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Russia has bolstered its ties with Cuba and Venezuela in the past year. High-ranking Russian officials, including President Dmitri A. Medvedev, have made visits to Cuba, and Moscow hosted Raúl Castro, the Cuban president, in January. The two governments signed a series of bilateral agreements, though there was little mention of military plans. Russia’s bomber fleet has been a favored piece in geopolitical gamesmanship with the United States. In August 2007, Vladimir V. Putin, then the president, punctuated the military’s growing assertiveness by reinstituting long-range patrols by nuclear-capable bombers over the world’s oceans. And Venezuela, with an eye toward rankling the United States, hosted two Russian strategic bombers last year and also conducted joint naval exercises with Russia. At the time, top United States military officials played down the joint efforts, with Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying that Russia and Venezuela had the right to work together “if they see fit.” A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: Russia Is Weighing 2 Latin Bases, General Says. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

A top official in Russia’s Air Force said the government was considering whether to base strategic bombers out of Cuban territory or on a Venezuelan island.

Q. My women’s group gave a women’s leadership forum event. We hosted approximately 12 panel speakers. At the conclusion of each panel discussion, we gave each presenter a token thank-you gift to acknowledge their participation. Subsequent to the event, one organizer asked if we sent follow-up thank-you notes to the panelists. The president responded by saying we gave thank-you gifts. Please advise on protocol for this type of situation. Is it proper etiquette to send an additional thank-you note to each speaker for their participation? A. First, the issue of a gift. Really it’s very nice of you to give a gift, especially if the speakers were also compensated for their participation. If they were participating without compensation, the gift becomes a more important gesture to acknowledge their effort on your organization’s behalf. Now, the thank-you note. Because your organization gave each speaker a gift and, in the process, acknowledged its appreciation for their contribution in front of the audience, your organization has fulfilled any obligation it had to send a thank-you note. That said, what is really important about a thank-you note is not the idea of obligation, but rather that of opportunity. The president’s perspective is one of “Do I have to do it?” rather than one of “I want to do it.” The “have to” is a vestige of an attitude about thank-you notes that implies they are an obligation and a dreaded task. The “want to” evolves out of a desire to reach out and touch people and build relationships. It’s not that the speakers will be miffed that they didn’t receive a note. But a thank-you note is one more way to encourage them to want to be involved with your organization in the future. Essentially, there is no downside to sending a thank-you note. There is potentially much to be gained. The recipients will not think, “Why did they send me a note?” Rather, they will appreciate the kindness your note conveys. So think opportunity rather than obligation, and send the thank-you notes.

Q. My women’s group gave a women’s leadership forum event. We hosted approximately 12 panel speakers. At the conclusion of each panel discussion, we gave each presenter a token thank-you gift to acknowledge their participation. Subsequent to the event, one organizer of the event asked if we sent follow-up thank-you notes to the panelists. The president responded by saying we gave thank-you gifts. Please advise on etiquette protocol for this type of situation. Is it proper etiquette to send an additional thank-you note to each speaker for their participation? A. First, the issue of a gift. Really it’s very nice of you. If they were participating without compensation, the gift becomes a more important gesture to acknowledge their effort on your organization’s behalf

A Florida man was arrested on Thursday for participating in a bribery scheme aimed at supporting an illegal bitcoin exchange operated by his son and owned by an Israeli behind a series of hacking attacks on organizations such as J.P. Morgan Chase jpm . Michael Murgio, who serves on a school board in Palm Beach County, was charged in an indictment filed in federal court in Manhattan for participating in a scheme to pay bribes to let the bitcoin exchange’s operators gain control of a credit union. The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Murgio, 65, in Palm Beach on Thursday morning, a spokeswoman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. His lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The indictment added Murgio as a defendant in a case against three other individuals including his son Anthony Murgio, who prosecutors say operated the unlicensed bitcoin exchange, Coin.mx, and was involved in the bribe scheme. Prosecutors have said that Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli accused of orchestrating a massive hacking scheme with another Israeli, Ziv Orenstein, and an American, Joshua Samuel Aaron. Prosecutors contend Shalon, Orenstein, and Aaron ran a criminal enterprise that hacked into a dozen companies’ networks, stealing the personal information of more than 100 million people. In the case of JPMorgan, prosecutors said records belonging to more than 83 million customers had been stolen. While the Murgios are not accused of engaging in the hacking offenses, prosecutors said they committed crimes with their co-defendants, Florida resident Yuri Lebedev and New Jersey pastor Trevon Gross, related to the unlicensed operation of Coin.mx. Prosecutors said beginning in 2013, Anthony Murgio operated Coin.mx, which exchanged millions of dollars of the virtual currency bitcoin for customers, while Lebedev supervised computer programming functions for the exchange. To evade scrutiny of Coin.mx, the Murgios and Lebedev in 2014 acquired control of Helping Other People Excel Federal Credit Union of Jackson, New Jersey, by paying $150,000 in bribes to Trevon Gross, a pastor who was its chairman, the indictment said. Anthony Murgio, Lebedev and Gross have previously pled not guilty to the charges against them. They are scheduled to face trial on Oct. 31. Extradition proceedings in Israel against Shalon and Orenstein remain pending. Aaron remains at large and was believed by the FBI, as of November when he was indicted, to be in Eastern Europe.

There's also a connection to a Credit Union in New Jersey.

(CNN) -- They represent a sliver of the electorate yet could still hold the key to the Oval Office. In a contest that's already the most expensive in history, we set out to meet the men and women whose choices are so highly prized: the undecided voters. They represent six key groups in the key swing states where their votes matter most: A millennial in New Hampshire. A Catholic in Ohio. A long-term unemployed man in Nevada. A Latino in Florida. A single woman in Virginia. An evangelical in Iowa. Compare The Undecided: Artifacts that reveal identity We introduced you to them through deeply drawn profiles accompanied by photographic portraits, videos and data visualizations that illuminate the nexus between real life and politics -- the emotional terrain that determines how these ordinary Americans could decide the election. With less than a day left before the election, we caught up with them to see if they've made up their minds -- and how they came to their decision. Three told whom they're voting for, two wouldn't say and one -- well, she's still undecided. The Millennial: Imagining he's the candidate The last few months have been especially busy for Tyler York. He's worked 60 hours a week between his three jobs, and he welcomed two nephews into his already big, bustling family. But the 25-year-old spent a lot of time thinking about the election, too, trying to decide how to decide. He watched the debates and talked to supporters of President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, but he wasn't satisfied with anybody's answers. Tyler York: "I don't need to be reassured of my own opinion. ... Self-reflection is the most important part (in deciding)." "People my age, people generations older ... I've realized that they don't truly know why they're voting for their guy," he said. " 'You should vote for me because the other guy's bad' isn't really educating anybody on the issues." A colleague suggested this: Imagine you are the candidate. What are the issues most important to you? What is your stance? And which of the real-life candidates lines up best? Not perfectly, but best? Read York's story: 'What's going on? Am I really happy?' He spent hours researching the candidates' ideas on foreign policy, a subject he's passionate about after traveling overseas and making friends among the large refugee community around Manchester, New Hampshire. He read up on energy and the environment, which sparked his interest after teaching a sustainability class at a private school. He was stunned by how little information he found about education; there's a lot of talk about its importance, but no vision from candidates, he thinks. And he studied their stances on women's health, gender pay disparities and same-sex marriage. York, the undecided millennial, became York, the decided voter -- but he doesn't want to say who he'll support. Sifting through so many out-of-context attacks and meme-making one-liners made him wish for clearer facts, not more noisy opinions. He still identifies as an independent and can't imagine himself volunteering for a campaign or cause in the future. The moment you do, he said, you stop listening to other sides' points of view, or everyone thinks you do. Obama and Romney are often pretty similar, he thinks. York's not so sure the divisions in politics and parties are real. It's just that loud arguments and snappy comebacks get attention. That doesn't mean it's easy for any candidate to bring people together, he said. "If it was a legitimate difference or true barrier, it would be one thing," York said. "But because it's manufactured, it feels like 'I'm not supposed to agree with you.' " York said he'll spend the days before the election talking to trusted friends and family members whose votes are going the opposite way. He's not sure they could change his mind, but he wants to listen. "I want to know why they feel so strongly in that direction," he said. "I hope to hear an eloquent argument of why they feel that way. "I don't need to be reassured of my own opinion. It takes a lot more than watching news or reading articles (to make the decision.) Self-reflection is the most important part." He's making decisions for himself, too. By this time next year, he still expects to be working all three of his part-time jobs. He's enjoying them, so why stop? He doesn't think he'll still be living above his parents' garage, though. He plans to have a stable income for more than a year by then, and he'll have saved for a healthy down payment on a place of his own -- if he decides to buy. But he's still not sure he wants to make the commitment. The Catholic: Looking for the truth Mary Roberts usually waits until she's attended rallies for both political parties to make up her mind about how she'll vote. Living in the battleground state of Ohio, she has a greater chance of doing that than most Americans -- except for this year. Mary Roberts: "I always like when people start a sentence with, 'I'm going to tell you the truth.' I really start to listen then." That's because someone recently hit her car, and it was totaled. Now she attends physical therapy and needs a cane, which has left the normally active 67-year-old feeling frustrated. It's also slowed her decision-making process. "I tried to go to (Ohio State University) one day since both candidates were having rallies there," Roberts says. "But I couldn't get close enough to comfortably walk. I'm so disappointed." Which means, just days from this year's election, she still hasn't made up her mind. "I'm close, real close," she says. Instead, she must rely on the information that comes to her. Read Roberts' story: She acts in faith. Who deserves hers? "Let me count," Roberts says, as she flips through her stack of mail. "I've got seven different political mailers just today." She doesn't mind the mail, nor does she mind the calls -- except when there are so many they fill up her voice mail and her family can't leave a message. "And I'd love to watch a game show without the 50 political ads," she says. "My sister complains she feels neglected living in Georgia. But the ads are so negative, I tell her she's lucky." Roberts reads several newspapers to follow the campaign. She watched the debates closely. "I think President Obama made a stand, finally with that second one, and I'm so glad. He sounded kind of tuned out before," she says. "Romney sounds wishy-washy saying one thing to one group and then one thing to another. I can't figure out some of the promises he made." Romney's disparaging comments about the poor at an earlier campaign event disturbed her. "What kind of ignoramus thinks people want government help? Sometimes they just need it," Roberts says. "My family isn't in that 47% now, but growing up we needed help. What would we have done without it?" She's still concerned, though, about the president's effectiveness. "You know, I'd hoped he'd make the economy better, and I do think he is sincere," Roberts says. "I think he has tried to be honest with the public, but I am still not sure if he can pull us out of this mess." Several people in her Columbus circle have hoped to bring her around. Many parishioners at her church read about Roberts on CNN. One day, they surrounded her. "I was coming out of Mass and a man who saw my story talked to me about why I should vote for President Obama," Roberts says. "Soon a crowd gathered and people kept saying things like, 'I know you have heard this and that, but don't believe it. Now I'm going to tell you the truth about him.' "I always like when people start a sentence with, 'I'm going to tell you the truth.' I really start to listen then. But there wasn't any Romney supporter there. I would have liked the truth about him, too." For now, Roberts will keep an open mind. She already has Election Day plans. She and a neighbor like to be there right when the polls open and then go to breakfast. She signed up to be a poll watcher, too. Later she and her family will watch the returns at a sports bar. "I like the multiple TVs and can get some wings." Even if she hasn't quite made up her mind, for Roberts -- who grew up secretly encouraging African-Americans in the Deep South to register to vote during the height of segregation -- Election Day is still something to celebrate. The Long-Term Unemployed: Casting an enthusiastic ballot Joe Stoltz tuned in to the presidential debates listening keenly for specifics on how to improve the economy from both Obama and Romney. Joe Stoltz: "That third debate sunk it all the way in for me -- since I am in school and Obama was focused on education." But in the end, it was an exchange over something that happened thousands of miles away that helped turn Stoltz from undecided voter to one who felt secure in his choice. In their second verbal tangle, Romney went after Obama by claiming that the president did not refer to the U.S. Consulate attack in the Libyan city of Benghazi as an act of terror and that the following day, he was back on the campaign trail. Obama came back strong, Stoltz says. "The suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the secretary of state, our U.N. ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, governor, is offensive," Obama responded. "That's not what we do. That's not what I do as president. That's not what I do as commander in chief." It was the first time in the campaign that Stoltz saw fire in Obama. "He was forceful," Stoltz says. "He looked right at Romney and was to the point." Read Stoltz's story: He started over. Who'll restart America? Stoltz voted for Obama in 2008 because he offered hope and change. But after four years of economic gloom that left Stoltz, a flooring business owner in Reno, Nevada, without any jobs, he wants a leader. He liked that Romney brings business experience to the table, but in the end he felt Obama was the national leader he could trust. He also liked how Obama addressed the importance of education -- even in the third debate which focused on foreign policy -- in answering a question about America's role in the world. That was an issue high on Stoltz's list of priorities; he just started college with the help of a federal grant. "That third debate sunk it all the way in for me -- since I am in school and Obama was focused on education," Stoltz says. There was one other factor that helped sell Stoltz on Obama: Bill Clinton. Stoltz, a big Clinton fan, loved that the former president was stumping for Obama. America did so well under Clinton, and if he thinks Obama's the one who will get the nation back on track, then that's worth something. "He was just so passionate about it," Stoltz says of Clinton. So after months of indecision, Stoltz drove up to Truckee Meadows Community College, where he enrolled this fall to get his own life back on track, and before his keyboarding class, he cast his ballot. Enthusiastically. The Latino Voter: Watching the debates sealed the deal For weeks, Maria Lopez Reeves had been leaning toward voting for Romney. Maria Lopez Reeves: "Eyes and facial expressions tell a lot. You can tell when someone's acting." His family values and his convention speech nearly swayed her. In July, the lifelong Democrat "liked" the Republican nominee's page on Facebook. In August, she told CNN she felt Obama hadn't delivered on his 2008 campaign promises. She said she was "listening very attentively" to what Romney had to say. But she remained undecided. In September, she heard Romney say words that stuck in her mind all the way to the voting booth. "There are 47% of the people ... who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it," Romney said. "My job," he continued, "is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives." He made the comments at a private fund-raiser in Boca Raton, Florida. Reeves saw them spelled out in the closed captioning on her TV screen 180 miles away. In the living room of her rental house in Kissimmee, Florida, she watched a nightly newscast report on the now-infamous leaked video. "When I saw him, behind closed doors, it was a private conversation," Reeves says. "The true him was there." And what she saw made her cringe. "I did not like being part of the 47%. That's an insult to so many people out there," says Reeves, who relies on government disability benefits to make ends meet. "People like me, Hispanics on disability, Social Security, retired people, military people, all kinds of people. We pay taxes on merchandise, property taxes on cars. We contribute just as much as anybody else does. We don't get that many breaks." Despite her reservations about Obama, Romney didn't seem to be looking out for her best interests, she says. Read Reeves' story: Can this Latino voter find a home? Watching the debates sealed the deal. She listened to what Obama and Romney said and also paid close attention to how they said it. A decade ago, Reeves' eardrums burst, leaving her legally deaf. At first, she relied on reading lips to understand what people said. Now, a cochlear implant helps her hear, but she still pays close attention to body language. "Eyes and facial expressions tell a lot," she says. "You can tell when someone's acting." To Reeves, Obama seemed sincere. "I looked at Mitt and it's like he was a statue up there, a puppet going through a speech that was made for him," she says. "He just didn't seem real to me, he really didn't." Last week, on the way home from a doctor's appointment, Reeves stopped by a library in Celebration, Florida, to cast her ballot during early voting. She no longer had any doubts about which candidate she supported, or which candidate would support her. "It's too scary," she says, "too risky, letting someone like Romney take over." Reeves says she voted for Obama. The Single Woman: Staying true to her word Unmarried women make up one of America's fastest-growing demographics. They account for a quarter of the voting population, and a disproportionate number of them live in Alexandria, Virginia -- a city in one of the highly coveted swing states. Laura Palmer: "I hope there will be tremendous effort to reach across the aisle. I hope they make an effort to work together." For all these reasons, Alexandria's unmarried and undecided Laura Palmer, 36, became a clamored-for commodity this election season. But the former lawyer, who served in 2008 as a political appointee to the Bush administration, has made it her mission to rise above conflict, focus on positivity and be true to herself. Now a licensed hypnotherapist and practitioner of energy medicine, she believes it's time for the country's leaders to do the same. She stayed mum about whom she voted for in 2008 and vowed she wouldn't divulge her decision this year. She's staying true to her word; not even her closest friends will know who's earned her ballot. "I don't think it matters," says Palmer, who made her choice after the debates. "I don't mean that my vote doesn't matter. Every vote counts." Read Palmer's story: Searching for a 'centered' candidate But in her view, there's nothing that can be accomplished in discussing such a personal choice. While the passions of a heated political season may have driven people apart, she'd rather focus on the future and what might be possible -- not just for the president, no matter who wins, but for those taking office in Congress. "I hope whoever stays in power or moves into power, however it plays out, I hope there will be tremendous effort to reach across the aisle," she said. "I hope they make an effort to work together. It's the only way our country can move forward in a meaningful way." The Evangelical: Finding his decision in the Bible Rob Seyler, a Bible school teacher who typically votes Republican, was wary of backing a Mormon for president. Rob Seyler: "In essence, I am choosing between two non-Christians." Seyler had thought about staying home on Election Day but says studying the Bible suggested that was a bad idea. "God would not support his people taking a passive role in a nation's government," he said by e-mail from just outside Des Moines, Iowa. "In fact, Hosea 8:4 shows that God was at times displeased with Israel's choices for leadership -- which shows me that he holds his people responsible for electing proper leaders." Seyler is still wary of giving a Mormon such a prominent perch. But he thinks Romney, a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will "move our country in a direction that God would favor." Read Seyler's story: Radical for Jesus, dubious of Romney That's especially true when it comes to opposing abortion and same-sex marriage, two issues at the top of Seyler's list of political causes. Though the teacher caused a stir at his Baptist high school by painting Obama's silhouette onto his classroom wall, Seyler is disappointed the president hasn't done more to stop abortion and that he personally came out for legalized same-sex marriage. Romney once supported abortion rights and gay rights but has become rigorously anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage in the last decade. Seyler watched the first presidential debate and was impressed by Romney's performance. But the teacher's decision to vote for the Republican nominee was more a result of "contemplation, study and prayer." Seyler says the process made him realize that Obama talks like a Christian but that his take on issues such as abortion and marriage run counter to Seyler's read on the Bible. "Ultimately, I think talk is cheap," Seyler says, before citing Scripture again. "James and 1 John say that faith should be evidenced by action. And his actions do not clearly demonstrate a legitimate Christian faith." "In essence," Seyler wound up reasoning, "I am choosing between two non-Christians." Seyler also recognizes the limits of his choice. America's strength is more about the nation's moral and spiritual state, he says, over which the commander in chief has only so much sway. That gives him hope for the country's ability to move forward after a deeply divided election. "Ultimately, no politician will ever truly solve our problems, he says. "While we elect and support men to lead our country, we must realize that these politicians are only stewards of the world God has created and is sovereign over." CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht, Jen Christensen, Moni Basu, Catherine E. Shoichet, Jessica Ravitz and Dan Gilgoff contributed to this report.

They represent a sliver of the electorate yet could still hold the key to the Oval Office.

ARTIST’S NOTE: Each year, an influential figure delivers a lecture on the social policy and powers of the arts, as presented by Americans for the Arts. And last week, one of the most influential figures of my own TV/media-steeped childhood (and that of countless other viewers) delivered the organization’s Nancy Hanks Lecture at the Kennedy Center. Here are some of the most moving themes and moments from that event. AS HIS NAME hangs in the air, the 92-year-old TV legend ambles out to an ovation. Almost as one, we rise. Mister Norman Lear, that master at mining human behavior for the humor of truth. He smiles. Almost as one, we applaud louder. As any good showman knows, the audience is susceptible to subtle cues. So when he steps into the adoring spotlight, this creator of so many trailblazing TV shows (including “All in the Family” and its spinoffs “Maude” and “The Jeffersons”) jokes that there’s a little extra juice to all our standing applause. Almost as one, we laugh. He’s on to us, and our emotional buttons (“nonagenarian status” among them), as he has been for decades. Lear is eager to illustrate the social power of the arts, here in this packed house at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, where he is delivering the Nancy Hanks lecture, as presented by Americans for the Arts. And for all this talk of art, there’s a vital reveal: Norman Lear, Hollywood groundbreaker and TV Academy Hall of Famer, never considered himself an artist. Yet the showman holds one key plot twist. But first: Our protagonist cuts to his back-story… Lear tells the audience how, when he was about 9, his dad went to prison, and a fellow within the family’s circle called young Norman “the man of the house now.” The boy saw this remark for what it was: laughably absurd. Now, on this night in Washington, Norman does not speak as “a wise old man,” from on high. He is merely observer, he says, albeit a keen one. And this is what he sees: The man who has been branded a “Hollywood liberal” says he honestly considers himself a “bleeding-heart conservative.” This World War II hero flashes a fierce passion for Eisenhower, his ol’ five-star general who led them to victory. And Lear wonders from the Kennedy stage why more people don’t appreciate the prescience of the president who came before. Why don’t more people today like and heed the words of Ike? Ike, the two-term ’50s president who, Lear emphasizes, warned of the rise of the “military-industrial-congressional complex.” Lear fears for the symptoms of Eisenhower’s farewell-address caveat come true. He believes we’ve lost our way: sociopolitically, economically, judicially, technologically, spiritually — and artistically. Lear sees a culture that has grown “numbers-driven” and “spiritually sterile.” He sees a “coarsening of the culture” that leads and lures us “away from the Arts.” Lear sees aspects of government and religion functioning as warring tribes. Yet the truest hope for unity, he says, rests with the arts — even as Ike’s governmental complex-come-true guts funding for the arts. Arts opens doors, Lear says — and technology, particularly the Internet, “has increased the power of the arts exponentially.” Lear can’t think of a time when our culture has drifted so far from the arts, becoming “so estranged from this essential part of itself.” Every day, we are ever less citizens, he says, and ever more consumers. As we tune in to our cell towers, do we tune out the sacred? Has our art become more about consumption than connection? Even as arts funding dries up like one of Lear’s favored Havana leaves in the noonday sun? And the belly, of course, is an apt symbol for humanity’s deeper appetite. With our heads lowered and buried into our technology, do we become blind to a higher order and awareness? (In the 1970s, Lear brought to air a run of such socially conscious shows as “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “Good Times,” “Sanford and Son,” “The Jeffersons,” even “One Day at a Time.” Were Lear and his co-producers editorializing, as they were accused? “We — writers, producers, directors and actors — were simply mirroring life in our time as we saw it,” he says.) Yet despite this epic run, Lear was too near to the shows to fully appreciate their social impact. When the Oscar- and Grammy-winning artist Common introduced Lear on this night, he — as a child of the ’70s — cited the impact that a particular episode of “The Jeffersons” once had on him. And Common was among a handful of hip-hop artists who recently paid tribute to Lear at a Television Academy event in California. Tonight, Lear reflects on how the tears of sweetness from that love-in event had a secondary effect: They also opened his eyes. On that evening, the hip-hop performers shared their stories of how Lear’s shows had enriched and illuminated their lives, and that emotion spread, as the effect of connective art can, to the audience. Lear was led to the trough of his own Artistry. And this time, after decades of resistance, he drank. Minutes after his talk, I seek out and sit with Mr. Lear. I urge him to further illuminate the depth of his lecture’s last reveal. For he, naturally, had set up his climactic plot twist so deftly. In a largely sobering tone, Lear’s lecture had delved into not only the state of arts in America, but also about the state of the world — and why, in 2015, we so desperately need the arts. Amid his grim messages, I was curious: Is he optimistic about the world, and the role of art to help elevate that world? As we talk about arts and politics of the past, Norman Lear is hopeful about the arts of the future — because he is hopeful about the human need for connection. Arts is a form of spiritual connective tissue, and all artistic disciplines, he says, are “those things to cause us to see and hear as One.” Art, in other words, is all in the human family. After our talk, as he and I rise, Norman Lear warmly lets me know he has enjoyed this harmonic vibe between artists. Because talking about the arts is a form of connection that can have true impact. But he also lets me know this conversation needs to be fanned like a flame. [Note: My special thanks to the Americans for the Arts.]

An Arts Talk Illustrated: TV legend Norman Lear ("All in the Family," "The Jeffersons") delivers a moving Kennedy Center lecture on power of art.

Obama, who enjoys a double-digit lead among female voters, recently said that “women are not some monolithic bloc. Women are not an interest group. . . . Women are over half this country and its workforce.” That is as true today as it was when Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg told me the same thing in 2007. 2. Female voters favor female candidates. Women consistently say they’d prefer to vote for a woman. But once in the voting booth, they don’t automatically favor female candidates. In The Washington Post in 2008, feminist writer Linda Hirshman scolded women for failing to support Hillary Rodham Clinton over Obama: “Even though this is also a year with the first major female presidential candidate, women are split every way they can be. They’re the only voting bloc not voting their bloc. For the Clinton campaign, this is devastating.” And it was instructive. By the end of the primaries, Obama had won younger women’s votes, while Clinton had captured women over 65 and barely won a majority of women. In fact, women are insulted by appeals that suggest they automatically favor female candidates, which is part of the reason Clinton didn’t play the gender card too overtly through much of the campaign. Younger women in particular find this “hammer, meet nail” approach offensive. That’s why you rarely hear female candidates in either party making that pitch. 3. Women vote based on “women’s issues,” such as abortion rights and contraception. A recent poll of voters in swing states showed that women’s top priorities are health care, gas prices, unemployment and the deficit — in that order — with “government policies toward contraception” coming in last. (Women are, however, much more likely than men to rate government policy on birth control as important — 55 percent to 35 percent in the same USA Today-Gallup poll.) Even on abortion rights, women are nearly as divided as the country as a whole, which broke 49 percent to 45 percent in favor of abortion rights in Gallup polling last year. And though 50 percent of women identify as pro-choice and 44 percent as pro-life, age and party affiliation are far better predictors than gender of views on abortion. Among Democratic women, the perception that Republicans are waging a “war on women” has undeniably boosted enthusiasm and raised money. But how women feel about access to contraceptives also seems to have more to do with party affiliation than gender, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released last month. And fewer than 1 percent of respondents mentioned women’s health or birth control as top election-year issues. 4. A candidate’s wife can deliver women’s votes. This idea seems to have taken hold in a whole new way this year, with many pundits — and at times, even Romney himself — arguing that Ann Romney holds the key to his efforts to win over female voters. When asked recently how he intends to close the gender gap, Mitt Romney even said he wished his wife were there to answer: “She says that she’s out there going across the country and talking with women, and what they’re talking about is the debt that we’re leaving the next generation and the failure of this economy to put people back to work. She says she talks to women who are concerned about the jobs their kids are going to get, and they wonder whether their future is going to be prosperous and bright as has been our lives.” Yet there is no evidence that women have ever favored the candidate whose spouse they like best; if that were the case, John Edwards would have fared a lot better in 2004 and 2008. After all, Hillary Clinton wasn’t as well-liked back in 1992, but that didn’t seem to hurt Bill Clinton. While it’s true that women tune in to campaigns later than men, women turn out to vote in greater numbers — and have done so for decades. Since 1980, the proportion of women who vote has topped the proportion of men who do. And it was higher than ever in 2008, with 65.7 percent of eligible women voting, compared with 61.5 percent of men. In interviews with female voters across the political spectrum, I hear two things over and over: One is how turned off they are by the name-calling, negative ads and intense partisanship of the political process, and the other is how much they’d like to be more involved in civic life. That women so reliably show up to vote despite all their reservations is testament to that hope. And it’s why we’ll be hearing a lot more about the “war on women” and the war over women’s votes between now and November. Melinda Henneberger covers national politics for The Washington Post and anchors the “She the People” blog. Ann Romney doesn’t speak for women in the workforce How the Catholic Church almost accepted birth control Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

From ‘women’s issues’ to candidates’ wives.

SEOUL—North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket triggered international condemnation and prompted Washington and Seoul to formalize talks over deploying an advanced missile shield to South Korea, a move China strongly opposes. The United Nations Security Council, after an urgent meeting Sunday, said the weekend rocket launch was a threat to world security and a clear violation of U.N. resolutions banning North Korea from developing...

The U.N. Security Council said North Korea’s latest rocket launch was a threat to world security, and that members were consulting on a resolution that would impose tougher and more robust sanctions on Pyongyang.

The pressure is on the FBI. And not just about signals that might have been missed regarding Omar Mateen, the shooter who mowed down scores of patrons at an Orlando nightclub after declaring his allegiance to ISIS. What about the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server? After Orlando, does it remain an FBI priority? Donald Trump needs to make sure it is. Forced off script by the massacre, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee ditched a promised speech on “Crooked Hillary” and instead delivered one on terrorism, immigration, and guns. It didn’t go well. His shallow, divisive remarks fired up President Obama and disturbed leaders of the Republican Party. Trump’s braying for a ban on all Muslim immigrants also allowed Clinton to work the welcome turf of policy and issues like “common-sense” gun control. If only the debate could stay there. According to a national Bloomberg poll, Clinton leads Trump by 12 points. An earlier NBC tracking poll gave her a 7-point lead, with growing support from men and white voters. The contrast between how the presidential candidates reacted to the Orlando shootings was stark. In Hillary they trust? Trump can’t have that. He’s working hard to pivot back to his assault on Clinton’s character. If he loses the trust issue to his opponent, he loses a lot. Appearing Tuesday night on Fox News with host Sean Hannity, Trump called upon Clinton to return money he said she accepted from countries that oppress women. “Here’s a woman that takes all of this money from these countries and then she says she loves women,” Trump told Hannity. “They actually throw gays off buildings and she’s taking money, and I’m calling for her to give back all of the money she’s taken from these countries.” As Trump refocuses his message on Clinton’s ethics, the massacre in Orlando has overshadowed what might have been banner news a week ago. On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered the deposition of a former State Department staffer who helped set up Clinton’s private e-mail server “to go forward and to be videotaped.” The judge denied a request by lawyers for IT specialist Bryan Pagliano to bar the recording of the deposition before lawyers representing the conservative legal advocacy group Judicial Watch. Pagliano has been granted limited immunity by federal prosecutors, the Post reported last March. His lawyers — backed up by Justice Department lawyers — asked to disclose details of the immunity agreement in a sealed filing open only to the judge. In granting that request, Sullivan stated that the “privacy interests at stake are high because the government’s criminal investigation” is ongoing and confidential — with his language confirming a label Clinton has tried to duck. But now the criminal probe of a presumptive presidential nominee plays out against the still unfolding story of mass murder committed by a man once scrutizined by the FBI. Agents launched two separate investigations of the shooter, but concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to back up concerns about alleged terrorist connections. Now the FBI is trying to piece together the path from its initial findings to Mateen’s rampage, which killed 49 and wounded several dozen more. After Orlando, some argue that the FBI lacks adequate resources to pursue active investigations and monitor the more than 40,000 people already on the agency’s terror “watch list.” Meanwhile, in March, the Post reported that FBI Director James Comey told an unnamed member of Congress that 147 agents were working on the Clinton probe. The Post subsequently corrected the number of assigned FBI personnel in that case to “fewer than 50.” That’s still a lot. Partisans still care about Clinton’s e-mail trail. But after Orlando, the country may care more about a terrorist’s trail.

After Orlando, does Hillary Clinton’s e-mail problem remain an FBI priority?

WASHINGTON—Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) announced a preliminary agreement on a six-year highway bill with “three years of guaranteed funding” for the Highway Trust Fund, the latest development in a fast-moving debate over the federal government’s share of spending on road, bridge and mass-transit programs. But the agreement, reached with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.), ran into early problems Tuesday when Senate Democrats said they couldn’t support a bill that they had not had a chance to read. The...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says agreement on a six-year bill would include three years of guaranteed funding for the Highway Trust Fund. But there may be problems.

A mysterious disease that is turning sea stars to goo has taken off along the Oregon coast, with up to half or more of the creatures being infected in just the last few weeks, scientists say. Until now, Oregon was the one state along the U.S. West Coast essentially spared from the disease. In April, researchers estimated less than 1 percent or so of the purple ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) living within 10 sites along Oregon's intertidal zones which provide an easily accessible place to monitor sea stars were affected by the wasting disease. By mid-May that percentage had gone up slightly, and then after that it seemed to skyrocket. "The percentages we saw last week, they were as high as 40 to 60 percent of the population that's showing signs of wasting," said Bruce Menge, a marine biologist at Oregon State University, who is studying the wasting disease in Oregon. [See Images of the Purple Ochre Sea Stars] - Bruce Menge, marine biologist at Oregon State University Turning sea stars to goo Sea star wasting syndrome causes a sea star's body to disintegrate, ultimately leading to death. The disease tends to progress from no outward signs to behavior changes in which the sea stars cross their arms and seem to collapse on themselves. Then white lesions appear on the surface of the sea star's body that turn into holes; those lesions are typically followed by the disintegration of skin around the lesion and the loss of a limb or several limbs, and in extreme cases the animal's entire body is affected by the syndrome. Some of the creatures physically tear their bodies apart in the process, scientists say. "We've seen a number of cases where all that's left is a puddle of their skeletal parts and a bunch of bacteria eating away at the tissue," Menge told Live Science. "It's a pretty gruesome thing to see." The current outbreak of sea star wasting syndrome was first reported in June 2013 along the coast of Washington by researchers from Olympic National Park. Since that report, die-offs have been documented everywhere from California to Alaska and even along the East Coast from Maine through New Jersey. "Wasting has been known for a long time, but usually it's very localized to a single site or single region," Menge said. When that's the case, as it was last August just north of Vancouver, British Columbia, the chances for recovery are high since the plankton, or floating forms, of the sea stars from healthy, nearby populations can recolonize those areas that were hit. "The thing that is worrisome now is that it's happening pretty much all along the West Coast, even up into Alaska," Menge said. In this widespread outbreak, Oregon seemed to be a lucky outlier. "We were hoping that for some weird reason we were going to miss out on it. We were optimistic," Menge said. "It finally did hit, and we really have no idea what the pathogen is, what the mode of transmission is. " Mystery disease The cause of the wasting disease is unknown, though scientists working on the mystery are testing whether an underlying virus or bacteria is to blame, along with some environmental stress, such as water temperature or salt content, making the organisms more vulnerable to it. "We are finding correlations between certain microorganisms and viruses present in the lesions," Gary Wessel, of Brown University in Rhode Island, told Live Science in an email. "We are now testing whether these organisms are causative (by infecting healthy animals and seeing if they replicate the wasting phenotype) or just associated." Wessel added that his lab is also looking into the impacts of environmental stressors. "In our challenge experiments to test infectivity, we are stressing the animals with salt conditions and temperature to determine if this environmental stress makes them more susceptible," Wessel said. Since sea stars can act as keystone predators, meaning their predatory activities shape an ecosystem, their loss could have far-reaching impacts, the researchers say. By eating mussels on the low shores in Oregon, sea stars keep those populations in check so the bivalves don't explode in numbers, at the expense of other organisms. Menge said it's too early to say whether the sea stars' mussel-munching could be compensated by whelks in the area. In addition to leaving a void in a finely tuned ecosystem, the loss of sea stars would also disrupt a seeming iconic shoreline organism. "The aesthetics of the rocky shore are going to be quite a bit less," Menge said. "They are charismatic beasts."

A mysterious disease that is turning sea stars to goo has taken off along the Oregon coast, with up to half or more of the creatures being infected in just the last few weeks, scientists say

It's a long season. Heck, it was a long month in college football. The whole of college football seems to be working through some sort of bipolar thing. Who are these guys? The level of ineptitude of most teams is exceeded only by their ability to accomplish the spectacular. And vice-versa. And so it was with the three biggest games of the final weekend in September, which seemed to be a fine time to toast and speak in reverent tones about Penn State, California and Miami. These undefeated clubs were ready to vault to the tippity-top and join the ranks of national championship short-listers. But then they got clobbered. Significantly, they got whipped by teams that had proved to be terribly flawed. But the good Hawkeyes, the good Ducks, the good Hokies all showed up on the same day — much better than any Iowa, Oregon, or Virginia Tech teams had previously looked this season. Maybe they were saving their A games for the day we were ready to write them off. Or something. This month we've seen quite a few blindside upsets of teams overlooking unheralded opponents. Rather, these were critical games in conference (and national) races. And in each case, the Top 10 team could not stand in and hit for the whole game. But Iowa gave a black eye to Penn State's White Out, outhitting and outplaying the fifth-ranked Nittany Lions in every phase of the game (21-10), and turning their budding Heisman Trophy candidate (Daryll Clark) into just another helplessly harassed quarterback. And Oregon made Cal's Jahvid Best look like the fourth-best runner in the game, much less America — and the other three were Ducks rolling to a 42-3 rout of the sixth-ranked Bears. What's more, Jeremiah Masoli suddenly returned to being the quarterback who led Oregon to its 10-win season last year, rather than the scatter-armed, tentative thrower of 2009. And Virginia Tech simply took apart ninth-ranked Miami, 31-7. The erstwhile one-dimensional Hokies got big passes from Tyrod Taylor early, and otherwise pounded the Hurricanes on both sides of the ball and shutting down QB Jacory Harris. So, suddenly, the Hawkeyes, the Ducks, and the Hokies have to be recategorized as the teams with the greatest potential in the Big Ten, Pac-10, and ACC. But, to maintain the theme of this season, these three are just as likely to fumble away their newfound status. Oregon is liable to not show up against lowly Washington State (and with the looks of new Cougar freshman QB Jeff Tuel, the Ducks better not go to sleep on that one), Iowa will find a way to lose (or lose momentum) against Arkansas State, and Virginia Tech could manage to fall to Duke (yes, even Duke!). Saturday's results, along with the Thursday night egg-laying by fourth-ranked Ole Miss, means that 10 different Top 10 teams lost games in September — at least two per week, capped by this fell-flat-on-their-face foursome. So, as we move into October — still two weeks before the first BCS rankings are figured — only 10 teams in the AP Top 25 are undefeated. And of those 10, three of them are named Boise, TCU, and Houston, which do not have the pedigree or conference deemed by the computers and human voters to be considered for the BCS national championship. Alabama, Texas, and, Florida, for what it's worth, are the only teams that have managed to look like they deserve to be ranked in the top five. Before folks get carried away, remember this: BCS rules state that only one team from the non-BCS conferences must be invited to one of the five BCS games (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, and BCS championship game). So, even if more than one of them run the table, only one would get a BCS invitation. A question getting ready to nag voters: How high should Boise State, TCU, and Houston be ranked ... now and in future weeks? And go ahead and add Cincinnati to that list. Should they rise to the top of the polls simply through attrition? Pac-10 leader Stanford is doing its business with all phases. They did a nice job of bottling up Washington QB Jake Locker, turned Toby Gerhart loose for 200 yards rushing, and helped Chris Owusu do his thing when he scored for the third time this season on a kickoff return. For what it's worth, the NCAA record for most kickoff returns for TDs in a season is five, set by Tulsa's Ashlan Davis in 2004. The record book doesn't say if a player has previously returned the opening kickoff for a score in back-to-back games, as Owusu has. It was a tough week for Heisman Trophy candidates, with Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead, Cal's Best, Penn State's Clark, and Miami's Harris biting the dust hard. Not as hard as Tim Tebow bit it, though, with his apparent concussion. On the other end of the spectrum, though, there was Texas' Colt McCoy having a big performance (28-for-35, 286 yards, 3 TDs), and the gutsy Jimmy Clausen bringing Notre Dame back against Purdue, despite his toe injury. If you didn't see a replay of the Indiana completion that was ruled an interception that ended the Hoosiers-Michigan game, you didn't see the profanity-laced nutout unleashed by IU coach Bill Lynch. It was the kind of snap job not witnessed by IU fans since the General's departure. And for good reason: It was clearly a simultaneous catch (which by rule goes to the offensive player) in which defender Donovan Warren wrestled the ball away from receiver Damarlo Belcher after the players were on the ground. It was the kind of thing that has been happening to Indiana for generations. And amazingly, Michigan is 4-0. Notre Dame completed its Big Ten record at 2-1, and now it starts its Pac-10 part of the schedule. The Irish take on three Pac-10 teams in October — facing Washington at home this week, and following a bye, USC and Washington State. Then, at the end of the year, it's a trip to Stanford. This is perhaps the least compelling set of games of any Saturday remaining of the season. Sure, there are many important games as league races begin to heat up, but some of last week's results served to undermine the significance of this week's games.

