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Sunday, March 29, 2009
Is Facebook Growing Up Too Fast?
WHEN Facebook signed up its 100 millionth member last August, its employees spread out in two parks in Palo Alto, Calif., for a huge barbecue. Sometime this week, this five-year-old start-up, born in a dorm room at Harvard, expects to register its 200 millionth user.That staggering growth rate — doubling in size in just eight months — suggests Facebook is rapidly becoming the Web’s dominant social ecosystem and an essential personal and business networking tool in much of the wired world.
Yet Facebook executives say they aren’t planning to observe their latest milestone in any significant way. It is, perhaps, a poor time to celebrate. The company that has given users new ways to connect and speak truth to power now often finds itself as the target of that formidable grass-roots firepower — most recently over controversial changes it made to users’ home pages.
As Facebook expands, it’s also struggling to match the momentum of hot new start-ups like Twitter, the micro-blogging service, while managing the expectations of young, tech-savvy early adopters, attracting mainstream moms and dads, and justifying its hype-carbonated valuation.
By any measure, Facebook’s growth is a great accomplishment. The crew of Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s 24-year-old co-founder and chief executive, is signing up nearly a million new members a day, and now more than 70 percent of the service’s members live overseas, in countries like Italy, the Czech Republic and Indonesia. Facebook’s ranks in those countries swelled last year after the company offered its site in their languages.
All of this mojo puts Facebook on a par with other groundbreaking — and wildly popular — Internet services like free e-mail, Google, the online calling network Skype and e-commerce sites like eBay. But Facebook promises to change how we communicate even more fundamentally, in part by digitally mapping and linking peripatetic people across space and time, allowing them to publicly share myriad and often very personal elements of their lives.
Unlike search engines, which ably track prominent Internet presences, Facebook reconnects regular folks with old friends and strengthens their bonds with new pals — even if the glue is nothing more than embarrassing old pictures or memories of their second-grade teacher.
Facebook can also help rebuild families. Karen Haber, a mother of two living outside Tel Aviv, logs onto Facebook each night after she puts the children to bed. She searches for her family’s various surnames, looking for relatives from the once-vast Bachenheimer clan of northern Germany, which fractured during the Holocaust and then dispersed around the globe.
Among the three dozen or so connections she has made on Facebook over the last year are a fifth cousin who is a clinical social worker in Woodstock, N.Y.; a fourth cousin running an eyeglasses store in Zurich; and another fifth cousin, living in Hong Kong selling diamonds. Now she shares memories, photographs and updates with them.
“I was never into genealogy and now suddenly I have this tool that helps me find the descendants of people that my grandparents knew, people who share the same truth I do,” Ms. Haber says. “I’m using Facebook and trying to unite this family.”
Facebook has also become a vehicle for broad-based activism — like the people who organized on the site last year and mobilized 12 million people to march in protests around the globe against practices of the FARC rebels in Colombia.
Discussing Facebook’s connective tissue, Mr. Zuckerberg recalls the story of Claus Drachmann, a schoolteacher in northern Denmark who became a Facebook friend of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Denmark’s prime minister. Mr. Drachmann subsequently invited Mr. Rasmussen to speak to his class of special-needs children; the prime minister obliged last fall.
Mr. Zuckerberg says the story illustrates Facebook’s power to cut through arbitrary social barriers. “This represents a generational shift in technology,” he says. “To me, what is interesting was that it was possible for a regular person to reach the prime minister and that that interaction happened.”
As Facebook has matured, so has Mr. Zuckerberg. He has recently traded his disheveled, unassuming image for an ever-present tie and making visits to media outfits like “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” And he says Facebook’s most important metrics are not its membership but the percentage of the wired world that uses the site and the amount of information — photographs, news articles and status updates — zipping across its servers.
Facebook’s mission, he says, is to be used by everyone in the world to share information seamlessly. “Two hundred million in a world of six billion is tiny,” he says. “It’s a cool milestone. It’s great that we reached that, especially in such a short amount of time. But there is so much more to do.”
AS Facebook stampedes along, it still has to get out of its own way to soothe the injured feelings of users like Liz Rabban.
Ms. Rabban, 40, a real estate agent and the mother of two from Livingston, N.J., joined the site in November 2007, quickly amassing 250 friends and spending hours on the site each day.
Six dead in nursing home shooting
Police confirm six people are dead and three are injured. A police officer and the shooter are among the injured.
Carthage Police Department Chief Chris McKenzie describes the shooter as an "adult male." He says the shooter walked into the facility around 10 a.m. McKenzie says the shooter was not a patient at Pinelake Health and Rehabilitation Center.
No other information is being released at this time.
Firsthealth Moore Regional Hospital tells Eyewitness News several people were transported to the hospital. One person has been discharged.
The hospital is currently on lockdown. No one can enter or leave the Pinehurst facility. Gretchen Kelly with the hospital states the first shooting victim arrived by ambulance at 10:34 a.m.
A witness says he saw the police officer airlifted from the scene sometime between 10:30 and 11 a.m.
Multiple police units are on the scene surrounding the nursing home including the Moore County Sheriff's Department, Vass Police, Robbins Police and the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
This is a developing story. Eyewitness News will update when more information becomes available.
No other information is being released at this time.
Firsthealth Moore Regional Hospital tells Eyewitness News several people were transported to the hospital. One person has been discharged.
The hospital is currently on lockdown. No one can enter or leave the Pinehurst facility. Gretchen Kelly with the hospital states the first shooting victim arrived by ambulance at 10:34 a.m.
A witness says he saw the police officer airlifted from the scene sometime between 10:30 and 11 a.m.
Multiple police units are on the scene surrounding the nursing home including the Moore County Sheriff's Department, Vass Police, Robbins Police and the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
This is a developing story. Eyewitness News will update when more information becomes available.
Anchorage Airport closed as volcanic ash falls
The Anchorage, Alaska, airport remained closed Sunday morning after an erupting volcano shot ash some 45,000 feet in the air on Saturday, officials said.Ash from Mount Redoubt fell around the city -- Alaska's largest -- resulting in the closure of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Only a trace amount of the ash reached the airport grounds, airport spokesman Jeremy Lindseth said, but it was enough to affect operations. He said he did not know how many flights were canceled or rerouted as a result of the ash, and did not know when the airport would reopen.
The eruption occurred at about 1:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. ET) Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey told CNN. The volcano erupted four times on Friday, at times shooting ash 51,000 feet into the air.
The eruptions are the latest in a series that began March 22.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory has set the alert level at its highest possible designation -- red -- indicating that an eruption is under way or imminent and that the eruption will produce a "significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere."
Friday's volcano activity prompted Alaska Airlines to limit flights to and from Anchorage, according to the airline's Web site. The airline canceled all its Thursday flights to and from Anchorage after an eruption earlier in the day sent an ash cloud 65,000 feet high
Brown snubbed over tax
GORDON BROWN’S carefully laid plans for a G20 deal on worldwide tax cuts have been scuppered by an eve-of-summit ambush by European leaders.Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, last night led the assault on the prime minister’s “global new deal” for a $2 trillion-plus fiscal stimulus to end the recession.
“I will not let anyone tell me that we must spend more money,” she said.
The Spanish finance minister, Pedro Solbes, also dismissed new cash being pledged at Thursday’s London summit.
“In these conditions I and the rest of my colleagues from the eurozone believe there is no room for new fiscal stimulus plans,” he said.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has insisted that “radical reform” of capitalism is more important than tax cutting.
The attacks on Brown’s ambitions for the G20 to inject more money into the world economy come at the end of a week where the prime minister has travelled to three continents to build support for his proposals.
The likely deadlock at this week’s meeting will kill any remaining hope that Alistair Darling’s April 22 budget will offer significant tax cuts.
The assault by European Union leaders also represents a defeat for President Barack Obama, who is desperate for other big economies to copy his $800 billion stimulus plan.
