria, and Rodrigo Gularte of Brazil.

 A tenth prisoner, Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, was also listed to die, but has had the sentence delayed pending a legal challenge. ||||| CILICAP, Indonesia (AP) — Ambulances carrying coffins arrived Tuesday at a prison island and relatives paid final visits to their condemned loved ones in a sign that Indonesia will imminently execute eight foreigners and one Indonesian man, despite an international outcry and pleas for mercy.

 Celia Veloso, center, mother of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino woman on death row, arrives at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday,... (Associated Press)

 Members of the media photograph a convoy of ambulances as they arrive at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 28, 2015.... (Associated Press)

 Members of the media photograph a convoy of ambulances as they arrive at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 28, 2015.... (Associated Press)

 Chintu Sukumaran, left, brother of Myuran Sukumaran, an Australian on death row, arrives at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday,... (Associated Press)

 Mark Daniel, left, and Mark Darren, sons of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino woman on death row, arrive at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia,... (Associated Press)

 Michael Chan, center, brother of Andrew Chan, an Australian on death row, walks upon arrival at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia,... (Associated Press)

 Michael Chan, left, and Chintu Sukumaran, brothers of Australian death row prisoners Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, carry a self-portrait drawn by Sukumaran after visiting the prison island of Nusakambangan... (Associated Press)

 Indonesian police officers with their dogs stand guard at Wijayapura port in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Monday, April 27, 2015, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Indonesia notified nine foreigners... (Associated Press)

 Brintha Sukumaran, center, sisters of Myuran Sukumaran, an Australian on death row, cries upon arrival at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java,... (Associated Press)

 A paper printed with the name of Filipino woman on death row for drug offenses Mary Jane Veloso is put on the dashboard of a police ambulance carrying empty coffin, upon arrival to cross to the prison... (Associated Press)

 Armed police officers and security personnel stand guard as a ferry carrying ambulances prepares to set off for Nusakambangan island in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Indonesia... (Associated Press)

 The nine inmates, all convicted on drug charges, were given 72-hour notices over the weekend that they would be executed by a firing squad, prompting a flurry of last-minute lobbying by foreign leaders. The United Nations has argued that the inmates' crimes are not egregious enough to warrant the ultimate punishment.

 Indonesia has not confirmed exactly when the executions will take place. But the arrival of the coffins and the families' visits Tuesday, along with Indonesia's usual execution protocol, suggest the inmates will be shot by the firing squad shortly after midnight.

 Among the condemned are two Australians — Myuran Sukumaran, 33, and Andrew Chan, 31 — whose emotional families made what could be their last visit to Besi prison on Nusakambangan island, where the prisoners are scheduled to die. Sukumaran's sister, Brintha, wailed in agony and had to be carried through a crowd of media waiting at the ferry port to the island.

 Chan received a visit from Febyanti Herewila, an Indonesian Christian pastor who became his wife in a marriage ceremony on the island on Monday.

 A dozen ambulances, nine carrying coffins, were driven onto the ferry to Nusakambangan. On the dashboard of one ambulance was a piece of paper bearing the name of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino woman who is among those scheduled to die.

 Over the weekend, authorities asked the nine inmates — the two Australians and Veloso, as well as four Nigerian men and one man each from Brazil and Indonesia — for their last wishes and gave them 72-hour notices of their executions.

 On Tuesday, Australia's foreign minister defended Prime Minister Tony Abbott against online criticism that he had not done enough to save the lives of Sukumaran and Chan.

 Australian actors including Geoffrey Rush, Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton and Bryan Brown have launched an online video calling for Indonesia to show mercy to the two men.

 "Tony, if you have any courage and compassion, you'd get over to Indonesia and bring these two boys home," actor Brendan Cowell said to the prime minister.

 But Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the Australian government was acting on advice from Australian diplomats in Jakarta who were part of a sustained campaign seeking a stay of execution.

 "Clearly if traveling to Indonesia would make a difference, we would have gone there," Bishop told Nine Network television.

 Abbott has spoken to Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo several times on the issue, most recently in Singapore in late March at the funeral of Lee Kuan Yew, the city-state's first prime minister, Bishop said.

 Bishop said her Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, wrote to her Monday night and gave no indication that the executions would not go ahead as early as Wednesday morning.

 "While they are still alive, there is still hope and I will continue to advocate all throughout today," Bishop said.

 Indonesian Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo said Monday that another convict, Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, would not be executed with the others because he still has an outstanding legal complaint over the rejection of his clemency appeal.