Week 4 review: Are there any good teams?

Flight Lieutenant Hooper, who turned 89 the same day, paid tribute to the tens of thousands of his comrades who lost their lives during the bomber campaign. "I'm not an emotional person like that, so I'm not going to break down and cry....but it's quite an honour of course. "You had 125,000 aircrew who went into Bomber Command from the beginning of the war and 56,000 were killed. That's half of them. Not captured or injured or prisoners; actually kllied," said the former Lancaster pilot.

Flight Lieutenant Harry Hooper is surprised with the presentation of his long-awaited Bomber Command clasp, on his 89th birthday, at the war memorial in London's Hyde Park.

There can be no doubt now: The U.S. economy is struggling, inequality is on the rise and too many Americans feel uncertain about their future. On the campaign trail, I have met many of these men and women, who sit at the kitchen table each week, straining to stretch their dollars from shrinking paychecks. Families who can’t save for retirement with near-zero interest rates. Young parents who are being crushed by their student debt....

In The Wall Journal, Republican presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina writes: Hillary Clinton says the economy is better off with Democrats in the White House. Is that so?

Kathy Johnson/The Courier-News, via Associated Press Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey at a town-hall-style meeting in Bridgewater on Tuesday. But his moves on same-sex marriage have also highlighted the considerable political skills that have made him one of the Republican Party’s rising stars. Democrats in the State Legislature, who are pushing a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, were hoping to force Mr. Christie to take a position, believing that if he vetoed such a measure, as he has threatened in the past, he would define himself as out of step with a public that increasingly favors it. But on Monday, the day before a big hearing on the legislation, Mr. Christie nominated an openly gay man to the state’s highest court, prompting a valentine from New Jersey’s most prominent gay-rights advocate that stunned even some of the governor’s friends for its effusiveness. Democratic hopes rose: Did this signal that Mr. Christie, an enforcer when it comes to party discipline, would free Republicans to support the bill? But just as Democrats were identifying Republican supporters, Mr. Christie’s office sent word of another surprise on Tuesday: The governor announced that he believed same-sex marriage should be put before voters in November. Republicans whom Democrats had been counting on quickly backed him. To a public suspicious of government, Mr. Christie might come across as reasonable — why let 121 people in the Legislature decide? — rather than retrograde. And by affirming that he opposed same-sex marriage and would veto the Democrats’ legislation, he avoided alienating the conservative voters who are the key to the hopes of any Republican with national ambition. Putting the issue on the ballot could even help burnish Mr. Christie’s image among national Republicans; same-sex marriage ballot initiatives have tended to bring out a swell of conservative voters to defeat them, which could help a Republican presidential nominee even in a blue state like New Jersey. In two years in office, Mr. Christie has promoted his reputation as the big, blunt-talking guy — he insisted this week that he was no “ballerina” in changing positions on marriage, or anything else. But he has managed to dance very carefully to get what he wants, disarming his critics or leaving them sputtering as they try to figure out his next move. He has made alliances with the state’s Democratic power bosses and appealed to the fiscal conservatism and impatience with teachers’ unions among crucial Democrats to get the Democratic-controlled Legislature to go along with a property tax cap, limits on collective bargaining and changes to state employees’ health and pension benefits. In his State of the State address last week, a smiling Mr. Christie wore a purple tie, neither blue nor red, and speaking of shared sacrifice and “we.” He offered something for everyone: a 10 percent income tax cut that would benefit mostly the rich, but also a restoration of the earned income tax credit for the poor. Democrats took the message: If they wanted the credit, which they do (the governor had previously vetoed their efforts to restore it), they would have to pass the cut, which they don’t. Democrats tried to argue that the tax cuts would mean less money for schools. Mr. Christie had by then moved on to a black church in one of the state’s poorest cities, contending to an approving crowd that his proposals would help its children escape dismal schools and bad teachers. On criminal justice, he is proposing tougher bail laws, but also drug treatment instead of jail time for nonviolent criminals. That idea has many fans among evangelicals and conservatives across the country. But liberals like it, too — the Democratic leader of the State Assembly, Sheila Y. Oliver of Essex County, led the ovation when the governor proposed it last week. And when Mr. Christie cannot get what he wants from the Legislature, he appeals to the public, painting himself as the only grown-up in the State House. As he asked a group of citizens at a town-hall-style meeting captured on one of the YouTube videos that his office distributes to promote his agenda: “Now seriously, who the hell disagrees with that?” That is how he is playing his proposal for a ballot initiative. A Roman Catholic, Mr. Christie has long been very clear about opposing same-sex marriage. He supports civil unions, which New Jersey allows, but many gay couples say those have failed to ensure equal rights.

His moves on same-sex marriage highlighted the considerable political skills that have made Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey one of the Republican Party’s rising stars.

A little-known family who became one of the richest in Britain have been accused of making excessive profits in an aid project, by building what their critics call "bridges to nowhere". A Guardian investigation has discovered that steel bridges costing more than £400m have been sold to the Philippines by the Mabey family, all secured with UK government-backed loans and grants. But many of the crossings, which were supposed to open up the flood-prone jungle terrain, have no roads to go with them. The British construction company, Mabey & Johnson, owned by the Mabey family, has been handed virtually all the supply contracts for the bridges, despite being more expensive than its competitors. Accusations of corruption and overcharging are now being made in the Philippines. Mabey denies any impropriety, saying the allegations are made by rivals or are politically motivated. Four hours' drive north of Manila lies the hamlet of San Roque, where poor rice farmers spread their harvest on the ground to dry, and water buffalo are a common sight in the swampy fields. Here the new British-made, two-lane highway bridge has been thrown across an irrigation channel. But there is no highway. On one side is a narrow dirt track leading to the village road. On the far side there is nothing but a field. "You see, it's just a bridge to nowhere," says Ricky Ileto, who is on the staff of opposition senator "Ping" Lacson. Mr Lacson's aides have inspected more than 200 bridges, many in remote jungle districts, and allege they have found at least 44 which lead to dead ends, span dried-up streams, merely provide a pathway for water-buffalo, or are otherwise unsuitable. "We are squandering the foreign loan," says Mr Lacson, a former police chief who ran unsuccessfully against Gloria Arroyo in last year's presidential election. His team have complained to the Philippines ombudsman, a presidential appointee. On August 9, they also wrote to the British ambassador in Manila, Peter Beckingham, calling for the programme to be suspended because of the "indiscriminate installation" of bridges and "our country's worsening debt". But they never received a response. According to documents released to the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act, the firm's chairman, David Mabey, visited the ambassador on August 18. The embassy commercial officer's note says: "The Mabey team were in no doubt that the allegations of graft ... brought by members of the opposition, were part of an ongoing campaign to discredit President Arroyo ... M&J were vigorous in their assurances that they have acted above board ... Neither the ambassador nor I have any reason to doubt Mabey's assurances ... It was up to the local authorities to construct approach roads." On August 30, David Mabey got the UK government's signature on a further £90m loan guarantee, to provide bridges and flyovers on credit. This was the sixth successive big contract M&J had been handed by the Philippine president's office - in each case without competitive bidding. The Guardian has established that Mabey is charging substantially more than its rivals. Its steel superstructures cost about £4,800 a metre, according to Philippines highways department internal figures. Records show an Austrian firm, Waagner-Biro, gained one small contract from the Philippines highways department to supply comparable superstructures for only £3,138. A UK consortium, Balfour-Cleveland, is quoting £2,899. When Whitehall's export credits guarantee department signed off the latest Mabey loan, an official note to the trade minister Ian Pearson warned on September 8 that anti-corruption groups "will seek to argue that ECGD is acting irresponsibly ... and claim this demonstrates ECGD does not take bribery and corruption seriously". Susan Hawley, of the anti-corruption campaign group Corner House, said yesterday: "Given these allegations, it is extraordinary that ECGD have decided to give further support to Mabey & Johnson." The company denies all wrongdoing. In June David Mabey published a code of ethics, saying Mabey had "a policy not to offer, give or accept bribes". In a statement, Mabey & Johnson said: "We fully reject any suggestion of impropriety regarding our work in the Philippines." The company's bridges provided access to markets, goods and services to thousands living in poor rural communities. "Local political envy and sniping ... is very likely to have been the motive behind these allegations ... We have never said our bridges are the cheapest, but they do represent, we believe, the best value for money in terms of design, supply, delivery and speed of installation." Mabey & Johnson had no knowledge of any approaches for payments, it said. Analysis of M&J's accounts show that the Philippine contracts have returned an exceptionally high rate of profit and turned the Mabey family into Britain's 141st richest. They have the former Conservative trade minister John Redwood on their payroll as an investment adviser, and donate to the Conservative party. In Manila, the company is even better connected politically. Mabey would not name its agent, to whom it has passed millions of pounds in commission. However, he is a businessman, Teodorico Haresco, who is close to President Arroyo. Mr Haresco told the Guardian he had never "attempted to exert any improper influences". The president's bridge programme was rigorously evaluated at a variety of levels in government. The Philippines is a group of islands north of Indonesia, where 14 million people are estimated to live on less than $1 a day. Eight million Filipinos work abroad as nurses, nannies and servants. One third of the annual budget goes on interest payments on foreign loans. The Philippines scores badly on the campaign group Transparency International's annual corruption index, at No 117 out of 168 countries. The former president Ferdinand Marcos was estimated to have looted $20bn (£11.3bn) from state revenues. The country has now turned into a developing world goldmine for the Mabeys. David Mabey, 43, lives in a mansion, Lane End House, outside Maidenhead. He succeeded his 89-year-old father, Bevil, in a relatively small business that originally bought up army surplus Bailey bridges after the second world war. By last year, he and his relatives had shot up to No 141 in newspaper rich lists, with an estimated wealth of £310m. Analysis of the company's accounts shows that the dramatic leap in fortunes has come largely from its Philippine contracts, worth £429m and all funded by UK-backed loans. In the last five years it has booked £137m in trading profits, whereas 10 years ago, it was making less than £3m a year. Mabey & Johnson's operating profit margins have tripled to more than 30%. · Read the documents here

A little-known family who became one of the richest in Britain have been accused of making excessive profits in an aid project, by building what their critics call 'bridges to nowhere'.

A medical study to be released today suggests that high doses of a best-selling drug used to treat anemia in dialysis and cancer patients may increase the risk of heart problems and deaths. Almost a million Americans a year receive prescriptions for the drug, known as epoetin, or darbepoetin, a closely related drug also used in anemia treatment. Worldwide, sales of the two drugs — sold under the brand names Epogen, Procrit and Aranesp — topped $9 billion last year for Amgen and Johnson & Johnson, their makers. Researchers for the study, to be published in The New England Journal of Medicine, divided anemic patients with kidney disease into two groups. One group received epoetin with a goal of almost fully correcting their anemia, a lack of red blood cells associated with fatigue and shortness of breath. The others were allowed to remain more anemic and generally received less epoetin. Patients in the first group were 34 percent more likely to die or suffer heart problems than those in the second. Dr. Ajay Singh, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and the study’s lead author, said the results were surprising and should encourage doctors to treat anemia less aggressively. The study tested anemia in kidney patients who did not yet need dialysis, a mechanical blood-filtering technique used to keep alive patients whose kidneys have almost entirely failed. But its findings should apply to patients on dialysis as well, Dr. Singh said. The findings reinforce mounting concerns that kidney patients may be receiving too much epoetin, in part because dialysis clinics make bigger profits for providing larger doses. Studies show that the clinics make little, if any, profit on the actual dialysis services they provide for Medicare patients, who are the vast majority of patients. The amount of epoetin received by the typical American dialysis patient has nearly tripled since the early 1990s. The average patient now gets epoetin doses similar to those given to the first group in Dr. Singh’s study. Death rates for dialysis patients are higher in the United States than in Europe, where doses are comparable to the second group’s, although doctors say other factors may also explain the difference. About 22 percent of American patients die every year, compared with about 15 percent in Europe. Dr. Singh said his study, with a second trial with similar results also to be published today in The New England Journal, did not necessarily prove that epoetin use was harmful. But the studies show that the anemia of many patients is being overcorrected and that doctors should aim for lower levels of red blood cells in their patients, he said. The simplest way to do that would be to give patients less epoetin. Susan Cruzan, a spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration, said the agency was aware of the study results and would evaluate the data. She noted that Epogen’s label already offered advice for doctors. The F.D.A., she said, will release a more complete advisory today. Amgen, which sells epoetin under the brand name Epogen and darbepoetin under the name Aranesp, said its drugs had been a boon for people with anemia and are properly used in the vast majority of patients. In fact, anemia may be undertreated in cancer and kidney patients, scientists at Amgen argue. Amgen said it was committed to the safety of its drugs and was conducting a clinical trial to study Aranesp in 4,000 kidney patients. But some scientists say that trial will not settle the most crucial issue about epoetin and darbepoetin: whether the drugs are routinely overused. In the first nine months of 2006, Amgen sold $4.9 billion of Aranesp and Epogen, accounting for almost half its revenue. Sales of the two drugs rose almost 15 percent compared with the period in 2005. Johnson & Johnson, which sells epoetin under the brand names Procrit in the United States and Eprex everywhere else, reported sales of $2.4 billion in the first nine months of 2006, down slightly from 2005. Epoetin, a naturally occurring protein produced mainly in the kidneys, stimulates bone marrow cells to produce hemoglobin, the main component of red blood cells. Darbepoetin, which was introduced in 2001, is a version of epoetin that has been slightly modified so that it does not need to be given as frequently. Both drugs are given via injection. Since epoetin was approved in 1989, it has become a standard treatment for more than 90 percent of dialysis patients in the United States, and it is increasingly used for patients with earlier-stage kidney disease. The drug is also widely used for cancer patients, who often suffer from anemia as a side effect of chemotherapy. Some cancers can also cause anemia on their own. Many kidney and cancer doctors and patients say epoetin has greatly improved the lives of people receiving dialysis or chemotherapy. Severe anemia can be debilitating, leaving patients unable to work, walk for over a few minutes or even think clearly, as well as increasing their risk of infection and heart disease. Before epoetin, blood transfusions were the only effective treatment for anemia. But transfusions carry a risk of infection and can eventually prevent patients from receiving transplants. For most patients, epoetin appeared a safe alternative. “The drug in and of itself has really advanced care for patients, so that they’re able to go back to do the things that they previously couldn’t,” said Kris Robinson, the executive director of the American Association of Kidney Patients and a kidney transplant recipient. “It makes a huge difference.”

A new study suggests that high doses of a best-selling drug used to treat anemia in dialysis and cancer patients may increase the risk of heart problems.

All’s well that ends well! On Sunday’s season finale of Rob & Chyna, Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna finally confronted all of their issues — and took that much-discussed paternity test to prove he is the father of their child, for once and for all. The episode picked up where last week’s left off, with Rob sitting down with his mother Kris Jenner to discuss his recent disappearance after an explosive fight with Chyna. “You have a responsibility,” said Kris, 60. “You can’t just blame everything on her every time something goes wrong.” But Rob, 28, was quick to reassure her everything was fine. “Everyone in my family is dramatic,” said Rob. “I get that they all just want to help, but I feel like everybody is pointing out my flaws. I just need some peace and quiet here and there.” Meanwhile, Chyna, 29, was still reeling from the fight — and the fact that Rob still hadn’t reached out to her. “I’ve done everything that you possibly could do,” she told her friend Paige, explaining that she even offered to go to therapy with him. “I don’t even know if I want to stay with Rob. I don’t know if I want to do this no more with him. … For some reason, he’s just been so resistant. At some point, there’s only so much I can do as a person.” While Paige urged her to keep trying, Chyna said she felt like at this point, both she and Rob would have to change everything about themselves to make it work. “At this rate, Rob ain’t changing and I don’t have time,” she said wearily. RELATED VIDEO: Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna Open Up About Family Feuds and Missing Kim’s Wedding Chyna decided to get some advice from Rob’s sister Kim Kardashian West, who came to Chyna’s Paper magazine cover shoot to show her support. The two women were previously close, and Chyna explained they were working on “rebuilding” their friendship. “If my boyfriend stopped talking to me for five days when I was pregnant, I would be pissed,” said Kim, 35, before offering to invite Rob over to her house with Chyna so the three of them could sit down and talk about their issues. The sit-down also happened to be the first time Chyna and Rob were seeing each other in seven days. “You’re a man, you have a kid if on the way, man up,” Kim told Rob. “If Kanye [West] did that to me …” Kim then told her brother he really needed to step it up for his daughter. “When the baby comes, you’re going to have a responsibility,” she said. “I pray to God that the second this baby comes, you’re happy.” Rob reassured her that he would be, and that he was hopeful about the future. “I think the baby is going to bring [Chyna and I] together in a really good way,” he said. The conversation seemed to go well, and Kim decided the three should continue meeting once a week or so. And it wasn’t just Kim trying to help guide the couple: Scott Disick, 33, also took the time to sit down with Rob and urged him to see a therapist — something Rob had resisted for a long time. “I’m just trying to understand what’s really going on,” said Disick. “Do you realize how many people you’re hurting?” “I can’t even like, explain to you,” replied Rob. “I’m completely fine. I’m enjoying myself. There’s a reason I continuously block every one of you guys. I’m trying to get my mind right for the baby and that’s it. That’s my only worry.” Finally, after some back-and-forth, Rob decided that seeing a therapist might not be such a bad idea, and he went over to Chyna’s house to let her know. “I think, you know, seeing somebody to talk to or whatever — I mean, it’s not going to hurt to just try it out,” he told her. “I personally don’t really agree with the whole thing, but I’m more than willing to try it out if it’s going to benefit you and I.” The session ended up going far better than Rob expected, and he opened up about some of the issues he was having with his fiancée. “[Chyna and I] moved very fast,” he told the therapist. “We were great in the beginning and now we’re at a place where we’re always at each other’s throats … but we both love each other.” Rob said he took issue with the fact that Chyna seemed to be fine with the possibility of the relationship not working out, which is why he felt he was distancing himself. “I genuinely love her, so I feel like I get more sensitive when we talk about certain things,” he said. “I just want her to be supportive of what I’m doing.” The therapist told Rob he and Chyna need to learn to accept each other for who they are, and that they need to be as open and honest with each other every single day. Rob agreed, and decided to go talk to Chyna about what he had learned. “Chyna’s not the easiest person to talk to,” he confessed. “But we have to figure out a way to better the communication.” RELATED VIDEO: Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna Can’t Wait for You to See ‘The Real Us’ Sitting down with Chyna, he admitted the session wasn’t as terrible as he thought it would be. “It was obviously mainly just about you and me, how I usually hold onto things a lot longer than you do,” he said. “We just don’t communicate well with each other.” Rob told Chyna he was upset he missed out on some major moments of her pregnancy: “This is my first time doing this, so that’s why I wanted to be a part of certain things,” he said. Chyna agreed to work on things. “I do put up a guard and that’s just me, but I’ll try to be more sensitive and more loving towards you and more supportive,” she promised. Despite all the positive steps Rob and Chyna were taking, there was still one thing in particular that was making Chyna uneasy — the fact that because Rob had wiped his social media accounts clean after the fight (and unfollowed Chyna), tabloid rumors were circulating that she had allegedly cheated on him. “A part of me wants to take a paternity test,” Chyna said. “I know it’s Rob’s child. I’ve only been with Rob since we started dating. It’s just to shut down the rumors on Internet.” Chyna went to Kim with the idea, and Kim agreed to help secretly try to obtain some DNA from Rob’s house. “The fact that Kim is down for the whole paternity test is just legend,” said Chyna. Unfortunately, Rob ended up being home and quickly realized something was up after Chyna dropped a toothbrush she had stolen from his bathroom. “You guys don’t come to my house like this, y’all are being weirdos,” she said. “I know y’all are up to something stupid. What are y’all doing?” “Basically, she wants to just get a paternity test just for you to see if you really are the father,” said Kim. “She just wanted you to be comfortable with it.” Rob said he was totally fine with that, and he and Chyna arranged for nurses to come to Chyna’s house to administer the test. Meanwhile, Rob decided to make up to his family for his recent disappearance and asked Jenner to set up a family dinner at home. Jenner was thrilled at the request, largely because Rob, who was previously living a majorly reclusive lifestyle, hadn’t attended a family dinner in years. “I want to let everyone know how much I appreciate them and I recognize that I need to handle myself a little bit differently and not just disappear,” said Rob. In addition to Jenner and Chyna, Rob’s sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian all showed up for the meal, as well as Disick and Jenner’s boyfriend Corey Gamble. “I don’t think we’ve all had dinner together for like, three years,” said Rob. “I tend to shut a lot of you guys out when I can’t handle something or I don’t want to deal with something.” Rob vowed to make a conscious effort to fit in important family time every week, or at least once a month. “When I look across the table I see someone who looks happy,” said Kris. “I hope that this is an ongoing scenario. … We love you Rob, and we miss you so much. We hope that we can do this all the time.” Things were looking up for Rob and Chyna, and the episode concluded on a particularly high note: with the results of the paternity test, which concluded that Rob is indeed the father. “Robert Kardashian, you are the father!” said Chyna, laughing. “I’m super relieved that this is done,” she added. “This baby is super, super, super blessed to have a daddy like Rob. I’m hoping this is going to bring me and Rob together.” As for where Rob sees the couple in five years from now? “I see just way more kids and a new house that we’re comfortable in that’s our house, our space that we can build a family in,” said Rob, reaching over to plant a kiss on Chyna. “And just being happy with you.” Catch the rest of Rob’s family when Keeping Up with the Kardashians season 12 returns Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on E!

Chyna decides to do the test to shut down tabloid rumors that she allegedly cheated on Kardashian

-- Palin, September 6, 2008, after becoming Sen. John McCain's 2008 running mate "Frank Bailey just donated four boxes of brownie mix for the visiting football team's quick peek at the mansion Friday night. I will bake them myself ... so, no more controversy, it's clear the state isn't paying for the students' treat." -- Palin, September 13, 2007, on complaints that she was favoring another high school team over Juneau's. "Talis - pls have one of your folks draft a short letter to Exxon 'encouraging' them pay the $500mil ... we need to be on the record as telling them to pay up, end this thing, end this misery. Then we're doing a presser on it." -- Palin to Attorney General Talis Colberg, July 1, 2008, on remaining Exxon Valdez oil-spill settlement "Thanks! Can u believe they haven't agreed to end this thing?" -- Palin, in a follow-up message "Come on - it's Exxon!" -- Spokeswoman Sharon Leighow, responding Why the heck would they choose to GROW an already bloated budget, esp going into reelections? -- Palin on an attempt to override her veto of a spending bill, June 6, 2008 "Constituents like community / district projects! -- Palin aide Kelly Goode, responding "Wonder how the Bitney replacement mention already got into the Ear. Sheeeesh -- I can trust people in this business as far as I can throw them ... another lesson for me that nothing is considered confidential to some folks, so fewer and fewer people should be brought in to 'think out loud' re: admin business." -- Palin, August 26, 2007, referring to an item about staff changes in an Anchorage Daily News column

Some highlights from the 24,000 pages of e-mails from Sarah Palin's governorship, released Friday by Alaska state officials:."Pls make sure we're getting state business announcements out to the

Image by Getty Images North America via @daylife President Obama has proposed spending another $450 billion to create jobs, but there are companies that want to do exactly that and need neither subsidies nor encouragement: the oil and gas companies. They are ready, willing and able to hire more workers—if only the White House would let them. The president has spent more than two and a half years and trillions of dollars trying to reduce the unemployment rate, which seems stuck around 9.0 percent—and the administration’s budget director recently said he thinks it will stay there through 2012. So far the president has put all of his energy-industry cards in creating “green jobs,” while doing his best to strangle the oil and gas industry. As Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot commented on Fox News Sunday, the Obama policy is “the idea that you can politically allocate capital, you can have government-direct investment, and you can create jobs, you can create wealth. And the fact is, it can’t. We discovered that. There are $39 billion worth of these Energy Department loans in addition to Solyndra [the now defunct green energy company that received a $527 million taxpayer-funded loan from the Obama administration]. How many jobs have they created by one measure? Four thousand. I think that’s $10 million a job …” Folks, this is policy and fiscal madness. Oil and gas companies directly employ more than 2 million Americans, from blue-collar workers to well-trained scientists and engineers. In addition, the industry supports millions of manufacturing, construction, mining and other indirect jobs—about 9 million of them in all. To the extent the industry is allowed to drill here, it creates and keeps jobs here. If oil and gas companies were allowed to explore in more domestic areas currently off limits, it would create an estimated 1 million more jobs—and those jobs wouldn’t cost the taxpayers a dime. Indeed, those companies would be paying millions of dollars in taxes. But it’s that “drilling here” part that is such a problem for this president and his environmentalist backers. After the BP oil spill, the administration put a moratorium on an already anemic record of approving deep-water drilling permits. Some oil companies sued in federal court and won, with the judge ordering the feds to start approving drilling permits. Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar then imposed another moratorium, which he pulled before a federal judge ruled against him a second time. Of course, the administration has other ways to limit drilling: regulators who drag their feet. However, within the past few weeks Salazar has indicated an openness to approve new drilling. Who knows why the newfound cooperation; maybe there’s an election coming up or something. Or maybe it’s just posturing. Salazar traveled to Alaska on August 8, explaining that the Obama administration supported more drilling in the state, potentially including offshore in the Arctic, but only under strict guidelines. In addition, the State Department recently announced its approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, a $7 billion project that would pump Canadian tar-sand oil across the plains, through Texas and down to the Houston area where several refineries can handle the heavy crude. Officials estimate that building the pipeline would create 20,000 jobs immediately, and another 100,000 indirectly. But more government approvals are needed before construction can begin.

Why does President Obama waste taxpayer money subsidizing

Kenneth Branagh narrates a sequence from the film. Poor Cinderella — she still can’t catch a break. In the 1950 Disney animated musical, her friendly neighborhood mice know the score and give it song: “Night and day, it’s Cinderelly! ‘Make the fire, fix-a breakfast, wash the dishes, do the mopping, and the sweeping and the dusting.’ They always keep her hopping!” In Disney’s latest version, directed by Kenneth Branagh, the mice stick to squeaking and look about as real as most computer-generated rodents. And, fascinatingly, much remains the same, including a fairy tale that opens with clear skies but soon plays the poor-little-girl blues before you-know-who comes along. “Maleficent” and its revisionism are so last year. Why Cinderella, why now? If you’re the Walt Disney Company the answer can only be: Why not? She may not be a princess (yet!) and the story may have been told innumerable times, but there’s gold in those glass slippers no matter how many miles they have on them. The cinema pioneer Georges Méliès told her story in 1899, perhaps for the first time on screen, and she recently popped up in Disney’s live-action adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” Disney has further helped stoke the demand for this new movie with two direct-to-video sequels to its 1950 film, “Cinderella II: Dreams Do Come True” (2002) and “Cinderella III: A Twist in Time” (2007). The Times critic Manohla Dargis reviews “Cinderella.” And here she is again, pretty as a picture, with flowing blond hair, a flashing smile, a fabulous gown — a bewitchingly blue number from the costume wizard Sandy Powell — and that go-good-girl triumphalism. First, though, here’s the once upon a time: “Cinderella” opens in an indeterminate past with long frocks, horse-drawn carriages and no cellphones, in one of those lavish soundstage countries. (The movie was partly shot in the Pinewood Studios in Britain.) There, 10-year-old Ella (Eloise Webb) safely nests in a pocket paradise alongside her homemaker mother (Hayley Atwell) and merchant father (Ben Chaplin), a small menagerie and a clutch of smiling servants. This being a fairy tale, heaven soon gives way to woe so the story can get down to business. Bruno Bettelheim claimed that “Cinderella” was the most popular fairy tale, so pardon my spoiler: Ella’s mother dies after some discreet coughing, time passes and Lily James takes over the role of the older Ella. A regular on the television series “Downton Abbey,” Ms. James effortlessly holds the big screen, less because of her beauty than the life that both animates and demystifies that beauty, making it seem less other (even a touch aspirational) and her character feel approachable and likable. It’s smart casting because that likability and the smiles it solicits help take the edge off Cinderella’s victimization and because the minute Ella’s father brings home a new wife, Ms. James becomes a wee planet in the orbit of a very bright star known as Cate Blanchett — the Stepmother, of course. In traditional iteration after iteration, the story of Cinderella is also that of mothers — dead, cruel and magical — who loom over this quintessential dutiful daughter far more than any man. One mother abandons Cinderella, leading the way for a second mother to torment her, who in turn opens the door for a third mother to come to the rescue with a wave of her wand. The prince may eventually find and marry Cinderella, but it’s a mother who truly saves her. It’s a strange matriarchal world, after all, if one still rived with complexities. Here, the screenwriter Chris Weitz adds some dimensionality to the standard conception of the Stepmother (as she’s only known), mostly by referencing the dire prospects for a widow with two children and no income of her own. Less genuinely wicked than seriously mercenary, this Stepmother can’t help but steal the show. Ms. Blanchett takes some of the credit (or blame), as does the visual design for the character which, from her soignée updos to a leopard-skin dressing gown, suggests a 1940s femme fatale. There certainly is a touch of Joan Crawford’s Mildred Pierce to the Stepmother and her sob-worthy back story (as well as her blood-red lipstick and power shoulders). And when Ms. Blanchett’s pale face emerges from behind a hat, the entrance evokes the likes of Jane Greer “coming out of the sun” in the noir “Out of the Past” so she can destroy Robert Mitchum. Even so, the Stepmother isn’t really evil — she just proves, from her smoky eyes to her enviable green frocks, that bad always sizzles more than good. Ms. Blanchett, eyes widening and narrowing, and teeth all but gnashing, plays the role at full Cruella de Vil tilt. It’s a divertingly oversize, near-vaudevillian performance ornamented with frozen looks, boogieing brows and rubber-band-like mouth contortions. Mr. Branagh’s ascension into big-budget studio directing largely remains a mystery, and there’s little in “Cinderella” beyond its faces and gowns that captures the eye or the imagination. His one interesting directorial choice is to fold in different performance styles, which tend to fall into exaggerated, almost-burlesque mode or a more familiar naturalistic expressiveness. This suggests that, at least in the case of the Stepmother (if not her nitwit daughters), cruelty sometimes may be more a mask than a question of being. You know the rest, bibbidi-bobbidi-boo and all that jazz. Helena Bonham Carter toddles in as the Fairy Godmother and Richard Madden (“Game of Thrones”) gallops in as the Prince. Mildly charming and orthodontically dazzling, the Prince first sees Ella taking a very unmaidenly bareback horse ride, a scene that conveys that she remains free despite the home-front misery. Try as the filmmakers might to obscure her victimization, there’s no getting around that this Cinderella has to do time as the classic persecuted woman even if the Disney imperative means that she must also dust herself off, go to the ball and waltz into a happy ending. As tabloids, reality television, countless novels and sometimes the movies suggest, you cannot keep a good woman down, even if it’s fun trying. “Cinderella” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). A mother dies and animals and vegetables are bewitched. Directed by Kenneth Branagh; written by Chris Weitz; director of photography, Haris Zambarloukos; edited by Martin Walsh; music by Patrick Doyle; production design by Dante Ferretti; costumes by Sandy Powell; produced by Simon Kinberg, Allison Shearmur and David Barron; released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. WITH: Cate Blanchett (Stepmother), Lily James (Ella), Richard Madden (Prince), Stellan Skarsgard (Grand Duke), Holliday Grainger (Anastasia), Sophie McShera (Drisella), Derek Jacobi (King), Helena Bonham Carter (Fairy Godmother), Nonso Anozie (Captain), Ben Chaplin (Ella’s Father) and Hayley Atwell (Ella’s Mother). A version of this review appears in print on March 13, 2015, on page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Disney Polishes Its Glass Slippers. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Much of the fairy tale remains the same in the latest version, but the writer does add some dimensionality to the standard conception of the stepmother.

The insider trading charges against Anthony Chiasson, a co-founder of Level Global Investors, and Todd Newman, a former portfolio manager at Diamondback Capital Management, has put the two defendants at odds and may end up with one implicating the other as part of a defense strategy. The government has accused the two men of receiving inside information through a “circle of friends” who exchanged information about technology companies. Mr. Chiasson is charged with reaping the largest profits for his hedge fund — about $57 million — by shorting Dell shares before a negative earnings announcement in August 2008. Mr. Newman is also accused of trading in Dell at the same time, but in much smaller amounts. The information was passed around among a group of analysts who have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in the case. Unlike other recent insider trading cases, however, the government does not have wiretaps or other consensual recordings to show how the tips made their way to Mr. Chiasson and Mr. Newman. Thus, the case will ride on whether analysts who worked for the two defendants are believable witnesses for the prosecution. One quirk in the case is that there is no direct connection between Mr. Chiasson and Mr. Newman, although they are charged with being members of the same conspiracy. They worked at different firms, and the information reached them by different paths. Neither has much incentive to cooperate by putting up a united front. For the case against Mr. Chiasson, the indictment accuses him of receiving the inside information from Spyridon Adondakis, an analyst at Level Global who pleaded guilty to passing inside information. According to recent filings in the case, one way Mr. Chiasson’s lawyers plan to attack Mr. Adondakis’s credibility is by showing that he rarely shared confidential information with Mr. Chiasson. To that end, the defense plans to introduce nearly 1,000 e-mails sent by the analysts containing corporate information in which Mr. Chiasson was rarely listed as a recipient on the chain of messages. Defense lawyers are likely to argue that Mr. Adondakis is someone who is an admitted criminal who never shared inside information with his boss. It was only after being caught did he offer up a prominent hedge fund manager in the hope of getting a significant reduction in his sentence. The problem for Mr. Newman is that a few hundred of those e-mails included him as a recipient. Many were sent by an analyst at Diamondback who has also pleaded guilty to being Mr. Newman’s source of inside information. To the extent the e-mails show Mr. Adondakis and others engaged in wrongdoing, they implicate Mr. Newman in the same criminal conduct. He could suffer some rather significant collateral damage if Mr. Chiasson argues that the e-mails are evidence of violations of the federal securities laws by Mr. Adondakis and his cohorts. The e-mails might hurt Mr. Newman’s case, but that is of little concern to Mr. Chiasson because it has become a situation of “every man for himself.” To avoid this problem, Mr. Newman has asked a United States District Court judge, Richard J. Sullivan, to sever his case so that he is tried separately from Mr. Chiasson, or to bar his co-defendant from using the e-mails as part of his defense. Mr. Newman argues that the e-mails would not be admitted as evidence if he had a separate trial, and that they are potentially prejudicial to his case if the jury misuses them despite any instruction the judge might give to consider them only with regard to the charges against Mr. Chiasson. Mr. Chiasson naturally opposes the proposal to preclude his lawyers from introducing the e-mails because they can support his position that Mr. Adondakis did not tip him by keeping secret any inside information he received. Federal prosecutors have told the court they are sitting this one out by not taking a position in support of either defendant. This is not the first time the defendants sought separate trials. In the summer, they asked Judge Sullivan to sever their cases because they were not part of a single conspiracy as alleged in the indictment but instead there were multiple agreements, sometimes called “hub and spoke” conspiracies. If they were not part of the same agreement, then it would be improper to try them together. Judge Sullivan denied their motions without explanation, although the likely reason is that there is enough overlap in the evidence that a jury could find a single conspiracy and therefore it would be more efficient to conduct a joint trial. With the trial scheduled to begin on Oct. 29, this latest motion presents a significant challenge. At this late date, ordering separate trials could mean substantial inconvenience for the government because prosecutors will have to reorganize their case to concentrate on only one defendant after preparing for a joint trial. The court would face the prospect of two trials about the same basic set of facts, with some of the cooperating witnesses testifying twice about the same inside information. Any inconsistencies in their testimony will be fodder for cross-examination in the second case, potentially giving the defendant who is tried later an unfair advantage. Keeping the defendants together for trial, however, means Judge Sullivan will have to figure out whether to admit the e-mail evidence that goes to the heart of Mr. Chiasson’s defense that he did not trade on inside information, or to keep it out to prevent the evidence from harming Mr. Newman’s case. If he does not grant Mr. Newman’s severance motion and the defendants are convicted, then one will have a significant issue to argue in an appeal. US v Newman Opposition to Severance US v Newman and Chiasson Indictment This post has been revised to reflect the following correction: This article has been updated to indicate that Todd Newman, a portfolio manager at Diamondback Capital Management, is no longer with the firm.

The insider trading charges against Anthony Chiasson, a co-founder of Level Global Investors, and Todd Newman, a former portfolio manager at Diamondback Capital Management, may end up with one implicating the other as part of a defense strategy.

China’s in the news this morning for economic growth that’s not as bad as investors expected. But one of the most interesting features of my recent trip to Hong Kong and Singapore — not in the news today — was the incredible economic power of outflowing Chinese capital. Capital flowed out of Hong Kong in anticipation of its handover to mainland China. But much of that capital returned when it became clear that the worst case scenario was not imminent — returning prices there near their all-time high. Last month, Singapore made it harder for foreigners to invest in its real estate market and one insider told me he thinks that law will cut real estate prices there 30%. Why are wealthy Chinese so eager to get their money out of the country? It’s not hard to see — after all, thanks to the Internet, those wealthy Chinese know what’s going on in the rest of the world. For example, they know that Russian billionaires who run afoul of the government can lose everything overnight and end up in a cold prison cell. Those wealthy Chinese also know that there are other countries — such as Canada and the U.S. – where members of their extended families can enjoy much greater political freedom and protection from the threat of a government takeover of their holdings. And in China, that threat appears to worry the wealthy. According to NPR’s Morning Edition, Illinois is offering wealthy Chinese a green card in exchange for making a $500,000 investment in the U.S. I think this is a really clever way to make both parties better off — the U.S. gets capital to boost our economy and the wealthy Chinese get a safer place to park their money. As one such wealthy Chinese told Morning Edition, working with the government is the key to getting rich in China. And if a wealthy investor has a falling out with the government, there’s a good chance that investor could lose his wealth and his freedom. And as I pointed out in December, the Chinese government has no qualms about going into competition with a private company that’s achieved success. Such a move may have cost Goldman Sachs (GS) its $120 million investment in a nylon ingredient company there, Cathay Industrial Biotech. But such intellectual property (IP) based investments do not appeal to Chinese investors. Above all, they value real estate as the best place to park their money. In China, parents want to buy homes for their children — and if they can afford it — their grandchildren as well. But the Chinese investors are frustrated by the legal system there which does not allow them to own land. Instead, the Chinese government leases the land to its citizens and lets them purchase the property. And the threat of losing the lease on the land jeopardizes the investment. Morning Edition interviewed a financial advisor to the wealthy in China, a Mr. Yang, who pointed out the perceived advantages of the U.S. for Chinese investors. In the U.S., investors can own the land and the home and can pass them onto their children.

Image via Wikipedia China's in the news this morning for economic growth that's not as bad as investors expected. But one of the most interesting features of my recent trip to Hong Kong and Singapore -- not in the news today -- was the incredible economic power of outflowing Chinese capital. Capital flowed out of [...]