“There will be a very long communiqué, but there won’t be much in it,” said a Washington economist.
Adding to the disarray, a draft of the agreement Brown hopes to secure was leaked to a German news magazine, prompting suggestions of “dirty tricks” by Berlin.
The draft stated that Britain wanted a “$2 trillion” global fiscal stimulus. However, the figure appeared only in brackets, indicating agreement on the package had yet to be reached.
The stimulus would boost world growth by 2% and employment by 19m, the draft said. The rest of the document was mainly general pledges.
“We believe that an open world economy, based on the principles of the market, effective regulation and strong global institutions, can ensure sustainable globalisation with rising well-being for all,” it said.
A No 10 source expressed “disappointment” at the leak and insisted the $2 trillion figure was not new money but an expression of the total tax and spending packages already pledged by G20 members.
Privately, government officials admit that no further fiscal stimulus will be announced this week, although there will be a $250 billion package for the International Monetary Fund to help rescue struggling poor nations.
Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, said he sympathised with the concerns of demonstrators planning to disrupt the London summit. “There is understandable frustration and some anger. The global economic systems has stalled and what we have got to do is get it started.”
George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, yesterday warned Brown against further tax cuts in the budget. “When it comes to your plans for a second fiscal stimulus, I say this Gordon Brown: enough is enough,” he said in a speech. “We will not let you play roulette with the public finances yet again.”
UK officials have not given up on the idea there could be agreement on a fresh boost for the world economy later in the year. “It is likely that there will be another heads of government meeting probably in Asia in the autumn,” said an official.
“This will be the forum where the next round of stimulus will be discussed.”
Brown still hopes to establish the IMF as an informal referee for international tax cuts. The plan is that the Washington-based body could advise on the timing of any future cuts.
Merkel’s criticism drew an angry response from Labour MPs. Denis MacShane, the former Europe minister, said: “Who does Mrs Merkel think is going to buy Mercedes and BMWs if she . . . says putting demand into the economy is a bad thing?” Another Labour MP said: “One has to ask who had something to gain from the leak of the communiqué. This feels like a dirty trick.”
There are growing fears that protests at the summit venue, the ExCeL centre in London’s Docklands could be marred by violence. Scotland Yard will be deploying specialist officers trained to use 50,000-volt Taser stun guns.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
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Menacing Red River appears to level off
The Red River appeared to level off Saturday, as forecasters revised their predictions and said the river would remain around 41 feet for several days.By 10 a.m., the river height was at 40.69 feet, slightly lower than its level earlier Saturday of 40.82 feet.
"The good news, or shall we say the cautiously optimistic news, is that the river is behaving rather nicely for us now," said Greg Gust of the National Weather Service.
"The official terms are that the crest is occurring. We don't believe that the actual, ultimate crest has occurred yet," Gust said, speaking at a news conference in Moorhead, Minnesota -- across the Red River from Fargo.
Gust said forecasters had revised earlier predictions. For the next several days to a week, the river is expected to "stay very near 41 feet with fluctuations of half a foot to a foot, meaning, we could rise well above 41 feet," he said.
Earlier, the agency had said the river could reach as high as 43 feet, the height of the city's dikes.
Meanwhile, North Dakota and Minnesota residents warily waited to see if miles of levees and sandbags would hold.
"Nobody in this valley, no matter how old they are ... has ever seen levels like this," Fargo, North Dakota, Mayor Dennis Walaker told CNN about the river's record-breaking height.
The water level has broken the previous record of 40.1 feet, set in 1897.
Above-freezing temperatures, followed by heavy rains this week, have caused the Red River and its tributaries to swell, but Fargo's mayor vowed to "go down swinging."
"We've been battling this thing for eight days, and we're still ahead of the ball," Walaker said Saturday.
Overnight temperatures below 10 degrees Fahrenheit had slowed the river's rise.
Lights go out across planet for Earth Hour
Lights were going out across the world on Saturday as millions of homes and businesses in major cities went dark for one hour in a symbolic gesture to highlight concerns over climate change.In Australia, floodlights of the Sydney Opera House were extinguished as the city's iconic harbor kicked off events for Earth Hour, a day-long energy-saving marathon stretching through 88 countries and 24 time zones.
The event's Web site reported that hundreds of people lined the harbour for a glimpse of the dimming skyline at 8:30 pm -- the local time that nearly 4,000 participating cities around the world were expected to switch off non-essential lights.
Sydney became the birthplace of the Earth Hour campaign in 2007 when 2.2 million turned off their lights, igniting a grass roots movement that has become a global phenomenon.
In China, illuminations at major buildings including the "Bird's Nest" Olympic Stadium and the Water Cube were extinguished as 20 cities joined in, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Other landmarks around the world expected to join the World Wildlife Fund-sponsored event were the Egyptian pyramids, Vatican, Niagara Falls, the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, the Acropolis in Athens and the Las Vegas casino strip.
Earth Hour events got off to an unofficial start in the remote Chatham Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean where locals switched off their diesel generators, organizers said. Shortly afterwards, 44 New Zealand cities and town joined in the event.
Organizers say they hope this year's event will send a message to world leaders meeting Copenhagen in December for a major summit on climate change.
"We are asking one billion people to take part in what is essentially the first global vote for action on climate change by turning off their lights for one hour and casting a vote for earth," said executive director Andy Ridley
Lawyer stabbed 38 times; husband held
Slain attorney Chiquita Tate was such a believer in the legal system that she had a tattoo of Lady Justice on her back, college friend T. J. Crawford recalled."She just had an attachment to justice and doing what's right by people. She was always very serious about that," said Crawford, a teacher and community organizer in Chicago, Illinois.
But Tate, described by colleagues as a tenacious defense attorney who fought for her clients, could not save herself.
Family members and friends in Chicago; Atlanta, Georgia, and Tate's adopted home -- tiny Baker, Louisiana -- are reeling from the grisly details of Tate's slaying, and police say it was at the hands of her husband, Greg Harris. They had been married about 14½ months.
Harris, 37, is in custody, accused of stabbing Tate to death. He is charged with second-degree murder and the illegal use of a dangerous weapon. A judge last week set his bond at $500,000.
In a phone interview with CNN, Harris' attorney, Lewis Unglesby, said police have the wrong man.
"Greg Harris by all accounts ... is innocent. I don't know anybody that thinks he did it, except the police," Uglesby said. "There's nothing in his background. He has cooperated completely with the police; he's signed everything they've asked him to sign. He's let them search his house, his car."
Tate, 34, had started her own law firm in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was doing well, family and acquaintances said.
"She was up and coming," said Cpl. L'Jean McKneely, a police spokesman in Baton Rouge.
Tate was representing a defendant in a high-profile murder trial when, police say, she became a homicide victim herself. Her body was found inside her law office on February 20. Tate was stabbed 38 times, according to a police warrant for Harris' arrest obtained by CNN.
While questioning Harris about Tate's death, police discovered an outstanding warrant for him in connection with a battery-domestic violence case. It stemmed from a December 22, 2007, incident at the couple's home.
Harris was accused of using "force and violence" against Tate, according to Baker City Court records. The court said Harris entered a not guilty plea on March 6, 2008, but did not appear for a May 8 pretrial conference. A warrant was issued for his arrest for contempt of court.
When Tate met Harris in late 2007, she fell for him, head over heels, said East Baton Rouge Parish Juvenile Court Judge Pam Taylor Johnson, Tate's mentor and former boss.
"She came in my office one day: 'I met the most wonderful guy! I need you to perform our marriage -- tomorrow,'" Johnson recalled Tate gleefully telling her.
"I told her she had to wait three days," as required by Louisiana law, Johnson added.
Tate did wait a bit. The couple's marriage license is dated January 10, 2008, just two and a half weeks after the domestic violence report from Baker police. They married on February 8, their marriage license shows.