 Prasetyo said Atlaoui would later face a firing squad alone if his complaint is turned down by the Administrative Court. Similar appeals by Sukumaran and Chan were rejected by the Administrative Court and the High Administrative Court, with both ruling that clemency is the prerogative of the president.

 The head of Europe's human rights watchdog on Tuesday urged Indonesia not to carry out the executions. The France-based Council of Europe holds its 47 member countries accountable to the European Convention on Human Rights, which opposes the death penalty.

 "The death penalty is a terrible injustice which can never be put right," Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said in a statement. He urged Indonesia to refrain from the executions and "then to consider introducing a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to working towards abolition."

 Philippine President Benigno Aquino III appealed to Jokowi on Monday to spare the life of Veloso, the Filipino drug convict, in a meeting on the sidelines of an annual summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Malaysia.

 Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao also appealed to Jokowi to spare Veloso's life.

 "I am begging and knocking at your kind heart that your excellency will grant executive clemency to her by sparing her life and saving her from execution," Pacquiao said in a live interview from Los Angeles with Philippine network GMA News.

 Veloso's two sons and her mother were seen arriving at the prison for a final visit.

 ___

 Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, Kristen Gelineau in Sydney, Niniek Karmini and Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Indonesia, Teresa Cerojano in Manila, Philippines, and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report. |||||

Write a summary.

– The pleas for mercy weren't enough, apparently. Despite uproar from several foreign governments, Indonesia is readying for the executions of eight foreigners and one local man convicted of drug trafficking. A dozen ambulances—nine of which were carrying coffins—boarded a ferry to Besi prison on Nusakambangan Island today, while inmates' family members made what are now considered last visits, the AP reports. One relative described the goodbye as "torture," while another collapsed in agony, reports the BBC. Though it was believed Frenchman Serge Atlaoui would be executed, Indonesia's AG says an outstanding appeal will save his life for now. It isn't clear when the executions will occur, but protocol suggests the inmates could be shot by a firing squad just after midnight local time. Some in Australia, including actor Guy Pearce, have criticized Prime Minister Tony Abbott for failing to visit Indonesia and bring home its two nationals, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, who were caught trying to smuggle heroin out of the country in 2005. Chan married his Indonesian Christian pastor yesterday. "Clearly if traveling to Indonesia would make a difference, we would have gone there," Australia's foreign minister says, adding "while they are still alive, there is still hope." The BBC reports Indonesia indicated it would not stay the two inmates' executions despite a corruption investigation into the case. Meanwhile, a friend of Sukumaran says the inmate will choose not to be blindfolded before 12 gunmen, three of whom will have live rounds, reports the Guardian. "Myuran always said to me that he would never take this lying down; that he would stare them down, that no one would cover his eyes, that he would face it with dignity."


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 Independent recycling professionals can obtain removal instructions for the battery and other components that require selective treatment by calling Apple Support. ||||| Not a real Apple exec. TBS A big push for Apple this year is recycling, as it uses partners and fancy new robots to make sure that valuable parts from the millions of iPhones sold per year don't end up in landfills.

 The company released its annual environmental report on Thursday, and it included some information about just how much it can recover from old computers — over 61 million pounds of steel, aluminum, glass, and other materials.

 As part of that, Apple recovered 2,204 pounds of gold— well over a ton.

 At the current spot price of $1,229.80 per troy ounce of gold, Apple recovered just under $40 million in gold from old phones and computers.

 But where did this $39,502,000 of gold come from? According to Fairphone, an activist group focused on electronics supply chains, the average smartphone uses 30 milligrams of gold, mostly in circuit boards and other internal components. And Apple pays to recycle millions of iPhones and other computers that have tiny bits of gold in them.

 It's also possible that Apple might have recycled a few golden Apple Watches, which have been estimated to have over 50 grams of 18-karat gold in it. But it's hard to imagine people who spent over $10,000 on an Apple Watch would turn it back to Apple for recycling in less than a year.