Quickly summarize what you do: I am seeking positive narratives for Africa by connecting Africans, giving them visibility via a wonderful platform called Africa Gathering. Do you have a website / blog? www.mariemejamme.comWebsite you can't live without? Hero or person who inspires you? Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Deborah Meaden What is the purpose of the Africa Gathering? How is it encouraging others to make a positive impact? We founded Africa Gathering to allow people to come and share their ideas about Africa. We wanted people to connect, share ideas, and learn from one another. We see Africa differently so having this amazing platform gives every body interested in Africa to come and share their ideas under our historical palaver tree. How important is access to information? Are societies with instant access to the Internet guilty of taking that for granted? Accessing to information is extremely crucial; it's like drinking water every day in my view. Having access to both continents myself, I feel very privileged. I think in the West people indeed take quick and instant access to information for granted. We have noticed that in Africa for example demand to have access to information has increased. The African middle class is looking to connect with the rest of the world quickly, even the in the villages. What is your take on the power of the mobile phone to improve people's lives? Can mobile revolutionise political engagement in Africa? The mobile phone is becoming less of a luxury in Africa. People from remote villages of African people have now mobile phones to communicate and distribute information. Trough SMS they are getting information to change their communities, engage politically and make a difference. We have Internet in cities, SMS in villages, and software developers waiting to make something amazing. What are the next steps being made to push development in Africa? How have the problems in Africa changed over the last 20 years? This is an interesting question. Development is being redefined and re-invented in Africa. In the last 5 years I noticed that NGO are engaging better with communities, restructuring their position, learning from their mistakes and communicating what they are doing via the web. Social Media is playing a great role on international development for example. African problems are indeed changing due to the fact that African themselves are playing their roles by engaging, collaborating with their governments. They are also telling their own stories via blogs, forums etc.. What advice do you have to those wanting to promote transparency, better governance and make a difference through technology? My advice for them is to engage with change makers across the continent. Africa is a progressive continent as you know; we have more CEOs, entrepreneurs, software developers, bloggers than ever. People are getting more connected, looking to engage via diverse routes. I think in order to promote transparency, governance in Africa our ways of engaging needs to change. We need to structure ourselves in order to avoid wasting time. People need to understand what good governance can do to change their lives. Transparency is talked about in Africa every day, but leaders in government are not educated enough to understand this. We need to show them or teach them. I know that The Tony Blair foundation is addressing this by talking to leaders in Rwanda, Sierra Leone for example. The Gates Foundation is giving grants to organisation so they can create educational platforms like the Guardian Global Development site and Allafrica.com.And finally, what can we expect from you at Activate? I hope to share with people ideas that will make them see Africa differently, I also hope that I will be able to convinced them that engagement is key in the next 10 years either by investing, learning, from the people on the ground or simply by collaborating with people whom may have not got the financial resources, but have the passion to make a difference. We need more actions!

Mariéme gives advice to those wanting to promote transparency, better governance and make a difference through technology

Lindsay Lohan has suffered from asthma since childhood. Lindsay Lohan is making a speedy recovery one day after being rushed to the hospital for what her mom says was a case of asthma. "She's feeling better," Dina Lohan told the Daily News on Tuesday. On Monday, Dina told the News her daughter's latest health problems were caused by a powdery substance - pollen. "Lindsay had not been feeling well all last week following a week of high pollen counts in New York," she said. "She has had bronchial asthma ever since she was little." Millions of people have seasonal allergies to pollen, a fine, powdery substance produced by plants, according to the Mayo Clinic. That allergic reaction is a common trigger for asthma. Though asthma victims sometimes don't realize they are having an ongoing attack, confusing it with bronchitis or other respiratory ailments, by Sunday the 26-year-old's mother had put her foot down, claims a friend of the "Liz & Dick" star. EARLIER: LINDSAY LOHAN RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL "Dina brought Lindsay to the hospital emergency room herself," the friend told The News. "She's at Dina's home now, resting," the source added. "Her mother is keeping a close eye on her. She's safe." Pollen counts in the city were rated at their highest levels by Weather.com in the days leading up to Lindsay's attack. SEE IT: LINDSAY LOHAN'S COMEBACK VEHICLE 'LIZ & DICK' DEBUTS WITH FIRST TRAILER Lindsay has suffered from asthma since she was a child. In 1996, she was hospitalized on Martha's Vineyard during the filming of "Parent Trap" because of an asthmatic reaction to horses, to which she is allergic. Her father said Monday Lohan’s asthma problems were once nearly life-threatening. LOHAN TO SUE COOK WHO CLAIMS SHE WAS DRUNK DRIVING: REPORT “She’s fine, but she had a bad case of asthma as a kid, so she has to take these things seriously,” Michael Lohan told the Daily News. “When she was a kid, we almost lost her a couple of times because of the asthma.” The starlet’s health problems come amid more turbulent times for the actress. She was charged last week with leaving the scene of the accident after allegedly bumping a man with her Porsche in Chelsea, though she has maintained she was not under the influence and is reportedly considering suing the “victim” for claiming she reeked of alcohol.

Lindsay Lohan’s mother says the starlet's latest health problems were caused by a powdery substance - pollen. "Lindsay had not been feeling well all last week following a week of high pollen counts in New York," Dina Lohan told The Daily News. "She has had bronchial asthma ever since she was little."

Donald Trump continued to push the contentious issue of Ted Cruz’s presidential eligibility on Friday, threatening that he has legal standing to sue Cruz for not being a “natural born citizen.” “If @TedCruz doesn’t clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen,” Trump posted on Twitter. Does Trump really have grounds to sue Cruz? According to some legal experts, the answer is yes, but they’re divided on how a court would handle such a claim. The real estate mogul has previously raised questions about whether Cruz’s Canadian birth disqualifies him from being considered a natural born citizen, warning that Democrats might file a lawsuit to dispute Cruz’s presidential eligibility. Some voters have already filed suits against Cruz, but experts tend to agree that a suit filed by a rival candidate, such as Trump, would hold more weight. “For standing, you have to have injury, and his injury would be that he could quite possibly lose votes that would go to Cruz that might’ve gone to him,” said Mary Brigid McManamon, a constitutional law professor at Delaware Law School. She said a voter’s claim is less significant because their injury is the same as that of everyone in the state. Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe said Trump’s standing is plausible but not legally guaranteed. “Its plausibility gets greater the closer we get to the point where it’s clear that Cruz himself (and not Cruz together with Bush, Kasich, Rubio, and perhaps others) is the real obstacle to Trump’s nomination and thus a clear source of concrete injury to Trump’s prospects for the Republican presidential nomination,” Tribe said in an email. Both McManamon and Tribe have argued that Cruz is not a natural born citizen based on a strict interpretation of the Constitution and is, therefore, not eligible to be president. McManamon said Trump should win a suit if he chooses to bring one, but she’s cautious about predicting what a court would do. “It would be interesting to see if a court would actually take it,” she said. “They really don’t want to be in the middle of a political hot potato.” Jonathan Adler, a constitutional law professor at Case Western Reserve University, is skeptical that a court would touch the issue at all. He said Trump would likely file a suit in one state to try to get Cruz excluded from that state’s ballot. “Whether or not he would have standing would ultimately depend on that state’s rules,” Adler said. “There are some courts who might say this is really a question for voters to determine.” Adler, who has argued that Cruz is a natural born citizen, said he doesn’t see any basis for a claim brought in federal court, but he thinks Trump could argue injury at the state level. “Trump has at least a more plausible claim of injury because he can claim that he lost votes because of one erroneous decision on ballot eligibility,” Adler said, adding that he doesn’t expect a suit would get very far. “I happen to think that the best arguments on the merits support Cruz’s eligibility, but even apart from that, I just don’t see courts intervening on this sort of thing,” Adler said, noting that Trump would be fighting an uphill battle. “I mean, he’s done crazier things, so we’ll see.”

But they're divided on how a court would handle it

A law adopting statewide high school exams for graduation took effect in Pennsylvania on Saturday, with the goal of ensuring that students leaving high school are prepared for college and the workplace. But critics say the requirement has been so watered down that it is unlikely to have major impact. Matt Biers-Ariel helped prepare his students at Winters High School in California for the state's high school exit exam. The situation in Pennsylvania mirrors what has happened in many of the 26 states that have adopted high school exit exams. As deadlines approached for schools to start making passage of the exams a requirement for graduation, and practice tests indicated that large numbers of students would fail, many states softened standards, delayed the requirement or added alternative paths to a diploma. People who have studied the exams, which affect two-thirds of the nation’s public school students, say they often fall short of officials’ ambitious goals. “The real pattern in states has been that the standards are lowered so much that the exams end up not benefiting students who pass them while still hurting the students who fail them,” said John Robert Warren, an expert on exit exams and a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. “The exams are just challenging enough to reduce the graduation rate,” Professor Warren added, “but not challenging enough to have measurable consequences for how much students learn or for how prepared they are for life after high school.” In 2008, state officials in Alabama, Arizona and Washington delayed the start of the exit exam requirement and lowered standards after seeing that many students, including a disproportionate number of minorities, would fail the tests. Many states have faced lawsuits over the proposed requirements amid accusations that the tests are unfair to students with disabilities, non-native speakers of English and students attending schools with fewer educational resources. These concerns have been bolstered by recent studies that indicate that the exams lead to increased dropout rates by one or two percentage points. But proponents say that with the decline in manufacturing and the growth of the information economy, higher educational standards are needed to reinforce the value of a high school diploma. The exams, they argue, give school districts better incentives to succeed and ensure that no one will graduate without documented skills in specific subjects. “Momentum is definitely still moving in favor of states’ adopting these exit exams,” said John F. Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, which publishes annual reports on high school exit exams. Mr. Jennings added that this momentum was likely to grow next month when the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, which represents state school superintendents, are to release a common core of state standards in English-language arts and mathematics for kindergarten through Grade 12. Federal officials have set aside $350 million for states to create tests that correspond to the new national standards, and Mr. Jennings said there was a good chance that states would consider adopting these new tests for their exit exams. Despite criticism of exit exams, some experts say that schools have benefited from them. Surveys indicate that teachers say the tests have brought clearer guidelines on curriculum, which they find helpful. And after the exam grades begin to count, students often start taking them more seriously, which causes passage rates to increase, Mr. Jennings said. Gerald L. Zahorchak, the secretary of education in Pennsylvania, is a strong advocate for the state’s new tests, which will be phased in over the next five years. “I want more than anything to be able to say with confidence that every Pennsylvania student who receives a diploma is ready for the real world,” Dr. Zahorchak said. He added that in 2007-8, more than 20,000 public high school graduates who enrolled in a public higher education institution required some form of remedial help, with a total cost to taxpayers, students and parents in excess of $26 million. Nonetheless, responding to fervent opposition from legislators, teachers unions and advocates for parents who feared a loss of local control, Pennsylvania opted in October to allow school districts to substitute their own versions of the exit exams, with state approval, and to give students who fail multiple times alternative paths to graduation. The rules in Pennsylvania require students to pass at least four courses, with the end-of-course exams counting for a third of the course grade. If students fail an exam or a section of an exam, they will have two chances to retake it. If they cannot pass after that, they have the option of doing a subject-specific project that is approved by district officials.

On the way to creating a statewide exit test for graduation, many states have softened standards, delayed the requirement or added alternative paths to a high school diploma.

Many mass circulation magazines that already have regional editions have instituted demographic editions. Some of these are designed to attract advertisers wishing to reach the higher-income, bettereducated crowd, either in society generally or in business particularly. In other words, the audience already being reached by such publications as The New Yorker, Scientific American and Forbes. Among the ways those three are fighting back is by challenging the audience claims of the demographic editions. That is, they are insisting that the Audit Bureau of Circulations require that publishers statements include separate data on demo editions. The ABC board has been resisting, so the three publications ran a couponed ad last December in Advertising Age intended to solicit the attitudes of agency people on the issue. An independent auditor reported that 75 of the 76 responding executives called for such a publishers statement. The finding was transmitted by telegram to all members of the ABC board, who meet this week in San Juan. Having noted the count of respondents, the wire asks, ''What else constitutes substantial support for such audits?'' ABC publisher's statements let advertisers know about the quality of a magazine's circulation, where it comes from and how it was obtained. This is very important in judging the kind of audience advertisers are paying to reach.

Many mass circulation magazines that already have regional editions have instituted demographic editions. Some of these are designed to attract advertisers wishing to reach the higher-income, bettereducated crowd, either in society generally or in business particularly.

A police cruiser was left running with the keys inside Friday morning when it was stolen by a man who crashed it into a Starbucks, a light pole and another car on La Brea Avenue, officials said. The 25-year-old man was in critical condition after losing at least one leg. Officials had originally said he lost both legs, but later said they weren't sure if it was one or two. The incident began about 4 a.m. when Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to a robbery at the Motor Inn Motel in the 3000 block of South La Brea Avenue, where an unidentified man jumped into the unattended cruiser and drove off, said Sgt. Jon Pinto of the LAPD's Southwest division. The suspect sped north on La Brea, where he ultimately crashed into a light pole, another car and a Starbucks at San Vicente Boulevard, totalling the cruiser. He was taken to a hospital and lost at least one leg, Pinto said. No other injuries were reported.Barricades were set up about a block in each direction of the accident, police said."We train our officers to always keep their vehicles secure because of the weapons and the equipment we have inside," Pinto said. "Sometimes, there are exigent circumstances, where it might be unsecured for a short period of time because we want to enter an emergency situation." Deputy U.S. marshal indicted in off-duty fatal shooting Video of LAPD body-slamming woman disturbing, chief says More cases of hantavirus at Yosemite; some camp cabins closed Follow Melissa Leu on Twitter and Google+. Photo: Los Angeles police investigate at the scene after a man stole a police car and smashed into a Starbucks on La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles. Credit: Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times

A police cruiser was left running with the keys inside Wednesday morning when it was stolen by a man who crashed it into a Starbucks, a light pole and another car on La Brea Avenue, police said.

Sarah Reid of Canada starts a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Canada's John Fairbairn leaves after competing in the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Feb. 14, 2014, at the Sanki Sliding Center in Sochi, Russia. Leide Preidulena of Latvia completes a run during the women's skeleton final at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Noelle Pikus-Pace of the United States competes a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Eric Neilson of Canada reacts after competing a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Marion Thees of Germany finishes a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Ben Sandford of New Zealand competes a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Alexandros Kefalas of Greece competes a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Ander Mirambell of Spain starts a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Sean Greenwood of Ireland competes a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. John Daly of the United States competes a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Matthias Guggenberger of Austria competes a run during the men's skeleton heats at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Mellisa Hollingsworth of Canada makes a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 13, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Janine Flock of Austria makes a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 13, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Lucy Chaffer of Australia reacts as she finishes a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 13, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Olympians wear wacky helmets down the skeleton course.

President Xi Jinping might become one of the most consequential leaders in Chinese history. In a rare concentration of power, Xi is the country’s military chief, president, and the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. When Parliament elected Xi in 2012, he won 99.87% of the vote—only four out of 3,000 members voted against him. But Mao Zedong, the “father” of the People’s Republic of China, and Deng Xiaoping, the architect of the country’s capitalist economy, still overshadow Xi. His legacy remains uncertain as China’s recent economic turmoil and the Tianjin explosions reveal potential problems for his governance. Watch the video above to learn about China’s leaders through history.

He is one of the most powerful leaders in modern Chinese history

Percy Sledge’s first and best-known song - a No 1 in the US and Canada, and top 5 in the UK in two decades - might have proved an albatross for a lesser talent. But it was to his credit – and testament to the strength of his debut – that he managed to parlay a successful career beyond that single and not get dwarfed by the enormous shadow that it cast. The first few moments are all about the organ, the heartbeat bass line and the churchy, gospel feel of the chords. As intros go, it’s as striking as anything in 60s pop – so striking, in fact, that Procol Harum were inspired by it in the creation of their own signature anthem, A Whiter Shade Of Pale. Sledge acknowledged the impact of his song on the progress of prog rock when he covered A Whiter Shade himself. The only wonder was that it didn’t cause a Blurred Lines/Marvin Gaye-style legal meltdown at the time. Sledge’s second single - and second-biggest hit, reaching No 17 in the US - also pleaded, “Take me to church”. But it was a prime slice of secular yearning as much as it was steeped in the gospel, a quintessential example of original R&B, all fervour and grit, the antithesis of the shiny hi-tech dance music made under that soubriquet today. The singer was only 24 at the time of this performance but he seemed much older, and even in this song of devotion there is a subtextual sadness that suggests he suspects his ardour will not be reciprocated. Possibly why here, and on many of his songs, Sledge sounds on the verge of tears. On his third hit (No 20 in the US) he does cry, or at least he admits that he will in the lyrics, because he’s just seen his girl with his back-stabbing best friend. Co-written by Dan Penn (whose songs include The Dark End of the Street and The Letter), it is tailor-made for Sledge, bleeding dolour from every vocal sob, doomed never to have his love requited in this “cold, cold world” where he feels “like I’m dyin’”. Penn may not have known, but Sledge’s girlfriend ditched him in real life to become a model after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, ahead of his recording career, but even if he had no idea, his song perfectly suited Sledge, the King of Pain. His fifth single (which just scraped the American top 50) was another heartfelt ballad, this one featuring on the soundtrack to Tom Cruise movie The Color of Money – Sledge had an “afterlife” in the 80s thanks to Levi jeans, who used When a Man Loves a Woman in an ad campaign. This one had the hymnal quality of most of his best work, albeit with a hint of light as he meets a woman “out of nowhere”, and this time the relationship doesn’t seem illusory, destined to fail or fated to not happen at all. It is a suitable case for forensic scrutiny: which occurs more frequently in the pop canon, male or female betrayal? Certainly in Sledge’s oeuvre, it is usually the woman doing the man wrong. This one replicates the descending chord sequence of When a Man and revisits the tragically faithless scenario of It Tears Me Up. Here, the woman of his dreams becomes his wife only to find her with another man after the wedding, and all because he didn’t heed his mother’s warning: “she was bad”. Sledge sang the blues in his songs, and in doing so turned them into classics of southern soul. Recorded at the burgeoning Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama, released on Atlantic records, they remain piquant peaks of unbridled passion and searing sorrow.

We all know When A Man Loves A Woman, but there was more to the southern soul singer with the searing voice, who has died aged 73

The reason for the press conference was to announce that he had raised at least $5.6 million for vets, but Trump spent almost a full hour directing his invective at the press corps at Trump Tower in New York. At one point, he was asked if this is how he planned to conduct himself if he won the White House and Trump said you better believe it. "You think I'm gonna change? I'm not gonna change," Trump said. The news conference comes four months after Trump first announced he had raised $6 million -- including $1 million of his own money -- for veterans causes during a fundraiser he hosted instead of attending a GOP primary debate in January in Iowa. Trump repeatedly blasted the media for the way it has covered his fundrasing for vets. "All of the money has been paid out," Trump said. "The press should be ashamed of themselves, and on behalf of the veterans, the press should be ashamed of themselves." "There are so many people who are so thankful for what we did," Trump said, adding that the final figure could top $6 million once all the donations are in. "I'm totally accountable, but I didn't want to have credit for it," he added. Trump listed the vets groups -- there were more than 40 -- that he said had received money and the amounts that had been given to each. He said there were no administrative costs deducted from the donations. Trump revised that figure recently to $5.5 million following months of questions from reporters struggling to track the funds and dodging on the exact amount from the Trump campaign. Trump himself disbursed his $1 million pledge last week to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, a charity that helps support the families of fallen Marines and law enforcement officers to which Trump's foundation has previously donated. Amid reporters' questions, Trump and his campaign have repeatedly offered conflicting accounts of how much money was raised and declined multiple requests to provide a full accounting. The campaign has insisted it was working on disbursing the funds, but said it was waiting on some donors to make good on their pledges and also needed to properly vet the charities in the running to receive the funds. "Why should I give you records?" Trump told The Washington Post in an interview earlier this month. "I don't have to give you records." As reporters' inquiries dogged Trump, the billionaire has lashed out at the media, accusing them of twisting what should be a positive story. Three veterans groups earlier Tuesday confirmed donations from the Trump Foundation. The Bob Woodruff Foundation and the Boston Wounded Vets Run each confirmed donations of $75,000 apiece. The Racing For Heroes Foundation also received what the group's president described as a "large" donation. Hillary Clinton's campaign on Tuesday morning fired off a statement tweaking Trump over his accounting of the donations amid a multi-pronged push to counter Trump's news conference.

Donald Trump went on a sustained frontal assault against the media Tuesday, repeatedly calling out reporters as sleazy and dishonest.

04/30/2015 AT 08:30 PM EDT is racing to find a cure for Sanfilippo Syndrome. star will wake up in darkness and begin a through Bear Mountain, New York, on behalf of , a non-profit formed by one of 's crew members whose child was diagnosed with Sanfilippo. Miller's goal is to raise funds and awareness for the ultra rare disease, which can cause brain damage, bone deformities and organ failure, and often dramatically shortens the lives of children – many of whom don't live beyond their teenage years. "There's not enough being done for these kids right now," Miller, 42, tells PEOPLE. So he runs with an incredibly powerful motivator: "They're little kids, and they're families, and what's more important than that?" Happily for Miller, his hobby also happens to be heroic: "I'm lucky to be able to do this," he says. "I love running. What I'm trying to do in a small way is try and eke what benefit I can out of a small thing." He notes, "This is the way we often find ourselves helping people out – [the opportunity is] right there in front of you, and you say, 'I can do this right now, this is how I can contribute in my own way.' " An avid runner and sports enthusiast, Miller completed several marathons before escalating his training to tackle a 50-mile ultramarathon in 2013 because he was "really interested in what humans are capable of and what I was capable of – pushing, testing myself." Miller, who has also finished multiple 100-miles races for Jonah's Just Begun, says mental commitment is his secret weapon as a runner. "You decide that you're going to finish. Once you've done that, there's nothing really that can stop you. ... Once you're at the start line, really, it's over." nearly $200,000 for this race alone, Miller is most proud of the personal side of his efforts: "One impact is the families just realizing that somebody's listening. It can mean a great deal to the families who are coping with this. It's a devastatingly bleak situation to find yourself in where there's no cure for your child, their life expectancy is short and there seems to be nothing happening." By running and speaking to Congress, he hopes "to fuel the fire of that research and keep money coming in." After he finishes one marathon this weekend, Miller has a little more ground to cover professionally as heads toward its season 3 finish line on May 14. He offered this tease for Sherlock Holmes: "The biggest challenge [is that] he faces someone from his past whom he really dislikes who has a grip on him. His dark past rears its ugly head, and he has to really face that head-on in order to help a friend of his. He's faced with some difficult personal choices." airs Thursdays (10 p.m. ET) on CBS. Donations for Jonah's Just Begun can be made

The actor readies for an ultramarathon to help cure Sanfilippo Syndrome and teases the Elementary finale

I didn’t realise it until after he died – for whatever reason, I’d just never done the mental arithmetic – but Leonard Nimoy is responsible for the single most transformative moment of my life. In a very tangible way, Leonard Nimoy saved me. Of course, I have all the standard emotional attachments to the man as an actor and cultural icon: I grew up on Star Trek reruns and the ensuing films (when you’re done here, please sign my Change.org petition to get my fiance to wear Spock’s Voyage Home wizard bathrobe at our wedding); I used to watch The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins about 7,000 times every weekend, before I had to quit smoking pot because I convinced myself that I could “walk backwards through time”; and, in all seriousness, as a human being who believes in things – in love and humanity and the thrill of consciousness – it’s impossible not to be awestruck at the existence of such a principled, kind, talented, ravenously curious polymath. Related: The Full Body Project by Leonard Nimoy – in pictures But it’s one particular area of Nimoy’s art and activism that, for me, transcended appreciation and actually changed my life, and I’m surprised by how few people in my circle know about it. In 2007, Nimoy published a collection of photographs he titled The Full Body Project. The photos are in black and white, and they feature a group of women laughing, smiling, embracing, gazing fearlessly into the camera. In one, they sway indolently like the Three Graces; in another they recreate Herb Ritts’s iconic pile of supermodels. The women are naked, and the women are fat. When Nimoy’s photos took their first brief viral trip around the internet, I clicked, I skimmed, I shrugged, I clicked away. I couldn’t stop looking. It was the first time in my life – I realise in retrospect – that I’d seen bodies like mine honoured instead of lampooned, presented with dignity instead of scorn, displayed as objects of beauty instead of as punchlines. It feels bizarre to put myself back in that headspace now (and even more bizarre to register just how recent it was), but looking at Nimoy’s photographs was my very first exposure to the concept that my body was just as deserving of autonomy and respect as any thin body. Not only that, but my bigness is powerful. Up until that point, I conceived of myself as an unfinished thing – a life suspended until I could fix what was wrong with me. It’s how fat people are conditioned to feel: you’re not a person, you’re a before picture. You have no present and no future; you’re trapped for ever in a shameful past. As a woman, the shame is compounded, because women have an aesthetic duty, too. Nimoy described the shoot in his artist statement: I asked them to be proud, which was a condition they took to easily, quite naturally. Having completed the compositions that were initially planned, I then asked them to play some music that they had brought with them, and they quickly responded to the rhythms, dancing in a free-form circular movement in the space ... In these pictures, these women are proudly wearing their own skin. They respect themselves and I hope that my images convey that to others Unsurprisingly, friends of mine who have shared Nimoy’s Full Body Project on social media in the wake of his death have found their accounts suspended and their content deleted. It’s a testament to how necessary and radical Nimoy’s statement “I asked them to be proud” really is – how can we expect fat people to be proud when the mere existence of our bodies is classified as an obscenity? How can you even begin to see us as human beings if our physical presence in the world is offensive? (Meanwhile, I’ve reported violently racist and misogynist Facebook groups, graphic photos of mutilated corpses, and trolls calling for my rape and death, and been told that it’s all well within Facebook’s terms of service. It’s telling, I think, that even dead women are preferable to fat women.) Related: Zachary Quinto: Leonard Nimoy was like a father to me Though he was decades behind the pioneers of fat acceptance (and a straight white male saviour is always fraught), for me, Nimoy’s Full Body Project was the first piece of media that told me I had any intrinsic value. Denying people access to value is an incredibly insidious form of emotional violence, one that our culture wields aggressively and liberally to keep marginalised groups small and quiet. Everything in my life – my career, my relationships, my health, my bank account, my sleep schedule, my wardrobe – has got better since I began fighting that paradigm. I live long, and I prosper. Thank you, Leonard.

The late actor’s Full Body Project was bold and radical. It was the first time I’d seen women like me presented as objects of beauty instead of punchlines

Odds are Greece and its international creditors will strike some sort of deal to avoid default before a deadline looming at the end of June. The bigger question is whether Greece will emerge from a new bailout any better able to grow, and thus support its debts, than it did from prior deals. Alone among the countries at the center of the...

Capital Account: Chief economics commentator Greg Ip looks at why Greece, even if it avoids default at the end of June, is likely to continue struggling.

updated 10:08 AM EDT, Mon July 1, 2013 Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- The former wife of Nelson Mandela visited him Sunday in the hospital where the ailing anti-apartheid icon is clinging to life, the South African Press Association reported. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who was married to the former South African president from 1958 to 1996, described what it's like to see her former husband of 38 years struggle to live in an exclusive interview with UK network ITV News. "It is extremely painful to see him going through what he's going through now. But it's God's wish," Winnie Mandela told ITV. Nelson Mandela, 94, remains in critical but stable condition at a Pretoria hospital where he has been battling a recurring lung infection since June 8. Opinion: In an African slum, talking to Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela Crowds gather to support Mandela His condition worsened last week with family members saying his health was "delicate" and "anything is imminent." But daughter Zindzi Mandela told ITV between hospital visits that her father is alert and recognizes when a new person enters his hospital room. "The one time he did speak was to tell my mom to sit down ... because she was standing at the edge of his bed," she said, laughing. As his condition has deteriorated, South Africans have gathered outside the hospital, praying, lighting candles and leaving notes for the man they refer to as "tata," the Xhosa word for father. Those tributes continued Sunday as a Salvation Army band played hymns near the hospital and well-wishers gathered to be close to their beloved Madiba. Winnie Mandela shot down any suggestion that the family was discussing whether to end life support. "It was nonsense to suggest we needed to take a decision to pull the tubes," she told ITV. Obama challenges students to follow Mandela legacy Mandela became an international figure while enduring 27 years in prison for fighting against apartheid, the country's system of racial segregation. He was elected the nation's first black president in 1994, four years after he was freed. Even as he has faded from the spotlight, he remains popular and is considered a hero of democracy worldwide. The front page of South Africa's Sunday Times earlier this month carried the headline "It's time to let him go," quoting a longtime friend of the former president as saying the time may have come for South Africans to say goodbye. "Once the family releases him, the people of South Africa will follow. We will say thank you, God, you have given us this man, and we will release him too," friend Andrew Mlangeni told the paper. But Zindzi Mandela told ITV that what happens now is out of the family's hands. "When people say the family must let go, and we say let go of what? In fact he is deciding what's happening with himself. It's between him and his maker. It's not to do with us whatsoever," she said. CNN's Faith Karimi and Samira Said contributed to this report. Part of complete coverage on updated 6:28 AM EDT, Wed June 26, 2013 Messages outside a Pretoria hospital describe the fear and resignation felt by many that Mandela may not be with them much longer. updated 11:09 AM EDT, Thu June 13, 2013 CNN's Christiane Amanpour looks at how not just South Africans keep a close eye on Nelson Mandela's condition. updated 9:48 PM EDT, Wed June 26, 2013 Browse through intimate images of Nelson Mandela, including the earliest known photograph believed to be taken in 1938. updated 11:22 AM EDT, Mon June 24, 2013 While the world calls him Mandela, the man considered to be the founder of South Africa's democracy is known by a number of other names. updated 9:55 AM EDT, Sun June 30, 2013 Mandela was incarcerated at maximum-security Robben Island Prison. Look through photos of where the former leader spent 18 years. updated 2:43 PM EDT, Tue June 18, 2013 Nadia Bilchik: Mandela's profound lack of bitterness after 27 years of prison informed his life. updated 1:54 PM EDT, Thu June 27, 2013 Visitors to South Africa can retrace many of Mandela's most significant moments, among them his release from prison 23 years ago. updated 8:03 AM EDT, Tue April 30, 2013 Errol Barnett visits Nelson Mandela's home town to find out how his upbringing helped shape the future of a nation. updated 12:08 PM EST, Thu November 8, 2012 When South Africans open their wallets, they will be greeted by images of a smiling Nelson Mandela in various denominations. updated 12:45 PM EDT, Wed July 18, 2012 To mark Nelson Mandela's 94th birthday on July 18, 2012, we asked what the former South African president means to you. updated 8:39 AM EST, Fri January 11, 2013 South African singer Lebo M. on being handpicked to work on "The Lion King." updated 5:46 PM EDT, Tue July 17, 2012 CNN's Robyn Curnow talks to former President Bill Clinton about his memories and friendship with Nelson Mandela. updated 1:28 PM EDT, Mon July 16, 2012 An inside look at "The Mandela Portrait," a musical arrangement in tribute to Nelson Mandela's legacy.

The former wife of Nelson Mandela visited him Sunday in the hospital where the ailing 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon is clinging to life.

The troubled California gunman who killed six people last spring had plotted his murderous rampage for more than a year and practiced by stabbing pillows, according to a new sheriff’s department report. Elliot Rodger, a misogynistic 22-year-old virgin, killed a half-dozen people and wounded 14 others before fatally shooting himself in the head in Isla Vista, Calif. Rodger, the son of a Hollywood filmmaker, twice canceled his murderous plans, according to the report. But on May 23, 2014, he went through with the heinous act, writing in his journal: “This is it. In one hour I will have my revenge on this cruel world. I HATE YOU ALLLL! DIE.” The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office released a 64-page report Thursday summarizing the results of its investigation into Rodger’s killing spree. The loner had spent hours poring over Internet searches for ways to kill with a knife. He stabbed to death his first three victims, one of them 94 times, using two long fixed-blade weapons, including a nearly 9-inch boar hunting knife. The bloody ambush left roommates James Hong and Weihan “David” Wang, both 20, and a visiting friend, George Chen, 19, dead. According to the report, stab and slash marks on a fitted sheet and several pillows suggest Rodger rehearsed his actions and he searched online for “quiet silent kill with a knife.” In a preface to the report, Sheriff Bill Brown wrote that Rodger “clearly suffered from significant mental illness that ultimately resulted in homicidal and suicidal rage.” The disturbed man was armed with three legally purchased handguns and more than 400 rounds of ammunition when he raced through Isla Vista and gunned down two women outside a sorority and then killed a sixth person. The spree followed a video posted by Rodger, where he warned that he would slaughter those with a good life — especially women who shunned him, leaving him a 22-year-old virgin, authorities said. He also left a 137-page manifesto in which he detailed his life — and his disappointments with his family and women. The families of Hong, Wang and Chen have criticized the sheriff’s office for not telling them how the killings were carried out, and said they are angered by public health and legal systems that they said value the rights of the mentally ill, including Rodger, over those who may become their victims. “It’s Chinese New Year today and that is the most important day in the Chinese calendar,” said attorney Todd Becker. “All of our clients are of Chinese descent and it’s really an inappropriate day for this information to be released by the sheriff’s department.” Becker said the families, upon learning of the impending release, had asked sheriff’s officials to delay for the holiday. But the shooter’s father, Peter Rodger, said in a statement he has “nothing but respect” for how investigators did their jobs and treated his family after the release of the report. Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies also came under fire for not searching Rodger’s apartment for weapons during a welfare check weeks earlier when his parents became concerned about his postings on YouTube. The incident led to California enacting the nation’s first law allowing family members to ask a judge to remove firearms from a relative who appears to pose a threat. Lawmakers also bolstered firearm safety and added rules for ammunition sales. ON A MOBILE DEVICE? CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO.

Elliot Rodger, the California gunman who killed six people, spent more than a year planning the attack, police said.

When Council Brandon was in fifth grade, she found herself cornered into a bathroom stall by the ‘mean girls’ of her school, who told her she wasn’t pretty and needed a makeover. Council, 14, who lives in Hartford, Conn., said the torment didn’t stop - and she ended up skipping to sixth grade in hopes the older kids would be nicer. “I wasn’t afraid to show my knowledge in school, and I was not afraid to grow as a learner – they weren’t used to that,” Council said of her middle school peers. “Also, I was the only (Caucasian) person in my grade, so I wasn’t interested in the same music they were, or the same pop culture they were used to.” Council’s experiences are not unique, which is why she decided to become involved in – and co-host – the radio show “Bullied: Teen Stories From Generation PRX.” The show was created by Generation PRX and produced by WNPR, Connecticut Public Radio. A grant from the Motorola Mobility Foundation helped with funding. Jake Shapiro, CEO of PRX, an online distribution marketplace for public radio programs, said when he saw the topic of bullying emerging into the media, he knew his organization was in a position to make sure these young people’s voices were heard. Generation PRX is an initiative of the company aimed at connecting youth radio with radio programs. The initiative has tackled important issues affecting young adults all over the country, such as immigration and high school dropouts. “Bullied” is being featured on several different radio stations across the country, and it can be found streaming online here at www.prx.org A nationally conducted study found that approximately 30 percent of students are involved in bullying - as either the bully, the victim or both. However, bullying often goes unreported, said Jennifer Hartstein, a child and adolescent psychologist with a private practice in New York City. Hartstein, who is not involved in the radio show, said in the past, bullying typically occurred at school – but with today’s technology, bullying has expanded to social networks and YouTube, so students don’t feel safe in their own homes. “Bullying occurs in a much more public forum now, promoting the conversation,” Hartstein said. “Unfortunately, people think that it is a ‘rite of passage’ of childhood.” Bullying has lead to a few highly-publicized cases of tragedy. Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old high school student from Massachusetts, committed suicide in January 2010 after enduring verbal attacks from several of her classmates. Eden Wormer, a 14-year-old student from Vancouver, Wash., killed herself Wednesday after relentless bullying. Council, along with her co-host, 17-year-old Peython Echelson-Russell, worked with producers to evaluate dozens of story pitches sent from teens around the country, writing the scripts, interviewing experts and telling stories. “I think what’s exciting about it is that it gives the young people a direct channel for expression around this critical topic, as opposed to being mediated through adults,” Shapiro said. “We think it’s important in the mix to have a direct channel and voice – it’s very powerful when done through audio in storytelling.” One of the show’s vignettes was produced by Iris SanGiovanni, a 17-year-old junior at South Portland High School in Portland, Maine. Iris, who regularly participates in Blunt Youth Radio, came up with the idea of “Psychology of a Bully” because she wondered how a bully was different from a ‘normal’ person. “At any point in our lives, we’ve all been a bully – so what sets us apart from someone who does this habitually?” Iris wondered. Iris admitted when she was younger, she was cruel to a boy in elementary school – for no real reason – and that got her thinking: Why did she do that to him? What made her stop? She wanted to answer those questions. Iris interviewed Cynthia Erdley, a professor of psychology at the University of Maine at Orono, who said bullies often act out to elevate their social status. Erdley also said a bully’s behavior is often reinforced – especially because bystanders don’t say or do anything to stop the bad behavior. “It can even be ignoring what the bully is doing and letting it happen – that gives the bully power,” Erdley said. Iris also spoke to Alice, a former bully from Casco Bay High School in Maine, whose last name has been withheld for privacy reasons. In the vignette, Alice speaks of kicking a girl out of her clique and then pulling the girl’s pants down around her ankles in front of everyone. Alice explains she did this because as a newcomer to America, she had felt targeted, and she also didn’t have the happiest home. “Many of the outcomes of the victims are similar to those of bullies,” Erdley said. “Bullies are not happy people; they have lower self-esteem.” Other vignettes in the show include an interview with a ninth-grader whose classmates repeatedly called him “Osama,” a Swedish teenager who talked about her bullying issues, and an Alaskan middle schooler who looked at whether anti-bullying initiatives in schools actually work. Hartstein said she believes bullies do have the ability to change their behavior “in meaningful ways.” “The first step, as with all things, is being aware of the behavior, learning why you engage in it and deciding to change it,” she said. “Everyone can learn to do this, including children and teens. It’s important to get them to start examining their behaviors and learning how to be kinder and more compassionate. The earlier we can work on this, the better it will be down the road.”