Only the couple's immediate family members and two friends attended the ceremony at Green Chapel in Baton Rouge, said Tate's friend Shawn Collins, who was one of those on hand for the wedding.
Neighbors in suburban Baker said the couple seemed to settle into a good life in their home on Charry Drive.
Baker, population 13,000, was one of the cities that absorbed hundreds of families from the FEMA trailer homes after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The last families housed in Baker moved out last spring.
Neighbors recalled seeing Tate frequently driving down the street in her late-model Hummer and Harris steering a Mercedes.
Ethan Koobs, who lives across the street from the couple, said Tate was a "really nice lady, very upper-class, presented herself very well."
Koobs said he didn't see any discontent in the couple's lives.
"They seemed like a pleasant couple, just real nice," said neighbor Don Patton, who lives two houses down. "They kept their house and their lawn very nice."
He recalled the couple's concern for their neighbors after Hurricane Gustav, which raked south Louisiana on September 1, 2008, before petering out in southeast Texas. It knocked out power to 1.5 million homes in southern Louisiana, and thousands of homes were damaged by the wind.
Harris, a carpenter, found his skills useful.
"[Harris] was just generally concerned about everybody's well-being," Patton said. "We'd huddle in the street and he'd ask if anybody needed anything."
The couple helped their neighbors rebuild. But the warrant for Harris' arrest in the murder case revealed a fracture in the marriage. Tate was "planning on divorcing the defendant due to marital problems" and had leased her own apartment, the warrant stated.
As far as their friends were concerned, there was no trouble in the marriage and Tate appeared to be a doting wife.
She also enjoyed battling it out on behalf of her clients in the courtroom.
Tate, who was raised with six siblings, was tenacious even as a youngster, recalled childhood friend Ursula Bryant-Hill.
"She was always strong-willed and she analyzed everything. Everybody told her 'You'd be a good lawyer,'" said Bryant-Hill, of Hueytown, Alabama.
"If you knew Chiquita when she was growing up in Baton Rouge, she was always cautious about who she let in her intimate setting. 'Watch your surroundings,' that's how she was," Bryant-Hill added.
Upon graduation from college, Tate worked briefly as a legislative secretary, recording minutes at Atlanta City Council meetings.
But she longed to return home to Louisiana to attend law school at Southern University.
"When she told me she was in law school, I screamed," Bryant-Hill said.
Her friend, Juvenile Court Judge Johnson, said Tate lived by one creed: Justice for all, especially for those more vulnerable in society.
"I couldn't get her to accept the fact that 'things happen.' I told her some things you can't change [about the system], but it is our duty to see if we can equalize things," Johnson said.
Tate is remembered as someone who fought tirelessly for what she believed in. Now her loved ones hope the legal system will work for her.
The days have been long for Tate's family. Asked how she has been coping, Denita Tate, the victim's sister, said, "I'm not. It's harder every day."
"We want closure with our family and with our sister, and we want justice," Denita Tate said.
Fireman dresses as Spider-Man to rescue boy
A Thai firefighter dressed as Spider-Man to rescue an autistic boy who climbed onto a third-floor balcony and dangled his legs over the side because he was nervous on his first day of school.
Firefighter Somchai Yoosabai was called in after the 11-year-old boy's teachers and mother failed to coax him off the ledge on Monday, he said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
"He was nervous about the first day at school, and he was asking for his mother," Somchai said. "He cried and refused to let any of us get close to him."
Overhearing a conversation between the boy's mother and his teachers about his love for comics and superheroes, Somchai rushed back to the fire station to change into a Spider-Man costume before swinging into action.
"I told him Spider-Man is here to save you. No monster will hurt you now," Somchai said. "Then I told him to walk slowly toward me. I was very nervous that he might have slipped if he got too excited and ran."
Somchai, who keeps costume of Spider-Man and a Japanese superhero Ultraman to liven up fire drills at schools, said the teary-eyed boy broke into a smile and started walking into his arms.
The fictional hero was created by comic-writer Stan Lee in the early 1960s. The character regained its popularity in recent years thanks to the trilogy of Hollywood films starring Tobey McGuire and Kirsten Dunst.
Firefighter Somchai Yoosabai was called in after the 11-year-old boy's teachers and mother failed to coax him off the ledge on Monday, he said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
"He was nervous about the first day at school, and he was asking for his mother," Somchai said. "He cried and refused to let any of us get close to him."
Overhearing a conversation between the boy's mother and his teachers about his love for comics and superheroes, Somchai rushed back to the fire station to change into a Spider-Man costume before swinging into action.
"I told him Spider-Man is here to save you. No monster will hurt you now," Somchai said. "Then I told him to walk slowly toward me. I was very nervous that he might have slipped if he got too excited and ran."
Somchai, who keeps costume of Spider-Man and a Japanese superhero Ultraman to liven up fire drills at schools, said the teary-eyed boy broke into a smile and started walking into his arms.
The fictional hero was created by comic-writer Stan Lee in the early 1960s. The character regained its popularity in recent years thanks to the trilogy of Hollywood films starring Tobey McGuire and Kirsten Dunst.
ShamWow Guy In Slap, Chop Bust
Meet Vince Shlomi. He's probably better known to you as the ShamWow Guy, the ubiquitous television pitchman who has been phenomenally successful peddling absorbent towels and food choppers. Shlomi, 44, was arrested last month on a felony battery charge following a violent confrontation with a prostitute in his South Beach hotel room. According to an arrest affidavit, Shlomi met Sasha Harris, 26, at a Miami Beach nightclub on February 7 and subsequently retired with her to his $750 room at the lavish Setai hotel. Shlomi told cops he paid Harris about $1000 in cash after she "propositioned him for straight sex." Shlomi said that when he kissed Harris, she suddenly "bit his tongue and would not let go." Shlomi then punched Harris several times until she released his tongue. The affidavit, a copy of which you'll find here, notes that during the 4 AM fight Harris sustained facial fractures and lacerations all over her face (she is pictured here in mug shots snapped following busts in 2008 and 2005). After freeing his tongue, a bleeding Shlomi ran to the Setai lobby, where security summoned cops. Harris refused to cooperate with officers, who recovered $930 from her purse. "Both parties had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from their persons," police reported. In a brief telephone interview, Harris declined to answer TSG questions about her run-in with Shlomi, though she did say she is considering a lawsuit against the pitchman. Asked if she worked as a hooker, Harris declined comment. As seen in the below mug shot, Shlomi was also injured during the fracas and, court records show, was treated at Mount Sinai Medical Center. While Shlomi and Harris were both arrested for felony aggravated battery, prosecutors this month declined to file formal charges against the combatants. Police records list Shlomi's occupation as "Marketing," but make no mention of his affiliation with the ShamWow or the Slap Chop, both of which sell for $19.95 (plus shipping and handling).
New World Trade tower drops "Freedom" moniker
The name "Freedom Tower" has been dropped for the skyscraper under construction in New York to replace the World Trade Center towers destroyed in the September 11 attacks, but some locals are not happy about it.Designed amid much fanfare to symbolize the city's revival after the attacks in 2001, the tower, which will be New York's tallest building, has been beset by delays and its developer has struggled to attract tenants, due partly to fears it could be targeted for another attack.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is building the 1,776-foot (541-meter) skyscraper, has admitted even its own workers do not want to return to the site where nearly 3,000 people were killed.
On Thursday, it announced it planned to refer to the building by its address -- One World Trade Center -- because that was easiest for people to identify with.
"As we market the building, we will ensure that the building is presented in the best possible way," Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia told reporters on Thursday.
The plan was savaged by local tabloids. "Free Dumb Tower," was the New York Post's reaction, while the Daily News' front-page headline was: "No More Freedom."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Friday he was disappointed.
"I would like to see it stay the Freedom Tower but it's their building and they don't need me dumping on them," Bloomberg said on his radio show.