 Here's the full table with the amount of materials Apple recovered last year:

 Apple

 Now enjoy this Conan O'Brien sketch from when Apple announced that it was going to produce a gold-colored iPhone. Gold is best: |||||Summary:

– Apple has released figures on its Apple Renew recycling program, and it's clearly paying dividends. Out of nearly 90 million pounds of electronic equipment it recovered last year, 61 million pounds were recycled, Apple reports. Specifically, it reclaimed 23 million pounds of steel; 13 million pounds of plastic; 12 million pounds of glass; 4.5 million pounds of aluminum; 3 million pounds of copper; 6,600 pounds of silver; and 2,200 pounds of gold. That amounts to $1.7 million worth of silver, $6.5 million of copper—and a whopping $43 million in gold, reports Quartz. Activist group Fairphone, which watches electronics supply chains, notes that a typical smartphone contains 30 milligrams of gold, mainly in circuit boards and other internal components, reports Business Insider. It's not a lot, but spread across millions of phones and other electronics, it adds up. CNNMoney reports that while it's pricey, gold is a popular choice in consumer electronics for being corrosion resistant yet excellent at conducting electricity. (Silver is a superior conductor but corrodes easily.) In March, Apple unveiled an experimental bot called Liam, which can disassemble an iPhone in 11 seconds and sort its parts for recycling. Prototypes are already at work, and the line is designed to take apart 1.2 million phones a year. "It's an experiment in recycling technology, and we hope this kind of thinking will inspire others," Apple notes. (This woman unknowingly dropped off a $200K Apple I to be recycled.)


– Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is stepping up his official thoughts on Roy Moore. "I think he should step aside," he said of the GOP Senate candidate during a presser Monday, the Hill reports. Asked more specifically about allegations that Moore, running in a special Dec. 12 election in Alabama, had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old when he was 32 and that he attempted to romance three other teens around the same time, McConnell said, "I believe the women." The last time McConnell offered his thoughts on Moore, he qualified them by saying Moore should exit the race "if these allegations are found to be true." Many GOPers who initially qualified their remarks on Moore are also retreating since he told Sean Hannity last week he may have dated teen girls around that time. McConnell is the highest-ranking GOPer in DC to officially call on Moore to step down, per the Washington Post. McConnell also said the GOP is exploring a possible write-in bid, though he didn't name names. The deadline to remove Moore's name from the ballot passed in October. Republicans have also discussed the possibility of getting the election date moved back, and CNN reports the National Republican Senatorial Committee has cut its fundraising ties with Moore. But many Alabama Republicans are still backing him, concerned that a write-in campaign would ensure a Democratic win, and Moore himself shows no signs of willingness to back down. "Apparently Mitch McConnell and the establishment GOP would rather elect a radical pro-abortion Democrat than a conservative Christian," read an email sent to his supporters Sunday night. He also tweeted Monday that "the person who should step aside is @SenateMajLdr Mitch McConnell. He has failed conservatives and must be replaced." Recent polls show the margin between Moore and opponent Doug Jones is razor thin.

Expand this summary.

The person who should step aside is @ SenateMajLdr Mitch McConnell. He has failed conservatives and must be replaced. # DrainTheSwamp ||||| Washington (CNN) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell believes the allegations against Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore and that Moore should leave the race, the Kentucky Republican said Monday.

 "I believe the women, yes," McConnell told reporters in Kentucky.

 McConnell, the Senate's top Republican and a frequent target of Moore on the campaign trail, said, "I think he should step aside."

 Last week, The Washington Post published a bombshell report based on interviews with more than 30 people, saying Moore pursued relationships with teenage women while he was in his 30s. One woman said she was 14 years old when Moore initiated sexual contact with her.

 Moore has denied the allegations, and on Sunday night, he claimed he would sue the Post.

 After McConnell's statement, Moore said via Twitter that it is McConnell who should bow out of politics.

 "The person who should step aside is @SenateMajLdr Mitch McConnell. He has failed conservatives and must be replaced. #DrainTheSwamp," read the tweet from Moore's account.

 The person who should step aside is @SenateMajLdr Mitch McConnell. He has failed conservatives and must be replaced. #DrainTheSwamp — Judge Roy Moore (@MooreSenate) November 13, 2017

 The Post's report increased pressure on Republicans to disavow Moore, who was already controversial due in part to his history of racially-charged and homophobic commentary.

 In the immediate wake of the story , some Republicans, like Arizona Sen. John McCain, said the report was enough for them to call for Moore to drop out of the race. Many Republicans, like McConnell, said Moore should step aside from the race if the allegations are true. McConnell's comments on Monday brought his position a step further, saying he believed the allegations and that Moore should go.

 McConnell on Monday said the party is looking to see if a write-in option could be successful.

 Documents filed to the Federal Elections Commission on Friday showed the National Republican Senatorial Committee -- one of the party's main campaign arms -- cut its fundraising ties with Moore.