Teens from across the country are speaking up and confronting bullying on a radio show called “Bullied: Teen Stories From Generation PRX”

The Capitol dome, the nation’s grandest symbol of federal authority, has been dinged by years of inclement weather, and its exterior is in need of repair. The dome has 1,300 known cracks and breaks. Water that has seeped in over the years has caused rusting on the ornamentation and staining on the interior of the Rotunda, just feet below the fresco “The Apotheosis of Washington,” which is painted on the Rotunda’s canopy. Like most of what the federal government is on the hook to fix — highways, bridges and airports — the dome is imperiled both by tough economic times and by a politically polarized Congress. While Senate appropriators have voted to repair the dome, which has not undergone major renovations for 50 years, their House counterparts say there is not money right now. In that way, the dome is a metaphor for the nation’s decaying infrastructure. “The dome needs comprehensive rehabilitation,” said Stephen T. Ayers, the architect of the Capitol, whose office oversees the building’s physical state. “It’s a public safety issue.” The skirt of the dome — the section around the base of the original sandstone foundation — was fixed up recently at a cost of about $20 million, but an additional $61 million is needed to repair and restore the rest of the structure’s exterior. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted just before Congress left for its August recess to provide the money. “I support funding the Capitol dome,” said Senator John Hoeven, Republican of North Dakota, who voted against an appropriations bill because it did not include money for the dome. (The money was included moments later in an amendment, which passed with Mr. Hoeven’s vote.) The appropriators in the Republican-controlled House are starting with a smaller overall budget for the 2013 fiscal year than the Democratic-controlled Senate, and they want to finance much of the government’s operations at lower levels. Senate leaders have decided that it would be too difficult to reconcile the two appropriations bills, as is normally done, until after the election. That means Congress will have to pass a short-term spending bill — the sort that set off the fight that almost shut down the government last year — and it most likely will not include more money for repairs. “This is not a ‘bridge to nowhere’ we’re talking about here,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the leader of the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees the architect’s office. “This is basic upkeep to the United States Capitol building. There is a time and place to debate spending levels and the proper role of the federal government, but when your house has a leaky roof, you pay to fix the roof.” The history of the dome has been marked by cost overruns and construction problems. The Capitol’s first dome, made of copper-covered wood, was completed in 1824 but by the 1850s was deemed too small. It was also seen as a fire hazard in a place where oil lamps, British attacks and other events had caused blazes. A cast-iron replacement was envisioned, and lawmakers, thrilled with the idea, appropriated $100,000 to begin construction, with the acquiescence of President Franklin Pierce. Construction on the cast-iron dome began in 1856 and progressed through various architects, disputes over the design and the Civil War, when the project was continued in part by workers who were afraid that the military would take the metals and repurpose them for war use, said Donald A. Ritchie, the Senate historian. The Statue of Freedom, which sits triumphantly atop the nine million pounds of ironwork that makes up the dome, was completed in December 1863, topping the project. The interior was finished in 1866, its famous fresco revealed. Total cost: $1,047,291, or more than $15 million in today’s dollars. The dome was completely restored in 1960 during the construction of the Capitol’s East Front extension. Weather remains its biggest enemy: precipitation pelts the exterior, and the statue endures the occasional strike of lightning. At least 100 pieces of the dome have fallen off or been removed, including a 40-pound cast-iron decorative acorn. Viewed from a (sort of scary) balcony between the fresco above and a frieze depicting American history that lines the Rotunda’s interior, tourists with iPhones and fanny packs can be seen lingering in awe hundreds of feet below, unaware of the water damage and chipping paint above. “When you have those conditions on the outside,” said Mr. Ayers, the Capitol’s architect, “it really accelerates deterioration on the inside,” including possible damage to the fresco, which is painted on plaster. In other words, just as it is best to fix a bathroom leak before it causes damage to the rest of the house, the dome repairs could prove much more expensive over time. The project will involve taking apart many pieces of the dome, one at a time, and then putting them back together once repaired, much like a puzzle, Mr. Ayers said. In many ways, the process reflects the history of the Capitol and the nation, said Mr. Ritchie, the historian. “The Capitol building is an interesting conglomeration,” he said. “It is a whole series of buildings put together at different times, and in that way it is a nice reflection of American democracy, which was put together piecemeal from a lot of different materials. It reflects one motto of our nation, ‘E pluribus unum,’ Latin for ‘Out of many, one.’ ” It is a project, however, that may be delayed until the country’s fiscal condition improves. “The Capitol is a wonderful story of the history of our nation,” Mr. Ritchie said. “And as a result it is preserved very carefully to maintain the story, not to mention to keep it from leaking into the Rotunda.”

The Capitol dome needs a comprehensive rehabilitation, but the House has declined to appropriate the $61 million required for repairs.

Ali Dizaei has been jailed for four years Photo: PA With Commander Ali Dizaei’s conviction for perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office today, the Met has finally rid itself of its single most destructive officer. Many Met chiefs – and many anti-racism campaigners with impeccable records – believe that at least some of what was described over the last few years as the Met’s “race problem” was in fact an “Ali Dizaei” problem. Dizaei, they say, used his office in the Met’s Black Police Association (BPA) to shield himself from the consequences of his own criminality. Any investigation of him was denounced as racist – and he also wound up other black officers, including the former assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, to press sometimes over-egged grievances so he would not be alone in the firing line. The Met does, I think, still have a real problem with race. There has been a remarkable lack of black officers promoted to senior roles, a number of troubling discrimination cases and settlements, a tendency for black recruits to leave sooner than whites. Black Londoners are significantly less satisfied with the Met’s service than whites. But black officers have been badly served by the BPA, and by their most senior standard-bearers, such as Ghaffur and Dizaei. There’s increasing evidence that many realise this – the association’s founding chairman, David Michael, for instance, has denounced the way that the BPA’s decisionmaking became dominated by a small group around Dizaei. Some commentators are claiming that there will be “big reverberations” from this conviction. There won’t be. After Dizaei’s arrest, the BPA called for black Londoners to boycott recruitment for the Met – a call that went almost entirely ignored. That showed how much clout Dizaei and the race-mongers really have.

[caption id="attachment_100025452" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Ali Dizaei has been jailed for four years Photo: PA"][/caption] With Commander Ali Dizaei's conviction for perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office today, the Met has finally rid itself of its single most destructive officer.

What causes bank stocks like Wells Fargo WELLS FARGO & COMPANY WFC 0.98% to trade for significantly higher valuations than bank stocks like Bank of America BANK OF AMERICA CORP. BAC 1.62% ? The easy answer is that because Wells Fargo has a long history of shrewder management and higher profitability than Bank of America, it seems reasonable to expect the former to earn more money than the latter, and to thus produce a higher shareholder return going forward. While this answer captures the essence of why some banks trade at valuations that are twice or three times the valuation of other banks, this explanation is too general. A more precise answer is that different things drive bank stock valuations at different times. This is a point that Richard Bove of Rafferty Capital Markets discussed in a recent note to clients. His breakdown is excellent and well worth sharing with the broader investing world. A brief primer on book value The difference between a bank’s assets and liabilities is its equity, or book value. This is the amount of money that, theoretically speaking, would be left over to distribute to shareholders after a bank sells its assets and pays its liabilities. Importantly, however, this is not what a bank is “worth” on the public markets. This estimate comes instead from a bank’s market capitalization, which is its current share price multiplied by the number of outstanding shares. As you can see in the table below, there can be large differences between banks’ market capitalizations and their book values. Wells Fargo’s market capitalization exceeds its book value by $107 billion, or 57%. Alternatively, Bank of America’s market capitalization is $65 billion, or 26%, less than its stated book value. What drives these differences? The answer is that investors aren’t looking simply at a bank’s current book value; they’re projecting it into the future. A bank expected to grow its book value at a fast pace will trade for a higher valuation than a bank expected to boost book value at a slow pace, or perhaps even see its book value decline. What drives book value? The key to the entire analysis is to determine which factors have the biggest impact on the expansion or contraction of a bank’s book value. And it’s here where Bove’s analysis is so insightful. Bove argues that the most important factors impacting a bank’s book value are a moving target, alternating between three options: If you think about where we are right now, this all starts to make sense. As credit losses from the financial crisis have bottomed out, most bank analysts and commentators (me included) have shifted to talking about the impact of higher interest rates on banks’ book values and bottom lines. When I’ve been interviewed of late, this is always one of, if not the, principal questions I’m asked. The lesson for bank investors is accordingly twofold. First, you have to be flexible in your analysis to account for the evolving impact of credit losses, interest rates, and earnings on bank valuations. And second, you need to have a rough idea of where we’re at in the credit and interest rate cycles, as that will tell you where to focus your energy and analysis.

"The techniques used for valuing bank stocks tend to be a moving target," explains bank analyst Richard Bove.

Updated JUN 07, 2014 3:04p ET MEMPHIS, Tennessee -- Grizzlies forward James Johnson has been arrested for alleged domestic assault and accused of hitting and choking his wife at their home. Johnson was booked into the Shelby County Jail at 4:35 a.m. Saturday and was still there Saturday afternoon. WMC-TV cited a police affidavit that Johnson and his wife had just returned home when Johnson allegedly hit his wife in the face with an open hand before choking her. Johnson left and returned when police arrived and was arrested. The Memphis Police Department did not immediately return several messages from The Associated Press. The Grizzlies released a statement saying they are gathering information and had no further comment. Johnson is scheduled to appear in court Monday. The 16th pick overall in 2009, Memphis signed him from the D-League in December.

Grizzlies forward James Johnson has been arrested for domestic assault and accused of hitting and choking his wife at their home.

In this era of social media, where we are all super-connected, the most ingenious do-good movements can begin with a tiny idea. Make ’em viral and they will spread. It happened with “The Last Text,” the riveting video that AT&T ATT produced to coax people like you and me not to text and drive. The 10-minute film, which I wrote about on Postcards last month, has drawn more than two million views. And no doubt, it has saved lives. I love the notion of building a big movement from a small idea. I discovered another example last evening, at a dinner hosted by Desiree Gruber, whose stock and trade is building big from small. (Her New York-based marketing firm, Full Picture, came up with the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show to buff that client’s brand image and created Project Runway to elevate another client, model Heidi Klum, who co-produces the TV hit with Gruber.) Last night Gruber was in full philanthropic mode, “marketing” Caryl Stern, the U.S. CEO of UNICEF, whom I sat across from at dinner. UNICEF has built many programs from simple ideas to save young lives. This week: During World Water Week, UNICEF is urging restaurant patrons to donate a dollar for each glass of tap water that typically comes free. The nationwide campaign is called the Tap Project. (“When you take water, give water.”) Ever since an ad man named David Droga of Droga5 dreamed it up for UNICEF in 2007, it has helped raise $2.5 million to supply safe drinking water to children around the world. This year’s twist taps celebrities like Taylor Swift, Robin Williams, Selena Gomez and Rihanna. They’ve bottled tap water at home and poured it into fancy bottles. The “Celebrity Tap Packs” help raise more funds for the most needy children worldwide. And how great is the need? Of the 22,000 children who die every day, 4,100 would not if they had safe water, Stern told us. This past week, Stern has had some very late nights, trying to help Japan, where contaminated water is just one of a million needs. Japan happens to be the world’s No. 1 donor to UNICEF, Stern told me. Despite that generosity, UNICEF’s efforts to persuade people to give to the Japan relief fund has been very difficult. “There’s an impression that Japan doesn’t need our dollars,” she explained, adding that she’s spending a lot of time assuring skeptics that UNICEF is not taking money from children in Africa to aid children in Japan. All the money that UNICEF takes in for Japan will go to Japan, Stern says. Though $2.5 million to date pales to the donations that flowed in last year to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti. What to do? Well, you can help. You can give to UNICEF’s Japan fund. Or get creative. Think up a campaign that could help bring in donations for thousands of Japanese kids who have, in an epic moment, become orphans — and for many more kids who lost their homes and their schools. You can send your idea by posting a comment below. Remember, a big movement begins with a small idea. Make it viral.

by Patricia Sellers In this era of social media, where we are all super-connected, the most ingenious do-good movements can begin with a tiny idea. Make 'em viral and they will spread. It happened with "The Last Text," the riveting video that AT&T produced to coax people like you and me not to text and…

Monday, December 3rd 2007, 4:00 AM Fall Out Boy front man Pete Wentz is laughing off the New York Post's claim that he filed a cease-and-desist order against metal band Neurosonic. The downmarket tab claimed Wentz was livid because the upstart rockers mock his girlfriend, Ashlee Simpson, in their song "So Many People." Wentz tells us: "I've never filed a cease-and-desist in my life. I would never ... try to censor someone. ... The truth is I have never heard of this band or this song." Wentz, who speaks his mind on FriendsOrEnemies.com, adds: "Besides, we don't really waste our time talking about things that happened three years ago." Private concierge Jay Galvin was out jewelry-shopping for rapper Eve the other day when he ran into a whole lot of trouble. The 27-year-old go-getter, who counts Jermaine Dupri and Gabrielle Union among his pals, says he was crossing Union Square when a taxi driver nearly ran him over. "I got in the guy's face, and he ended up swinging at me, so I swung back," he said. Galvin claims that the cabbie ripped $70,000 worth of bling from his neck. But cops still busted Galvin for assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon, police sources tell The News' Alison Genda. Galvin, who broke his hand in the fight, calls the cabbie's account "so ridiculous, it's laughable." Publishing powerhouses keep coming back to Beacon on W. 56th St. - and now we know why. Chef Waldy Malouf sent out an ambrosia of strawberries to Endeavor superagent Richard Abate that was off the menu and out of this world, spytasters say. It was almost "bye, bye, bye" for Lance Bass Thursday night at Pink Elephant as the doorgirl failed to part the velvet ropes. "What color bracelet do you have?" she barked. "Step aside!" The former boy-bander waited politely until someone recognized him and escorted him in. No wonder Sutton Foster has the energy to sing herself inside out in "Young Frankenstein" on Broadway - twice on matinee days. After Max and Zach Williams and a throng of other young teens waited at the stage door for the cantilevered cutie, star Roger Bart gave siggies and explained that Foster was napping between shows. "Monster" Shuler Hensley made up for it by posing with each and every kid. With Sean Evans and Shallon Lester. Edited by Lance D. Debler.

Fall Out Boy front man Pete Wentz is laughing off the New York Post's claim that he filed a cease-and-desist order against metal band Neurosonic.

NEW YORK -- Arizona Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin found things a little more difficult in his second start after returning from 2014 Tommy John surgery. Corbin pitched into the sixth inning, allowing four runs and four hits as the Diamondbacks lost to the New York Mets, 4-2 on Saturday. Corbin (1-1) was outstanding for four innings, allowing only a first-inning single to Michael Cuddyer, while striking out five, including four straight. However, he ran into trouble in the fifth. Lucas Duda hit a 2-0 pitch over the center-field wall for the Mets' first run of the game. Corbin walked Eric Campbell and then served up a first-pitch home run to opposing starter Matt Harvey. It was Harvey's first career home run. "Just trying to throw a strike and get ahead and he put a good swing on it and it's unfortunate that it went out," Corbin said. "More times than not, he swings and misses or gets out on it. Just some tough luck there." Left fielder David Peralta thought a fan might have interfered with the ball, prompting a crew chief review. After a delay of 1 minute, 49 seconds, the home run stood. "I thought it wasn't a homer because I saw the fan reaching to get the ball," Peralta said. Ruben Tejada homered leading off the sixth inning to end Corbin's day. The three homers allowed were a career-high. Despite the final stat line, manager Chip Hale was pleased with Corbin's overall effort. "He was so good early and that's a really good sign," Hale said. "That's what we talk about, coming back from Tommy John. He pitched beautifully early and that's something we'll build on." After All-Star A.J. Pollock walked to lead off the game, Peralta hit Harvey's first pitch into the stands for his eighth home run. The Diamondbacks would only muster three more hits the rest of the game. "We got the 2-0 lead on a nice home run by David and (Harvey) really went to his off-speed stuff, kind of like Noah Syndergaard used a lot of off-speed changeup, curveball and an occasional high fastball (on Friday)l," Hale said. "We have to make the adjustment. That's what a good offense does and we usually are." Despite having the highest-scoring offense in the National League, the Mets' duo of Harvey and Syndergaard have kept the Diamondbacks offense at bay, allowing only nine hits and striking out 22 in their combined 15 innings of work. "They're good," Hale added. "There's a reason why these guys are two of the best young pitchers in baseball." "Hopefully we'll keep having good at-bats and find ways to score more runs," said Diamondbacks slugger Paul Goldschmidt, who is 0-7 with four strikeouts over the first two games of the series. "If you want to win games, you probably got to score more than two runs." Corbin, a native of Cicero, New York, pitched in front of family members for the first time in nearly two years and will look to build on this start as he continues his recovery. "I felt pretty good overall with everything and just happy that I'm coming out healthy again," he said. "Just wish I could have done a little better." Jeurys Familia got the last three outs for his 26th save in 28 chances. Mets: 2B Daniel Murphy and OF Curtis Granderson, both left-handed batters, were held out of the lineup in a pre-planned move by manager Terry Collins, with the lefty-throwing Cordbin on the mound. "Curtis Granderson has played, I think, in every single game," Collins said. "He needs a day off and the same with Murph. Murph needs a day off and this guy can be really tough. We've got them if we need them, but we planned going into these three days to try and get some guys some rest." Granderson struck out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. Diamondbacks: Manager Chip Hale said that his starting rotation, after the upcoming All-Star break, would be set up to give Chase Anderson as much rest as possible. According to Hale, Robbie Ray would get the start in the team's first game following the break, against San Francisco and would be followed by Jeremy Hellickson, Corbin, Rubby De La Rosa and finally, Anderson. Mets LHP Jonathon Niese (4-8, 3.58 ERA) matches up with Diamondbacks RHP Rubby De La Rosa (6-4, 4.89 ERA) in the first half finale for both teams.

Matt Harvey pitching seven strong innings and hit his first career home run to lead the New York Mets to a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The cost of employer-provided health insurance rose 6.1 percent this year, the smallest jump since 1999 but still well above the increase in wages and consumer prices, according to an annual survey released yesterday by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The average annual premium for family coverage amounts to $12,106 in 2007, of which $3,281 is paid by the worker. (The employer picks up the rest.) That is up from $11,480 last year, of which the worker paid $2,973, according to the survey of nearly 2,000 employers. The $12,106 average cost of family coverage this year is roughly equivalent to a year's salary for a full-time worker earning the minimum wage, which is $12,168. "Health insurance is becoming increasingly unaffordable for more and more Americans, and for many businesses," said Drew E. Altman, president of the foundation. "It's the public anxiety about that which is propelling this issue back to the forefront in our country today." In Kaiser's survey, 75 percent of respondents said they were "very worried" or "somewhat worried" about the increasing cost of health coverage. That figure was more than the percentages of those who were worried about not being able to pay their rent or mortgage (44 percent), being the victim of a violent crime (49 percent) or losing their job (34 percent). The latest census figures, released last month, show a continuing decline in employer-provided health coverage as business leaders complain that spiraling health-care costs are threatening their competitiveness, forcing companies to shift costs to workers or considering dropping the benefit altogether. The percentage of people covered by employer-based health insurance fell to 59.7 percent in 2006, down from 60.2 percent in 2005. It was 64.2 percent in 2000. About 177 million people had employer-based coverage last year, census figures show. That is 2 million fewer than at the turn of the century, even though the overall population has been increasing. "We are witnessing a slow but certain long-term erosion of our employer-based system," said Jon R. Gabel, an author of the Kaiser study and a Washington-based senior fellow at the nonprofit National Opinion Research Center. The number of Americans without health insurance rose to a record high of 47 million in 2006, an uptick that Census Bureau officials attributed largely to continuing declines in employer-sponsored coverage. Still, the Kaiser survey found that the cost of coverage grew more slowly in 2007 than in recent years. The 6.1 percent increase in the average premium continued a four-year trend of slower cost growth since the peak growth of 13.9 percent in 2003. Average premiums had grown at least 7.7 percent annually since 1999. The recent trend of slower cost growth is "very significant," said Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry trade group. She credited insurers' efforts to curb costs and promote health through disease-management programs and increased use of generic drugs. "I think we are seeing the effects of that," she said.

The cost of employer-provided health insurance rose 6.1 percent this year, the smallest jump since 1999 but still well above the increase in wages and consumer prices, according to an annual survey released yesterday by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

The price cuts Apple AAPL announced Monday on the MacBook and iPhone lines are “significant” and surprisingly aggressive, writes Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster in a note to clients issued after the WWDC keynote was over. Historically, he writes, a 50% cut in iPhone pricing has increased demand twofold. He’s referring to the last year’s cut to $199 from $399. That price reduction was actually accompanied by a tripling of global unit sales (from 4.7 million to 15 million), but some of those sales were in overseas markets. U.S. sales in that period, he estimates, increased twofold. The MacBook price cuts were more modest — between 5% and 15% — but make Munster “increasingly confident” in his near-term Mac estimates (2.2 million Macs in the third fiscal quarter; 2.4 million in fourth quarter, which ends in September). The pricing on OS X Snow Leopard was even more aggressive; it’s scheduled to ship in September for $29 (for current Leopard users), as opposed to the typical $129 operating system upgrade. Munster says he’s not worried about the impact on Apple’s bottom line, however. He notes that when Leopard shipped in 2007, the Mac user base was about 23 million. Today Apple announced that its user base has grown to 75 million active OS X users. Munster, having predicted that Jobs would return to Apple by the end of June and not before, claims he is not surprised that the CEO was a no-show Monday. Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference runs until Friday.

The price cuts Apple announced Monday on the MacBook and iPhone lines are "significant" and surprisingly aggressive, writes Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster in a note to clients issued after the WWDC keynote was over. Historically, he writes, a 50% cut in iPhone pricing has increased demand twofold. He's referring to the last year's cut to…

To the left (in the foreground) is Michael Jackson, and in the background is Marlon Jackson. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post) Saturday afternoon, two years ago, I walked out of a movie theater on sunny afternoon in Chicago and got a text message from a friend: “Michael Jackson died.” I thought it was the start to a joke. Michael Jackson had been a star before I was born and — despite his personal struggles, his questionable behavior to children, his personal life spirals — managed to stay a star all my life. The world was emptier without his talent, but it was the end to a difficult and challenging life. In memory of his death, here’s a remembrance of Michael Jackson full of life — before the surgeries, before the masks, before the court cases and tabloid troubles. Written by the Post’s Jacqueline Trescott on June 11, 1979, here’s Michael Jackson, a 20-year-old man on the verge of breaking out from his family’s shadow: Michael Jackson, now 20, an elongated version of the cute, spindly youngster who finger popped into teen hearts 10 years ago, knows what he wants for the next 10. “To do everything I feel I should do,” says Jackson, his trademark airy pitch unchanged. His dark eyes are direct, making no excuses for that goal. “Really, more music, films, everything. I want to go all the way.” His smile grows into grin, testing the boundaries of a crescent fact that, up close, is small and sand papery. His answers are the quick, flippant retorts of any 20-year-old, their tone mixed with the blase worldliness of someone who has spent half his life in the limelight. Dressed in brown slacks and print shirt with a gray cavalry hat perched on a wayward afro, Jackson leans back onto the bedpost. His brother, Marlon, 22, one of the original five who started out as the Jackson Five in 1969 and renamed themselves the Jacksons three year ago, joins the conversation. Three hours before the group will bring 20,000-plus fans to their feet, on a night when a reported 5,000 were turned away, Michael and Marlon are totally relaxed. In fact, they are cutting up like the Smothers Brothers. “What! There aren't any girls downstairs,” mocks Marlon, camouflaged behind sunglasses and a worn cream-colored jogging suit. From the corner, one of the managers announces that the lobby of the Sheraton Lanham Motor Inn was packed earlier in the day. “Well I guess they'd expect us to be at the Regency, or the ‘Gate,” says Michael (who is given to abbreviations: ‘Gate for Watergate Hotel, ‘tics for politics, ‘Town for Motown Records, their first label). Ten years ago, the Jacksons were all terribly green, painfully shy, leaving all the declarations to their father, Joseph Jackson. What they offered to the music scene were five blemishfree faces, heart-throbbing in their close-cut hair, chino pants and matching sports jackets. Out of Gary, Ind., they marketed bubble-gum soul, which brought them adulation and riches. But, even then, when they spoke, they were coy: their sound, explained one back then, “is a secret; too many people might find out and start doing it.” Now, with their youth no longer a salable part of the act (Randy, the youngest, is 16), the Jacksons have to compete with established male acts like the O'Jays and Commodores. “We have to strive to set trends, instead of following them,” says Michael. They are succeeding. Their latest album, “Destiny” is certified platinum and has birthed two top 10 singles. Yet 10 years has produced some changes. Chinos have been replaced by coordinated gold lame stitched into a medieval-futuristic combination. The screams have cultivated layers, from those whose years are marked by Jacksons' pin-ups and from a younger generation that can't be called bubble-gum, though that's its age and beat. In personnel, there have been alterations - one brother, Randy, substituting for another, Jermaine, who remained with Motown when the rest switched to CBS Epic Records. But what has remained constant is the dominance of Michael Jackson. His career has gone further, expanding to movies with the role of the Scarecrow in “The Wiz,” and joining the gossip mystique, escorting Tatum O'Neal. On stage Michael's dancing is an impeccable sample of disco and acrobatics, stylishly flamboyant and patterned. The packaging has killed the spontaneity but, nevertheless, three women were carried over the rails in dead faints during Michael's solos Saturday night. “In Charlotte, it was a little unreal because they carried the girls out in stretchers across the stage,” says Michael. That was Friday night, and a day later, he sounded slightly stunned. Marlon explains that they never get used to the screams, and Michael elaborates, “it honestly feels fresh each time.” In the hotel room the two brothers are explaining what tours are like, insisting the Jackson public camaraderie carries over to travel and record sessions. In the fourth week of the two-month tour that ended over the weekend, the Jacksons switched from airplanes to a caravan of station wagons and mobile homes. “I prefer the bus. Flying is fine in good weather,” says Michael, who watches movies during the long drives and then rushes out to catch the zoo in each major city. “Hey he feels at home, looking at his relatives,” says Marlon. “Well, that means you, right? Sure I like you,” says Michael. Looking back, the Jacksons agree that the response they triggered in fans was the most fulfilling aspect of the last decade. “The fact that we have sold 60 million records and brought joy to so many people. I like that for the happiness, not for the money,” says Michael. “And playing for the Queen of England, twice; what an honor. I had a fantasy of kings and queens and there she was in her magic box, with her crown and jewels.” Marlon interrupts. “It's everyone we have touched, and selling out certain places, like the Astrodome and breaking the Beatles record in Liverpool.” Success has brought certain luxuries. Marlon is buying a house in the San Fernando Valley, equipped with a tennis court, so he can live his fantasy of being a tennis pro. Waiting for Michael at the family's sprawling compound in Encino, Calif., are several movie offers. “First there's the movie of ‘Chorus Line,’ but I haven't seen the script yet. Then someone is doing a script on the Bill Robinson story, then a movie about summer stock, about what people do to make it, the pain of success,” says Michael. Is he attracted to stories of struggle because his career has been free of scars? Michael immediately responds yes. Marion again interrupts. “In the early days, before we went national, we did the seven shows a night, traveling in a Volkswagen. That wasn't fun.” Corrects Michael, “It hasn't been bad, but we didn't come out of the blue.” But what about the internal jealousies, the rifts that must come? “We like one another and think alike, so there are few problems. And we tell this one,” Marlon says, looking at Michael, whose attention has been caught by the television, “We tell him the most important thing is the last name.” Michael scowls. And Marlon amends, “I was only kidding.”

In memory of his death, here’s a remembrance of Michael Jackson before the surgeries, before the masks, before the court cases and tabloid troubles.

Donald Trump Jr. slammed critics who accused him of plagiarizing his GOP convention speech Tuesday night, calling the accusations “ridiculous.” “Of course I work with a professional speechwriter who does these things on some things,” Trump told TIME as he left the Westin Hotel bar Tuesday night. “And I’m new to politics, I’ve never done that. I’m going to go with someone who knows what they’re doing. And I worked with Frank Buckley on it, it’s as simple as that.” Buckley, a law professor at George Mason University, confirmed that he had indeed written the speech. The Daily Show first pointed out the similarities between Trump Jr.’s speech and a May article in the American Conservative entitled “Trump vs. the New Class.” Because he had written both the article and the speech, Buckley said, “it’s not an issue.” Trump Jr. agrees. “A lot of it’s my own words because I’m talking about my father and my family,” he added. The allegations come just a day after it was revealed that large portions of Melania Trump’s speech appear to have been lifted or adapted from Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech. But Trump Jr. says there’s nothing to see here. “People are trying to find a story where it doesn’t exist,” he said. “They have an agenda, they’ve made up their mind, it’s as simple as that.”

He says he worked with a professional speechwriter.

This was the year when the news became a headache to liberals everywhere, revealing that we had consistently backed the wrong horse, and great fears and tensions were being felt that led people to vote for politics of division. In the weeks after Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States, we have seen a strengthening of reactionary politics, with demagogues and fascists feeling empowered by the decisions that have gone their way. We have also seen a certain element of the leftwing seek to blame itself for having alienated ordinary folk. This last sentiment is visible in several films that came out in 2016: works with ostensibly right-on politics that nevertheless betrayed a queasiness towards the modern world, towards minorities and women; films in which a fear of a new world order is palpable. Luca Guadagnino set the tone towards the start of the year, when this apparently juicy psychological thriller lurched into a wrong-headed and iffy discussion of the refugee crisis. In the film, a singer and her boyfriend (Tilda Swinton and Matthias Schoenaerts) welcome her flamboyant ex (Ralph Fiennes) and his young daughter (Dakota Johnson); the sexual tension flares between these rich, beautiful people holidaying off the coast of – wait for it – Sicily. The film revels in the glamour of its characters and in their easy beauty, unironically projecting them as stars wherever they go (witness a karaoke scene in which a whole village flocks to see Fiennes showboat in a tiny bar). So, when catastrophe strikes and one of the main characters seeks to blame it on the refugee population, it doesn’t ring as Guadagnino satirising his characters’ vanity so much as shoehorning in a deeply serious and difficult issue to confect some gravitas. No refugees are named, they are only briefly alluded to, and the disastrous events of the last two years are used as a mere narrative crutch. It’s a move that betrays an uneasy sense that film should be addressing the political topics of the day, but in a film that has no idea with what language to do so. A similar helplessness inhabits the hapless Absolutely Fabulous film, which seemed to quake with an almost adorable – were it not so totally misguided – sense that it needed to say something about the “trans question”. The film didn’t, in fact, need to talk about it, and what it had to say was foolish when it wasn’t outright hateful. The most egregiously offensive moment came when a character was revealed as being coerced into transitioning, prompting a staggering moment when he is interrogated about when it is going to be cut off. From there, the film rampages wildly through questions of gender, making Patsy drag up and having her tasered when a flight attendant mistakes her for a trans man. The film traduced not only Patsy and Eddie’s discombobulation about the modern world (which is what the audience was there to lap up), but an almost seething misunderstanding of contemporary gender politics on the part of its creators. If A Bigger Splash and Absolutely Fabulous hinged on very particular phobias, the new Bridget Jones movie was hilariously prone to fear and confusion about just about everything. Internet dating? A terrifying romance-free vortex of cynical narcissism. Sex? An act between a man and a woman, with the purpose of making a baby. The Bridget Jones movies have always had a conservative bent (essentially being Jane Austen adaptations set in a white version of modern London), but the new film goes a little further, with a bizarre scene in which Bridget flees an amniocentesis needle, thereby refusing to check her foetus for chromosomal abnormalities. To each woman her choice, but the film makes a big hoopla of mining discomfort and laughs out of this routine procedure, with the clear message being that it is unnatural. The whole film takes against science in general, mocking the modern world’s attraction to technology – and Bridget eventually finds out the identity of the father of the baby the old-fashioned way, by falling in love with him. Part of the reason Bridget felt so antiquated and fusty is that films this year were looking back to a romanticised past – the 1990s and the Regency – to justify the idea of “the one” and the true romance of marriage. A few films this year put on similarly rose-tinted glasses to consider the olden days, chief among them Paterson, which harked back to a mythical era of American poetry. Its ex-military hero, with his supportive housebound wife giving him free rein to incarnate the true writer’s authentic calling, writes Wallace Stevens-style poetry in the year 2016 and lives without a mobile phone. Jim Jarmusch’s unease at a fast, connected world is telling, and finds its resolution in its consideration of Paterson’s titular hero, who stands as a true male, a zen man of letters, a sort of John Clare of New Jersey. This is the biggest political failure of the year: a film which can only have been made by Richard Linklater as a bet that he could flunk the Bechdel test. Set on a university campus in 1980s Texas – a halcyon era mercifully free of safe spaces — Everybody Wants Some!! chooses to tell the story of gender politics from the point of view of a bunch of baseball-playing bros. Blind nostalgia is the order of the day, as this #notallmen mess finds a way to look with fondness upon these violent, sexist men – in the process denying women speech and agency. It becomes almost a game for the characters to work out in what way Linklater, freed at last from having to let Julie Delpy write a character for herself, will next prevent a woman from talking. There are scenes where women are asked questions and don’t reply, merely smiling and nodding. In one scene, a self-professed feminist gets her comeuppance by being seduced by the most grotesque of all the students. Linklater’s amiable fondness for the dinosaurs at the heart of his film extends to sanitising their world, so that hazing is fun, homophobia is all but absent and one can only imagine that, once they’ve bedded the skirt they spend the entire film chasing, these guys are the kings of asking for consent. It is not possible to have followed events on American campuses in recent years and be blind to the terrible practises in male societies; yet Linklater persists with his oddly tone-deaf celebration of these jocks. In a scene that shows to what extent he is with these guys, he films a man whose prowess as a baseball hitter enables him to cut a ball in half mid-flight with an axe. Lovingly filmed in slow motion, this scene shows that he has no distance from his subject, and that what element of smiling satire his film can muster is completely insufficient. Everybody Wants Some!! is Trump’s America writ large: a sexist and macho look at a completely imagined past, in which things were great – for straight white men.

From the all-bro jocks and silent women of Everybody Wants Some!! to Bridget Jones’s rejection of science, these are the films that failed to take on cinema’s push for inclusivity

In a week where lots of folks used the money they got for Christmas on digital music, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson saw weekly downloads of their Don't You Wanna Stay duet climb 79%. A bunch of those iTunes gift cards went to buy Carrie Underwood tracks, too, as several of her songs saw triple-digit percentage increases, some almost quadrupling their downloads from the previous week. Here's the sales data for some of last week's tracks, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Jason Aldean/Kelly Clarkson, Don't You Wanna Stay (57,000, +79%, 263,000 total)Carrie Underwood, Mama's Song (30,000, +186%, 264,000)Carrie Underwood, Undo It (20,000, +262%, 952,000)Carrie Underwood, Cowboy Casanova (14,000, +289%, 1.548 million)Carrie Underwood, Temporary Home (12,000, +307%, 629,000)Carrie Underwood, All-American Girl (11,000, +395%, 1.298 million)Carrie Underwood, There's a Place for Us (10,000, +15%, 56,000)Carrie Underwood, Before He Cheats (9,000, +226%, 3.125 million)Clay Aiken, Mary, Did You Know (2,000, +7%, 115,000)Jason Castro, You Are (1,000, +57%, 8,000)Jason Castro, Hallelujah [Album Version] (1,000, +61%, 52,000) See photos of: Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Jason Aldean To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to

Christmas gift cards boost Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson track sales - Idol Chatter: American Idol News, Rumors, & Information

Mike Tyson isn’t just backing Manny Pacquiao to defeat Floyd Mayweather in Saturday’s match — the former undefeated heavyweight champion wants Pacquiao to knock out his “very small, scared” competitor. Tyson slammed Mayweather in a video interview with Undisputed Champion Network posted online Wednesday after being asked about Mayweather’s claim last week that he is greater than boxing legend Muhammad Ali. “He’s very delusional. If he was anywhere near that realm of ‘greater than Ali,’ he’d be able to take his kids to school by himself,” Tyson said of Mayweather. “He’s a very small, scared man.” Tyson didn’t elaborate further about his entertaining comments regarding the undefeated Mayweather’s school-going habits, but he did predict the match wouldn’t last long. “I think it’s gonna be a knockout,” he said. “I don’t think it’s gonna go the distance.” Tyson told reporters again Thursday that he’s hoping for a Pacquiao victory. “I just like Manny. Not necessarily because he throws a lot of punches but because he’s very elusive and might be hard to hit.”

Tyson slammed Mayweather in a new interview

In The Conversation, David Brooks and Gail Collins talk between columns every Wednesday. Gail Collins: Tim, thanks for taking the time to have this conversation while David Brooks is on vacation. I believe you’re coming back from some down time yourself. I’m so jealous. Timothy Egan: Thanks, Gail, and it’s a real thrill for me to have a digital back-and-forth with you. But after all those days at the lake spent without shoes or a care in the world, I’m sluggish and my head is a muddle. So bear with me. In the summer, Huck Finn is my role model. Gail Collins: Excellent choice. Michelle and Sasha Obama are just back, too. The White House got all kinds of heat for their high-end vacation in Spain. I’m sure it was a private decision. If the political team had done the planning, obviously they’d have been dispatched to swim on the not-at-all-polluted shores of the Florida panhandle and eat delicious, freshly caught Gulf seafood. Timothy Egan: And they would have been criticized for a craven political stunt. Can’t the most scrutinized family in the world just have some down time without the rest of us trying to find larger meaning in it? A mother takes her youngest daughter to Spain for five days and she’s compared to Marie Antoinette. Please. Sometimes a vacation is just a vacation, to paraphrase Freud. When Laura Bush took a break from the hothouse of the White House to spend time with girlfriends in glorious Olympic National Park, at the far edge of Washington State, there was not a peep about what it cost taxpayers to keep her security detail nearby, nor any parsing of possible marital woes. Sometimes a vacation is just a vacation, to paraphrase Freud. Gail Collins: See, this is why it’s so great having you writing from the West. Who knew there were so many Western-vacation angles? Timothy Egan: Don’t get me started. It’s probably easier to fly from the capital to Spain than to get from there to Port Angeles, Wash., where Laura took her down time (a fine town by the way, about 10 miles from where my mother lives!) As for politicizing vacations, I blame the loathsome Dick Morris and the Clintons for this. Remember when Morris was advising Clinton and he poll-tested for possible vacations: They came up with a few days in the Rockies, in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Now, I love that area, and know it well. I love camping — my earliest vacation memories are camping with a family of nine inside a moldy old Army surplus canvas tent, a blast for everyone but my mother — but Bill Clinton looked miserable in the great outdoors, with his splotchy sunburn, his allergies inflamed, swatting away all those carnivorous deer flies. He would have been so much happier playing Scrabble in an air-conditioned sanctuary somewhere in the flatlands. And I don’t think most Americans would have cared. Gail Collins: I agree — most Americans are prepared to let the First Lady and the kids vacation in peace. I don’t necessarily give the president himself the same kind of pass. I never forgave George W. Bush for spending so much time clearing brush in Crawford and jogging at Camp David. Timothy Egan: For what it’s worth, the radio reporter of record at the White House, Mark Knoller of CBS, calculated that President Bush spent 490 days at the Texas ranch — 77 visits. That’s a lot of brush cleared. Gail Collins: Americans have always had a strange attitude toward vacations. We think they’re a good thing — almost a virtuous thing. Expanding horizons, bonding with the family and all that. But we don’t take very many of them. It’s possible Americans are afraid if they leave work for two weeks, somebody else will be in their desks when they come back. Europeans have gotten way more time off for decades — just go over there and look this month. Nobody’s home. And there have been lots of studies showing that American workers don’t even take all the vacation they’re owed. Of course, it’s possible they’re afraid if they leave for two weeks, somebody else will be in their desks when they come back. Timothy Egan: I saw one survey that ranked the United States down there with such fair labor havens as Vietnam and Indonesia for total amount of days off. Members of the European Union must provide full-time workers with a minimum of 20 paid vacation days, plus public holidays. The U.S. averages about 14 days, and of course there are no laws on minimum vacation requirements. But everyone needs down time, even those with forced down time. I don’t know if you saw that story in the Sunday Business section of The Times trying to quantify how much, if any, happiness can be bought with money. Guess what: the research suggests that taking a vacation will make you much happier than buying a new couch, or a pair of shoes, or almost any material thing. You’re buying memories and something even more precious — free time. Everyone needs down time, even those with forced down time. But could it be that the Europeans, for all their time off, are less productive? And then, of course, you’ve got the not-insignificant problem of European men who shouldn’t be wearing Speedos on the beach. Gail Collins: Actually, Tim, when they’re on the job, European workers are as productive as Americans. Luxembourg requires 32 days paid vacation for every worker, and according to one recent study, the workers there are 27 percent more efficient than we are. I don’t generally base sweeping economic theories on Luxembourg. But it did make me wonder. If Congress required businesses to give all their workers generous vacation benefits, more people would have to be hired to take up the slack. Corporate profits might drop, but right now our problem is that corporate profits are chugging right along while 9.5 percent of the workforce is unemployed. Timothy Egan: I like that: The Gail Collins Back to Work Relief Act. But you should put in an amendment prohibiting people from doing what your friend Mitt Romney did on his family vacation, strapping his poor dog to the top of the car. Call it the Seamus Amendment.

Perhaps working Americans should take be taking more vacations, for the good of the country.