"If they could rent the whole thing by changing the name, then they should do that," Bloomberg said, adding the most important part of the rebuilding was a planned memorial.
"We're not going to forget what happened down there and in the end the real thing that will tell the story and memorialize and hopefully give us a lesson that this should never happen again is the World Trade Center Memorial," Bloomberg said.
George Pataki, who was New York's governor at the time of the attacks, told the Daily News the name Freedom Tower was "symbolic of our commitment to rise above the attacks of September 11." He added the addresses 1 and 2 World Trade Center should never be used again since they were the names of the twin towers.
The Port Authority announced on Thursday that after on-again off-gain talks, it signed its first commercial tenant, Vantone Industrial Co Ltd, which rented several floors for a new China Center
Friday, March 27, 2009
Jeffrey Dean Morgan discovers he's dad
Jeffrey Dean Morgan didn't have the usual nine months to get used to being a daddy.The "Watchmen" star recently found out that he and actress/producer Sherrie Rose have a child together, reveals Us Weekly.
A source claims that Morgan, 42, was "shocked and surprised," but intends to be in the boy's life.
The actor learned the news a few weeks ago and has since met the 4-year-old.
Rose is one of Morgan's ex-girlfriends. He previously dated and was engaged to "Weeds" star Mary-Louise Parker, but they broke off the engagement in April 2008.
Morgan is best known for playing dead or nearly dead characters, whether it's Denny Duquette on "Grey's Anatomy," dad John Winchester on "Supernatural" or Judah Botwin on "Weeds." His film career is ramping up though, with last year's "P.S. I Love You," the "Watchmen" adaptation and the upcoming "The Accidental Husband".
Owners drop Freedom Tower name for new WTC skyscraper
The agency that owns the space where the World Trade Center towers stood is freeing itself of the term "freedom" to describe the signature skyscraper replacing the buildings destroyed on September 11, 2001.The change from Freedom Tower was revealed Thursday at a news conference where the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced the signing of the first commercial lease in the building to a Chinese company. The building is expected to be completed in late 2013.
"We've referred to the primary building planned for the site as One World Trade Center -- its legal name and street address -- for almost two years now, as well as using the name the Freedom Tower," said Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for the Port Authority, in a statement released to CNN. "Many will always refer to it as the Freedom Tower, but as the building moves out of the planning stage and into full construction and leasing, we believe that going forward it is most practical to market the building as One World Trade Center."
Ten of the building's planned 108 above-ground floors have been built.
"The fact is, more than $3 billion of public money is invested in that building, and, as a public agency, we have the responsibility to make sure it is completed and that we utilize the best strategy to make certain it is fully occupied," Sigmund added.
He noted that the agency lost 84 colleagues in the September 11 attacks.
Mary Fetchet, founding director of Voices of September 11th, a group that commemorates the lives of those killed in the attack, said she was not familiar with the decision made by the Port Authority and was not willing to make a statement.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, on the John Gambling radio show taped Friday morning, said he was not upset by the Port Authority's decision.
"It's up to the Port Authority," he said. "I have no idea what the commercial aspects are, and we can say, 'Oh, we shouldn't worry about that,' but of course you have to, particularly now.
"I would like to see it stay the Freedom Tower, but it's their building, and they don't need me dumping on it. If they could rent the whole thing by changing the name, I guess they're going to do that, and they probably, from a responsible point of view, should. From a patriotic point of view, is it going to make any difference?"
He added, "one of the things is, we call things what we want to call them. So, Avenue of the Americas is a good example, for it's Sixth Avenue to most people. Very few people use Avenue of the Americas. If they name this One World Trade Center, people will still call it the Freedom Tower."
The building was named the Freedom Tower in the first "ground zero" master plan. Officials said at the time that the tallest, most symbolic of five planned towers at the site would demonstrate the country's triumph over terrorism.
Representatives of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Vantone Industrial Co. announced Thursday the signing of a lease that will create the China Center, a 190,810-square-foot business and cultural facility, to be on portions of the 64th floor and the entire 65th through 69th floors of One World Trade Center.
Hailing it as a great day for the Port Authority and its partners in the China center, Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward added, "this is the first step in a long journey as downtown is finally rebuilt."
The lease is for 20 years and nine months, beginning when the building is completed, with rents starting at $80 per square foot and escalating afterward. The China Center also will have the right to lease up to two additional contiguous floors under the same terms, an option that expires at the end of 2009.
The Port Authority also has commitments for more than a million square feet of leased office space in One World Trade Center from the U.S. General Services Administration and the New York State Office of General Services. Leases for these two public agencies are being finalized. These commitments, coupled with the China Center lease, represent nearly 50 percent of the office space in the building.
The China Center at One World Trade Center is expected to represent the elite of China's business and cultural communities and serve as a hub for Chinese firms developing United States operations, as well as for U.S. companies that wish to conduct business in China or expand operations.
One World Trade Center will include 2.6 million gross square feet of office space on 70 office floors, a public lobby with a 50-foot-high ceiling, an observation deck 1,265 feet above ground, a skyline restaurant, a wide array of shopping and parking.
The building itself will be 1,368 feet tall, and a spire at the top will bring the total height to 1,776 feet.
Beijing Vantone Industrial is one of the first private corporations established in China. Today, the company is one of China's largest private real estate investment companies with 13 subsidiaries, including one publicly traded company, Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co
Extreme skier McConkey dies in jump in Italy
Extreme skier Shane McConkey was killed jumping off a cliff with a parachute while filming a movie in Italy. He was 39.
His sponsor Red Bull confirmed his death Thursday.
McConkey was in Corvara, Italy, on a ski-BASE jump when he had a mid-air malfunction, Red Bull said in a statement. Italian emergency responders arrived within minutes and pronounced him dead at the scene, according to the sponsor.
“Shane loved life and innovated both sport worlds he touched, skiing and B.A.S.E. Jumping,” Red Bull spokesman Patrice Radden said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the sport he pioneered also carries inherent risks.”
McConkey founded the International Free Skiing Association and had grown popular in recent years for his BASE jumping competitions and big-mountain film exploits.
During his career he won the IFSA world tour of freeskiing in 1996 and 1998, and finished second in the 1999 Winter X Games Skier X competition. In 2001, Skiing Mag listed him as the top skier in North America, and Powder magazine readers voted him skier of the year three times.
McConkey lived and trained at Squaw Valley’s Olympic Village south of Truckee, Calif. He is survived by his wife, Sherry, and 3-year-old daughter, Ayla.
His sponsor Red Bull confirmed his death Thursday.
McConkey was in Corvara, Italy, on a ski-BASE jump when he had a mid-air malfunction, Red Bull said in a statement. Italian emergency responders arrived within minutes and pronounced him dead at the scene, according to the sponsor.
“Shane loved life and innovated both sport worlds he touched, skiing and B.A.S.E. Jumping,” Red Bull spokesman Patrice Radden said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the sport he pioneered also carries inherent risks.”
McConkey founded the International Free Skiing Association and had grown popular in recent years for his BASE jumping competitions and big-mountain film exploits.
During his career he won the IFSA world tour of freeskiing in 1996 and 1998, and finished second in the 1999 Winter X Games Skier X competition. In 2001, Skiing Mag listed him as the top skier in North America, and Powder magazine readers voted him skier of the year three times.
McConkey lived and trained at Squaw Valley’s Olympic Village south of Truckee, Calif. He is survived by his wife, Sherry, and 3-year-old daughter, Ayla.
Live Blogging the Round of 16
The Quad will be providing commentary and updates throughout the Round of 16 of the N.C.A.A. tournament from reporters in each region. In addition to Connor Ennis in the Times office, Mike Ogle is blogging from New York, and Stephen Danley, who played in the tournament for Penn, is contributing from a pub in England, where he is a Marshall Scholar.