 This story has been updated. |||||


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In a crisis, we say, we can't be sure how we'd react -- whether we'd run or freeze, scream or, as in a nightmare, be unable to make a sound. But four bystanders in Arizona now know that they kept Saturday's shooting rampage at a shopping center from becoming an even more catastrophic event, according to law enforcement officials.As it was, the attack killed six people, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl, and wounded 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who authorities say was the target of the attack.But if the gunman had been able to reload his semi-automatic pistol and keep firing, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said Sunday, "there would have been a huge, greater catastrophe."The gunman was thwarted in that effort by four unassuming people who were identified as Bill Badger, Patricia Maisch, Roger Salzgeber and Joseph Zamudio. Not one of them is willing to call himself a hero.Maisch, who looks more storybook grandmother than crime fighter, told reporters that she had not run from the scene of the attack because she feared she would be shot. But when she saw the gunman trying to reload, she made a move to grab the magazine."The two men that secured him were the heroes," Maisch, 61, told CNN. "I just was an assistant in being able to get that magazine or clip."It was the self-described "assistant," however, who created just enough of a distraction to allow two others -- Badger and Salzgeber -- to tackle the shooter. Then Zamudio, who had been inside a nearby Walgreens when the shooting started, helped hold down the assailant.Badger, 74, told WNEP television in Moosic, Pennsylvania: "I asked him when we were holding him down, 'Why in the world would you do something like this?' and he wouldn't answer. He was only 22-years-old. He looked like a young kid to me when I saw him and just why would he do something like this? There's no reason and the concern of mine was to shoot a 9-year-old girl and to shoot innocent people, something has to be wrong."Badger, a retired Army colonel, said he had just done what anyone else would have done. "Once you're in the military, you never retire," he said. "You're always there to help the community and the people who are in danger."Salzgeber was even more reticent, declining to talk to reporters who telephone him and saying the authorities had promised him his name would not be released, according to The Arizona Republic. "I'm totally stressed out about this," said Salzgeber, who was one of the top three signature collectors for Giffords petitions when she was qualifying to run for re-election in 2010. "I'm not interested in talking."Zamudio said the gunman was already on the ground when he reached him. "I laid on him and held him down, and made sure the gun was down," Zamudio said.The gunman, who authorities have identified as 22-year-old Jared Loughner, was armed with a 9-millimeter Glock semi-automatic, which FBI Director Robert Mueller said he had obtained last November. Mueller did not say where Loughner got the gun. CNN reported it was purchased at a store in Tucson.Federal prosecutors filed charges against Loughner Sunday afternoon, including one count of attempting to assassinate a member of Congress, two counts of killing an employee of the federal government and two counts of attempting to kill a federal employee. Mueller indicated that additional charges may be filed based on the continuing investigation.The criminal complaint said that investigators found a letter from Giffords in a safe at Loughner's house thanking him for attending one of her "Congress on Your Corner" meetings in 2007. The complaint added: "Also recovered in the safe was an enveloped with handwriting on the envelope stating 'I planned ahead,' and 'My assassination' and the name 'Giffords' along with what appears to be Loughner's signature." ( See a copy of the complaint here ).Dupnik, who has received wide attention for his remarks Saturday attacking the amount of "vitriol" in political rhetoric that he said may contribute to violence, repeated that view with obvious emotion on Sunday and also lashed out at laws that let "everybody" carry guns."I think that when the rhetoric about hatred, about mistrust of government, about paranoia about how government operates and to try to inflame the public on a daily basis, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, has impact on people especially who are unbalanced personalities to begin with."Asked how he felt about Arizona's gun laws, Dupnik said of the state, "I think we're the Tombstone of the United States of America.""I have never been a proponent of letting everybody in this state carry weapons under any circumstances that they want and that's almost where we are," he said. "The legislature at this time is proposing that students and teachers be allowed to have weapons in schools and in college. . . . That's the ridiculous state to where we have become."Dupnik was referring to a bill proposed by state Sen. Karen Johnson that would allow people 21 and older who have a concealed weapons permit to carry a firearm at public colleges and universities, where they are generally not allowed. She said that if a student or teacher was armed, they could act if a gunman tried to open fire on campus as had happened at Northern Illinois University in 2008 The 74-year-old Dupnik is a Democrat who, according to the Washington Post , "is known for his colorful and often bluntly partisan commentary." He has called Arizona's new law cracking down on illegal immigration "racist" and "stupid" and has refused to enforce it. He has also described Tea Party partisans as "bigots."Dupnik's Saturday remarks drew a rebuke from Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, a Republican, who said on CBS' Face the Nation, "I didn't really think that that had any part in a law enforcement briefing last night. It was speculation. And I don't think we should rush to speculate. I thought that the report that we just saw from Tucson seems to have it about right. We really don't know what motivated this young person except to know he was very mentally unstable." ||||| Patricia Maisch looks like a grandmother, but she is being hailed as a hero today for helping to stop alleged Tucson shooter Jared Loughner by wrestling away a fresh magazine of bullets as he tried to reload.