Congratulations to the President-elect, whoever you are, because you’re going to need it. Our deadline arrived Tuesday before we knew the election outcome, but not before we can say with confidence that President Obama is leaving his successor a large and growing federal budget problem. That’s the message in the Congressional Budget Office’s summary, released Monday, of the fiscal year that closed in September. Though the subject barely came up in the campaign—little policy substance did—the federal fisc is once again...

President Obama’s luck is about to run out—on his successor’s watch.

So now Gio van Bronckhorst, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, the goalscorers in a deserved triumph over spirited Uruguay, have the chance to succeed where such legendary names as Johan Cruyff, Johnny Rep and Johan Neeskens failed. If the men in orange inevitably take the plaudits, a silvery fox on the touchlines played a key part. Bert van Marwijk’s decision to withdraw a holding midfielder, Demy De Zeeuw, and send on the more attack-minded Rafael van der Vaart for the second half set Uruguay a challenge too far. In the end, it didn’t really matter that it never felt quite like a World Cup semi-final, although Fifa should have offered the blocks of empty seats to local children, giving them a memory for life. For last night was about Dutch memories. For now the Dutch can slay the ghosts that haunt their sleep, that keep alive those painful images of Paul Breitner and Gerd Muller punishing their complacency in Munich in 1974. Or the distressing memory of Mario Kempes striking amidst the tickertape in Buenos Aires four years later. That wonderful Dutch generation twice failed at the last. A lesser collection of individual players now hopes to end that wait, overcoming either Germany or Spain in Soccer City. If Van Marwijk’s tactical tweak was vital last night, a change he made in the mood of the team was even more important. Sneijder, Robben, Van der Vaart and Robin van Persie would not make a good relay team because each would want to keep the baton. Van Marwijk has ended that selfish mentality, making each think of the wider good. Such unity was captured after every goal, when those on the pitch celebrated with those on the bench. They are committed to each other and to victory. ''We cultivated this mentality,’’ said Van Marwijk. ''We have banished complacency. Today, I just said to them: ‘Don’t let this chance slip away.’ They didn’t. I love attacking, beautiful football but you have to start with the players doing their defensive jobs and in the right positions. ''We played a wonderful game against Germany in 1974 but we lost when we should have won. We played well and we had a unique generation. Johan Cruyff was the best footballer I ever saw. We are (now) strong as a ‘team’, and I want to stress the word ‘team’.’’ He will watch intently this evening’s second semi-final. ''Spain are playing the best football in the world, but Germany have been the best team at this championships. We’ll take either of them. It’ll be an interesting match. It would be unique to play Germany in the final, as it was in 1974.’’ How the Dutch fans would love that. Dressed as if heading out on the ultimate hen party, Holland’s magnificent supporters had begun partying long before kick-off, turning the Waterfront area into a sea of orange. Some were dressed as cow-girls, others had plastic edam cheeses on their heads and most came armed with orange vuvuzelas. Even at half-time when Uruguay had just equalised, the Dutch fans kept the faith. The first half had been a tale of two captains, of Diego Forlan but first Van Bronckhorst. In setting the stage for the opening goal, Mark van Bommel went in hard, nastily hard, and Walter Gargano faltered at the sight of the Dutchman’s studs. Gargano pulled out of the tackle, although he still had to withstand the force of Van Bommel’s challenge. Uruguay endured further pain. The ball was now under Dutch sway, De Zeeuw exchanging passes with Sneijder before transferring the ball to Van Bronckhorst, whose left-footed strike touched 61mph as it covered the 41 yards past Fernando Muslera. Not even Luis Suarez could have kept it out. Suarez’s absence had brought in Edinson Cavani, forcing Forlan to work higher up the pitch but four minutes from the break he dropped deep to devastating effect. Collecting possession 30 yards out, his blonde tresses flowing behind him, Forlan cut inside and brought his left foot down into the ball. Maarten Stekelenburg has been one of the keepers of this World Cup but he erred badly here. Sticking out a left hand far from convincingly, the Ajax keeper failed to prevent the ball flying into the net. Maybe he can get some lessons from Suarez back in Amsterdam. As the vanquished keeper beseeched the heaven for answers, Forlan sprinted to one group of Uruguay supporters. ''Three Million Dreams’’ read one banner. Uruguay’s tiny population were daring to dream. Not for long. Van Marwijk gambled, altering his midfield. For all the fear of leaving the back-door open, Holland were fully committed to attack, wonderfully so. By now the Dutch vuvuzelas were blowing a gale, hitting hurricane force with 20 minutes remaining. Sneijder’s shot had a few stops en route into Uruguay’s net, notably off Maxi Pereira, but it was undoubtedly deserved. Van Marwijk’s insistence that his players keep turning the screw, rather than showboating, was again seen when Dirk Kuyt lifted in a cross. Twisting his body, Robben met the ball brilliantly, heading it powerfully past Muslera. Doubts briefly swamped Dutch minds when Maxi Pereira slid in a low left-footed but Van Marwijk’s history men held on and the party really started. Some notable snakes inhabit these parts but nothing as memorable as the merry orange conga, probably over the limit, that crawled through Cape Town last night.

Read a full match report of the World Cup 2010 semi-final game between Uruguay and Holland at Green Point Stadium, Cape Town.

Peter Ludlow was kicked out of the online game the Sims online after publishing reports of vice and extortion in his blog, the Alphaville Herald. The philosphy lecturer transferred his blog and his attentions to Second Life, the 3D graphic-led communication network populated by computer-generated people known as avatars. The crime reporting continues. Avatars move, communicate, make and sell things within the virtual landscape. Even if you haven’t heard of it before now, you’re going to hear a lot about it in the months to come. The number of user accounts has just passed the million mark and celebrities and businesses are moving in every day. I caught up with Ludlow between lectures and asked him why he’s kept away from virtual life for the last year and why he’s come back now. ‘I left because I was burnt out. And I came back because all of the media hype about Second Life was driving me crazy and I was ready to get back in the game and spend some time there. ‘Second Life is very interesting and promising in certain ways, but all of the media hype about making lots of money in the game, the metaverse, I thought all of that was overblown.’ That word, metaverse, says a lot about the origins of Second Life. It comes from a novel, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, a fairly poor piece of work with an awful plot cherished by SL residents as the origin of their online world. It describes a virtual reality in which people take on avatar form to meet other people, play games and go on dates. There are clubs and bars, motorbike races and sword fights. It’s a social space, in contrast to online guru William Gibson’s data matrix. Linden Labs, a Californian company, took the metaverse concept and built it across an array of servers in San Francisco. You can go in as an isolated avatar for nothing or rent an island for a few dollars a month, build a home, a shop, an office, a Buddhist retreat, a psychiatric hospital, whatever you want. There’s a rapidly-growing economy. The Linden dollar trades at roughly L$250 to US$1 and can be used to pay for everything from shoes for your avatar to simulated lap dances. It’s not all fashion and kinky sex, though, as Ludlow has been reporting for years. The Second Life Herald continues the crime-busting tradition of the Alphaville Herald. I asked Ludlow what form the criminality took. ‘Some of it would involve various kinds of fraud using Paypal or fraudulent offers to pay for certain goods that were not delivered. Some of it involved designing an avatar or establishing a position on eBay or something where you would pretend to be someone else. ‘There was a lot of that going on in the Sims online. There were various kinds of crime that were clearly crimes by anyone’s definition. There were other kinds of crime that were in a kind of vague area like role play or taking money from little kids.’ Do you ever worry that you might be putting yourself in danger? ‘That had occurred to me. Once we did a story on a Second Life gangster based in the United Arab Emirates, he called me up on the phone and yelled at me for a half hour, so it’s something to think about. I did talk about it with a friend whose father is a Cuban American who publishes a magazine in the US and she put things in perspective when she told me that people used to drive by and shoot through the front window. ‘I decided I wasn’t going to worry until people started shooting, that’s how you know it’s time to back off.’ Do you think that crime is as widespread in Second Life as it was in the Sims? ‘I don’t have any way of quantifying it, but there’s lots of different forms of extortion, but more likely what you’ll have is someone who’s running a club will harass someone who’s running another club or take them offline.’ So it’s more between businesses than against people. ‘Yes. The amounts of money have reached a level where criminal activity becomes profitable and worth undertaking.’ Don’t you think that a metaverse police force would take care of the problems you’ve been reporting on? ‘No. For example EA [Electronic Arts, the company behind the Sims] was absolutely incapable of taking care of the social problems in the Sims online; Linden Labs is completely incapable of addressing social problems in SL. You’re already getting little paramilitary organisations that get involved in solving disputes.’ Do you think they’re incapable or unwilling? If Linden Labs came out and said we have terrible social problems in our virtual world and this is how we’ll solve it it’d put people off, wouldn’t it? ‘They know they have problems. I’ve been to meetings with them and other experts in social resolution like anthropologists and lawyers, and the Lindens think that they’re going to have some magic bullet that’ll resolve these problems but it’s absolutely positively impossible. The idea that there’d be one vanilla solution and Linden Labs would have the manpower to enforce it is ridiculous. ‘The mistake that Linden Lab is making now is that they’re playing the role of Greek Gods. Their attention is being taken from here to there, they’re not omniscient, when they see something they reach in, and then people run to them with problems and they get involved. ‘What they’d be better off doing is stepping back and saying “You construct a conflict resolution mechanism and come up with your own ways of dealing with it and we’re going to get out of it”, but what they end up doing is the worst thing possible. They dabble in it, the organic growth of indigenous dispute resolution systems, so as far as I can see they’re doing the worst thing possible.’ So you think they’re making things worse by interfering? ‘No doubt about it. There are many things I’m unsure of but I’m absolutely sure of that. You can actually see it. I’ve been to areas where people are resolving things verbally and then Linden comes in and blows the thing apart.’ I’ll post more of this interview tomorrow.

Peter Ludlow, crime-busting Second Life blogger, talks to us about life online.

The sexual assault investigation of Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston last fall was hampered by university administrators and Tallahassee police, according to a Fox Sports report. Tallahassee police decided not to pursue charges in December 2013, but Fox Sports began investigating documents and discovered that Tallahassee police were returning reports in the case over to Florida State administrators when a reporter started looking into the alleged rape against the Heisman Trophy winner. Tallahassee police also forwarded reports to the Florida State police chief, who got them into the hands of a high-ranking administrator in the university's athletics departments. Those reports then reached Winston's attorney, Tim Jansen, who managed to question two key witnesses in the case before the state attorney even learned of the allegations and launched his own investigation against Winston, according to Fox Sports. The Fox Sports report also claims there is evidence of campus police officials interfering with reporters, even attempting to suggest there was no investigation of Winston. A New York Times report on Friday night said that "the treatment of the Winston complaint was in keeping with the way the police on numerous occasions have soft-pedaled allegations of wrongdoing by Seminoles football players." Florida State is currently in the midst of an ongoing federal investigation into its handling of the Winston allegations under Title IX, but the university defended its handling of the event in a statement earlier on Friday. It didn’t name Winston in the release, but referred to allegations against “a prominent athlete.” “The University has remained silent for one reason: To protect our students, who are after all our highest priority,” the statement read. “But as we expect other stories to appear, it is abundantly clear that the continual drumbeat of misinformation about the University’s actions causes harm to our students, faculty, alumni, supporters and the FSU community as a whole. Because of this, and within the constraints of state and federal privacy laws, we want to share with you more detail to set the record straight."

Tallahassee police and Florida State University administrators worked together to hamper the sexual assault investigation of Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston last fall, according to a Fox Sports report.

The U.S. Justice Department unsealed charges against seven alleged Iranian hackers Thursday, saying the men worked as contractors for the Iranian government, and attacked the U.S. financial system and servers for a dam in New York. The indictment is the most explicit accusation made by the U.S. government that Iranian government-affiliated hackers have attacked the U.S. It didn’t specifically allege the Iranian government directed the attacks, but said that one of the hackers received credit toward completion of his...

The Justice Department unsealed charges against seven alleged Iranian hackers, saying the men worked as contractors for the Iranian government, and attacked the U.S. financial system and servers for a dam in New York.

NEW YORK – Could Jennifer Aniston’s wedding gown be a maternity dress? The 43-year-old actress, who is engaged to Justin Theroux, covered her stomach with her sweater as photographers snapped pictures of her leaving Barney’s in Beverly Hills over the weekend. PHOTOS: Is Jen hiding a baby bump? According to X17, Aniston made a big effort to hide a possible baby bump with her shopping bag and jacket as she walked through the parking lot. Her rep denied pregnancy rumors to US Weekly last week when another photo surfaced that showed Jen’s midsection looking larger than usual. “It’s crap,” the rep said. But the photographic evidence has fans excited about the possibility that Aniston could finally become a mom. Back in 2002, Aniston’s character on “Friends,” Rachel Green, became a mother to baby Emma. She also played a mom in 2008’s “Marley and Me.”

The 43-year-old actress, who is engaged to Justin Theroux, covered her stomach with her sweater as photographers snapped pictures.

03/25/2016 AT 04:05 PM EDT is not happy with MTV. star took to Twitter Friday to blast the network, claiming her footage was "manipulated" after the reality show's on Monday featured her daughter tearfully shouting that she didn't "trust" her mother, complaining that she never gave them food in the morning. "It's so sad how the person behind the editing can even live a happy life by editing to manipulate the audience watching. It makes me feel like my story just isn't enough," Messer, 23, wrote in response to a fan's tweet asking why she continues to film the show despite being "bashed." My point exactly. It's so sad how the person behind the editing can even live a happy life by....... https://t.co/h5umJew8td ... Editing to manipulate the audience watching. It makes me feel like my story just isn't enough. https://t.co/h5umJew8td Messer went on to say she "did hit rock bottom" but came out of it and was "willing to air it all" in the hopes that she could helps viewers who might also be struggling. "If just ONE person watched and reached out for HELP even when they feel so alone that's all I cared about because I could NEVER imagine ANYONE feeling the pain, hurt, depression AND anxiety that I WAS suffering from," Messer wrote. I DID hit rock bottom but I come out of it and I was willing to air it ALL because if just ONE person.... https://t.co/h5umJew8td ....Watched and reached out for HELP even when they feel so ALONE that's all I cared about because ... https://t.co/h5umJew8td ... I could NEVER imagine ANYONE feeling the pain, hurt, depression AND anxiety ... https://t.co/h5umJew8td "It would break my heart! I wanted to bring awareness and HELP others and if MTV couldn't share that then I will do it on my own the way God wants me to!!!" she continued. ... That I WAS suffering from. It would break my heart! I wanted to bring awareness and HELP others and .... https://t.co/h5umJew8td If MTV couldn't share that then I will do it on my own the way God wants me to!!!! ... https://t.co/h5umJew8td The mom of three went on to say she felt betrayed by the network. "It hurts to feel BETRAYED by the ones I THOUGHT I could trust with my story," she wrote. "It goes to show you how 'THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD' really is and I guess everyone will see where I REALLY am starting EPISODE 4." AND It hurts to feel BETRAYED by the ones I THOUGHT I could trust with my story.... https://t.co/h5umJew8td It goes to show you how "THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD" really is and I guess everyone will see where I REALLY am.... https://t.co/h5umJew8td The reality star concluded by she is now in an "amazing" place and loves all of her fans. .. It just BREAKS MY HEART!!! It's NOT okay but I KNOW that I am NOW in such a AMAZING place and I LOVE YOU ALL! https://t.co/h5umJew8td && I hope to continue to share my story but I REFUSE to allow it to be twisted for the benefit of a NETWORK! https://t.co/HGPUAHbIJw "I hope to continue to share my story but I REFUSE to allow it to be twisted for the benefit of a NETWORK!" she wrote. MTV had no comment when reached by PEOPLE. airs Mondays (10 p.m. ET) on MTV.

"I REFUSE to allow [my story] to be twisted for the benefit of a NETWORK!" Messer tweeted

In Pennsylvania, Senator Arlen Specter, a former Republican who converted to the Democratic Party this year, quickly staked out a position in opposition to the troop escalation, while his opponent, Representative Joe Sestak, a former military officer who has been trying to run to the left of Mr. Specter, came out in favor it. Other House and Senate candidates have seized on the buildup, siding both for and against it, making it likely that the president’s Afghanistan policy will be a central topic in primary races and perhaps general elections as well. With national liberal advocacy groups already mobilizing against the troop increase, the president’s policy could conceivably prompt additional primary contests against Democratic incumbents, forcing them into races that consume money before general election showdowns with Republicans. Even if they do not instigate primaries, some advocacy groups can be expected to run advertisements and stage rallies against Democrats backing the escalation. Despite the possible negative impact, Democrats and some experts do see a potential benefit arising out of the party division over how to proceed in Afghanistan. For the most vulnerable Democrats — those in more conservative states and districts — a vote on the troop escalation presents an opportunity to side with Republicans on a national security issue. At the same time, it would allow a lawmaker to showcase a split with the liberal forces of the party and perhaps — depending on her ultimate view — with Speaker Nancy Pelosi herself. “That will help some Democrats in moderate districts, because it cuts into Republican opponents running against them as out-of-touch liberals,” said Martin Frost, a former congressman from Texas who headed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during his tenure. “It is harder for a Republican opponent to go after the Democrat in a moderate district who votes with the president on the war.” Mr. Frost, who was engaged in voter turnout efforts in the last election, said a stance in favor of the buildup could spur criticism from some Democratic constituents. But he said it was unlikely that those voters would then turn around and support a Republican. “They might make life difficult for the Democrat, but they are not going to stay home,” he said. Some top Democrats played down the electoral ramifications of Mr. Obama’s Afghanistan policy, saying the president was simply fulfilling his campaign promise to return the American military focus from Iraq to Afghanistan and its potential as a base of terrorism operations. According to this view, the real test will come in 2011, when Mr. Obama will have to choose whether to follow through on his commitment to begin removing troops from Afghanistan as he presumably starts up his own re-election campaign. Democratic strategists say that if nothing else, division over the Afghanistan policy could provide a distraction next year when party leaders had hoped to be free to focus on job creation and deficit reduction — two issues with appeal to independents. And a vote on spending $30 billion or more for the additional troops is not likely to come before next spring, pushing the contentious subject even closer to election season. While Ms. Pelosi acknowledged that Afghanistan is a difficult internal matter for Democrats, she said she did not anticipate that the troop buildup would be an overriding issue in the midterm elections. She said Democrats would be judged more on how they handle persistent national unemployment and the overall economy. “Meeting the needs of America’s families and seeing the progress that they make is what is important to us and to the president,” she said. “We’ll measure our success in that way and, hopefully, the American people will too in the next election.”

President Obama’s troop buildup is likely to add to Democratic difficulties in what was already looming as a treacherous midterm election.

It's probably just hopeless. And it's definitely naive. But what if it wasn't? What if this fiasco could actually change something? What if the mess in the athletic department at Rutgers could trigger a cultural shift, or at least hit the pause button, on the consuming madness of college sports? What if it provoked a reconsideration of the whole crazy thing—how students playing games for schools has become such a craven business vulnerable to envy and greed and poor judgment? New Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann, whose hiring has come under criticism. You would think some reconsideration is in order. Rutgers, on the verge of a showy entry into the Big Ten Conference, finds itself in yet another college-sports controversy, once more self-inflicted. It has already lost a basketball coach over charges—and videotape—of verbal and physical abuse, and dismissed a supervising athletic director as well. Over the holiday weekend, the Star-Ledger published a startling report that the school's new athletic director, Julie Hermann—the person hired to lead Rutgers out of this crisis—was herself accused of verbal abuse by her players while a women's volleyball coach at Tennessee in the 1990s. The letter, reportedly authorized by all 15 students on the team, claimed that Hermann had referred to players as "whores, alcoholics and learning disabled." Hermann said in a statement Monday she was never notified of the letter, and called it "heartbreaking." She acknowledged being an "intense coach," but noted the "vast difference" between "high intensity" and "abusive behavior." Rutgers president Robert Barchi said Monday that Hermann will keep her job. On Tuesday, another issue came back to light: In 2008, Hermann, then an assistant athletic director at Louisville, was involved in a sex-discrimination lawsuit brought by a female assistant track-and-field coach. A jury awarded the coach $300,000, but a Kentucky appeals court overturned the verdict. The coach's lawyer has appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court. The whole thing would be funny if it weren't so unfunny. Now the Rutgers controversy rushes off in the usual directions. Once again there will be calls for leaders to leave, perhaps Hermann, perhaps Barchi. This is how institutional problems get "solved" in the modern era—with a swift cut at the top. This is what Rutgers hoped for in April. The second conversation (also a tedious repeat from April) is about our own standards for coaching behavior and whether or not we are softening—as if the controversies roiling Rutgers are less a matter of out-of-line coaches and more a function of society's thinning skin. This is delicious red meat, easy for the tough-talkers to flex a phony biceps about wimp culture. These conversations don't solve a thing. It's just distraction. Because what's not happening in Jersey is really the only thing that should be happening—not just at Rutgers but at every other college and university—which is a look deep down inside, to the guts of it all, to how college sports reached a point where malfunction became not the risk, but almost the rule. What's most depressing about the meltdown at Rutgers is not the original debacle or the subsequent debacle (or the university's apparent inability to conduct a thorough personnel background check). No, the depressing part is how utterly unsurprising it is, how accustomed we have all become to the steady beat of implosions in the win-or-else world of collegiate sports. But what's worse is when these symptoms are just scalpeled from the patient, as if there's no correlation between the dysfunction and the surrounding environment. What almost always drags these colleges down are the very things they are pursuing: wins and attention, but mostly money, money and money. There's just an assumption that these benefits are positive, that the big time is worth it, that expensive coaches and conference expansion and mega TV contracts all serve a greater good—networks and fans love it, and it's foolish to not want a piece. When a program strays, the NCAA singles it out as roguish, a label that allows the lucrative NCAA ecosystem to escape serious investigation. TV networks cover crises without a glance at the role TV dollars play in fueling the mania. Oh well. Easier to focus on small mistakes and throw a few scapegoats overboard than to examine the big picture. Maybe that examination can happen at Rutgers. Maybe there can be a step back, or at least a polite pause of momentum, and a school can have a healthy conversation about what it wants when it wants to be part of college sports. Maybe the current leadership can be part of this. Maybe they won't. Maybe there can be a serious conversation about how a school should measure athletic success, what values truly matter, what it will and won't do to win, what alumni really want when they say they want to be proud. Maybe this means change. Maybe it means being different. Maybe it means losing games and dollars. But maybe then Rutgers gets back on track. Maybe Rutgers becomes a model of how to do it right. What if this could happen? What if this kind of thinking was possible? What if this could be a launch pad to re-examine the whole flawed passion that is college sports? It's probably just hopeless. And it's definitely naive. Write to Jason Gay at [email protected] A version of this article appeared May 29, 2013, on page D6 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: What If Rutgers Is Everyone?.

Maybe some good can come from Rutgers's latest scandal—the hiring of athletic director Julie Hermann.

My father often talked to us about his definition of success. He told us that it wasn't measured in money or material things, but in love and joy and the lives you're able to touch. Our parents took the time to teach each of us about character and what it means to live a good, passionate life. While my siblings and I were all raised together under the same roof, I marvel at how different we can be sometimes. Four kids, four different life paths, personalities and aspirations. We all must follow a different path to let our light shine, and that's what makes us so unpredictable and unique. It's also why we need to break with the long-held expectation that schools exist to mold and manage kids. In today's world, expecting every child's education to be the same, progress at the same rate and be measured against the same narrow standards of performances is not just outdated, it's a disservice to young people and to the educators who dedicate their lives to helping them. I experienced this disconnect firsthand after graduating from college. I had many opportunities in front of me, but they didn't test my limits, my creativity or enable me to pursue my passions. At first, I took a job at a big consulting firm, mostly because it felt like what I was "supposed to do." While I enjoyed the experience and learned a great deal, I couldn't shake my passion for music. I had followed the somewhat predictable path of a college graduate, but I was obsessing over how to become an artist. While not everyone has had the opportunities I've had, everyone has his or her own version of my story -- that moment when you become aware of the thing that will animate and fulfill you, and that period of struggle when you try to find a way to live a life that places your personal passion at the center. Imagine what it would look like if our schools were set up to help people discover and pursue a personal passion instead of a predictable path? The good news is that a number of individuals and organizations are finding new ways to innovate in education. Tuesday night, I'll be performing at an event where allies from the education and entertainment fields will announce the launch of Reimagine Learning, a $30 million fund organized and run by pioneering venture philanthropy, New Profit, which is providing support to educators, social entrepreneurs and researchers who are shaping the future of teaching and learning. The goal is to create more student-centered environments that help young people not just do better in school but also discover what they love. While tonight is the formal launch, the effort is already well underway. -- Fifteen nonprofit organizations have joined forces to launch Understood.org, a comprehensive free resource that provides support to parents with children who have learning and attention issues. -- Peace First, an organization aiming to identify and support the next generation of peacemakers, has established the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for children whose work contributes to more caring schools and communities. -- The MIT Media Lab has been experimenting with technologies that bring play and creativity back into learning and fit with the different ways that young people learn. And thanks to a partnership with the MacArthur Foundation and the National Writing Project, I was excited to launch an initiative in 2014 to provide teachers with new resources to innovate in their classrooms, so that they can better meet the needs of different learners. The project, called LRNG, is part of a movement dedicated to inspire innovation in learning to ensure that it better reflects the world we live in today. With these efforts and similar ones in communities across the country, there's a strong determination to ensure that schools and educators can start designing schools and classrooms that are more nurturing for students. We can't live lives of joy if we can't discover what we love doing with our lives. So let's stop funneling people through a system and start letting each person discover the power and uniqueness of his or her own passion. Let every child's light shine. Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine. Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

What if schools were set up to help people discover and pursue a personal passion?

The venture capitalist Tom Perkins recently suggested that he should have a greater voice than others in selecting our government because he’s rich. “You pay a million dollars in taxes,” he told the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, “you get a million votes. How’s that?” Perkins later insisted that he had intended to be outrageous. As most Americans understand politics, however, he was just stating the obvious. Instead of extra votes on Election Day, we who are wealthy enough to give money to politicians get special access before, and influence after, as candidates pursue the cash that is the life’s blood of their election campaigns. The more you give, the more access and influence you have. It’s as simple as that. Our leaders’ supplication to donors is not new. But in the age of Super PACs the effect has become far more pronounced — even as the post-Watergate limits on campaign contributions look increasingly irrelevant. There is a Super PAC for almost every candidate and cause — including one that I helped create, with the ironic mission of decreasing the influence of money in politics. But it would be a mistake to call this diversity. Our democracy is meant to be more than a disagreement among rich people. Fortunately, there is an alternative to Perkins’ vision of a plutocratic dystopia. Over the past few weeks, legislation has been introduced in both the House of Representatives and Senate that could upend the political landscape. If passed, these bills would sever the dependence that candidates now have on large contributions and Super PACs by offering them a real alternative: the support of small contributions from ordinary voters magnified by a limited amount of public funds. The Government by the People Act was launched with 130 co-sponsors and the support of a diverse group of more than 40 national advocacy organizations. Within a week, more than 300,000 people signed on as “citizen co-sponsors,” vying to have the voice in politics that every citizen deserves. This strong support signals the birth of new momentum and shows that meaningful reform does not require a constitutional amendment. The battle against super PACs will not be won by eliminating them. It will be won by making them less relevant and putting ordinary voters back at the center of our elections. The effort is even more impressive when measured against the prospects for immediate success. Though the proposals enjoy broad bi-partisan public support, and some Republican members of Congress have privately expressed their support for change, the GOP leadership remains doggedly opposed. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has taken a particularly strident, if unpopular, position. He argues that campaign spending should be both unlimited and undisclosed, and is vehemently opposing all alternatives. Thankfully, other politicians have begun to appreciate that this is an issue that matters to voters and that any candidate will be better off as a supporter of reform than an opponent. The excitement surrounding these congressional bill proposals is matched by the more immediate opportunity for success in New York State. Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has long advocated for citizen-funded elections as part of his efforts to clean-up Albany, has included a similar proposal in his budget submission to the state legislature. In past years, Cuomo used his budgets to signal that Albany is working again. Other than delivering the budgets on-time, though, it has been little more than business as usual. New York State continues to be scarred by corruption scandals (three sitting legislators are now under indictment) and no legislation with economic consequence passes without an accompanying story of the campaign contributions that greased the wheels. The same legislators who benefit from the current system have stymied Cuomo’s previous efforts at reform. But if the governor stands firm during budget negotiations, he is likely to have the victory that has so far eluded him. Victory in Albany would be a boon not only for New Yorkers but for all Americans who believe that our democracy should do a better job at representing the interests of ordinary voters — not just people like Perkins and me, who have the resources to buy influence. It would be the clearest signal yet that a new era of opportunity is upon us and would blaze the path for other states and the eventual passage of citizen-funded elections for Congress. This must be a prospect that terrifies Perkins — every voter having a worth equal to his or mine. But it is far closer to the democratic promise so fundamental to our national identity. That ideal has been under increasing threat since the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United further opened the floodgates for money in politics. Finally, the tide is beginning to turn. PHOTO: Venture capitalist Tom Perkins is interviewed in his office in San Francisco, California, September 12, 2011. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith PHOTO (INSERT 1): A roll of “I Voted” stickers rests on a table near a voter registration list at the Old Train Depot in Denmark, South Carolina, January 21, 2012. REUTERS/Chris Keane PHOTO (INSERT 2): New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (L) speaks to New York Assembly leader Sheldon Silver before Cuomo delivered his fourth State of the State address in Albany, New York, January 8, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Segar

The battle against super PACs will be won by making them less relevant and putting ordinary voters back at the center of our elections.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is adding staff for a new division dedicated to restaurants in Seattle and New York, with indications the unit is trying to rapidly expand a meal delivery service, according to posts on LinkedIn and the company's jobs site. Amazon, which declined to comment on Friday, is best known as a place to buy millions of products including books and electronics. It has increasingly moved into services, offering customers the ability to book everything from plumbers to local getaways. The online retailer has dabbled in food delivery before but its move to form a dedicated division called Amazon Restaurants could mean it is preparing to enter the increasingly crowded meal delivery market and compete against well-established players like GrubHub Inc. The exact purpose of the division is unclear but the job description of at least one employee in the unit suggests Amazon is interested in expanding restaurant delivery services beyond Seattle, where recent media reports say the company is already testing its own meal delivery program. There are at least 15 job openings for a division called "Amazon Restaurants," based in Seattle and New York, according to a Reuters search on LinkedIn and Amazon's own jobs site. There are also six other postings for "Amazon Restaurants and Travel," which appears to be a separate unit. At least five Amazon employees have updated their LinkedIn profiles in the last five months to indicate they are working for Amazon Restaurants. One of them joined the division from GrubHub. In a job ad posted last week, Amazon said it was looking for candidates to cultivate relationships with restaurant owners. Amazon already partners with restaurants in Seattle on Amazon Local, a website and app where users can buy local deals and order food for takeout or delivery. Deliveries are done by restaurant staff, not by Amazon. Technology-focused blog GeekWire reported last week that Amazon began quietly testing its own meal delivery service in Seattle using drivers for Prime Now, the company's one- and two-hour delivery program. Ride-hailing app Uber has rolled out its own food delivery service UberEats, while startups like Postmates use a network of couriers to deliver food and home essentials. Groupon Inc also launched its own food delivery service in Chicago in July called Groupon To Go after acquiring OrderUp, a Chicago-based food delivery company.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 4- Amazon.com Inc is adding staff for a new division dedicated to restaurants in Seattle and New York, with indications the unit is trying to rapidly expand a meal delivery service, according to posts on LinkedIn and the company's jobs site. The online retailer has dabbled in food delivery before but its move to form a dedicated division called...

Whether or not you like the idea of marriage, demographers would probably encourage you to get hitched. Since the middle of the 19th century, they have understood that people who marry enjoy longer and happier lives than those who remain single. In the early 70s, longevity researches added a footnote: a younger wife adds a few years to a man’s life. But these statements seem tired today. In many countries, women are more likely than ever to be older than their husband, romantic cohabitation is commonplace and same-sex unions are winning more legal recognition. So does marriage still mean a longer lifespan? The answer, in short, depends on age gaps, money and brains. Related: Can money buy happiness? Let’s focus on age gaps. A few years ago, that 70s footnote was reexamined by German demographer Sven Drefahl, who dug deep into Denmark’s population data. In doing so, he put together a highly cited and influential paper on marital age gaps and longevity. Drefahl chose Denmark because, since 1968, the country has done as much as technology has permitted to keep a computerized register of everyone in the country. (This began, back in the day, with records on magnetic tape.) As was reported when his study first came out in 2010, Drefahl found that women with younger husbands – so-called “cougars” – die young, as do men with older wives and women with older husbands. (I use “cougar” for brevity: as I will explain later, it’s a horrible term.) The only lifespan winners in the Danish data were the men with younger wives. The finding that cougars die young is odd – and Drefahl didn’t claim in his paper to be able to explain it. It’s odd because, in theory, the benefits of being married to someone younger than you should apply to both sexes. In the autumn or winter of your years, having a younger spouse is likely to mean having a higher standard of health and fitness to keep up with, and when it comes to it, a younger spouse is probably a more energetic caregiver than someone your own age. To appreciate the disparity between the lifespans of men and women with younger spouses, let’s look at some numbers. Between 1990 and 2005, a Danish woman of 50 or above, married to a man about 16 years younger than her, was 40% more likely to die by the end of 2005 than a woman of her age in a same-age union. The same set of comparisons for a man of 50-plus gives the result that he was 4% less likely to die than a man of his age married to a woman of his age. There is also a flicker of black humor in Drefahl’s study: in the case of very wealthy older men, the husband is not 4% more likely to survive but 5% more likely to die. So, according to Denmark’s national dataset – not just tabloid headlines – super-sugar daddies should watch out. That anomaly aside, according to Drefahl’s models, the optimum strategy for a man wanting a long lifespan is to marry a much younger wife. Meanwhile the female optimum is to seek a man born within 12 months of her date of birth. According to United Nations data from 2013, only in the Caribbean islands of Bermuda and St Kitts and Nevis does the average spousal age gap fall within the female optimum; it benefits male lifespans most in West Africa. Since Drefahl’s research was originally published, he’s made some progress at figuring out why cougars snuff it early. He’s been looking at causes of death. The answer is that these women are far more likely to die of “external causes” than other married women – that is, they are more likely to die of accidents that are not suicides. (Consistent with the stereotype that older men stay fit and healthy because they are inspired by a younger partner, men with younger wives have low odds of dying from heart attacks, strokes and cancer.) The elevated risk of accidents could be due to a mix of things. Like some cringeworthy stereotype of a risk-loving Mrs Robinson in a red convertible, it could be that women who generally do dangerous things are the ones who marry younger men. Or the high accident rate might reflect situations that develop as a result of the dynamic of these marriages: their young husbands might encourage activities like high-altitude mountaineering holidays, or perhaps even treat them unkindly. It could also have something to do with the way that society treats women who go against the traditional norm. There is little evidence either way on this, but it seems reasonable that differential treatment might somehow be prompting these women to take bigger physical risks. Consider, for example, how the term “cougar” unfairly infers predatory behavior, and “toyboy” infers insubstantiality. On the other hand, “sugar daddy”, for all its blunt instrumentalism, sounds, well, a bit sweeter. What’s true for Denmark can probably be applied to the US. Today, the average Danish married man is three years older than his wife, which is close to the US average of two years and four months. And over the whole of the 20th century, the two countries have displayed the same trends in the spousal age-gap: on average men were older than their wives by the greatest amount in the 1950s, and older than their wives, but by a lesser amount, in the decades before and after. This implies that similar social factors are driving changes in both countries. But Denmark is different in a few ways. Danes are extraordinarily happy people. This month they yet again came top in an international survey of national happiness levels. Danes are also very liberal. For example, back in 1989, Denmark became the first country in the world to give same-sex partners similar legal rights and duties to married heterosexuals. Related: Don't worry, be happy: your life might depend on it Denmark’s statistics office also keeps excellent data on cohabitation, making it possible to answer the broader question of whether marriage still does a better job of fending off death than less formal, stable unions, in an uber-liberal society. Drefahl has also studied the benefits of marriage in Denmark and found that, for heterosexual relationships, it comes down to class. People with little income and education live longer if they’re married than if they cohabit. For Danes with middling socioeconomic status, there’s not much difference. Yet cohabiters with high levels of income and education live longer than married people of their class. This last bit goes against the results of some US studies. Conservative institutions that publish on this matter in the US consistently claim that marriage is better than cohabitation in a broad-brush kind of way. But relatively little is known about the extent to which their findings are true for politically and socially different communities. What is true for some towns and cities in the US might not be true for others: depending on where you are, it seems, marriage has a different social meaning. Liberal San Franciscans and New Yorkers, for example, might in fact be quite Danish in their relationship habits.

Marriage is supposed to help you live longer, but researchers say that women who marry younger men are more likely to die earlier. Why is that?

Happy Father's Day, dads! Now please just go away. Yes, daddy-bashing is suddenly cool. The cover story of the latest Atlantic proclaims "The End of Men: How Women Are Taking Control -- of Everything," while inside the magazine Pamela Paul poses the emasculating question, "Are Fathers Necessary?" Her answer, after sifting through the research: probably not. Social scientists have been unable to prove that dads contribute much, she reports. The effort and quality of parenting are what really matter, not parents' gender. "The bad news for Dad is that despite common perception, there's nothing objectively essential about his contribution," concludes Paul, the author of "Parenting, Inc." The bad-dad rap doesn't stop there. A 20-year study of lesbian parents in the journal Pediatrics concludes that teenagers raised by two mothers (read: no dad) had better grades and fewer social problems than other teens. The study's co-author, Nanette Gartrell of the University of California at Los Angeles, explained the difference by saying that lesbian mothers are more committed to child-rearing than heterosexual parents. So what's a beleaguered dad to do? If science can't prove that we matter, does that mean we don't? I've had plenty of reason to think about the role of fathers recently. Two years ago, doctors found a seven-inch tumor in my left femur. On the day I learned of my life-threatening illness, my 3-year-old twin daughters came rushing to greet me at home, laughing and falling to the ground. I crumbled. I kept imagining the recitals I might not see, the graduations I could miss, the aisles I might never walk down. Would they wonder who I was or yearn for my approval, my love, my voice? Three days later, I awoke with a plan to fill that void. I reached out to six men from all parts of my life and asked them to be there for my daughters at key moments. This group of men -- my oldest friend, my camp counselor, my college roommate, my business partner, my closest confidant and a tortured, romantic poet -- became the Council of Dads. I asked each to convey a different message to my girls: how to live, how to think, how to travel, how to dream. Talking with these friends, it became clear to me that the men of my generation are often more involved as parents than their fathers were; they're also more communicative and more open to discussing their feelings and their kids. This may reflect shifting family dynamics, with both parents increasingly working outside the home, or new economic realities. "For the first time in American history," explained Rabbi Harold Kushner, the author of "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," "we have a generation of Americans growing up who cannot look forward confidently to being more successful than their parents." That's a psychological need, he added, especially for men. "So what a lot of people are doing is redefining success: 'Okay, I'm not going to make as much money as my father made, but I'm going to have my priorities straight. I'm not going to be so busy I can't watch my kids at a dance recital.' " But while many dads are spending more time with their kids, an alarming number are spending less. The Census Bureau reports that in 2009, more than 24 million children lived apart from their biological fathers. That is one out of every three kids in the United States, including 25 percent of white children, 34 percent of Hispanics and 64 percent of African Americans. The percentage of American kids coping with absent fathers has tripled since 1960. Good thing fathers are unnecessary, one might conclude -- so few are even around.

Happy Father's Day, dads! Now please just go away.