After a relatively ho-hum night of games — besides the end of Michigan State and Kansas — it’s on to the Round of 8. We’ll find out our first two Final Four participants on Saturday when Pittsburgh faces Villanova in the East Regional final and Connecticut takes on Missouri in the West. We’ll be here blogging again, so feel to drop by and join us.
As for tonight we’ll leave you with this little bit of information: For all of the talk of parity in college basketball, the eight teams left consist of four No. 1 seeds, two No. 2 seeds and two No. 3 seeds. It’s crowded at the top.
Live Blogging the Round of 16
After a relatively ho-hum night of games — besides the end of Michigan State and Kansas — it’s on to the Round of 8. We’ll find out our first two Final Four participants on Saturday when Pittsburgh faces Villanova in the East Regional final and Connecticut takes on Missouri in the West. We’ll be here blogging again, so feel to drop by and join us.
As for tonight we’ll leave you with this little bit of information: For all of the talk of parity in college basketball, the eight teams left consist of four No. 1 seeds, two No. 2 seeds and two No. 3 seeds. It’s crowded at the top.
Live Blogging the Round of 16
Billy Gillispie is out as coach of Kentucky in his second season
Billy Gillispie is out as coach of Kentucky in his second season at the helm, and the school has called a 4:30 p.m. ET news conference to announce the change.School officials had been quiet about Gillispie's job status after the Wildcats tumbled through the second half of the season to finish 22-14, tied for the second-most losses in the program's 106-year history.On Wednesday, Kentucky's postseason ended with a loss to Notre Dame in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals.
Kentucky's 20 regular-season wins weren't enough to get a bid into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991.University president Lee Todd said recently Gillispie's position would be evaluated at the end of the season. Todd attended the loss to Notre Dame but did not respond to requests for comment by The Associated Press on Thursday.
Athletic director Mitch Barnhart had been planning to meet with Gillispie, though the coach said during his radio show Thursday night no meeting had been scheduled.When asked after the loss to Notre Dame if he expected to be back, Gillispie said the decision wasn't up to him.
"You're asking the wrong guy," he said. "All I know is to go to work, recruit, coach and that's what I did, that's what I've done and that's what I'll continue to do."
Gillispie was 40-27 two seasons into a seven-year deal with Kentucky that pays him a base salary of $2.3 million annually -- a deal he never signed.The Wildcats imploded down the stretch, losing eight of their final 11 regular-season games despite having two of the top players in the Southeastern Conference in center Patrick Patterson and guard Jodie Meeks.
Gillispie took most of the blame for Kentucky's struggles, but not all of them. He pinned a two-point loss to LSU on an unnamed player he inserted into the game sometime in the second half. His seemingly random substitution patterns seemed to mystify the 24,000 assistant coaches who pack Rupp Arena every winter.A sometimes testy relationship with the media didn't help. He endured a couple high-profile run-ins with a female TV reporter during the season, not exactly the kind of behavior some expected from the state's highest-paid employee.
Kentucky made overtures to Florida coach Billy Donovan two years ago and was rebuffed privately by Jay Wright of Villanova and Rick Barnes of Texas.
Juarez: Running the Most Dangerous City in the Americas
Jose Reyes Ferriz, mayor of the Mexican border city of Juarez, presides over what may be the western hemisphere's most dangerous town, certainly the hardest hit by Mexico's drug-war terror. Since the start of last year, Juarez has seen almost 2,000 drug-related murders. Reyes this month requested thousands of federal army soldiers to rein in the violence, which has subsided for the moment — giving him a chance to rebuild Juarez's corrupt police force. He talked with TIME's Tim Padgett this week about his police reform, drug-cartel death threats against him and comparisons of Juarez to Baghdad.
TIME: Why have the cartels issued death threats against you?
REYES: Organized crime here had infiltrated our police so deeply, and it was clear they didn't want a clean-up of the force. But it had to be done, and no other Mexican city has done such a widespread clean-up. And that caused the threats. Four weeks ago on a Sunday came the first public threat against me; but it was something we knew had been brewing for a while so I wasn't completely surprised or upset. I knew the consequences of the decisions I'd made.
The violence is a consequence of the Mexican political class's utter neglect of law enforcement, especially when the country was ruled by your party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Will that finally change now?
That's a key issue. As a country we really underestimated the value of police and looked down on police. That forced the issues we have now, particularly in Juarez. Our police department barely grew the past 15 years: we should have a force of 4,000 officers, but we have only 1,600. We knew about police corruption but as a society did nothing to force the clean-up of our department. Now it's become extremely difficult to do. It cost the lives of 50 people in city government last year, including two police directors.
Right now, with the military on your streets, things seem safer. But the soldiers can only stay so long. Can you really build a new, larger, reliable police force before they leave?
Yes, we can. About half [of the old force] are now out; most didn't pass the new "confidence exam." Our agreement with the federal government is that we'll have 3,000 new officers in place by the end of the year. So we're starting a huge recruitment effort. They'll have to have high school diplomas — we're hoping about 500 will be college graduates. They're going to be some of the best paid in the country and eligible for subsidized housing for the first time.
Are Washington and Mexico City focusing enough attention and resources under the anti-drug Merida Initiative toward local police reform?
The U.S. needs to assure that enough money is put toward making the police forces along the border sufficiently robust — precisely so they'll be the first line of defense for the U.S., just as it's equally important that U.S. border police be better able to stop the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico. The U.S. also needs to be able to share more information with Mexico — like intelligence about [U.S.-based] gangs like Barrio Azteca, whose members are used by the Mexican drug cartels to commit so much of the violence here.
Do you feel the Obama Administration, which this week announced plans to bring more federal agents to the border in large part for those purposes, is doing more than previous U.S. administrations to help your efforts?
Oh yeah. The previous Administration clearly felt that the problems with Mexico could be solved by building a big wall between the two countries to keep the problems here out of the U.S. That is clearly wrong, and President Obama recognizes that. His efforts are directed at the proper solutions for Mexico's problems — which at the end of the day become problems for the U.S. If we don't attack those problems now, the violence will escalate and go into the U.S. And [Mexican] President [Felipe] Calderon, of course, has been very involved in the effort to find solutions to Juarez's problems. (See pictures of the "Great Wall of America.")
What was this city like before the soldiers arrived?
People didn't want to go outside. Most people stayed at home; most parents didn't want their kids to go to parties. Our city normally has vibrant night life, and that all but stopped for most of the past year.
How do you feel about the comparisons between Juarez and Baghdad?
Well, it was a situation where the numbers were there. The situation was there. We tried to keep information flowing to remind people that of the 1,600 [killed last year] only 30 were innocent civilians. More recently, as we've put pressure on the police, we're seeing what we call "opportunistic" crimes like kidnapping and extortion.
There have been reports that you and your family live part of each week now across the border in El Paso, that U.S. law enforcement has helped screen your bodyguards.
I now have six bodyguards who carry assault weapons instead of guns. But I live in Juarez, I work in Juarez, I sleep in Juarez. [The reports] were fueled by El Paso Mayor John Cook, a good friend of mine, who said when the threats started that if the [Juarez] mayor wants to come to El Paso we'll provide security for him. I told him I didn't need it.
Despite its current troubles, Juarez has a history of leading change in Mexico. The Mexican Revolution and maquiladora assembly plants began here; Juarez was the first city to elect an opposition mayor during the PRI's rule. Will it be the first to create a model police force?
I think that is what's happening. We, of course, didn't choose these circumstances that are forcing us to do it.
http://www.time.com
10 Ways to Say No, Guilt-Free
Thinking you are a bad person for saying no is a symptom of "the disease to please." "Saying yes when you need to say no causes burnout. You do yourself and the person making the request a disservice by saying yes all of the time," says author Duke Robinson. Here's how to do the right thing -- for yourself and others -- in 10 common scenarios where you know that opting out is your best option. Don't feel guilty. Just take these tips from experts on etiquette and communication -- and a cue from your favorite two-year-old -- and say no.