 Maisch, 61, effectively disarmed the shooter as several men pounced on him and threw him to ground. As they struggled to hold him down, Maisch joined the scrum on the ground, clinging to the gunman's ankles.

 Maisch and her fellow heroes -- identified as Bill Badger, Roger Sulzgeber and Joseph Zamudio -- stopped the carnage after 20 people were shot, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Six people died.

 "[I] knew right away it was a gun... I heard a continuation of shots," Maisch told a news conference today.

 Maisch, who has a crown of snow-white hair, was standing towards the back of the line to greet and snap a photo with Giffords at the "Congress in Your Corner" event at a Safeway grocery store.

 Speaking to the press today, Maisch recalled how she stopped Loughner as he tried to reload his Glock 9 mm weapon.

 "I could see him coming. [He] shot the lady next to me," Maisch said.

 As he was shooting, she said, she was expecting to be hit and she wondered what it would feel like.

 There was "lots of blood and confusion," she said.

 She considered trying to run away, she said, but thought that would make her more of a target, so she laid down on the ground. But then something unexpected happened.

 "Then he was next to me on the ground," she said. "The gentleman knocked him down.

 "I kneeled over him. He was pulling a magazine [to reload] and I grabbed the magazine and secured that. I think the men got the gun, and I was able to get the magazine," she said.

 Maisch said Badger and Sulzgeber both sat on the gunman while she held his ankles down. Police said that Zimudie helped by hanging on to Loughner's legs.

 Sulzgeber was reportedly standing with his wife, third in line to meet with Giffords, while Zimudie was in the nearby Walgreens and came running out once he heard the shooting.

 "I thought I would be shot. I am thankful for those two brave men," Maisch said. "I am not a hero. The other guys are. I just assisted getting the clip."

 Badger, a 74-year-old retired army colonel living in Tucson, told Pottsville, Pa.'s Republican-Herald how he helped capture Loughner, and that he was grazed in the back of the head by a bullet.

 The Heroes of the Tucson Shooting

 "I heard the shots but I thought they were fireworks at first," Badger told the newspaper. "I wasn't sure they were shots until I actually saw the shooter, and I was sure he was really shooting bullets when I felt the sting on the back of my head."

 According to Badger, who the Republican-Herald confirmed was treated for an injury at a hospital, he was the first person standing next to a row of chairs leading to Giffords when the first shots rang out.

 Badger told the paper, "I turned and saw him running down the line of people on the chairs. He ran between me and the store. Someone hit him with a chair and he flinched a little. That's when I grabbed his left arm. Someone grabbed his right arm and we got him to the ground.

 "The other guy put his knee into the back of his neck and I grabbed him around the throat. We held him until police got there. While we had him on the ground I saw blood running and it wasn't until then I realized it was coming from the back of my head," Badger said.

 Speaking outside her home this evening, Maisch said that when she noticed that one of the men was bleeding from the head, she ran into the Safeway to get paper towels.

 "I put a compress on the man's head while he was securing the shooter," she said. |||||

– Talk about a brave 61-year-old: Patricia Maisch is being called a hero after wrenching away the Tucson shooter’s ammunition, preventing him from reloading as she helped press him to the ground, ABC News reports. Maisch was in line to meet Rep. Gabrielle Giffords when the shooting began. She threw herself to the ground to dodge the attack, and found Jared Lee Loughner “next to me on the ground” after he was laid low by another bystander. A trio of men—Bill Badger, Roger Sulzgeber, and Joseph Zimudie—had "knocked him down" and sat on him as she held his ankles. "I kneeled over him. He was pulling a magazine and I grabbed the magazine and secured that." "I think the men got the gun, and I was able to get the magazine," preventing him from reloading, Maisch said. Click for more on the four heroes.