If they haven't switched off completely, many Australians are looking forward to the end of the marathon eight-week federal election campaign - but not Christopher Pyne. The cabinet minister from South Australia is relishing the fight, telling the TODAY Show today: "I don't want it to end. It's the best time of my life". Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese doesn't share his enthusiasm with eight days to go, saying he is looking forward to being on the home front next week in the lead up to polling day. Mr Albanese defended opposition leader Bill Shorten and his continued claims the Coalition, if elected, would privatise Medicare; claims that have been largely regarded as fear-mongering. "Have a look at what they're doing, not just what they're saying," Mr Albanese said. "What they're doing is freezing the Medicare rebate so that people get off bulk-billing so that people go to, essentially, to a private system instead of the public system. "What we know is, Whitlam created Medibank, the Liberals got rid of it, Hawke brought it back, the Liberals have tried to undermine it, it's part of their DNA." Mr Pyne said any changes to Medicare would be done "in-house using the Digital Transformation Office" and that the issue was whether or not the Australian public wanted "a prime minister who tells lies all the time," in reference to Mr Shorten. "He's been exposed as being a liar about privatising Medicare." Mr Albanese said there was a controversial divide in Australian politics and that "the conservative forces in this country don't support" public health, education or broadcasters.

An enthusiastic Christopher Pyne has declared he doesn't want the election campaign to end, despite many colleagues thinking eight weeks is long enough.

Presidential candidate Ben Carson’s two top aides just resigned from his campaign. Doug Watts and Barry Bennett, formerly Carson’s communications director and campaign manager, resigned Thursday, and according to Watts, the resignation is effective immediately. In a statement provided to TIME, Watts said, “We respect the candidate and we have enjoyed helping him go from far back in the field to top tier status. Having just announced raising $23 [million] for the 4th [quarter], more than any other Republican candidate, and passing 1 million contributions and and over 600,000 unique donors since March, we are proud of our efforts for Dr. Carson and we wish him and his campaign the best of luck.” Bennett, however, was more direct about his reasons for leaving. He told TIME, “This morning I called Ben and gave him the news that we had once again raised more money than any GOP candidate and had again beaten our own record. I then told him it was time for me to step down as I have come to understand I would never be able to solve the Armstrong Williams problem.” Tensions have reportedly been simmering in the Carson camp in recent weeks, as Williams, a confidant of Carson’s who does not have an official role in the campaign, has taken on a larger presence in the media. In late December, Carson warned of a shakeup in his campaign, telling the Associated Press, “Every single thing is on the table. I’m looking carefully.” Williams said at the time, in an apparent dig at campaign staff, “Dr. Carson is back in charge, and I’m so happy to see that.” Carson put out a statement Thursday announcing Ed Brookover, who previously served as senior strategist, as the new campaign manager, and Major General Bob Dees as campaign chairman. “As we enter a new phase of the campaign cycle, it is necessary to invigorate my campaign with a strategy that more aggressively shares my vision and world-view with the American people,” Carson’s statement said. “I commend Barry Bennett and Doug Watts for their efforts to help me share my vision for America.”

Doug Watts and Barry Bennett resigned, effective immediately

For Marcus Rashford this was another occasion to add to his increasingly impressive portfolio of outstanding moments. Rashford had reiterated his Euro 2016 credentials before any of the players had a single grass stain on their kit. In the process he became the youngest scoring debutant in England’s history and, of most significance, a boy who started the season in Manchester United’s under-18s might have secured a place in Roy Hodgson’s squad for France. Hodgson certainly does not have a shortage of attacking options bearing in mind his team’s latest win came on a night when Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy were excused duty. Wayne Rooney showed some refined touches after coming on for the second half, including a thumping shot to score for the 52nd time in England’s colours, and Raheem Sterling’s confidence should be lifted by the fact that he set up both England’s goals before Eric Dier inadvertently helped out Australia with a diving header into his own net. Related: England’s Roy Hodgson: ‘Marcus Rashford did well – but I wasn’t surprised’ Yet there was no doubt about the identity of the game’s headline-maker bearing in mind Rashford’s expertly taken goal barely a couple of minutes into an evening that must leave Daniel Sturridge with self-doubt polluting his mind. Hodgson has to whittle down his squad to 23 by Tuesday and Sturridge’s position has to be vulnerable when his fitness appears so erratic, especially now Rashford has shown he can fill in seamlessly. Rashford played like a man – or, more accurately, a teenager – who was in a hurry to make his point and on this evidence it is going to be difficult in the extreme for Hodgson to exclude him from the final cut. Tommy Lawton was 19 years and 16 days when he scored on his England debut in October 1938. Rashford, at 18 years and 208 days, has broken a 77-year record and there was a lovely moment, straight after the goal, when the cameras panned to Rooney in the dugout and it was a sunrise of a smile on the face of England’s most experienced player. Rooney could not conceal his delight – in stark contrast to the body language of Sturridge, with his hood up, fiddling with his mobile phone and reflecting, undoubtedly, on the potential ramifications of his latest injury flare-up. In brighter news he does expect to resume training on Monday. Rashford’s contribution was also a neat way of getting his retaliation in first, bearing in mind the chants in support of Jermain Defoe that could be heard during parts of the night. Rashford was still some way behind Bill Nicholson’s record, set in 1951, for scoring 19 seconds into his England debut but, more importantly, the new kid on the block confirmed he is not fazed easily. He has now scored with his first shot in the Europa League, the Premier League and at international level, all within a prodigious and almost implausible 92-day period. It was not all perfect and Hodgson will not have missed the moment, for instance, when England broke from their own half only for Rashford’s touch to let him down when he had the chance to hare clear. Rashford had another chance later on, played in by Rooney, when another opportunity was wasted. Yet he could probably be forgiven, given what happened in England’s first meaningful attack. The move started from the left-back position, with Ryan Bertrand advancing from defence, then playing a low pass into Rashford’s path. Rashford turned it on for Sterling, to his left, then moved into the penalty area and held his run as the return ball looped off the nearest defender. Rashford waited for the ball to drop, then pulled back his right foot and let fly with a precise volley. England had begun the game with a midfield diamond featuring Jack Wilshere in the holding position and perhaps it might have worked better had Danny Drinkwater assumed that role. Instead Drinkwater started in a left-sided position that was not really his forte. Henderson was to his right, looking fit and eager to impress, and Adam Lallana had the No10 role until Rooney replaced him at half-time and England switched to a 4-3-3 formation. At that point Rashford and Sterling moved into slightly wider positions, with Rooney at the arrowhead of attack, and Hodgson noted afterwards that the general play improved. James Milner also came on for the second half, with Hodgson keen not to over-exert Wilshere, and that meant Drinkwater could take the role where he excelled last season for Leicester City. Australia were moderate opponents and 10 minutes into the second half Henderson moved the ball through the left-hand channel. Rashford let it run for Sterling and suddenly Australia were stretched again. Rooney was waiting in the middle and England’s record scorer had time to pick his spot with a powerful drive that was still rising as it hit the net. Hodgson used the second half to bring on all the available players who had not appeared against Turkey in Manchester last Sunday and the initial diagnosis on Chris Smalling, who looked in discomfort before Eric Dier replaced him, was that he was merely suffering from cramp. Smalling’s importance to the team has increased because of Hodgson’s decision to include only three centre-backs and Dier’s own goal, a diving header from a right-wing cross, was an inauspicious contribution. “I might play him at centre-forward next time,” Hodgson mused.

Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney scored but Eric Dier headed into his own goal in England’s 2-1 win over Australia

What would Jesus do? Ask Tyler Perry. The United State Patent and Trademark Office sided with the media mogul in the trademark battle for the popular phrase “What Would Jesus Do,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. He won the battle over “I Want to Work for Diddy” star Kimberly “Poprah” Kearney, who registered the trademark in 2008, several months before Perry did. Perry registered the phrase in the category of “entertainment services,” with the idea of producing “live concerts, a TV program and motion pictures” in relation to the trademark. Kearney had it trademarked to use as the title for a reality show, but Tyler Perry Studios challenged her claim due to lack of use. Kearney contended that she first used the mark in November 2007, including the fact that she had "shared her television program and title with Tyler Perry Studios" and that "not many months after sharing this program and soliciting (Perry) for financial support of this program, (Perry) filed to register this mark; consequently, eventually resulting in this cancellation proceeding." The Hollywood Reporter stated that the “Madea Goes to Jail” star’s lawyers did “trademark jujitsu” to invalidate Kearney’s argument, including the fact that she has not yet produced or sold a “What Would Jesus Do” reality series and does not have a show in the works. On Wednesday, the judges ruled in favor of the actor-producer, transferring the trademark from Kearney to Perry. Kearney took to Twitter to lament her loss. “Thanks every1 who has reached out bout the board letting @tylerperry steal my trademark 4,” she tweeted Thursday. “What Would Jesus Do-but its not over-God got this!”

What would Jesus do? Ask Tyler Perry. The United State Patent and Trademark Office sided with the media mogul in the trademark battle for the popular phrase “What Would Jesus Do,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

**Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.** Buzz Cut: • Tsunami alert: New poll shows ObamaCare driving voters • Could the House really arrest Lois Lerner? • Hillary booster Sandberg pushes hard on gender bias • Rally lifts curtain on 2016 N.H. primary • British nobles get the vapors over beans TSUNAMI ALERT: NEW POLL SHOWS OBAMACARE DRIVING VOTERS How big is ObamaCare in this year’s midterms? More than 80 percent of respondents in a new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for USA Today said that a candidate’s stance on the troubled health law is important to them, with 54 percent saying it is “very important.” The worst news for Democrats is that among the majority of registered voters who said the law was “very important,” there were twice as many opponents as there were supporters. Overall, support for the signature Obama initiative, which pairs expanded welfare and entitlement programs with far-reaching regulations on health insurance, fell to 37 percent. That’s the lowest level since the summer after the law was passed in 2010 when incumbents’ town halls across the country erupted with ObamaCare outrage. The takeaway: The electoral climate this year is defined by ObamaCare and the forecast is getting worse for Democrats. [“If you don’t care about Obamacare, you’re less likely to vote. If you think Obamacare is good, it’s not a big issue for you. But if you think it’s bad, it's an intense one.” – Republican Senate campaign committee Chairman Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., talking to USA Today.] Dems need to scare up a stampede - Some race watchers may deduce from the poll that the constant efforts by President Obama and his fellow Democrats to frighten and mobilize base voters will be inadequate in the face of an overall political climate as dire as the one described by the Pew/USA Today poll. But the survey actually shows the importance of efforts to provoke a stampede of liberals to the polls. With centrist voters trending away from Democrats and a majority of independents beyond the reach of Democratic pleas for more mercy on the law, an agitated Democratic base could make the difference between just losing the Senate majority and a rout. If the GOP gets a major wave going, it could Republicans in a place to actually pass legislation rather than just blocking Obama’s efforts. [King will choose sides after seeing who wins - The Hill: “Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with the Democrats, will decide after the midterm elections whether to switch sides and join the Republicans.”] Obama to use civil rights anniversary to make campaign pitch - WSJ previews President Obama’s speech today to mark the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin. “The president's speech will celebrate Mr. Johnson's signing of the landmark civil rights law, which outlawed discrimination based on race, religion or gender. Mr. Obama also is expected to make the case for equality in economic opportunity. ‘Civil rights in 2014 is all about equal opportunity for everybody,’ a senior Obama administration official said.” [Only two House Democrats, Reps. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, and Jim Moran, D-Va., backed President Obama’s budget when Republicans offered it up.] ObamaCare sites trap welfare applicants - National Journal: “Some applications sent from the exchanges never make it to the state Medicaid offices. Of those that do, jumbled or missing data can make the applications impossible to process in any kind of automated way. In the meantime, these individuals are without coverage as they wait for their applications to be reviewed, and their prospects for getting insured soon are dimming as backlogs build.” COULD THE HOUSE REALLY ARREST LOIS LERNER? Washington Examiner: “House Ways and Means Committee Republicans aren’t ruling out the use of the chamber’s ‘inherent contempt’ authority if Attorney General Eric Holder refuses to act on the panel’s accusations against former IRS official Lois Lerner…the House’s ‘inherent contempt’ authority under the Constitution…was initially exercised in 1795 during the First Congress and on multiple occasions thereafter. Lerner could be held until January 2015 when a new Congress is seated, which could issue another subpoena and throw her in the clink again if she still balks at testifying.” [JudgeAndrew Napolitano argues that the unwillingness of members of Congress to hold Director of National Intelligence James Clapper responsible for alleged abuses in connection with the NSA’s domestic surveillance program makes them responsible as well.] Report: IRS employees unabashed about Obama support - Fox News: “IRS workers in several offices have been openly supporting President Obama, including by donning pro-Obama paraphernalia and urging callers to reelect the president in 2012, according to allegations contained in a new government watchdog report” [Watch Fox: Chief Congressional Correspondent Mike Emanuel provides a close examination of the agency tasked with enforcing ObamaCare and looking into your finances.] WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE... George Will takes a deep dive into the Compact for America balanced-budget proposal which, “would use the Constitution’s Article V to move the nation back toward the limited government the Constitution’s Framers thought their document guaranteed. The Compact for America is the innovation of the Goldwater Institute’s Nick Dranias, who proposes a constitutional convention carefully called under Article V to enact a balanced-budget amendment written precisely enough to preclude evasion by the political class. This class has powerful and permanent incentives for deficit spending, which delivers immediate benefits to constituents while deferring a significant portion of the benefits’ costs.” Got a TIP from the RIGHT or LEFT? Email [email protected] POLL CHECK Real Clear Politics Averages Obama Job Approval: Approve – 43 percent//Disapprove – 52.5 percent Direction of Country: Right Direction – 30.3 percent//Wrong Track – 61.5 percent Generic Congressional Ballot: Democrats – 41 percent// Republicans 39.7 percent HILLARY BOOSTER SANDBERG PUSHES HARD ON GENDER BIAS Hillary Clinton enthusiast and Facebook boss Sheryl Sandberg used her exclusive interview with Megyn Kelly to call for broad action on equal pay for women. Sandberg, who is pushing an effort to ban the use of the word “bossy” for girls, called for government intervention and social pressure to force companies to treat women differently. “We don't just need public policy reform. We need corporations to have the right policies and look how they are paying men and women and we need women to negotiate for themselves,” Sandberg said on “The Kelly File.” Sandberg added that women need to advocate differently for themselves in the workplace adding, “When men negotiate for themselves, everyone is fine with it because we expect men to advocate for themselves, but when women negotiate they can face a backlash because we don't expect it… When women get more successful and powerful, they are less liked. Men don’t have that trade off. They can negotiate and become CEO.” Watch the interview here. [Ruth Marcus: “I’d vote for the Paycheck Fairness Act in the unlikely event that someone elected me to Congress. But the level of hyperbole – actually, of demagoguery – that Democrats have engaged in here is revolting.”] HILLARY SOAKS UP MORE DEM DOUGH Despite repeated warnings from Team Obama that the Democratic fixation on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 candidacy is harming the party’s midterm chances, Planet Hillary will not be denied. NYT: “Ready for Hillary, the independent group devised to build support for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s potential 2016 presidential campaign, said Thursday that it had brought in 22,000 new donors and raised more than $1.7 million in the three-month period that ended March 31. The group aims to build grass-roots support with small donations solicited over the Internet, which was something of a struggle during Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid. But it said that 98 percent of the contributions in the first three months of the year were for $100 or less, and 9,500 donations were for $20.16, a popular option at Ready for Hillary’s events nationwide.” IN HER ORBIT Bubba warms up the base - AP: “Former President Bill Clinton [used] the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act to criticize efforts in several states to create new restrictions for voters, saying they threaten to roll back a half-century of progress. The former president spoke Wednesday night at the Civil Rights Summit at the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential Library in Austin.” All in the family - Bubba will be in Philadelphia today to stump for Democratic Congressional candidate Marjorie Margolies, the mother-in-law of daughter Chelsea Clinton. Top of the scrap heap - Las Vegas Sun: “Hillary Clinton... presumed favorite for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, will visit Las Vegas on Thursday during a tour of three West Coast states…. Clinton’s Thursday speech will be at the annual convention hosted by the Institute of Scrap Metal Recycling Industries Inc….” Silicon Valley’s favorite - San Jose Mercury News: “When she takes the stage at San Jose State University’s Event Center on Thursday evening… the man conducting Clinton’s Q&A -- Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone, a longtime friend of Bill Clinton’s -- knows she wouldn’t answer, and is already sure what she would say if she did blurt out her plans. ‘Of course she’s going to run,’ Stone says.” Campaign text - AP: “Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new book on her time as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state will be released on June 10, her publisher says. WEEKEND RALLY WILL LIFT CURTAIN ON N.H. 2016 RACE New Hampshire Journal editor John DiStaso posits: “When the New Hampshire presidential primary is history sometime during the first few months of 2016, the political observers, the strategists, the media and even the voters can look back on April 12, 2014 as the day the campaign was launched… The ‘Freedom Summit’ to be held on Saturday by the conservative advocacy groups Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Citizens United is a Republican event…this ‘cattle call’ (if you will) will be the first event at which anywhere from three to possibly six possible presidential candidates gather in one place on one day for the first time… The big draws on the presidential front are Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky as well as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. There will be no Jeb Bush and no Chris Christie. No one conventionally identified with the more moderate (relatively speaking) GOP ‘establishment’… Sen. Kelly Ayotte will be the first elected official to speak…Also speaking are Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Tennessee U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn… the focus will be on Cruz, mostly because it’s his de facto New Hampshire debut. How will his Tea Party brand, so well-known and controversial nationally, translate to New Hampshire?” REPUBLICANS GET JUMP BALL FOR 2016 IN IOWA While Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton stands more than 50 points ahead of her potential rivals in a Suffolk University poll of Iowa Democrats, there’s no such stratification on the GOP side. Des Moines Register: “Among Republicans who said they’ll go to the [2016 presidential] caucuses, 11 percent liked Mike Huckabee best as their nominee; 10 percent said Jeb Bush; 10 percent, Rand Paul; 9 percent, Ted Cruz; and 7 percent, Chris Christie. Six other potential candidates – Paul Ryan, Sarah Palin, Condoleezza Rice, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum and Scott Walker – each had 6 percent, the survey found.” Ben Carson was the top pick of 9 percent of potential caucus goers. GOP BUZZ BUILDERS Rubio, Ryan collaborating on ObamaCare replacement - Washington Examiner: “Sen. Marco Rubio [R-Fla.] and Rep. Paul Ryan [R-Wis.] are collaborating on an Obamacare alternative and could announce the proposal as early as this month, according to Republican sources…” Jeb goes back to his roots - Former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., will appear in Connecticut tonight to present two-time Republican Senate candidate and former professional wrestling executive Linda McMahon the state GOP’s annual Prescott Bush Award, named for the former Florida governor’s grandfather. Ryan building bank - Politico: “Paul Ryan has raised just shy of $1.4 million so far this year, the biggest quarterly haul in his career, according to a campaign aide. …The campaign will also report it has more than $4 million in the bank, an eye-popping sum for a House Republican with no real race on his hands.” Walker way out in front in re-elect - According to a Wisconsin Public Radio/St. Norbert College poll, Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., leads Democrat Mary Burke 56 percent to 40 percent in his re-election bid. Former Christie aides can skirt subpoenas - AP: “Two former associates of Gov. Chris Christie , [R-N.J.] do not have to hand over documents to a legislative committee investigating the traffic jam scandal engulfing the governor, a New Jersey judge ruled Wednesday.” NEBRASKA SENATE FRONTRUNNER OSBORN DELIVERS SOME JABS IN FINAL DEBATE Columbus (Neb.) Telegram: “At one point, former State Treasurer Shane Osborn took an indirect shot that appeared to be directed at [Midland University President] Ben Sasse when Osborn pointedly said: ‘I haven't evolved’ in opposing Obamacare. ‘I have always had the same position,’ Sasse said, believing from the beginning that Obamacare was ‘a bad idea.’ Unlike the other candidates, Sasse said, he has proposed a comprehensive, private-sector alternative to provide health care. … Sasse said the United States is underfunding the defense budget and, because of the leadership of the president, is beginning to look like ‘a big insurance company that just happens to own a Navy.’” [A group of 50 Nebraska conservative activists denounced the decision by grassroots group Freedom Works to withdraw its endorsement of GOP Senate frontrunner Shane Osborn and back rival Ben Sasse. While the signatories don’t endorse Osborn, they attack Sasse and Freedom Works. More from the Omaha World-Herald.] LITTLE BREATHING ROOM FOR BRALEY In Suffolk University’s first poll on the Iowa Senate race, frontrunner Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, holds a 6-point lead over his top potential GOP challenger, less than half of what it was in a similar Quinnipiac University poll a month ago. Braley, once considered very likely to retain the seat for Democrats following the retirement of Sen. Tom Harkin, stumbled badly when a video surfaced of him belittling Iowa farmers. Among potential Republican primary voters, state Sen. Joni Ernst led businessman Mark Jacobs 25 percent to 23 percent. The poll shows Gov. Terry Branstad, R-Iowa, ahead of Democrat Mary Burke, 42 percent to 32 percent in his re-election bid. PICK SIX: PETERS IN PERIL? Republicans need to gain six seats to take control of the Senate. Which six Democrat-held seats are the most vulnerable? The current consensus among Fox News First readers: Arkansas, Montana, Louisiana, South Dakota, North Carolina and West Virginia. But reader Craig Beachum sees a close contest between Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and former secretary of state Terri Lynn Land and says, “add Michigan to the list.” Share your top six picks. Email them – just your top six, please – to [email protected] or tweet @cstirewalt. CASH CALL DSCC outraises NRSC - Washington Examiner: “The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had its best fundraising month of the midterm election cycle so far in March, bringing in $8.1 million and outpacing Republicans, who raised short of $6.4 million for Senate races during the same period… The DSCC finished the month with $22.2 million and having eliminated its debt; the NRSC, meanwhile, finished March with nearly $15.9 million on hand and also without debt.” RNC rakes in over $10 million in March - The Republican National Committee brought in $10.2 million in March to bring its quarterly fundraising total to $25.2 million. After spending heavily to upgrade its tech outreach, the RNC has $12.3 million on hand. House Majority PAC hoists huge cash haul - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s House Majority PAC announced it raised $5.2 million Wednesday. Colorado - AP: “Republican U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner’s campaign is reporting it raised $1.4 million during the first three months of the year, almost all of it in March, following his surprise announcement he would challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Udall. … Udall raised more than $2 million during the first quarter of the year and has $5.9 million available. But the senator was raising funds for the full three months.” Georgia - Roll Call: “Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston, one of a handful of Republicans vying for the state’s open Senate seat, raised $1.1 million in the first fundraising quarter of 2014… Kingston ended March with $2.1 million in cash on hand… In the May 20 primary, Kingston faces fellow Reps. Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey, along with former Dollar General CEO David Perdue and former Secretary of State Karen Handel. Broun raised $345,000 in the quarter and had just $230,000 on hand… Gingrey raised $326,000.” Montana - AP: “U.S. Sen. John Walsh [D-Mont.] raised $946,000 in the first three months of 2014 in his bid to keep the seat he was appointed to in February…” Virginia - WaPo: “Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) raised $2.7 million during the first three months of the year, his campaign announced Wednesday, more than $1 million better than the number he posted in the previous quarter. Warner ended March with more than $8.8 million in his campaign account.” CONTROVERSIAL DEM DONOR DOCTOR TOP MEDICARE BILLER Daily Caller: “The Florida doctor who entangled Sen. Robert Menendez [D-N.J.] in an FBI investigation also turns out to be the nation’s No. 1 recipient of Medicare funds. Dr. Salomon Melgin, the Florida eye surgeon, charged the government $320 for giving 37,075 injections of an eye-drug to 645 patients. That’s an average of 57 injections per patient, costing the taxpayer $21 million in 2012. The wealthy doctor lives in a palatial house in in North Palm Beach, and donated heavily to Menendez. He’s now the target of at least one FBI investigation, which included raids on his offices in January and October 2013. Menendez got entangled in the doctor’s finances when he used Melgen’s private plane to fly Menendez to various locales, including vacation sites in the Dominican Republic. Menendez took at least three trips on the doctor’s airplane in 2010.” [The Hill breaks down how millions of Medicare dollars have been sent to doctors under investigation for fraud.] DEMS PLACE GOP DONORS AHEAD OF PUTIN ON ENEMIES LIST National Journal: “The good folks at the Sunlight Foundation have created a tool, CapitolWords, to show just how much [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid] and his fellow Democrats are pushing the ‘Koch brothers’ message…in March 2014, their names were called out 79 times—and no one cited them more than Reid. Already, the Koch brothers have been name-dropped 38 times in April…The volume of the Democrats' Koch brothers messaging is cranked so high that its rise rivals congressional mentions of Russian President Vladimir Putin… so far in April, Sunlight's data show that ‘Koch brothers’ has been said more than ‘Vladimir Putin.’’’ [Washington Examiner reports that the Federal Elections Committee conceded it cannot stop sham political action committees that trick voters into believing they are supporting individual candidates.] NO RE-ELECTION DECISION YET FROM KISSING CONGRESSMAN The Hill: “[The chief of staff for scandal-soaked Rep. Vance McAllister, R-La.] said while McAllister has no plans to resign, he hasn’t decided whether he’ll run for reelection this fall.” BRITISH NOBLES GET THE VAPORS OVER BEANS The global warming debate took a foul turn in the British House of Lords as Baroness Verma warned bean-loving Britons to reduce their intake of baked beans because of the impact that human flatulence could have on the earth’s climate. From The Mirror: “…Labour peer Viscount Simon raised questions in the House of Lords about the impact of human eating habits. Viscount Simon, 73, said: ‘A programme on the BBC stated this country has the largest production of baked beans and the largest consumption of baked beans in the world. ‘Could you say whether this affects the calculation of global warming by the Government as a result of the smelly emission?’ Lady Verma replied: ‘You raise a very important point, we do need to moderate our behaviour.’” Their lordships may wish to consider calling Mel Brooks to testify on the topic. AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES… “I think you have to go after Syria, the Iran negotiations, the Crimea, Ukraine, what’s happening in Eastern Europe. I mean this really is a collapse of America’s stature in the world.” – Charles Krauthammer on “Special Report with Bret Baier” Click here to watch. Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here. Chris Stirewalt joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in July of 2010 and serves as digital politics editor based in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he serves as the host of "Power Play" on FoxNews.com and makes daily appearances on the network including "America Live with Megyn Kelly," "Special Report with Bret Baier," and "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace." Most recently, Stirewalt provided expert political analysis during the 2012 presidential election. Daily must-read stories from the biggest name in politics

ObamaCare defining midterms and the forecast is getting worse for Democrats.

Jill Chodorov, a real estate agent with Long & Foster, writes an occasional column about local market trends and housing issues. At a recent appointment with a prospective home seller, I was asked a question that made me pause and think before offering an answer: Should we list the property now during the hot summer or wait until after Labor Day? It was a steamy 94 degrees outside on this recent humid July afternoon, with a heat index of more than 100 degrees. My mind flashed to the image of me sitting on a lounge chair by a pool, rather than sitting at an open house on a Sunday afternoon. Even as I imagined myself relaxing by the cool water of the pool, I told my clients what I knew was the truth — now is a great time to list their property for sale. “Your house is in a great location, it shows well, and it will be priced desirably at under $500,000,” I said. “In addition, there are very few homes on the market in your neighborhood, so we don’t have much competition.” The home is located in the Forestvale neighborhood of Silver Spring, near Forest Glen Metro on the Red line, around the corner from Georgia Avenue and the Beltway, and blocks from Holy Cross Hospital. After meeting with my client, I wondered how my colleagues were answering the same question from their clients. Although most agents agreed with my recommendation, I did find some differences of opinion. Josette Skilling of Keller Williams Capital Properties in Bethesda agreed with my assessment. “I typically tell a client to wait, but this year with inventory tighter I am telling clients to list instead of wait,” Skilling said in a recent e-mail. Skilling did add a few caveats to listing a home in the summer. “While the condition of the property is always important, it has to be really good at this time of year. I think it’s important to be a darn near perfect house so it stands out,” she wrote. “And I’ve counseled sellers to be less expectant of higher prices or a lot of competition, unlike in the spring.” Susan Sonnesyn Brooks of Weichert Realtors also agreed. “I tell sellers that price and condition are more important than ever in the summer. Why not be one of the best offerings of the summer? What could be more cool than that?” Brooks offered some additional thoughts on selling this summer. “Many buyers missed out in the spring on homes to competition, poor timing or not wanting to escalate their offers. They are still out there looking seriously and complaining about lack of inventory,” she said. “Waiting two months for September, when they will have a lot more competition from buyers who took the summer off is simply not acceptable to many of the motivated buyers. “ Brooks said that some buyers are on a timeline to buy. “Some are eager to get into new school districts before fall, and many have more time during the summer to house hunt and move,” Brooks said. Beth Hughes of DCRE Residential is also hot on listing properties in the summer months. “One of my busiest months last year was August,” Hughes said. “The low inventory and high number of buyers still looking means that it is still a good time to list your property. We are still seeing multiple offers escalating to over the asking price on properties in the D.C. area, so the market is still competitive,” Hughes said. “As far as I am concerned, summer is a viable market for sellers.” Not all agents are bullish on the summer real estate market. Stanley Barsch of Barsch Realty had a chilly outlook on listing a home in the hot summer months. “In my honest opinion, late July and August are not a good time to list a property for sale. D.C. is a ghost town in August,” Barsch said. “People are busy with vacations and pool parties. Home buying is not on the front line for most people. We are a four season area, things don’t really slow down. But I do think we have some cold spots and August is one of those times.” “There are always buyers out there, but you are setting yourself up by listing in July and August. If the property does not sell, you have 30 days or more on the market when new listings are coming out in September,” Barsch warned. “You are committing suicide.” “In addition, buyers have not been motivated in the last 45 days. And I don’t see them getting motivated in August,” Barsch added. Barsch is correct. According to the latest data released last week by RealEstate Business Intelligence, a subsidiary of Rockville-based multiple listing service MRIS, buyers have been less motivated in the last 45 days. Sales in the D.C. metro area fell by 4.5 percent in June 2014 compared to June 2013. Of course, factors other than high temperatures might account for the decline in sales. Some buyers can’t meet the tougher mortgage qualification standards. And homeowners who refinanced at historically low rates are reluctant to take on higher rates now. Barsch is advising his buyers to get into the market now, however. “Not to contradict myself, but this is the best time for buyers to get into the market. Buyers have more of a bargaining chip,” Barsch said. “Buyers can take advantage of the slow market by negotiating for closing help, longer inspection contingencies, additional contingencies such as radon inspections, and they are not rushed to make an offer.” Barak Sky of Long & Foster had a more relaxed view of timing the market. “What is most important to consider is what is best for the seller,” Barak said. “There are always buyers in the market. I have sold homes on Christmas Day and in the middle of the summer. Timing does not matter that much.” Skilling said she will be listing two properties at the end of July. She will be sure that the properties show extremely well. “And then I cross my fingers.” Here are some tips for attracting a summertime buyer: • Keep the lawn mowed and weeded for prime summer curb appeal. • Keep the air conditioner humming at a cool comfortable temperature. • Stage outdoor spaces to highlight ease of summer living. • Decorate with cool summer colors and accents. • Highlight balconies, decks, patios and pools in photographs and marketing. In tight market, pre-listing sites becoming popular High radon levels may be downside to having a tight, energy-efficient house Logan Circle condos to use feng shui How to find affordable housing for an elderly parent Jill Chodorov can be reached at [email protected].

Real estate agents have differing views on whether to wait until fall or take the plunge now.

Phillip Phillips is still recovering from his big win Wednesday night on American Idol. And he'll soon be recovering from surgery. This morning, calling in to Live! with Kelly, the new champ said he only had "about two and a half hours of sleep" Wednesday night. He was due to be on the show next week but won't be able to, he said, explaining, "I've been sick this whole show. I'm trying to get all my work done, to recover." Phillips was hospitalized at one point early in the season, and has been battling kidney problems. He added, "It's been tough. I've had a lot of great people around me, great doctors. That helps out a lot." When Ripa asked him about upcoming surgery, he wasn't specific about what or when exactly he'd be having it, but said, "Yes, I'll be having it here soon. I'm getting prepared for all that. I'm ready to feel better, feel like myself."

The 'Idol' champ is still recovering from his big win Wednesday night, and soon he'll be recovering from surgery.

House Republicans are calling for a pause in the Syria refugee program and for a new plan to handle the immigrants fleeing Syrian violence in light of the attacks in Paris. (Reuters) Congressional Republicans unveiled a new strategy Tuesday morning to defeat the Islamic State: We will kill it with clichés. House GOP leaders huddled with their caucus in the Capitol basement for an hour before emerging to hit the enemy with an unrelenting barrage of hackneyed phrases. Dana Milbank writes about political theater in the nation’s capital. He joined the Post as a political reporter in 2000. “The world needs American leadership,” said Paul Ryan (Wis.), the new House speaker. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) opined that “we want our homeland to be secure,” while Majority Whip Steve Scalise (La.) spoke of the need to “go and root out and take on ISIS.” Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), the No. 4 Republican leader, proclaimed that we must “rise to the challenge” and find “the courage and the resolve.” And Rep. Lynn Jenkins (Kan.) announced that we must “stand shoulder to shoulder with France and our allies” and “show a path forward as we fight for a safer world for our kids to grow up in.” Even after this furious fusillade of bromides, they did not tire, they did not falter and they did not fail to offer more banalities in response to reporters’ questions. Ryan, who said we should “take a pause” in admitting refugees from Syria because “it’s better to be safe than to be sorry,” was asked what exactly this pause meant. “We’ve assembled a task force” to determine that, Ryan said, and “we’ll give you the answer to those questions when we have made our conclusions.” A task force! Islamic State might as well surrender now, to be safe rather than sorry. So would the GOP leadership consider something that would be a major change in strategy: U.S. combat troops on the ground? “I do not think any option should be taken off the table,” Ryan said. “I think all options should be placed upon the table.” In the days since more than 120 people were killed in a terrorist attack in Paris, conservative presidential candidates have called for limiting the number of Syrian refugees allowed into the U.S.. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) One option not on the table, apparently: coming up with an idea of what to do to beat Islamic State. Obviously President Obama’s strategy — whatever it is — doesn’t seem to be doing the job. But the only thing the opposition seems to agree on is that he should do something else that works better — preferably something that leaves us shoulder to shoulder on the path forward, putting all options on the table as we root them out with courage and resolve. Cliché is a substitute for rigorous thinking, and the legislature has not been doing a lot of that. Obama sent Congress a draft Authorization for the Use of Military Force in February, and nothing happened. Similarly, Congress did nothing in 2013 when Obama dumped on lawmakers the decision about whether to attack Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria for using chemical weapons. Some GOP presidential candidates have floated alternative strategies. Donald Trump would “bomb the [excrement] out of them.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) would send in 10,000 troops. Otherwise, there has been a lot of tired language in lieu of policy. When NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Jeb Bush on Sunday how to defeat the Islamic State, Bush replied: “Well, you take it to them in Syria and Iraq.” Bush did have some specifics, though most were things Obama has been trying to do. Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), interviewed the same day by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, offered the platitude that we should “put together a coalition to confront this challenge.” As for the concrete proposal of 10,000 ground troops, Rubio called that “premature.” Then there was the inimitable Ben Carson, asked by Fox News’s Chris Wallace what “specifically” he would do as president to respond to the Paris attacks. “Well,” Carson ventured, “obviously extending, you know, our support to the French, you know, that were our first allies, and we certainly want to stand with them.” Pressed repeatedly on who he would call first to put together a military coalition, Carson gave a Palinesque reply: “I would call for all of the Arab states to be involved in this.” House Republicans picked up the theme Tuesday at their leadership gathering. “We need a strategy,” Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) told the cameras. “That includes unleashing American air power in a way that can actually crush and defeat them in Iraq and Syria; a broader strategy diplomatically and militarily for the dozens of countries that we’re seeing ISIS presence in; stopping the flow of foreign fighters and then countering the radical extremism that we’re seeing.” Crush and defeat them! Actually, those are aspirations, not a strategy. But there was no time to ponder this, because more clichés were being fired at Islamic State by the second. “It’s time for this administration to step up its game,” McSally said. “It is a generational conflict, and we must lead now more than ever.” Read more from Dana Milbank’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.

Republican lawmakers and presidential hopefuls offer platitudes but few specifics.

" brawl has triggered a lawsuit ... which now alleges one of the stars was smoking crack cocaine at the reunion show. , who is caught on tape punching Althea in the face and dragging her to the ground ... then hitting and scratching her for good measure. In the suit, Althea claims eyewitnesses allegedly observed Joseline smoking crack cocaine out of a pipe backstage during the show. Althea believes Joseline was high as a kite when she attacked. It's interesting ... Althea is NOT suing the show or the network, which means one of 2 things: 1. Producers didn't orchestrate the fight 2. They did but she needs the job

A vicious "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" brawl has triggered a lawsuit ... which now alleges one of the stars was smoking crack cocaine at the reunion…

Hilltop fortresses, riverfront temples, and pyramids that peek out of steamy jungles: Mexico's landscape is dotted with historical sites that span many centuries. Though many were built by the Mayans and the Aztecs, some were the work of ancient peoples whose secrets have yet to be unlocked. Dive into Mexico's unique history by checking out our picks for the country's 10 best archaeological treasures. Nearly as wide at the base as the Great Pyramid of Giza, Teotihuacan's neatly stepped Pyramid of the Sun rises majestically from the plains northeast of present-day Mexico City. Formerly one of the largest capitals in the world, Teotihuacan is now shrouded in mystery. Archaeologists aren't even certain what people occupied this 2,000-year-old city, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Stroll down the temple-lined Avenue of the Dead to the Pyramid of the Moon, the best vantage point for taking in the entire city. A quartet of stout stone warriors stands guard atop the five-tiered Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, the breathtaking centerpiece of the ancient city of Tula. The pyramid is named for the elaborately feathered serpent whose image is found all around this sprawling temple complex north of Mexico City. The Toltec capital, which reached its height around a millennium ago, includes the Burnt Temple, a regal setting lined with dozens of pillars. Unearthed in 1978 by workers repairing power lines, the 14th-century Templo Mayor sits just off the main square in Mexico City. One of the main temples in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the Templo Mayor was where captives from rival peoples --as many as 10,000 at a time --were sacrificed to the bloodthirsty god of war. Seven rows of leering stone skulls greeted them as they met their fate. One of Mexico's crown jewels, it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once home to the "Cloud People," the mountaintop temple complex of Monte Albán does seem close to the sky. At this spectacular archaeological site, occupied a millennium ago by the Zapotec people, you'll find dozens of intriguing carvings of Danzantes, or "Dancers." Although their undulating outlines suggest movement, the figures are now thought to depict bound prisoners. Home to hundreds of tombs that have yielded impressive cache of gold and jade, Monte Albán is a nine-mile drive from Oaxca. The mesmerizing abstract patterns carved into the stonework at Mitla are found nowhere else in Mexico. The other distinguishing characteristic is the vivid red pigment still adorning many of the temple walls. Occupied by the Mixtec people until the 16th century, when it was largely demolished by the Spanish (look for some stones in the wall of the nearby cathedral), this religious center was considered a gateway to the world of the dead. An hour's drive from Oaxaca, Mitla is well worth the trip.

Mexico's landscape is dotted with historical sites that span many centuries. Dive into the country's unique past by checking out our picks for its 10 best archaeological treasures.