Saying No for the Sake of Your Wallet
Request: A friend in need asks for a Trump-worthy loan.
What you should say: "I wish I could, but as a rule, I don't lend money to friends."
Why it works: It's clear that you are not singling out this person as untrustworthy.
Why you shouldn't feel guilty: Lending any amount of money can cause problems, says communications trainer Don Gabor. "It can change the nature of your relationship if the person doesn't pay you back."
How to avoid the situation in the future: Never lend money to friends and you won't get a reputation as a walking, breathing ATM.
Request: A coworker wants you to chip in $25 for a gift for a colleague you wouldn't recognize at the watercooler.
What you should say: "Oh, I've never really had a conversation with Sam. I think I'll just wish him a happy birthday in person."
Why it works: Chances are, the person taking donations has no idea how close you are (or are not) with the intended recipient. By clarifying the nature of your relationship -- and emphasizing your intention to get to know the person better -- you come across as thoughtful rather than cheap.
Why you shouldn't feel guilty: "A gift isn't a gift if it's an obligation," say etiquette writers Kim Izzo and Ceri Marsh.
How to avoid the situation in the future: If workplace gift giving is getting out of hand, take the lead in restoring sanity by circulating a card before someone can break out the gift-donation plate. Make sure others know you don't expect anything on your birthday.
Request: Your third cousin asks to bring her boyfriend-of-the-month to your $150-a-plate wedding reception.
What you should say: "We've already had to make so many tough decisions to get the guest list down to size. We really can't squeeze in/afford another guest. But I would love to have you two over for drinks sometime so I can meet him."
Why it works: If you illuminate some of your behind-the-scenes planning, your cousin may get a clue about the inappropriateness of the request.
Why you shouldn't feel guilty: It's your party and your pocketbook, says author Patti Breitman.
How to avoid the situation in the future: Make a few calls before you put together the guest list to see if there are new additions you should consider as you plan.
Saying No for the Sake of Your Wallet
Request: A friend in need asks for a Trump-worthy loan.
What you should say: "I wish I could, but as a rule, I don't lend money to friends."
Why it works: It's clear that you are not singling out this person as untrustworthy.
Why you shouldn't feel guilty: Lending any amount of money can cause problems, says communications trainer Don Gabor. "It can change the nature of your relationship if the person doesn't pay you back."
How to avoid the situation in the future: Never lend money to friends and you won't get a reputation as a walking, breathing ATM.
Request: A coworker wants you to chip in $25 for a gift for a colleague you wouldn't recognize at the watercooler.
What you should say: "Oh, I've never really had a conversation with Sam. I think I'll just wish him a happy birthday in person."
Why it works: Chances are, the person taking donations has no idea how close you are (or are not) with the intended recipient. By clarifying the nature of your relationship -- and emphasizing your intention to get to know the person better -- you come across as thoughtful rather than cheap.
Why you shouldn't feel guilty: "A gift isn't a gift if it's an obligation," say etiquette writers Kim Izzo and Ceri Marsh.
How to avoid the situation in the future: If workplace gift giving is getting out of hand, take the lead in restoring sanity by circulating a card before someone can break out the gift-donation plate. Make sure others know you don't expect anything on your birthday.
Request: Your third cousin asks to bring her boyfriend-of-the-month to your $150-a-plate wedding reception.
What you should say: "We've already had to make so many tough decisions to get the guest list down to size. We really can't squeeze in/afford another guest. But I would love to have you two over for drinks sometime so I can meet him."
Why it works: If you illuminate some of your behind-the-scenes planning, your cousin may get a clue about the inappropriateness of the request.
Why you shouldn't feel guilty: It's your party and your pocketbook, says author Patti Breitman.
How to avoid the situation in the future: Make a few calls before you put together the guest list to see if there are new additions you should consider as you plan.
Cannibal mum eats her chum
A CANNIBAL mum axed a friend to death, cooked her body and ate the meat — while the killer’s young son looked on.
Olesya Mostovschikova, 27, told police she rowed with Tatiana Romanchuk, 32, during a booze-up.
Officer Oleg Lobach said Olesya calmly told cops: “I took the axe and hit her a number of times on her head.
“Then I cut off her ears, gouged out one eye, cut off an arm and a hand. I then cooked the parts in the oven.”
Another friend, who is being treated as a witness, claims that she was forced to eat the flesh.
Cops say Olesya’s son, seven, witnessed the murder and the cooking. He is now in care.
Locals at Irkutsk, in Siberia, Russia, found Tatiana’s legs in a rubbish bin.
Olesya Mostovschikova, 27, told police she rowed with Tatiana Romanchuk, 32, during a booze-up.
Officer Oleg Lobach said Olesya calmly told cops: “I took the axe and hit her a number of times on her head.
“Then I cut off her ears, gouged out one eye, cut off an arm and a hand. I then cooked the parts in the oven.”
Another friend, who is being treated as a witness, claims that she was forced to eat the flesh.
Cops say Olesya’s son, seven, witnessed the murder and the cooking. He is now in care.
Locals at Irkutsk, in Siberia, Russia, found Tatiana’s legs in a rubbish bin.
Girl posts nude pics, is charged with kid porn
A 14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography after posting nearly 30 explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com — charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted.
The case comes as prosecutors nationwide pursue child pornography cases resulting from kids sending nude photos to one another over cell phones and e-mail. Legal experts, though, could not recall another case of a child porn charge resulting from a teen's posting to a social networking site.
MySpace would not comment on the New Jersey investigation, but the News Corp.-owned company has a team that reviews its network for inappropriate images. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped off a state task force, which alerted the Passaic County Sheriff's Office.
'Very explicit'
The office investigated and discovered the Clifton resident had posted the "very explicit" photos of herself, sheriff's spokesman Bill Maer said Thursday.
"We consider this case a wake-up call to parents," Maer said. The girl posted the photos because "she wanted her boyfriend to see them," he said.
Investigators are looking at individuals who "knowingly" committed a crime, he said, declining to comment further because the case is still being investigated.
The teen, whose name has not been released because of her age, was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. She was released to her mother's custody.
If convicted of the distribution charge, she would be forced to register with the state as a sex offender under Megan's Law, said state Attorney General Anne Milgram. She also could face up to 17 years in jail, though such a stiff sentence is unlikely.
The case comes as prosecutors nationwide pursue child pornography cases resulting from kids sending nude photos to one another over cell phones and e-mail. Legal experts, though, could not recall another case of a child porn charge resulting from a teen's posting to a social networking site.
MySpace would not comment on the New Jersey investigation, but the News Corp.-owned company has a team that reviews its network for inappropriate images. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped off a state task force, which alerted the Passaic County Sheriff's Office.
'Very explicit'
The office investigated and discovered the Clifton resident had posted the "very explicit" photos of herself, sheriff's spokesman Bill Maer said Thursday.
"We consider this case a wake-up call to parents," Maer said. The girl posted the photos because "she wanted her boyfriend to see them," he said.
Investigators are looking at individuals who "knowingly" committed a crime, he said, declining to comment further because the case is still being investigated.
The teen, whose name has not been released because of her age, was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. She was released to her mother's custody.
If convicted of the distribution charge, she would be forced to register with the state as a sex offender under Megan's Law, said state Attorney General Anne Milgram. She also could face up to 17 years in jail, though such a stiff sentence is unlikely.
Murder case brings 'Foxy Knoxy' infamy in Italy
The Italian media call her "Foxy Knoxy" and portray her as a "devil with an angel's face," and there are 11 Facebook pages dedicated to her, all in Italian.Amanda Knox, 21, is an American college student from Seattle, Washington, who is on trial for murder in Perugia, Italy. The case has given Knox almost pop star status there.
She was voted the top woman in an online "person of the year" poll by an Italian TV channel in December, beating out Carla Bruni, the Italian-born French first lady.
Seven of the 11 Facebook pages champion her innocence; four seem convinced that Knox is pure evil. A sampling of comments: "No to Amanda. No to her superstardom" ... "She's a sociopath" ..."Everyone is not sure if she is guilty or not and that she will lead us to a new existential awareness. Please shout with me your anger. ... Let's say no. Let's say Knox."
Knox and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 24, are charged with murdering and sexually assaulting one of Knox's roommates, British exchange student Meredith Kercher, on November 1, 2007. They have pleaded not guilty.Knox and Sollecito are due back in court today. The last time Knox appeared before the panel of eight judges, she wore a T-shirt quoting The Beatles: "All you need is love."
Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini alleges that Kercher, 21, was killed because she refused to participate in a drug-fueled sex game played by Knox, Sollecito, and a third man, Ivory Coast native Rudy Hermann Guede. In court papers, prosecutors stated that Sollecito held Kercher by her wrists while Knox poked at her with a knife and Guede sexually assaulted her.
The case is being tried in Perugia, a university town about 115 miles north of Rome that is better known for its chocolate than for its scandalous murder trials.
Photographer captures the end of the rainbow on his iPhone
So now we know what's at the end of the rainbow - and it's not a pot of gold.
Instead it meets the northbound carriageway of the Highway 241 toll road in Orange County, California.
And according to witnesses it was travelling at just over 30mph.
This amazing picture was snapped last Sunday, following a storm on the west coast of the US, by amateur photographer Jason Erdkamp's iPhone.
According to myth there is a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, perhaps hidden by leprechauns.
But Jason, from the Los Angeles suburb of Lake Forest, said: "There was no pot of gold, but I did win $25 that night on a lottery ticket."
Instead it meets the northbound carriageway of the Highway 241 toll road in Orange County, California.
And according to witnesses it was travelling at just over 30mph.
This amazing picture was snapped last Sunday, following a storm on the west coast of the US, by amateur photographer Jason Erdkamp's iPhone.
According to myth there is a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, perhaps hidden by leprechauns.
But Jason, from the Los Angeles suburb of Lake Forest, said: "There was no pot of gold, but I did win $25 that night on a lottery ticket."
Ground Swallows Girl As She Plays Baseball
A 9-year-old girl playing baseball on city land Wednesday was suddenly swallowed by a sink hole and was rescued by the children playing with her.
The child's grandmother said it's a miracle her granddaughter is alive after she fell through the top of an old septic or cesspool system in a vacant lot owned by the city of Portland.
No one knew it was there and the city filled the hole Thursday afternoon. City workers said the hole was anywhere from 16 to 20 feet deep.
What seemed like a carefree game of baseball Wednesday turned scary for three children when Paje Wiklund, 9, disappeared under the ground as she was running to first base
The child's grandmother said it's a miracle her granddaughter is alive after she fell through the top of an old septic or cesspool system in a vacant lot owned by the city of Portland.
No one knew it was there and the city filled the hole Thursday afternoon. City workers said the hole was anywhere from 16 to 20 feet deep.
What seemed like a carefree game of baseball Wednesday turned scary for three children when Paje Wiklund, 9, disappeared under the ground as she was running to first base
Rapper T.I. sentenced to year and a day in prison, fined
Rap star T.I. was sentenced in Atlanta federal court Friday to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay a $100,300 fine on weapons charges related to purchasing machine guns and silencers.The rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris, reached the terms of the sentence in a plea agreement with prosecutors last year.
"I would like to say thank you to some, and apologize to others," Harris said at his sentencing.
"In my life, I have been placed in the worst-case scenario and had to make the best of it," he said. "Most often, things I have learned have been from trial and error. I knew no way to protect myself than to arm myself."He was dressed in a gray suit and black shirt and tie.
Harris, 28, also was sentenced to some property forfeiture, supervised release for three years after his prison sentence, 365 days of home confinement and 1,500 hours of community service. He has already served 305 days of home confinement and 1,030 hours of service.
He also must undergo DNA testing and drug counseling, cannot own firearms and must submit to reasonable searches and a financial audit. Video Watch the rapper's interview with CNN's T.J. Holmes »
Former Atlanta Mayor and U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young spoke on behalf of Harris, comparing black-on-black violence to the Ku Klux Klan decades ago. Young said he regarded working with Harris not so much as a chance to help him but more as "an opportunity for him to help me."
"We hit it off immediately," Young said. "It was a grandfather type of relationship."
Bishop Eddie Long of the New Birth Baptist Church also spoke in support of Harris.
Harris will be taken into custody no earlier than May 19.
The plea agreement, which federal authorities called unique, allowed the rapper to remain out of prison for a year while he performed community service.
In that time, he mentored at-risk students at 58 schools, 12 Boys & Girls Clubs, nine churches and many other nonprofit organizations, according to court documents.
Young said he and Harris went to a hospital for paraplegics in New York.
"He heard the testimonies of guys in their 50s and 60s who talked about being shot back when they were 16," Young said. "A perfect example for me in my ministry, and that wouldn't be possible without the willingness of this court to try new things."Meanwhile, the rapper has released his sixth CD, "Paper Trail," which has sold close to 2 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The multiplatinum rapper also has starred in the MTV reality show, "T.I.'s Road to Redemption: 45 Days to Go," which chronicles his efforts to shave years off his sentence by completing his community service. The show features him talking to schools and community groups "about how to avoid the trouble he now finds himself in," according to the network's Web site.Harris' fall from grace was sudden and dramatic, played out on the streets of his hometown of Atlanta in 2007.
That year, Harris had starred in the film "ATL" and could be seen in Chevy commercials with NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.Harris had been named to the Forbes list of top-earning rappers, banking an estimated $16 million in 2006.
Then he was arrested in October 2007 in an Atlanta parking lot hours before he was to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards.Harris was caught in a federal sting after his bodyguard-turned-informant delivered three machine guns and two silencers to him, prosecutors said.
The rapper had provided the bodyguard with $12,000 to buy the weapons. Harris was not permitted to own any guns, however, because he was convicted in 1998 on felony drug charges -- possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute -- in Cobb County, in suburban Atlanta.For his court hearing Friday, Harris' attorneys submitted more than 100 letters from officials who thanked him for his community service since the weapons arrest.
"I would like to say thank you to some, and apologize to others," Harris said at his sentencing.
"In my life, I have been placed in the worst-case scenario and had to make the best of it," he said. "Most often, things I have learned have been from trial and error. I knew no way to protect myself than to arm myself."He was dressed in a gray suit and black shirt and tie.
Harris, 28, also was sentenced to some property forfeiture, supervised release for three years after his prison sentence, 365 days of home confinement and 1,500 hours of community service. He has already served 305 days of home confinement and 1,030 hours of service.
He also must undergo DNA testing and drug counseling, cannot own firearms and must submit to reasonable searches and a financial audit. Video Watch the rapper's interview with CNN's T.J. Holmes »
Former Atlanta Mayor and U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young spoke on behalf of Harris, comparing black-on-black violence to the Ku Klux Klan decades ago. Young said he regarded working with Harris not so much as a chance to help him but more as "an opportunity for him to help me."
"We hit it off immediately," Young said. "It was a grandfather type of relationship."
Bishop Eddie Long of the New Birth Baptist Church also spoke in support of Harris.
Harris will be taken into custody no earlier than May 19.
The plea agreement, which federal authorities called unique, allowed the rapper to remain out of prison for a year while he performed community service.
In that time, he mentored at-risk students at 58 schools, 12 Boys & Girls Clubs, nine churches and many other nonprofit organizations, according to court documents.
Young said he and Harris went to a hospital for paraplegics in New York.