Experts of all kinds take to YouTube to share their wisdom. From makeup to video games, viewers can find coaches on virtually any topic. Meditation and spiritual practices are available in video form for viewers to follow for free on YouTube. While it may be counterintuitive to look to the Internet for inner peace and relaxation, the growing popularity of ASMR and online fitness content proves viewers are using the web to better their physical and mental health. The medical community cites many potential health benefits from a regular meditation practice, such as anxiety relief, or reducing the risk of heart disease and Alzheimer's disease. If online meditation sounds appealing to you, here are five experts on YouTube who might help center you in the comfort of your own home. Just remember everyone's practice is different, and alternate forms of relaxation and therapy are always available to you. Don't be surprised if you hear some cursing in Leo's videos, but it's this kind of no-frills approach to meditation and self-growth that keeps us coming back to his channel. As a professional life coach he has hundreds of videos, ranging from "How to stop comparing yourself to others" to "Why women fall for assholes." Sealy, who is trained and certified in hypnosis and clinical hypnotherapy with the Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy in Australia, creates videos that are meant to be listened to during actual meditation time. A disclaimer at the beginning suggests not watching while driving or operating machinery...or on the subway home. If you listen you'll know why. While not especially sleep inducing, his videos are extremely relaxing. Some are even meant for hypnosis. If you enjoy your meditation and positivity in different forms, such as guided meditation or ASMR, D'Amico's channel is worth checking out. Some of her ASMR role play includes positive affirmations or healing massage, but she also has many videos dedicated to traditional guided meditation. She is a non-practicing registered nurse and a massage therapist. Who doesn't want to imagine seeing a unicorn in the forest? Besides your standard sleep meditations and relaxation videos, the Honest Guys have a series of "fantasy meditations," meant to transport you into magical worlds while you decompress. Their channel started as a place to talk about different self-help movements and books, but evolved into something much different. With the help of their writer, Siân, the team create incredibly intricate fairytale-like meditations that some people find calming and immersive. Try the running with wolves video. This channel focuses only on relaxation music, rather than actual meditations, but has one of the most complete and well rounded collections available. They have great background music for your work day to keep you focused or eight-hour sleep music to keep you dozing. You can listen to one of their music meditations while listening to a non-musical text video from a different YouTuber and customize your meditative experience. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Get into a comfortable position, take a deep breath and press play.

A Maiden Gully man has been charged with eight offences in relation to home made explosives detonated in Bendigo overnight as part of a dangerous prank. The 24-year-old handed himself in to police at around 3.30pm today. The charges include reckless conduct endangering life, manufacture explosive substance, criminal damage and cause explosion likely to endanger life. Parts of the CBD were cordoned off this morning as a bomb response unit and arson chemist worked to remove a third undetonated pipe bomb. Parts of the CBD were cordoned off. (Andrew Nelson, 9NEWS) Police received numerous calls after residents heard loud explosions around 10pm. One had been detonated at the intersection of Myrtle and King Street and the second outside the library in Hargreaves Street. At 2am, an unexploded device was found in a bag in Chancery Lane. One of the homemade devices was found in one of these bins. (9NEWS) Police were called after reports of a loud explosion. (9NEWS) No one is believed to have been injured in either of the two explosions. Detective Sergeant Steve Rainey described it as a "moronic" Saturday night prank. "It could have had catastrophic effects for anyone," he said. Sgt Rainey said he suspected it was a prank that could have caused serious injury. The man has been bailed to appear at Bendigo Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Do you have any news photos or videos?

Two homemade bombs exploded in Bendigo in country Victoria overnight in what is believed to have been a dangerous prank.

A decade ago, Sonya Begay fell into a second round of parenting. Her oldest son, Ruben Eppele, was struggling with drug addiction and temporarily lost custody of his three children to Kentucky’s foster care system. The kids — Damian, now age 16; Lea, 15; and Kayle 13 — are Navajo like their father and grandmother and should have been placed with Begay or another relative in accordance with the Indian Child Welfare Act. But it was almost a year before she could sort things out in court and take them home. Begay and her son shared custody of Damian, Lea and Kayle for the next several years, and when she relocated from rural Richmond to Washington, D.C., for a job, the children moved with her. In 2010, she was raising them and working long hours as a policy analyst for the Department of Labor when she learned that Ruben had been murdered in Kentucky. Begay decided to leave her job and take the children back to Richmond. "I was gone [at work] 12 hours a day, so to be away from them while they’re in their grief, while I’m in my grief, you can’t do that," she says. Begay has since shepherded her grandkids through school, therapy and sports, but four years later, she remains unemployed. When the children are at school, Begay scours the Internet and calls old contacts to ask about job openings, volunteers in the Native American community and helps other "grandparents as parents." Her middle son, Shawn Cote, 27, is currently staying with the family to provide extra support. "You don’t want your grandchildren to be raised by someone else," Begay says. "Here in Kentucky, you raise your own. Taking on three children is a lot for me, but that’s the sacrifice I’ve had to make." Income: While at the Department of Labor, Begay earned $75,000 a year. Now, she, Damian, Kayle and Lea live on the children's Social Security survivors benefits of about $3,000 per month. The household's income is too high to qualify for food stamps, but low enough to qualify for public health insurance. "I was making good money in D.C. and now, all of a sudden, we’re at the poverty line over here," Begay says. Scrimping, not saving: Begay leans on cost-saving strategies: "Some of the things I do now are couponing a lot, also buying in bulk and then economizing — repackaging [in smaller portions]. If [we go to a movie], it’s a matinee with coupons." Interaction before Internet: The family puts conversation before computer screens. "By the time [the kids] get home, about 4, we start preparing dinner. We sit down and eat and talk about our day," Begay says. "These kids, they don't request a lot of things. We don’t have cell phones for them. Things other children at school have, they understand that's not a necessity."

Millions of Americans struggle to make ends meet. A photo series about how some of them get by on a budget.

One day last fall, Norman Williams sat drinking hot chocolate with his lawyer, Michael Romano, at a Peet’s coffee in Palo Alto, Calif. At an outdoor table, Williams began to talk about how he’d gone from serving a life sentence at Folsom State Prison to sitting there in the sun. “After being shut down for so many years. I didn’t believe it,” he said of the judge’s decision to release him in April 2009. A client of Michael Romano’s, serving life in Soledad, Calif. None of his crimes involved violence. Williams, who is 46, was a homeless drug addict in 1997 when he was convicted of petty theft, for stealing a floor jack from a tow truck. It was the last step on his path to serving life. In 1982, Williams burglarized an apartment that was being fumigated: he was hapless enough to be robbed at gunpoint on his way out, and later he helped the police recover the stolen property. In 1992, he stole two hand drills and some other tools from an art studio attached to a house; the owner confronted him, and he dropped everything and fled. Still, for the theft of the floor jack, Williams was sentenced to life in prison under California’s repeat-offender law: three strikes and you’re out. In 2000, three years after Williams went to prison, Steve Cooley became the district attorney for Los Angeles County. Cooley is a Republican career prosecutor, but he campaigned against the excesses of three strikes. “Fix it or lose it,” he says of the law. In 2005, Cooley ordered a review of cases, to identify three-strikes inmates who had not committed violent crimes and whose life sentences a judge might deem worthy of second looks. His staff came up with a list of more than 60 names, including Norman Williams’s. Romano saw Cooley’s list as an opportunity. After working as a criminal-defense lawyer at a San Francisco firm, he started a clinic at Stanford Law School in 2006 to appeal the life sentences of some three-strikes convicts. In search of clients at the outset, Romano and his students wrote to Williams at Folsom about the possibility of appealing his conviction. Most prisoners quickly follow up when the clinic offers free legal help. But Williams didn’t write back. At Peet’s, Williams said he’d been too nervous. “I didn’t want to use the wrong words,” he said. “You were lucky you were at Folsom,” Romano said. “It’s only a couple of hours’ drive from here. So we decided to come up and see you.” “Yeah, if not, I’d still be there, staring at the walls,” Williams said. “Never had visitors before you came. I didn’t know what the visiting room looked like.” IN 1994, the three-strikes ballot measure in California passed with 72 percent of the vote, after the searing murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, who was kidnapped from her slumber party and murdered while her mother slept down the hall. When the killer turned out to be a violent offender recently granted parole, support surged for the three-strikes ballot initiative, which promised to keep “career criminals who rape women, molest children and commit murder behind bars where they belong.” The complete text of the bill swept far more broadly. Under California’s version of three strikes, first and second strikes must be either violent or serious. These include crimes like murder, attempted murder, rape, child molestation and armed robbery. But in California, “serious” is a term of art that can also include crimes like Norman Williams’s nonconfrontational burglaries. And after a second-strike conviction for such an offense, almost any infraction beyond jaywalking can trigger a third strike and the life sentence that goes with it. One of Romano’s clients was sentenced to life for stealing a dollar in change from the coin box of a parked car. California’s repeat-offender law is unique in this stringency. Twenty-five other states have passed three-strikes laws, but only California punishes minor crimes with the penalty of a life sentence. About 3,700 prisoners in the state are serving life for a third strike that was neither violent nor serious, according to the legal definition. That’s more than 40 percent of the total third-strike population of about 8,500. Technically, these offenders are eligible for parole after 20 years, but at the moment, the state parole board rarely releases any prisoner early. Emily Bazelon, a contributing writer, is a senior editor at Slate and the Truman Capote law-and-media fellow at Yale Law School.

An unlikely pair, a Republican district attorney and a criminal-defense lawyer, may be the key to reform in California.

When astronomers discovered the planet known as GJ 1214b a couple of years ago, they knew they had an oddball world on their hands. They just weren't certain what form the oddness took. Whirling around a star some 40 light-years from Earth, GJ 1214b was about 2.7 times as wide as our home planet, with about 20 times the volume, making it a "super-Earth," about midway in size between Earth and Neptune. It was only about half as dense as our world, though, meaning GJ 1214b couldn't be made mostly of rock, like Earth. It might be a small chunk of rock with a huge atmosphere of hydrogen and helium — in essence a mini-Jupiter. Or it might be a bigger chunk of rock plus an awful lot of water, something like a junior Neptune. The scientists leaned toward the water-world explanation, but they couldn't be sure. As Zachory Berta, the Harvard grad student who first spotted the planet, puts it straightforwardly: "It was difficult to understand." (PHOTOS: The Storms of Saturn) Not anymore, though. A team lead by Berta has now used the Hubble Space Telescope to determine that the planet is indeed like Neptune's younger brother. That means it's fairly loaded with water, and that has big implications for finding earthlike biology in unearthly places. But it took a lot of astronomical sleuthing — not to mention some counterintuitive thinking — to suss out the new planet's nature. There may be plenty of similarities between GJ 1214b and Neptune in terms of composition, but the two worlds have a whole lot of differences too. For one thing, GJ 1214b is much, much hotter — about 450°F (232°C) compared with a paralyzing –390°F (–234°C) for Neptune. That's because GJ 1214b practically hugs its parent star, orbiting it once every 38 hours, at a distance of 1.6 million miles (2.7 million km). Neptune's stats are a whopping 165 years and 2.7 billion miles (4.3 billion km). (Earth, by comparison, is 93 million miles [150 km] away from the sun and, of course, makes one revolution every 365 days.) (PHOTOS: Striking New Images of Mercury) But hot as things are on GJ 1214b, they could have been hotter still. That's because its parent star is a so-called M-dwarf, much smaller, dimmer and cooler than the sun. In the early days of planet hunting, everyone was focused on worlds orbiting sunlike stars since they were thought to be the most likely places for life to arise. But it gradually dawned on the scientists that M-dwarfs might be home to habitable planets too, provided they orbited at just the right distance so that their ambient temperature would sustain liquid water, a sine qua non for life as we know it. What's more, since M-dwarfs are smaller, a planet orbiting them would be easier to spot, both because it would block a greater share of the star's light and because its gravity would cause more of a stellar wobble. It was to search for these promising planets around small, cool stars that Harvard astronomer David Charbonneau — Berta's mentor — founded the MEarth project, which uses small automated telescopes in Arizona to keep an eye on M-dwarfs, looking for the telltale dimming that would suggest a planet. GJ 1214b was the project's first discovery. The amount of dimming the telescope detected revealed the planet's physical size, and measurements of stellar wobbles made with other telescopes nailed down its mass. But this still left the mystery of what it was made of. (PHOTOS: The Otherworldly Work of West Virginia's Green Bank Radio Telescope) The only way to answer that question was to get a look at GJ 1214b's atmosphere, and that's where the Hubble came in. The planet itself is impossible to see directly, but when it passes in front of the star, a bit of light shines through the atmosphere. By analyzing that starlight, Berta and his colleagues could search for evidence of water. As it turned out, they didn't find much — and that, paradoxically, means that there must be lots of it. The reason: if GJ 1214b were more like Jupiter, with a huge atmosphere made mostly of hydrogen and helium, it would include a trace of water vapor as well. "Water is so abundant in the universe," says Berta, "that it would be very weird to have none at all." The atmosphere's large physical size would spread that little bit of water across a large area, making it show up easily in the Hubble's detectors. No strong water signal from GJ 1214b's means no huge atmosphere. The only other possibility to explain the planet's density, then, is a lot more water, but packed so much more tightly that the Hubble couldn't pick it up. (MORE: New Planet Found: Could a Super-Earth plus Triple Stars Equal Life?) That doesn't mean that GJ 1214b is one great ocean though. With a surface gravity much stronger than Earth's, some of that water would be squeezed into ice — but this ice would be hotter than the boiling point of water on Earth. Some would remain liquid, but it would be what's known as a superfluid — a weird molecular state in which it could spontaneously flow uphill. "And on top of that," says Berta, "would be steam." These are not exactly the warm oceans and peaceful tidal pools in which earthly life first emerged. So why does any of this make astronomers more hopeful about finding exobiology? Because if one water world exists, so must others — and some of them might be in a more hospitable orbit. Indeed, the Kepler space probe has already spotted more than 2,000 likely planets with its powerful detectors, and nearly 300 of them are super-Earths. The catch is that none of them is nearly as close to Earth as GJ 1214b, so they are all out of reach of the Hubble's eye. The MEarth project, however, which has opened a second observatory in South America to complement its Arizona site, is looking only at nearby, Hubble-friendly stars. One of those could truly be home to what we call an ocean — and one of those oceans could be home to something even more remarkable. PHOTOS: New Planetary Nebula Dazzling Astronomers PHOTOS: Happy Anniversary John Glenn! A Hero's Life in Images

Some imaginative astronomical sleuthing turns up one of the weirdest planets yet

Actualizado sep 28, 2012 1:19 a.m. ET Buenos Aires - Llevarse "algo" de Santa Fe era el objetivo del Cerro Porteño paraguayo, y logró embolsar todo por superioridad técnica y efectividad bajo los palos con una victoria por 1-2 ante el Colón argentino en el partido de ida de los octavos de final de la Copa Sudamericana. Pedro Benítez (m.21) y Roberto Nanni (m.77) marcaron los goles del conjunto de Asunción y Lucas Mugni (m.45) el de los locales, obligados ahora a ganar fuera de casa, en un partido en el que el portero paraguayo Diego Barreto fue una de las figuras. El técnico Fossati estuvo lejos de apelar a la clásica bravuconada de los boxeadores que antes de un combate prometen demoler a sus rivales. Afirmó que su equipo haría todo lo posible para llevarse un rédito de Santa Fe que le sirviera para el choque de vuelta en Asunción, y dijo la verdad. Desde el comienzo se vio al Cerro Porteño dispuesto a jugar en campo rival, como si se tratara del conjunto local, con lo cual desarticuló al Colón y le puso en aprietos de manera temprana. Dos Santos, Fabbro, Walter López y Oviedo coparon el patio santafesino, presionaron a fondo y crearon las mejores situaciones de peligro para que los puntas Salcedo y Hernán Rodrigo López avisaran al meta argentino Diego Pozo que no estaban de paseo en estas tierras. El Colón se quedó frenado, trabado, neutralizado en el juego. Casi no pisó el área paraguaya y a la salida de un córner el defensa Pedro Benítez abrió el marcador para los azulgrana con un remate de cabeza a los 21 minutos. En una réplica del Colón, el propio Benítez cabeceó al revés, contra su meta, y obligó a su portero Barreto a esforzarse para desviar el balón a los 37, y dos minutos más tarde el mismo guardameta paró un penalti a Iván Moreno tras una falta de César Benítez contra Uribarri. Un error y una falta discutida dieron a Colón la posibilidad de igualar, pero todo indicaba que no era la noche del conjunto que dirige Roberto Sensini y las pruebas estaban a la vista. En la jugada ofensiva más clara que tuvo la formación argentina en la primera parte, otra vez Barreto neutralizó el balón que llevaba dominado en el área Iván Moreno a los 42 y volvía a salvar su portería. Pero no pudo en el minuto final del capítulo inicial, cuando Uglessich rechazó la pelota de manera defectuosa y Lucas Mugni, la nueva joya surgida de la cantera rojinegra, igualó con un impecable remate de zurda al segundo palo del portero asunceno. Se mantuvo más activo, mejor estructurado y más profundo el Cerro Porteño en el comienzo de la segunda parte. A los 51 minutos el árbitro expulsó al punta local Ramírez y al centrocampista visitante Walter López por agresión mutua y a los 52 el estadio se quedó a oscuras por un corte de energía eléctrica. Tras ocho minutos de interrupción se reanudó el partido, el equipo paraguayo mantuvo el dominio de la situación aunque no el dominio de la pelota mientras que el Colón tenía reacciones esporádicas sobre todo por la derecha a través de Maxi Caire. Un cambio dispuesto por Fossati dio al Cerro Porteño la ventaja que buscaba a menos de un cuarto de hora para el final. Hizo salir al campo al punta Roberto Nanni por Santiago Salcedo y en la primera jugada en la que participó aquel marcó el 1-2 con un preciso remate raso junto a un palo. Forlán, Nesta, Seedorf... muchas estrellas que llegan a nuestras ligas, Barreto volvió a salvar a su portería en los minutos finales, cuando el Colón intentaba un nuevo empate, que no merecía ni consiguió. 1. Colón: Diego Pozo; Maxi Caire (m.77, Gabriel Graciani), Ronald Raldes, Maxi Pellegrino, Bruno Urribarri; Iván Moreno, Adrián Bastía (m.56, Facundo Curuchet), Sebastián Prediger; Lucas Mugni; Jorge Achucarro (m.63, Emanuel Gigliotti) y Rubén Ramírez. Entrenador: Roberto Sensini. 2. Cerro Porteño: Diego Barreto; Mariano Uglessich, Pedro Benítez, César Benítez, Carlos Bonet; Walter López, Fidencio Oviedo, Julio Dos Santos, Jonathan Fabbro (m.89, Gonzalo Viera); Hernán Rodrigo López (m.63, Edgard González) y Santiago Salcedo (m.75, Roberto Nanni). Entrenador Jorge Fossati. Goles: 0-1, m.21: Pedro Benítez. 1-1, m.45: Lucas Mugni. 1-2, m.77: Roberto Nanni. Árbitro: el brasileño Sandro Ricci expulsó a Walter López y Rubén Ramírez (m.51). Amonestados: Ramírez, Fabbro, Uglessich, Moreno, Curuchet y Uribarri. Partido de ida de los octavos de final de la Copa Sudamericana disputado en el estadio Estanislao López, del club Colón, ante unos 35.000 espectadores. El uruguayo Jorge Fossati, entrenador del equipo paraguayo, fue ovacionado por el público local que recuerda su paso por el club hace una década.

Colón falló en su cancha y Cerro Porteño se lleva la ventaja por un gol

03/22/2016 AT 10:20 PM EDT for his April cover, the soccer star revealed that he's seen the film "at least 50 or 60 times," as the film is one of 4-year-old Harper's favorite movies. "We're very traditional. We make popcorn. So, yeah movie nights are fun," Beckham, 40 said. "My little girl, she's very much into and has been for a while." But the father of four isn't always stuck with the Disney musical. Beckham also told the glossy that Harper and his wife together. In fact, they recently caught the movie as it was playing on television. "Our little girl wanted to watch it so Victoria kind of sat for it and then she did all the moves with her after and sang all the songs," he told the glossy. "Victoria's very proud of that." As for movie nights between mom and dad, Beckham shared that he and Victoria prefer older classics like When Beckham isn't busy being a doting father and husband to the leading ladies in his life, he's doing the same for his three sons – Brooklyn, 17, Romeo, 13, and Cruz, 11. celebrating Brooklyn's seventeenth birthday, the athlete shared a throwback photo of himself and his oldest child, telling the world how he proud he is of his son. "17 years ago today this little man came into this world and changed our lives in so many ways," captioned the adorable photo. "We were given the most precious gift that makes us smile and proud every time he walks through the door … Not so little anymore but look at the smile. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUST"

Turns out the Beckhams can't "Let It Go" either.

Highlights from Oprah: A Biography. The blockbuster biographer's latest behind-the-scenes tell-all lands in bookstores Tuesday, all 525 gossipy pages of it. 04/30/2008 07:32 PM By Tara Burghart, Associated Press Writer David Blaine took on a Zen-like appearance in the water tank as the minutes ticked by during his attempt to set a new breath-holding record. Oprah Winfrey, however, was anything but calm. 04/30/2008 06:09 PM By Tara Burghart, Associated Press Writer David Blaine took on a Zen-like appearance in the water tank as the minutes ticked by during his attempt to set a new breath-holding record. Oprah Winfrey, however, was anything but calm. David Letterman says the birth of his son, Harry, has made a "huge difference" in his life -- but the 3-year-old doesn't always get daddy's sense of humor. "Mommy has to tell him a lot that I'm just teasing," Letterman said Monday on the season premiere of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Officials now say that it was wear and tear, and not a collision with a bird, that damaged the windshield of Oprah Winfrey's private jet and forced it to return to the city airport. For Oprah Winfrey, this past television season has been all about granting viewers' dreams. But over the weekend, the talk-show queen made her own wildest dream come true. She honored her personal heroes 25 legendary black women for their contributions to the arts, entertainment and civil rights with a weekend of lavish festivities.

Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of Stedman Graham., including articles, videos, photos, and quotes.

Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of meddling outside its jurisdiction by arresting officials from Fifa. “This is yet another blatant attempt [by the United States] to extend its jurisdiction to other states,” the Russian president said on Thursday. Putin added that the arrests were a “clear attempt” to prevent the re-election of Sepp Blatter as Fifa president and that the Swiss had Russia’s backing. “It looks very strange, the arrests are carried out on the request of the USA side,” he said. “They are accused of corruption – who is? International officials. I suppose that someone broke some rules, I don’t know. But definitely, it’s got nothing to do with the USA. Those officials are not US citizens. If something happened it was not in the US and it’s nothing to do with them. “It’s another clear attempt by the USA to spread its jurisdiction to other states. And I have no doubt – it’s a clear attempt not to allow Mr Blatter to be re-elected as president of Fifa, which is a great violation of the operating principles of international organisations. The US prosecutor, as our media report, has already said that those Fifa officials have committed a crime. As if the prosecutor didn’t know about the principle of the presumption of innocence.” Citing the former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, both of whom have evaded prosecution in the United States by hiding abroad, Putin questioned Washington’s right to request the Fifa officials’ extradition from Switzerland. “Unfortunately, our American partners use such methods to achieve their selfish aims and illegally persecute people. I do not rule out that in the case of Fifa, it’s exactly the same,” Putin said. Russia won the rights to stage the 2018 World Cup under Blatter’s auspices. That 2010 decision, along with the award to Qatar of the 2022 tournament, is the subject of a Swiss criminal investigation running parallel to the US action.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has accused the United States of meddling outside its jurisdiction by arresting officials from Fifa

Following are excerpts from the final report of the Mollen Commission, which spent 22 months investigating police corruption in New York City. Summary What we found is that the problem of police corruption extends far beyond the corrupt cop. It is a multifaceted problem that has flourished in parts of our city not only because of opportunity and greed, but because of a police culture that exalts loyalty over integrity; because of the silence of honest officers who fear the consequences of "ratting" on another cop no matter how grave the crime; because of willfully blind supervisors who fear the consequences of a corruption scandal more than corruption itself; because of the demise of the principle of accountability that makes all commanders responsible for fighting corruption in their commands; because of a hostility and alienation between the police and community in certain precincts which breeds an "us versus them" mentality, and because for years the New York City Police Department abandoned its responsibility to insure the integrity of its members. All these factors contributed to the state of corruption we uncovered. While the systemic and institutionalized bribery schemes that plague the department a generation ago no longer exist, a new and often more invidious form of corruption has infected parts of this city, especially in high-crime precincts with an active narcotics trade. Its most prevalent form is not police taking money to accommodate criminals by closing their eyes to illegal activities such as bookmaking, as was the case 20 years ago, but police acting as criminals, especially in connection with the drug trade. Corruption occurred not only because of fortuitous opportunities and the frailties of human nature, but often because of created opportunities and premeditated, organized group effort. . . . In the face of this problem, the department allowed its systems for fighting corruption virtually to collapse. It had become more concerned about the bad publicity that corruption disclosures generate than the devastating consequences of corruption itself. As a result, its corruption controls minimized, ignored and at times concealed corruption rather than root it out. Such an institutional reluctance to uncover corruption is not surprising. No institution wants its reputation tainted -- especially a department that needs the public's confidence and partnership to be effective. A weak and poorly resourced anti-corruption apparatus minimizes the likelihood of such taint, embarrassment and potential harm to careers. Thus there was a strong institutional incentive to allow corruption efforts to fray and lose priority -- which is exactly what this commission uncovered. This reluctance manifested itself in every component of the department's corruption controls from command accountability and supervision, to investigations, police culture training and recruitment. . . . The principle of command accountability, which holds commanders responsible for fighting corruption, completely collapsed. Supervisors and commanding officers were largely complacent about maintaining integrity. Few were concerned with corruption on their watch -- unless it exploded onto an embarrassing corruption scandal. One officer in a high-crime precinct related how his commanding officer went so far as to announce at roll call that he knew his officers were committing acts of corruption, and gave them this bit of advice: If you get caught, keep your mouth shut. . . . The department also failed -- or refused -- to recognize that police corruption is a multidimensional problem that cannot be overcome by focusing solely on the corrupt cop and inadequate investigations. In so doing, the department failed to insure that corruption controls operated on a variety of fronts and in the daily operations of the department, including: recruitment, screening, integrity training, supervision, deterrence, accountability and police culture. Because of that failure, the department abandoned some of its best tools for conquering corruption: The honest cop and the community. How It Worked What we have concluded, however, is that in precincts where certain conditions exist -- in particular an active and open narcotics trade and high crime -- pockets of corruption are likely to exist in varying degrees of seriousness, frequency and size. . . . That minor forms of corruption are no longer the most pervasive reflects a significant change in the nature of police corruption. Twenty years ago, the most common form of corruption was relatively minor. Officers of all ranks took bribes to allow gamblers, prostitutes and others to avoid the law and escape arrest. These "grass-eaters," as the Knapp Commission called them, constituted the majority of cops in the department at that time; serious corruption, committed by what the Knapp Commission called "meat-eaters," was relatively rare. Today the situation is reversed. Minor corruption is no longer systemic among the ranks. And for that the department should be commended. But the "meat-eaters" are the rule rather than the exception among corrupt cops today. . . .

Following are excerpts from the final report of the Mollen Commission, which spent 22 months investigating police corruption in New York City. Summary What we found is that the problem of police corruption extends far beyond the corrupt cop. It is a multifaceted problem that has flourished in parts of our city not only because of opportunity and greed, but because of a police culture that exalts loyalty over integrity; because of the silence of honest officers who fear the consequences of "ratting" on another cop no matter how grave the crime; because of willfully blind supervisors who fear the consequences of a corruption scandal more than corruption itself; because of the demise of the principle of accountability that makes all commanders responsible for fighting corruption in their commands; because of a hostility and alienation between the police and community in certain precincts which breeds an "us versus them" mentality, and because for years the New York City Police Department abandoned its responsibility to insure the integrity of its members.

At some point in the run-up to Barack Obama’s just concluded tour of Latin America, which included stops in Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador, the US press decided that coverage of the trip would focus on expected friendly meeting with Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's recently inaugurated president.  The Washington Post, the New York Times, and National Public Radio, along with a host of other newspapers, cable news commentators, and blogs, all predicted that Obama, the US's first African American president, and Rousseff, Brazil's first woman leader, would find common ground, reversing the deterioration of diplomatic relations that had begun under Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The bad blood started, or so the story went, when Lula refused to listen to the administration of George W. Bush and At some point in the run-up to Barack Obama’s just concluded tour of Latin America, which included stops in Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador, the US press decided that coverage of the trip would focus on expected friendly meeting with Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's recently inaugurated president.  The Washington Post, the New York Times, and National Public Radio, along with a host of other newspapers, cable news commentators, and blogs, all predicted that Obama, the US's first African American president, and Rousseff, Brazil's first woman leader, would find common ground, reversing the deterioration of diplomatic relations that had begun under Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The bad blood started, or so the story went, when Lula refused to listen to the administration of George W. Bush and isolate Venezuela's populist leader, Hugo Chávez. Before long, Brasilia was opposing or, worse, offering alternatives to Washington's position on a growing number of issues: climate change, opposition to the 2009 coup in Honduras, Cuba, trade and tariffs.  Lula declined to criticise Iran and opened up a separate negotiating channel, outside of Washington's influence and much to its annoyance, with Tehran to discuss Iran's nuclear ambitions. The former Brazilian president also welcomed the president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas to Brazil, leading the rest of Latin America to recognise the Palestinian state and calling for direct talks with Hamas and Hezbollah.   Various explanations were posited in the US press for Lula's behavior, which, for a Latin American leader, was unprecedented considering the historically subservient role Latin America has long played to Washington. At times it was described as a personality disorder, a striving for attention on the world stage; at other moments it was explained away as Lula's need to play to his party's rank and file, which, apparently, always enjoys a good tweaking of the US's nose. In any case, Obama's visit just after Dilma's election offered a chance for a reset. Rousseff, it was reported, would be eager to use the trip to distance herself from her political patron, Lula. Though she was a member of a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla organisation opposing a US-backed dictatorship during her youth in the 1970s, Brazil's new leader had, according to the Washington Post, a "practical approach to governance and foreign relations after eight years of the flamboyant Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva".  "She's a different person and has a different style," remarked the chairman of Goldman Sachs asset management. She was "warm" and would welcome Obama cordially (has it really gotten to the point where the US, which for decades presided imperiously over the international community, is today just happy that foreign leaders aren’t rude when its presidents come calling?). Nearly all major news and opinion sources thought that she would be more accommodating to Washington's concerns than her predecessor, in Latin America but especially in the Middle East. Unfortunately for Washington the reality has departed from the narrative. Brazil, under Rousseff, continues largely to follow its own diplomatic lights.  Even before Obama landed in Rio, Brazil, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, joined with China and Germany to abstain from the vote authorising "all necessary measures" against Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.  Since then, its opposition to the bombing has hardened.  According to the Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS), Brazil's foreign ministry – still, for the most part, staffed by the diplomats who charted Lula's foreign policy – recently issued a statement condemning the loss of civilian lives and calling for the start of dialogue.  Lula himself has endorsed Dilma's critical position on Libya, going further in his condemnation of the intervention: "These invasions only happen because the United Nations is weak," he said. "If we had twenty-first-century representation [in the Security Council], instead of sending a plane to drop bombs, the UN would send its secretary-general to negotiate."  His remarks were widely interpreted to mean that if Brazil had been a permanent member of the Security Council – a position it has long sought – it would have vetoed the resolution authorising the bombing rather than, as it did, merely abstaining from the vote.  These comments were the first indication that the ex-president, still enormously popular and influential in Brazil, planned to continue to openly weigh in on his successor’s foreign policy.  Argentina and Uruguay likewise have voiced strong disapproval of the intervention.  On one level, this censure reflects Latin America's commitment to the ideal of non-intervention and absolute sovereignty.  But on another, less elevated and more commonsensical level, it reflects a belief that the diplomatic community needs to return to a standard in which war is the last rather than the first response to crisis. "This attack [on Libya] implies a setback in the current international order," IPS reports Uruguayan President José Mujica as saying. "The remedy is much worse than the illness. This business of saving lives by bombing is an inexplicable contradiction." Social inclusion vs IMF demands On other important issues as well, Brazil continues push back against Washington.  The US-controlled International Monetary Fund (IMF), for example, is demanding that Brazil, one of the world's fastest growing economies, calm bond market concerns about inflation by reining in social spending.  Dilma's economic team has so far balked.  It argues instead that inflation can be controlled by government regulation of "hot money," that is, the ability of foreign capital to place speculative bets on, and reap enormous profits off of, Brazil’s currency.   This might sound a bit technocratic, but it is in fact a big obstacle to the IMF's bid to restore its lost role as what economist Mark Weisbrot has described as a "creditor’s cartel" in Latin America, the chief mechanism through which Washington imposes "discipline" on economies, like Brazil's, that shows too much independence. Likewise, Brazil continues to be the main obstacle to jumpstarting the Doha Round of the world trade talks, demanding that the US and Europe lower tariffs to the products and commodities of the developing world.  While graciously hosting the US president, Rousseff nonetheless strongly criticized Washington’s ability to preach free trade while practicing protectionism, demanding that the US open its markets to Brazilian imports such as ethanol, steel, and orange juice. However "warm," "practical," or "cordial" Dilma, Brazil’s first woman president, may be, she'll be no push over when it comes to matters of war, peace, and economics.   Greg Grandin is a professor of history at New York University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of a number of prize-winning books, including most recently, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City (Metropolitan 2009), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History, as well as for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.Â

Tensions over Middle East policy are increasing, despite Barack Obama's recent visit to Latin America.

The first blow of the phoney war which always precedes a Ryder Cup has been landed by Lee Westwood, who has pointed towards the potentially “adverse” influence of Tiger Woods as a vice-captain of the USA. Woods has endured an infamously troublesome time as a Ryder Cup player but while injured this time, the USA captain Davis Love III asked him to become a member of the backroom staff. Westwood will play in his 10th Ryder Cup at Hazeltinein nine days’ time, with Europe seeking an unprecedented fourth win in a row. “I don’t know what impact there will be from having Tiger around,” Westwood said to ESPN.com. “They have always struggled to find a partner for Tiger that’s been successful. He could have an adverse effect in the team room. People have always seemed to try to do too much when they have partnered him. It might be different if he’s one of the vice-captains, you don’t know. “The captain is obviously building them up a lot and making a few interesting decisions. They have got a strong side and probably are favourites, but they haven’t won it for a while and they are playing in front of a home crowd. There is a lot of pressure on them. That is going to keep building in the next week or so and by the time the Ryder Cup comes around, it is going to be pretty intense for them.” Westwood also referred to Love’s captaincy in 2012 at Medinah, and the handling of his wildcard picks this time, as being potentially significant. Four years ago Europe triumphed in memorable style as the hosts capitulated during the singles matches. “I don’t know if something went wrong on the Sunday or the team didn’t play very well for some reason, but that will be in the back of their minds,” the Englishman said. Westwood was similarly questioning of Love’s decision, thus far, not to pick Bubba Watson. The USA captain has one wildcard remaining, with Watson seemingly battling against Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger for the spot. “There seem to have been issues about team spirit and chemistry. Love has not picked Bubba Watson and I don’t know what that does for team spirit; he was first outside the points qualification and is No7 in the world.”

Lee Westwood has questioned the wisdom of the USA selecting Tiger Woods as a Ryder Cup vice-captain as ‘they have always struggled to find a successful partner for him’

Every week, CIO Journal offers a glimpse into the mind of the CEO, whose view of technology is shaped by stories in management journals, General interest magazines and, of course, in-flight publications. British banker suggest it’s time to rip it up and start all over again. Lord Adair Turner, the ex-Morgan Stanley  executive whose four-year turn as Britain’s chief financial regulator began days before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. went belly-up, says banking as most people know it is “largely fictional.” Debt remains the engine of economic growth, he tells Quartz’s Matt Phillips, and “the system is bound to blow up in the end and is bound to put us in a malaise we were placed in after the blow-up of 2008,” he says. Somber words from Baron Turner of Ecchinswell. He suggests that banks should be reduced to lending out the money they receive on deposits. And the central bank should have the power to print a lot of money. “Perón may have been in favor of it. But so was Milton Friedman and Milton Friedman is not exactly known as [a] left-wing, socialist, lover of inflation,” he says. Why doesn’t Silicon Valley have black coders? “People tend to discuss Silicon Valley diversity problem in binary terms,” Bloomberg’s Vauhini Vara writes. Some believe companies have a built-in bias against minorities, while others say there aren’t yet enough qualified applicants. Ms. Vara tracks computer scientist majors from Howard University, a traditionally black college, as they head West for jobs. While companies have expanded outreach efforts, progress has been slow. The students, many of whom first encountered coding in college,  are surprised to meet peers who “started coding during childhood, won programming competitions in their spare time, and spent their summers interning at startups.” That kind path hints at a culture based not necessarily on meritocracy, but privilege. One senior tells Ms. Vara that when Valley companies visited Howard they would boast about playground equipment and volley ball courts. “Slides,” the senior says, “are not really appealing.” Speaking of enclosed bubbles….Davos! While markets wobble, rest assured that World Economic Forum attendees are working hard this week to make the world a better place. Just as the perp walk reassures civilians that justice is being served, the photos filed this week of tech alpha-dogs—sleeveless Sun Valley Conference vest vintage 2005 edition, hemp jeggings—and their banker frenemies—Mackage coat over suit, waterlogged Testonis—sauntering through the Alpine hamlet’s streets like real folks should satisfy the plebes that “stuff is getting done.” Never mind the fact that those photos likely won’t contain representatives of half of the world’s population. Or that they may have been taken by a guy who can charge $150,000 for a corporate head shot. Or that the attendee swag bag this year is nothing a seat warmer at the Grammys would shout about.< Now that’s a moonshot. Two astronomers announced Wednesday that there may be a new planet in the solar system. Something in the Kuiper belt “is stirring chunks of rock and ice into strange orbits,” the Atlantic’s Ross Andersen writes. “Something massive.” One of the discoverers played a key role banishing Pluto to dwarf planet status several years ago. The existence of a planet of significant size and density “20 times Neptune’s distance” leads Mr. Andersen to contact physicist Freeman Dyson about the possibility of using Planet Nine as a gravity assist “slingshot” for interstellar voyages. Don’t count on it, says the physicist.

British banker suggests it's time to rip it up and start all over again; a look at why Silicon Valley lacks black coders; the party from the Buddha Bar Dubai moves to the Swiss Alps; can a new planet in the solar system help power the ultimate moonshot?

The three-way tug of war being hashed out in the discount retail industry just got a little bit more contentious. On Wednesday, Dollar General said it was going hostile and taking its $9.1 billion offer for Family Dollar directly to shareholders after being rebuffed. The move further complicates Family Dollar’s agreed-upon deal, announced in July, to sell itself to Dollar Tree for $8.5 billion. Family Dollar shareholders will now have the chance to tender their shares for the $80 apiece being offered by Dollar General, a substantially higher offer than the $74.50 that Dollar Tree has agreed to pay. But while many shareholders may go ahead and tender their shares, there is no certainty that Dollar General will prevail. Dollar General will not go ahead and buy the shares from investors unless Family Dollar endorses the deal. And the board of Family Dollar has signaled that it believes there is significant risk that a combination with Dollar General will not pass antitrust muster because of the two companies’ similar business models and overlapping footprints. For this reason, the Family Dollar board previously rejected a friendly offer of $80 a share from Dollar General, pledging to stick with the offer from Dollar Tree. At issue is whether or not the Federal Trade Commission would approve a combination of Dollar General and Family Dollar. To ease such concerns, Dollar General has pledge to sell as many as 1,500 stores. And to entice Family Dollar, it has pledged to pay a $500 million reverse break fee if the deal is not approved. But the Family Dollar board so far believes that even with these promises, abandoning the Dollar Tree deal is too risky. On Wednesday, Family Dollar acknowledged receipt of the Dollar General tender offer, but said little more. “Family Dollar’s board of directors has not changed its recommendation in support of the merger with Dollar Tree,” the company said. Dollar Tree did not comment on Dollar General’s move and has said little about it since Dollar General made its first counterbid in early August. The position of the Family Dollar board is especially notable because Edward P. Garden, the chief investment officer of the hedge fund Trian Fund Management, is a director. Trian, the activist fund run by Nelson Peltz, is Family Dollar’s largest shareholder, and is looking to sell its shares at the highest possible price, though not one that would not pass regulatory approval. Dollar General was caught off guard when Family Dollar, a company it had long sought to acquire, agreed to sell itself to Dollar Tree this summer. Complaining that it was not given a fair chance to bid, Dollar General suggested the decision not to engage in talks was motivated in part by the Family Dollar chief executive’s concerns about his job. It then made a friendly bid, and raised that offer, but has so far not persuaded Family Dollar to turn its back on the deal with Dollar Tree. “Our offer provides Family Dollar shareholders with significantly greater value than the existing agreement with Dollar Tree, as well as immediate and certain liquidity for their shares,” Dollar General’s chief executive, Rick Dreiling, said in the statement on Wednesday. “By taking this step, we are providing all Family Dollar shareholders a voice in this process, and we urge them to tender into our offer.” By initiating the tender offer, Dollar General was able to start the clock with the F.T.C. Though Dollar Tree has a head start of several weeks in the process, and may be more likely to win approval without too many painful concessions, Dollar General can now effectively argue that Family Dollar shareholders should not approve a deal with Dollar Tree until both proposed deals have been reviewed by the commission. “Additionally, we now can begin the antitrust review process and will have an opportunity to present our position directly to the F.T.C.,” Mr. Dreiling said. “As we previously have stated, we are confident in the results of our antitrust analysis, and we look forward to a constructive dialogue with the F.T.C.” Should Family Dollar bring the deal with Dollar Tree to a shareholder vote right before the F.T.C. weighs in on the Dollar General bid, it would be a risky move. Family Dollar shares are trading above $78 a share, significantly above the agreed-to $74.50 offer from Dollar Tree. Without knowing whether or not the Dollar General deal might be approved, Family Dollar would risk leaving money on the table. “Until now, the Family Dollar board has been resisting Dollar General’s advances by rationalizing that although the Dollar General offer is nominally higher, the perceived antitrust risk was higher than the deal they have in hand with Dollar Tree,” said Brian JM Quinn, a professor at the Boston College Law School. “With the move to go directly to the shareholders, Dollar General is forcing the issue.” Last week, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree sought to strengthen their deal by adding a “hell or high water” clause, pledging to do whatever is necessary to clear the deal with regulators. Dollar General has so far resisted making similar commitments. Goldman Sachs is advising Dollar General and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is providing legal advice. Morgan Stanley is advising Family Dollar and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is providing legal advice. JPMorgan is advising Dollar Tree, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Williams Mullen are providing legal advice.

The move further complicates Family Dollar’s deal to sell itself to Dollar Tree for $8.5 billion. Dollar General’s offer is for $9.1 billion.

Lil Wayne's mentor Birdman and his Cash Money co-founder Ronald "Slim" Williams really got into the holiday spirit today in New Orleans -- handing out special Turkey Day care packages to people in need ... and TMZ has the pics.Bryan "Birdman" Williams, Slim, and a bunch of other dudes from Cash Money Records dropped by A.L. Davis Park for the charity drive, distributing turkeys and other Thanksgiving Day essentials (like AriZona Iced Tea).We're told Lil Wayne had planned to attend as well -- but was advised not to travel in his current health condition.Gobble gobble gobble, bitches.

Lil Wayne's mentor Birdman and his Cash Money co-founder Ronald "Slim" Williams really got into the holiday spirit today in New Orleans -- handing…

Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times Lorenzo Wyatt, left, and Richard Stassun of Mr. Handyman in Fairfield, Conn., prepare to work around lead paint. Richard Stassun installs protective plastic sheets before embarking on renovations at a home in Stratford, Conn. Since April 22, all professional renovation projects in apartments and homes built before 1978 — the year the use of lead in paint was banned — that test positive for lead have had to meet federal guidelines and be performed by workers certified in lead-safe practices. Many older apartments in New York, remodeled more than once over the years, have long since been divested of their lead paint. But in a number of cases, contractors said, complying with the new rules could more than double the cost of renovations. New York City already has some of the country’s strictest lead-paint laws, but the new regulation is being met with concern among contractors and building managers. The main difference for homeowners in New York is that guidelines regulating work in common spaces will be extended to individual apartments. Any area greater than six square feet that tests positive for lead paint is included. The possibility of higher renovation costs could be a factor in the decision to buy an older apartment, brokers said. Already, co-op boards have reported tensions with new residents who bought apartments before the rule went into effect and were surprised at the added costs that would now come with any remodeling. “Potentially, this could have very big consequences,” said Nicholas Ricci, the owner of Professional Services Inc., a construction and remodeling company in New York. “Everyone is still trying to figure out what it is exactly that the law requires.” Although the E.P.A. says more than 25,000 professional contractors and other workers in New York have received the required certification, many condominiums and co-ops rely on handymen and superintendents to do work like painting and plaster repair inside apartments — especially when the jobs are small. For bigger projects, said Stuart M. Saft, the chairman of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums, “in the past the supers and the building staff have been very careful not to get involved in lead paint removal. When they realized there is a lead-paint situation, they called in outside experts.” But as the new regulation governs areas as small as six square feet, a super contemplating a minor repair job in a building would now need to be trained to work safely in the presence of lead. Even for the simplest job there will be a higher price tag, according to contractors. For instance, because of the precautions, the repainting of a room that would have cost $500 could now cost more than $1,000. To start with, furniture and equipment has to be wrapped in plastic at least 6 mils thick (a typical kitchen trash bag is around 1 mil). Similarly, floors, doorways and windows have to be lined with plastic and workers must wear protective gear. There are also special vacuums needed for cleanup, costing as much as $850. Training and certification classes cost roughly $180 to $250 per student, and a business would have to pay an additional $300 to register as certified. Todd Recknagel, the chief executive of Mr. Handyman, a national home service and repair company, said most consumers were unaware of the new regulation and the added cost. “I would safely say most people are surprised by it,” he said. “We are educating the consumer on it out in the field.” On national industry Web sites, which provide the cover of anonymity, the tone of contractors has been apocalyptic. “All contractors should just continue as usual,” posted a man named Frank on a message board on the Home Construction and Improvement Web site. “If everybody refuses to do this what are they going to do, put us all in jail?” Many people expressed concern that, with the real estate market still fragile, the regulation would both stifle construction spending and hurt the value of older homes. There were similar concerns expressed in New York City after a local law went into effect in 2004 — but the new E.P.A. regulations are more sweeping. The battle over the new regulation has been long and contentious. It was in 1992 that Congress passed legislation directing the E.P.A. to write the regulation. But, because of fierce opposition from the construction industry, it was not completed until 2008, under pressure from environmental and public health advocates. And it did not take effect until this spring.

Thanks to a new federal regulation, yesterday’s $500 paint job could now cost over $1,000.

As President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, the nation's rapidly deteriorating discourse hit yet another low. It happened at 8:40 pm, just after the president vowed to lawmakers that his health-care reform proposals would not provide benefits to illegal immigrants. As millions of Americans watched from home, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted at the president from his fifth-row seat: "You lie!" Murmurs of "ooh" filled the stunned chamber. Nancy Pelosi's chin dropped. Obama moved on to the next sentence in his speech, about how no federal money would be used to fund abortion. "Not true!" came another shout. The national debate, already raw for years, had coarsened over the summer as town hall meetings across the country dissolved into protests about "death panels" and granny-killing. Guns were brought to Obama appearances. A pastor in Arizona said he was praying for Obama to die. But even by that standard, there was something appalling about the display on the House floor for what was supposed to be a sacred ritual of American democracy: the nation watching while Cabinet members, lawmakers from both chambers and the diplomatic corps assembled. Wilson was only the most flagrant. There was booing from House Republicans when the president caricatured a conservative argument by saying they would "leave individuals to buy health insurance on their own." They hissed when he protested their "scare tactics." They grumbled as they do in Britain's House of Commons when Obama spoke of the "blizzard of charges and countercharges." When he asserted that "nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have," there was scoffing and outright laughter on the GOP side. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (Tex.) shook his head in disbelief. Several Republicans shouted "What plan?" and Rep. Louis Gohmert (Tex.) waved at Obama a handwritten poster he made on a letter-size piece of paper: "WHAT PLAN?" Gohmert then took that down and replaced it with another handmade poster that said "WHAT BILL?" The irony was that Obama had used his speech to offer a significant concession to Republicans and to break with liberals in his own party. There was a cool silence in the chamber as the president told "my progressive friends" that the "public option" they treasure as part of health-care reform could be sacrificed in favor of other ideas. And, in truth, there were provocations from the Democratic side. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), sitting on the Republican side, insisted on making a victory sign with his hand and waving it at Obama. Rep. Al Green (D-Tex.), also on the GOP side of the aisle, felt the need to pound his fist in the air and make what looked, awkwardly, like a fascist salute. Scolding Republicans for scoring "short-term political points," Obama wasn't subtle in his effort to make his foes look cruel. The White House stocked the first lady's box at the speech with a virtual medical ward: a woman with sarcoidosis, a colon cancer patient, a recurrent cancer survivor, a double amputee, two women with breast tumors, a woman with eye problems, a man with high cholesterol, two brain tumor survivors, the son of a brain cancer victim and the fathers of children who have seizures and hemophilia. But while the majority of both parties' lawmakers behaved as adults, the insolence by House Republicans stole the show. There was derisive laughter on that side of the chamber when Obama noted that "there remain some significant details to be ironed out." They applauded as he spoke of "all the misinformation that's been spread over the past few months." They laughed again when he said that "many Americans have grown nervous about reform." When Obama addressed the charge that he plans "panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens," someone on the GOP side shouted out "shame!" The president went on: "Such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical." "Read the bill!" someone shouted back. Obama mentioned those who accuse him of a government takeover of health care. "It's true," someone shouted back.

While the majority of both parties' lawmakers behaved as adults, the insolence by House GOP members stole the show.

Tony Blair is expected to defend his decision to join in the invasion of Iraq by asking his critics to think through the consequences for stability in the Middle East had Saddam Hussein been left in power, capable of developing weapons of mass destruction. In the wake of the publication of the Chilcot inquiry report, friends of the former prime minister believe he will argue that the ultimate cause of the long-term bloodshed in Iraq was the scale of external intervention in the country by Iran and al-Qaida rather than failures in post-conflict planning. Blair, frustrated by the repeated delays in the production of the report, has been meeting his allies to discuss his response, but is not planning to make any speech or intervention before publication on 6 July. Related: The Chilcot report shouldn’t be used to pin blame for Iraq on one man | Jackie Ashley Once the Iraq war inquiry report is out, Blair is likely to fight back by arguing the need to look at counter-factual scenarios, including the consequence of leaving Saddam in power, and will continue to insist that the world is safer for the removal of Saddam. Although no weapons of mass destruction were found, contrary to intelligence community forecasts, Blair is expected to say that Saddam retained the expertise and capacity make such weapons. The former Labour leader has also previously expressed concern that the inquiry has shifted from being a “lessons learned” process to one in which errors of judgement, or deception, are identified. The findings – still unknown to the Blair circle – have the potential to lead to an explosive civil war inside the Labour party just a fortnight after the European referendum result is announced. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has vowed Labour will officially apologise for taking the UK to war in Iraq on the basis of a deception and in breach of international law. He has been less explicit about whether Blair could plausibly be sent to the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Corbyn’s determination to assert Blair deceived the British people about the nature of the threat posed by Saddam has infuriated some supporters of the former prime minister. It has led some Blairites to ask why the former prime minister is being treated by a war criminal by a man that refused to vote for action in the Commons against a known war criminal, the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Many in the Labour party think the timing of the report’s publication is intended to divert attention from the likely turmoil in the Conservative party over the conduct of the referendum to a potentially equally vicious blood-letting inside Labour. Blair has argued in his autobiography and in a major speech in June 2014 that the bulk of the bloodshed, and the cause of the civil war from 2004 was the decision of both Iran and al-Qaida to enter Iraq, and to destroy the western reconstruction of Iraq. But he will again accept that the planning for the aftermath of the war was inadequate, and make a series of recommendations on nation-building and setting up democratic institutions after a corrupt or brutal state is overthrown. He also accepts that the west did not understand the degree to which the country’s political economy was not functioning, and more pessimistic assumptions should have been made about the capability of the Iraqi state. He said it is best to assume the worst about a corrupt or brutal state’s infrastructure and the integrity of its governing systems. In probably his most self-critical judgement, Blair has accepted the west did not foresee the degree to which complex tribal, religious and sectarian tensions would be uncorked once a strong, repressive, all-powerful leader such as Saddam was removed. It has led him to favour more evolutionary approaches if possible both to the Arab spring and to western interventions in Libya, but not to flinch from what he has described as a “hard, unremitting counter-terrorist and counter-insurgency strategy”. But he has told friends he still insists that this uncorking of forces in Iraq was so devastating because of the unexpected degree to which malevolent Iranian and al-Qaida forces infiltrated the country stirring up sectarian hatreds. A campaign to defeat Saddam gradually changed into a campaign to defeat terrorism and a form of Islamist extremism. He insists this was more important than failures of post-war planning, even if he does accept that the sudden US decision to transfer responsibility from the State Department to the Defense Department on the eve of the invasion set back post-war planning and wrongfooted Whitehall. He is also likely to challenge those that claim he was warned by Middle East academics in a November 2002 meeting about the chaos the US and the UK was likely to unleash by deposing Saddam. Academics at that event said they gave an explicit warning about the sectarian tensions inside Iraq repressed by Saddam and it is likely that Sir John Chilcot will have had access to the minutes of that meeting. It was only one of many warnings given privately to Blair, including by the Foreign Office about the level of post-war planning. He is also understood to have argued that peace-building needs to be a two-part process in which the nature of forces required for the aftermath of regime change are radically different from those required for regime change and that the international community has not yet built structures or capabilities to help construct democracies. Blair has also proposed a senior team work inside No 10, led by a senior figure reporting directly to the prime minister on the same level as senior policy advisers whenever UK forces are engaged either in military conflict or peace-building. He has also accepted the capacity to build civil policing in Iraq did not exist early enough. Senior figures in the Blair entourage are also expecting the Chilcot report will include a searching examination of the “special relationship” with the US, including the risks of the UK entering a military conflict with the US, not as an equal partner and outside the structures of either the EU or the United Nations. Blair is likely to argue that the relationship is always unequal in terms of military hardware, but partnership with the US is essential to UK national security, and wider UK influence in the world particularly since 9/11.

The former prime minister is expected to warn of the dangers of leaving Saddam in power and blame Iran and al-Qaida for post-war collapse of Iraq

Address: 237 St Georges Terrace, Perth, 6000Contact: 00 61 8 9214 4444; terracehotelperth.com.auGetting there: bus to St Georges Terrace (multiple services)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$334, room only, including WiFiPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended Crown is essentially a one-stop-shop, anchored to Perth’s only casino. The development contains several fancy restaurants (Rockpool Bar & Grill, Nobu and Bistro Guillaume are the highlights) and loads of bars (my pick is champagne lounge, La Vie) among the flashing lights and tinkling tunes. There’s also a resort-style pool rimmed with cabanas, an 18-hole golf course and a theatre. The hotel rooms are as spacious as they are opulent, decorated in a modern mix of black, white and beige. For a ‘special occasion’ experience with fabulous views, book into one of the Luxe King Spa rooms on the top floor and soak in the deep hot tub before a session in the Isika Spa. Although across the river from the city centre, Crown is close to the domestic and international airports, making access easy. Crown is essentially a one-stop-shop, anchored to Perth’s only casino. Address: Great Eastern Highway, Burswood, 6100Contact: 00 61 8 9362 8888; crownperth.com.auGetting there: train to Burswood Station (Thornlie line)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$355, room onlyPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended Don’t let the kitsch Euro exterior put you off: this well-located, inner city hotel gets rave reviews from guests, particularly for its olde worlde look. The 1911 building has been owned and run by local hospitality icon, Maud Edmiston for the past 43 years. She also has an eponymous chain of 15 Swedish pastry houses, so unsurprisingly, the hotel’s generous “Smörgåsbord” breakfast (included in the room rate) gets the thumbs up. Those with dodgy knees should avoid this hotel, however. Having to heave suitcases up the reception stairs is a source of some complaints, but a lift will assist from there on. All 52 rooms have ensuites, but the cream of the crop is the Scandinavian Room, with balcony. A little secret is the rooftop garden – sit beneath an umbrella and enjoy the view. Don’t let the kitsch Euro exterior put you off: this well-located, inner city hotel gets rave reviews from guests. Address: 97 Murray Street, Perth, 6000Contact: 00 61 8 9325 3900; missmaudhotel.com.au Getting there: bus to Murray Street (red CAT)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$225, including breakfast and WiFiPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended It’s criminal to only do a day trip to Rottnest Island. You miss its true essence: the quiet when the final ferry-load of tourists departs and the joy of simple pleasures, such as sipping a WA wine on a deserted beach by sunset. Staying for a couple nights grants you a place in this special community. However, you need to know that the white-washed units facing Thompson Bay are basic. Premium View cottages sleep up to four and bedrooms can be made into doubles or singles, kitchens allow self-sufficiency and front yards have sea views. Splash out on a charming Heritage View Cottage, built during the 1800s colonial settlement period and privy to breathtaking ocean lookouts. Splash out on a charming Heritage View Cottage, built during the 1800s colonial settlement period. Address: Thompson Bay, Rottnest Island, 6161Contact: 00 61 8 9432 9111; rottnestisland.com Getting there: ferry to Rottnest IslandOpening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$260, room only, including baggage delivery servicePayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential With free in-room WiFi, fantastic views and a handy city location, Perth’s newest hotel ticks a stack of boxes. Located at the eastern end of the city, it’s within easy access to the airport and only a 10 minute walk - or a few stops on the free bus which pulls up outside - into the city. And if you’re feeling active, this Asian chain hotel has a number of bikes it lends out for free. Being brand spanking new, the modern, corporate-feel rooms - 236 of them spread over 19 storeys - are plush and clean. All are spacious, well-equipped suites decked out in beige, black, grey, silver and white tones. The in-house restaurant is equally polished. Perth’s newest hotel ticks a stack of boxes. Address: 10 Adelaide Terrace, East Perth, 6004Contact: 00 61 8 9261 0000; frasershospitality.com Getting there: bus to Adelaide Terrace (blue CAT)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$199, including breakfast, WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended Having just installed double-glazed windows in all rooms, this funky, inner city hotel is now much more inviting. The upgrades follow extensive renovations completed a couple years ago. As a result, this hotel offers excellent value in a city where constant demand for accommodation means room rates are often sky-high. That said, rooms are compact, particularly the Petite Queen and Petite King, so you may want to check in to a Deluxe King room for more space. Rooms have a white and charcoal colour theme, while general areas are decorated with geometric wallpaper and smart sofas. Having just installed double-glazed windows in all rooms, this funky, inner city hotel is now much more inviting. Address: 70 Pier Street, Perth, 6000Contact: 00 61 8 9325 2133; 8hotels.comGetting there: train to Perth Central Station (multiple lines)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from $110, room onlyPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended An awesome location, atmospheric pub, live music, basement bar and tasty menu add up to make this hotel an excellent choice. But with all things too good to be true, there’s a catch: you need to be comfortable with a certain level of noise (until it closes at midnight). Request one of their four suites, as the remaining five rooms share a bathroom. Book suite 1 for the most space and ensuite bathroom, or go for 8 or 9 for the quietest surrounds. The rooms are crisp, airy and white-on-white, enclosed in a historic stone building with a pub courtyard you’ll want to spend hours in, especially while nursing a local beer (try something by Little Creatures) and a flat-based pizza. The free parking here is a real bonus in this popular part of town. An awesome location, atmospheric pub, live music, basement bar and tasty menu add up to make this hotel an excellent choice. Address: 47 South Terrace, Fremantle, 6160Contact: 00 61 8 9335 5405; norfolkhotel.com.au Getting there: bus to South Terrace (orange CAT)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$180, room only, including WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended A constantly expanding art collection attracts lovers of the finer things in life to this historic, limestone terrace b&b. Built in 1892, Fothergills sits opposite Fremantle Prison, which was constructed some 33 years earlier and is now one of the state’s most popular tourist attractions. Bronze sculptures and pottery are found throughout the three pretty courtyards, while paintings and glass works adorn the interior, by local, national and international artists. Expect urban views with a spot of ocean from some room balconies (ask for The English Room) and a lovely breakfast served in the conservatory. Paintings and glass works adorn the interior, by local, national and international artists. Address: 18-22 Ord Street, Fremantle, 6160Contact: 00 61 8 9335 6784; fothergills.net.auGetting there: bus to Ord Street from Fremantle (160)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$195, including breakfast, WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential Want to live like a local in arguably Perth’s most beautiful beach suburb? An accommodation group manages residential properties throughout Cottesloe, offering everything from compact studio apartments to six-bedroom houses with a pool for short, holiday stays or longer. The self-contained properties are all individually owned and the decor in each reflects the owner’s take on coastal chic, with splashes of colour throughout. Having lived in Cottesloe myself for two years, I can’t recommend the Cott (as locals call it) experience highly enough. Go for a beachfront apartment, a lazy 10m stroll to the sand. Beach towels are included. Live like a local in arguably Perth’s most beautiful beach suburb. Address: Cottesloe, 6011Contact: 00 61 8 9284 2555; cottesloewaters.com.au Getting there: train to Cottesloe Station (Fremantle line)Opening times: year roundPrice: double studio from A$147, room only, including WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential This one’s for the lovers. It’s not cheap, but it is special, and when you consider that everything’s included – a chef making your every meal, guided tours to rock pools and art sites, a carefully compiled drinks list – it becomes a worthy contender. The remote location seals the deal: the only way to arrive is by air, zooming over the Kimberley’s sunburnt landscape to see ancient rock formations, curling rivers and spilling waterfalls (flights are included in three-night stay prices). You’re taken by buggy to an ocean view villa, equipped with private deck and luxurious egg bath, and then time is yours: do what you will with it. I made sure I swam in the 25m lap pool – after all, it was transported via two, 14-hour barge trips through crocodile-infested waters so it deserves appreciation. The only way to arrive to this lodge is by air. Address: Berkeley River, 6740Contact: 00 61 8 9169 1330; berkeleyriver.com.au Getting there: no public transport: twice weekly flights or private charterOpening times: Mar-NovPrice: double rooms from A$1,650, including full-board, WiFi and toursPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential The owner of this glamping site within World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park was one of the first non-indigenous to explore it. East Kimberley Tours is still family owned, and it’s one of only two accommodation providers within the park. EKT’s Deluxe eco-cabins are fitted with ensuites and comfy beds, and you get access to the communal and kitchen areas. Plus, in late 2014 they put in a 9m pool – quite the rarity in these parts and a blessing in the toasty Kimberley climate.You can drive yourself or take a land tour in (note: the 31-mile approach road takes three hours to travel), but EKT also offers fully-catered options, and tours that include scenic flights over the range. I’ve enjoyed the latter, twice, and argue it’s well worth the extra investment. This glamping site is within World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park. Address: Purnululu National ParkContact: 00 61 8 9168 2213; eastkimberleytours.com.au Getting there: no public transport: driveOpening times: Apr-mid OctPrice: double cabins from $350, room only, including parking; $570, full boardPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential This is one of the best-located places to stay in Margaret River and it’s where I return to most often when I’m visiting this region of towering trees, endless vineyards and epic surf. Set back from the honey sands of Smiths Beach, each self-contained apartment has a slick, new feel that borders on minimalist but is somehow welcoming enough to make you feel comfortable sprawling on the large couches. There’s plenty of glass, concrete and polished stone knitting together the well-equipped kitchen, bench top and large bathroom (with luxurious oval bathtub). Go for an upstairs apartment, they all have balconies with barbecues. The on-site café, cellar door and restaurant, Lamont’s, is excellent – I always stop in for breakfast and an espresso coffee. This is one of the best-located places to stay in Margaret River. Address: Smiths Beach Road, Yallingup, 6282Contact: 00 61 8 9750 1200; smithsbeachresort.com.au Getting there: coach to YallingupOpening times: year roundPrice: apartment from A$275, room only, including WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended An adults-only pool, a beachside bar and Australia’s only L’Occitane-partnered spa: what’s not to love about this tropical resort? It’s the only hotel in Broome to front famous Cable Beach, where crowds gather to watch the sunset every evening. You could horizon-gaze at the Sunset Bar and Grill, where the dress code is “Kimberley casual” (flip flops are fine) and the beers are served in stubbie holders, not glasses. A relaxed vibe courses throughout the leafy grounds, but you’ll find a more polished atmosphere in the Chahoya Spa, where I recently had one of the best full body massages of my life. Families will love the pool allocated to them, while yoga fans can rise at dawn for daily classes. This is the only hotel in Broome to front famous Cable Beach. Address: 1 Cable Beach Road West, Broome, 6725Contact: 00 61 8 9192 0400; cablebeachclub.com Getting there: bus to Cable BeachOpening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$299, room only, including return Broome airport transfers and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential Decorated in Kimberley colours (think sunburnt orange, vivid green and earthy tones), these self-contained, one- and two-bedroom suites are a big hit with travellers to Broome. Accommodation can be pretty pricey in the popular holiday destination, but Moonlight’s rates sit towards the more reasonable end of the scale. Positioned in town but with views of Roebuck Bay’s cornflour blue waters, the location is also a plus point, along with the pool and barbecue facilities. Request a garden view room if you’re watching your pennies, otherwise opt for a Deluxe Bay View for the nicest outlook and the most space. The latter option will also get you a ringside seat for the Staircase to the Moon light phenomenon, reflected on the bay’s mudflats. These self-contained, one- and two-bedroom suites are a big hit with travellers to Broome. Address: 51 Carnarvon Street, Broome, 6725Contact: 00 61 8 9195 5200; moonlightbaysuites.com.au Getting there: bus to BroomeOpening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$208, room only, including parking (minimum 4-night stay)Payment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended It may sport a Spanish name, but this cattle station-turned-wilderness-park is as Aussie as it gets, and that’s why it’s my favourite place to stay in East Kimberley. More than just accommodation, the huge outback property encompasses gorges, rocky plateaux, deep natural pools and hot springs. Better still, whether you’re camping, bunking down in the canvas topped villas, enjoying the riverside bungalows or staying in the five-star homestead, you can access it all. This egalitarian nature is part of the charm, and the enormity and age of the environment acts as a leveller for everyone who stays there. Tour Chamberlain Gorge, where you’ll cruise flat waters edged with blazing red cliffs, and don’t miss the thermal waters at palm-fringed Zebedee Springs. If you’re feeling flush, a scenic helicopter ride is well worth it. It may sport a Spanish name, but this cattle station-turned-wilderness-park is as Aussie as it gets. Address: El Questro Road, Durack, 6743Contact: 00 61 3 9426 7550; elquestro.com.auGetting there: no public transport: driveOpening times: Apr-OctPrice: tented cabin from $289, room only, including parking; bungalow from A$329, room only, including parking; homestead room, $1,969, including full-board, parking and tours. Park permit: from $12 per day; children, 0-12 years, freePayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended From a ‘where to stay’ perspective, Exmouth is an unusual place: all the extraordinary aquatic attractions are dotted along the World Heritage-listed peninsula it inhabits, but aside from back-to-basic campgrounds, there are few accommodation options. Staying in town is the answer, and swish, spacious Novotel Ningaloo Resort is the pick of the bunch. Located at the marina about three miles from the town centre, you should specify ocean views for the best outlook. Its 68 abodes include hotel rooms (some with spas) as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom, self-contained apartments decked out with fully-equipped kitchens. There’s also a swimming pool, gym and the well-regarded Mantaray's restaurant. Novotel is located at the marina about three miles from the town centre. Address: Madaffari Drive, Exmouth, 6707Contact: 00 61 8 9949 0000; accorhotels.comGetting there: bus to Exmouth (from Learmonth airport)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$275, room only, including WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended Weatherboard chalets are surrounded by towering native trees in this idyllic getaway just outside the arty forest town of Denmark. When I stayed, I fell asleep to a chorus of frogs serenading the night, and woke to see cattle grazing the lush fields that roll towards the ocean. The chalets are rustic with warm, wood interiors, spas and good heaters for the southern region’s chilly nights. There’s an on-site spa that I’d argue is the best in the region – book in for a transcendent session in their aptly-named pamper pod. Nature meets nurture very effectively here. Karma partners with a local tour company that can take you hiking along the dramatic coastline, dotted with thousands of wildflowers in September and October. Weatherboard chalets are surrounded by towering native trees in this idyllic getaway. Address: 1572 South Coast Highway, Denmark, 6333Contact: 00 61 8 9848 1568; karmachalets.com.au Getting there: coach to DenmarkOpening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$180, room only, including A$20 spa voucher and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended Book ahead for this charming guest house – ever since it was voted “best b&b” in the country in 2013, by readers of Australian Traveller, a national magazine I write for, its rooms have been hot property. The owners claim the converted 1920s convent is the first b&b in the wine region. The six guest rooms all boast private ensuites and are an easy walk from the heart of Margaret River township. Try to secure the Courtyard room (which is part of the original chapel) or King Garden room, both of which have garden views and veranda access through French doors – a perfect spot to share a local vino. It’s not exclusively for loved-up couples, there are also twin-share rooms available. This guest house was voted “best b&b” in the country in 2013. Address: 5 Valley Road, Margaret River, 6285Contact: 00 61 8 9757 2349; margaretriverguesthouse.com.auGetting there: coach to Margaret RiverOpening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$200, including breakfast, WiFi, parking and afternoon teaPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential More Telegraph Travel expert guides Follow Telegraph Travel on Twitter

An insider's guide to the best places to stay in Perth and Western Australia, including luxury hotels and top budget accommodation.

A North Carolina girl was wounded today in a shooting at Cape Fear High School, authorities said. Update at 4:54 p.m. ET: The 15-year-old injured student has been identified as either Caitlyn Abercrombie (NBC 17) or Caitlyn Ambercrombie (Fayetteville Observer). She is conscious and answering questions by nodding or shaking her head, a sheriff's spokeswoman says. Doctors are determining whether the bullet can be removed safely from her neck. No one reported seeing or hearing the lunchtime gunshot, though one person reported hearing a "pop," Cumberland County Sheriff Earl Butler said. "She turned to walk toward the breezeway, and she fell," he said. The lockdown at Cape Fear High School has ended. Students were released around 3 p.m. ET and assembled on the football field to be searched and scanned with metal detectors before leaving. Update at 4:05 p.m. ET: Authorities say the girl is 15, not 17 as reported initially. The lockdown at neighboring Mac Williams Middle School has been lifted, and students were released at 2:45 p.m. ET. Update at 3:23 p.m. ET: The unidentified girl is in stable condition at a hospital, the Fayetteville Observer reports. School officials say the bullet may not have been fired by someone on campus. Two school officials were near the girl when she was hit, and neither reported seeing anyone approach her or fire a weapon. Authorities speculate she may have been hit by a hunter's stray bullet or by a drive-by gunman. Original post: Two schools in Fayetteville, N.C., are on lockdown after a shooting at Cape Fear High School this afternoon, NBC 17 reports. A 17-year-old girl was shot in the neck at the school and survived, although her condition is not known, the television station and the Fayetteville Observer report. The girl's parents have been notified, the newspaper says. Parents are being asked to stay away from the Cape Fear campus, the Observer says. That school and Mac Williams Middle School have been locked down, according to NBC17. The incident took place outside the high school building during lunch, according to the Observer. The victim was walking toward a breezeway when she was shot, Cumberland County Sheriff Earl Butler told NBC 17. No one is in custody in the shooting. The girl was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, Debbie Tanna, a spokeswoman for the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, told the Observer.

Two schools in Fayetteville, N.C., went on lockdown after a shooting at Cape Fear High School.

To “KatyG” at post number #13 and number #44: Ah, life as a GOP supporter must be Grand. Following the lead of your current President–and the man you hope will become President–you just make stuff up and expect the world to believe it–simply ‘cuz you say it is so. If you can’t twist the opponent’s words to fit your fantasy–you just urge people to “read between the lines.” The fascinating part for me is how you folks don’t just go with the top guys’ strategy of running against a straw threat–like John McCain’s description of NOBODY’s economic proposal: “The American people cannot afford an economic agenda that will take our country in the wrong direction and cost jobs. At a time when our small businesses need support from Washington, we cannot raise taxes, increase regulation and isolate ourselves from foreign markets.” No–you flat out accuse Obama of being a stealth candidate for the poor–who is going to use the poor and then–what was your phrase–make them feel like victims? Dear–perhaps if you listened to news sources beyond “talk radio” to get your pulse of the nation’s mood you’d have a clearer idea that a lot of those “poor” people are a) extremely hard working and b) have been victimized by predatory financial companies and crooks, operating in the anything goes environment created by the zealots of the mythical “free market” that gave us first Enron and now the housing bubble that is draining money out of what was–for most American families–their most valuable asset (a.k.a. their homes.) The heart of the matter–KatyG–comes down not your assertions of some sort of hidden meanings in Obama’s speeches–or what you’ve been hearing in the right-wing radio echo chamber of Rush “Oxycontin” Limbaugh–but what the candidates actually propose to do. Your guy, for example, lays out some worthy goals: “To get our economy back on track, we must enact a jobs-first economic plan that supports job creation, provide immediate tax relief for families, enact a plan to help those facing foreclosure, lower health care costs, invest in innovation, move toward strategic energy independence and open more foreign markets to our goods.” But, friend–those are just goals. The rub is in actually accomplishing those things. Perhaps, in lieu of making stuff up about Obama and Democrats, you’d like to engage in a back-and-forth on how EXACTLY your man plans to make all those wonderful things happen (though he did forget the chicken in every pot) by continuing the conservative economic policies that this nation has pursued for the last 27 years–and the fiscally catastrophic tax policies of the current wizard in the White House. Insanity, dear, as the old saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome each time. And finally, to “Matt” at post number 40: Well, friend, I would offer the same observation to you that I did to KatyG–simply making stuff up doesn’t make it so. Even if you add an exclamation mark. And close with the declaration that “Facts are stubborn things.” Here–friend–are the “facts” on the % (rate) that is in theory what the top 1% is supposed to pay: 1971-1981 70% 1982-1986 50% 1987 38.5% 1988-1990 33% 1991-1992 31% 1993-2000 39.6% 2001 39.1% 2002 38.6% 2003-2007 35% And here’s a radical idea for all of you folks on the right in the era of the Internet: Above and beyond just your imagination and recollect hearing on “talk radio.” For example, the numbers I cite above? From the U.S. Census and the Internal Revenue Service. All conveniently collected–and verifably viewable at: Let’s make this the year we declare our independence from false fear. — Posted by Don Duval

A politics blog by the staff of The New York Times. The Caucus analyzes the latest political news from Washington and around the country and looks ahead to the 2008 presidential election.

Newsday (Long Island), in an editorial: "The American people need to know if someone in the Obama administration leaked classified information to the press about cyberattacks against Iran, an undercover agent in Yemen and 'kill lists' of suspected terrorists targeted for execution in drone attacks. The nation's security may have been compromised. The activities recounted recently in The New York Times and elsewhere were so richly detailed … that members of the president's inner circle cannot escape suspicion. A vigorous and focused investigation is essential. … Congress should give the job to a small, bipartisan contingent of its members, perhaps selected from among those on the Senate and House intelligence committees. As a rule, the federal government keeps too many secrets. Within reason, the American people need to know what the government is doing. So leaks can serve a valuable purpose." McCain: Republican senator of Arizona wants an investigation into the national security leaks. McCain: Republican senator of Arizona wants an investigation into the national security leaks. Dan Froomkin, on The Huffington Post: "Criminally investigating the kinds of leaks that are the bread and butter of national security investigative reporting is a noxious overreaction by hyper-controlling government officials who don't want us to know what's being done in our name. … There is such a thing as a criminal leak — for instance, when an administration official intentionally outs a covert CIA operative in an attempt to discredit an administration critic. But leaks that expose secrets that have momentous public policy implications need to be treated differently, because they are a critical part of our nation's system of checks and balances." Jed Babbin, on The American Spectator: "The focus of the leak problem should not only be the questions of who leaked the information and what role the president played in the disclosures. The focus has to be the assessment of how much damage — and what kinds of damage — the leaks did to our national security. Every leaker has an agenda. More often than not, and quite evidently in these cases, the agenda is a political one. But for the Republicans to have any impact on the campaign — and the desired effect of ending the leak campaign — they have to begin with substance, not politics." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in an editorial: "Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. … charged that leaks were coming from 'the highest levels' of the White House for political reasons. … Three points about that: One, President Obama has been strong and decisive on national security, if not always correct or forthright. Two, he has not been shy about taking credit for it. And three, some people might have leaked for political reasons, but others may have just been bragging — infiltrating an al-Qaeda bomb-making operation was pretty slick. Whether these disclosures have damaged U.S. intelligence operations is speculative at best. The record of the past three years suggests that in matters of national security, Obama keeps too many secrets, not too few." Conor Friedersdorf, on The Atlantic: "Forget the White House generally. Obama himself has purposely disclosed 'national-security information' — the existence of the CIA drone program — that his own Justice Department and press secretary treat as classified. I'm glad he's done so. The notion that the United States government should wage ongoing war in multiple countries while keeping it secret from its own citizens is noxious. By my lights, the CIA drone program's existence should not be a state secret. Obama ought to declassify it. But he hasn't. And he purposely spoke about it publicly, precisely in order to defend himself against criticism." , visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the

What people are saying about national security leaks

Simplicity wins. This is the message that I’m taking away so far at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech here in Half Moon Bay, California. To frame the themes of this year’s powwow — which opened Monday afternoon with Michael Dell DELL and Amazon AMZN CEO Jeff Bezos (pictured right) — my colleague David Kirkpatrick asked participants what is the most exciting technology innovation of the last 12 months. The most popular answer: the iPhone. That probably doesn’t surprise you, but the interesting thing is how Apple’s AAPL iPhone and its seemingly simple user interface fits the trend of the best and latest technologies. As one Brainstorm participant, Mitel CEO Don Smith, says about the iPhone, the Nintendo Wii and other recent innovations: “The most exciting trend has been towards simplicity in many areas of technology. Simplicity is essential if our society is to reap the full potential of technology.” This idea that simplicity is increasingly the key to success keeps coming up here at Brainstorm. In an interview with David K., Jeff Bezos said that as Amazon developed the Kindle, the electronic reader that came out last November, it set a simple goal: to improve upon the book. “It was an audacious goal bordering on arrogance,” he noted, adding that the book has remained so unchanged for 500 years that Gutenberg would recognize it today. The Kindle would succeed, Bezos explained, only if “the container of the book gets out of the way. That’s not easy.” He mentioned that he once had a microwave oven that beeped every minute after cooking was done, until you opened the oven door. “I called it the self-important device” — and that’s what he didn’t want the Kindle to be. Turns out, Amazon designed quite an elegant and unobtrusive machine. “It’s not easy to make a device that disappears,” Bezos said, sounding almost Steve Jobs-ian. I haven’t used a Kindle, yet. But after nasty supply shortages the first few months, I can get one — and just might. Keith Reinhard, the former CEO of advertising giant DDB, told me this morning that he bought one, not expecting to love it. But he loves it. “I’m reading five books at one time,” he told me. (Reinhard started in the ad business in 1962, but he knows how to multitask like a gen-Yer!) Of course, globalization’s evolution — with ever-increasing focus on emerging markets — calls for simple solutions. Joost CEO Mike Volpi, who once headed strategy at Cisco CSCO , says he thinks the most innovative new technology is One Laptop per Child. That is Nicholas Negroponte’s program to spread computers across the developing world. “There is not amazing new technology in this computer, but cutting-edge technologies and open-source computing are intelligently packaged together to provide incredible value to the world’s poorest children,” Volpi says. Nick Negroponte is on stage next. Gotta run!

Simplicity wins. This is the message that I'm taking away so far at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech here in Half Moon Bay, California. To frame the themes of this year's powwow -- which opened Monday afternoon with Michael Dell and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (pictured right) -- my colleague David Kirkpatrick asked participants what is the most exciting…