"He heard the testimonies of guys in their 50s and 60s who talked about being shot back when they were 16," Young said. "A perfect example for me in my ministry, and that wouldn't be possible without the willingness of this court to try new things."Meanwhile, the rapper has released his sixth CD, "Paper Trail," which has sold close to 2 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The multiplatinum rapper also has starred in the MTV reality show, "T.I.'s Road to Redemption: 45 Days to Go," which chronicles his efforts to shave years off his sentence by completing his community service. The show features him talking to schools and community groups "about how to avoid the trouble he now finds himself in," according to the network's Web site.Harris' fall from grace was sudden and dramatic, played out on the streets of his hometown of Atlanta in 2007.
That year, Harris had starred in the film "ATL" and could be seen in Chevy commercials with NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.Harris had been named to the Forbes list of top-earning rappers, banking an estimated $16 million in 2006.
Then he was arrested in October 2007 in an Atlanta parking lot hours before he was to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards.Harris was caught in a federal sting after his bodyguard-turned-informant delivered three machine guns and two silencers to him, prosecutors said.
The rapper had provided the bodyguard with $12,000 to buy the weapons. Harris was not permitted to own any guns, however, because he was convicted in 1998 on felony drug charges -- possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute -- in Cobb County, in suburban Atlanta.For his court hearing Friday, Harris' attorneys submitted more than 100 letters from officials who thanked him for his community service since the weapons arrest.
Criticism over Obama invite mounts at Notre Dame
Jimmy Carter came to Notre Dame in 1977. So did Ronald Reagan in 1981 and George W. Bush in 2001.The University of Notre Dame has a tradition of inviting new presidents to speak at graduation. But this year's selection of President Barack Obama has been met by a barrage of criticism that has left some students fearing their commencement ceremony will turn into a circus.
Many Catholics are angered by Obama's planned appearance at the May 17 ceremony because of his decisions to provide federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and international family planning groups that provide abortions or educate about the procedure.
The consensus Thursday on the campus of the nation's most-prominent Catholic university was that any president should be welcomed at Notre Dame.
"People are definitely entitled to their outrage, but I think the main thing is to see that it's an honor to have the president of the United States come to speak here whether you agree with him or not," said Katie Woodward, a political science junior from Philadelphia.Justin Mack, a senior film major from Dallas, agreed.
"I didn't vote for him and there are a lot of things I don't agree with him or support. But I feel like for this event people need to put that aside," said Mack, a senior film major from Dallas. "My hope is that doesn't distract too much from what the weekend is about, which is the graduation."
But the distractions have been mounting, including sharply worded letters from two bishops. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of the Phoenix Diocese on Wednesday called Obama's selection a "public act of disobedience" and "a grave mistake." On Tuesday, Bishop John D'Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, which includes Notre Dame, said he would not attend the ceremony because of Obama's policies.
Hundreds of people on both sides of the issue have sent letters to the student newspaper, and a coalition of conservative student groups has announced its opposition.
University spokesman Dennis Brown says Notre Dame does not plan to rescind the invitation. Anyone associated with the university can recommend a commencement speaker, he said, and the president consults with university officers to see who would be most appropriate.
Notre Dame President the Rev. John Jenkins has said the university does not condone all of Obama's policies but that it's important to engage in conversation.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that Obama believes everyone has the right to express their opinion, saying the president met last week with Chicago Cardinal Francis George and others to discuss topics Obama and the Catholic church are interested in.
"He looks forward to continuing that dialogue in the leadup to the commencement, and looks forward to delivering the address in May," Gibbs said.
Bob Reish, the student body president and a graduating senior, said there is a "general excitement" about Obama's visit, although he is aware there are people on both sides of the issue.As of 2 p.m. Thursday, The Observer, the student newspaper, had received 612 letters about Obama's appearance — 313 from alumni and 299 from current students.
Seventy percent of the alumni letters opposed having Obama giving the speech, while 73 percent of student letters supported his appearance. Among the 95 seniors who wrote letters, 97 percent supported the president's invitation.Sophomore Kelsey Fletcher, a Japanese major from nearby Elkhart, said she doesn't think the university should have invited Obama to speak.
"He shouldn't be giving the commencement address because of his policies, but once you invite him you can't disinvite him," she said. "That would be rude."Others noted that Obama is only speaking at three universities this year.
"We can't just forgive his viewpoints, we can't just let it go without expressing our thoughts on it," said Thomas Heitker, a freshman biology major from Columbus, Ohio. "But he's only speaking at three universities this year and to be one out of so many is something we should be proud about."Chris Carrington, a political science major from the Chicago area, said he doesn't see how Obama's appearance at Notre Dame contradicts Catholic values.
"To not allow someone here because of their beliefs seems a little hypocritical and contradictory to what the mission of the university and church should be," he said.
Facebook Caves to User Gripes Over Redesign
Facebook responds to users who don't like a recent redesign to its home page and will reverse some changes in the next couple of weeks.
Facebook says it will tweak its home page in the coming weeks in direct response to user uproar over recent designs changes. The social network caved to customer feedback against the site's recent improvements and says it decided to listen to the millions asking for less change.
Chris Cox, Facebook director of product, posted March 24 on the Facebook Blog a lengthy explanation of the features the social network is going to look into tweaking after the colossal user feedback. The most changes will be seen in the users' streams, which will finally get live updating and friend-list filters.
"Redesigns are generally hard to manage, in part because change is always hard and in part because we may miss improvements that any individual user may like to see," said Cox in his blog post. This week, change was hard on almost 2 million Facebook users, who joined petition groups campaigning against the site's latest improvements.
Facebook says it will tweak its home page in the coming weeks in direct response to user uproar over recent designs changes. The social network caved to customer feedback against the site's recent improvements and says it decided to listen to the millions asking for less change.
Chris Cox, Facebook director of product, posted March 24 on the Facebook Blog a lengthy explanation of the features the social network is going to look into tweaking after the colossal user feedback. The most changes will be seen in the users' streams, which will finally get live updating and friend-list filters.
"Redesigns are generally hard to manage, in part because change is always hard and in part because we may miss improvements that any individual user may like to see," said Cox in his blog post. This week, change was hard on almost 2 million Facebook users, who joined petition groups campaigning against the site's latest improvements.
Top 10 Mysterious Diseases
There are many sicknesses doctors can cure with the swish of a pen across a prescription pad. But for all we understand now about some illnesses, there are even more that still stump the pros, confound the public and rage on uncontested.
Morgellons disease
This mysterious illness, which has cropped up again recently, displays almost sci-fi symptoms. Sufferers complain of intensely creepy-crawly skin and odd fibrous strands which protrude from open wounds. Some in the medical community blame the "disease" on psychotic delusion, but others say the symptoms are very real.
This mysterious illness, which has cropped up again recently, displays almost sci-fi symptoms. Sufferers complain of intensely creepy-crawly skin and odd fibrous strands which protrude from open wounds. Some in the medical community blame the "disease" on psychotic delusion, but others say the symptoms are very real.
Seychelles: Paradise goes bankrupt
The Seychelles, the idyllic archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, is best known as an island paradise playground for celebrities, royalty and the ultra-wealthy. These days, it's better known for something else: bankruptcy.
The tiny country's debt burden may be tiny compared to Iceland, which needed a $2.1 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund last fall, but the Seychelles' problems illustrate the degree to which the global economic crisis has leveled some economies altogether.And because of its small size, with just 87,000 people, the Seychelles now has the unenviable stature of being perhaps the most indebted country in the world. Public and private debt totals $800 million - roughly the size of the country's entire economy.
Last year, as tourism and fishing revenue began slowing, the Seychelles defaulted on a $230 million, euro-denominated bond that had been arranged by Lehman Brothers before its own bankruptcy. The IMF came in in November with a two-year, $26 million rescue package, and the country has since taken a series of emergency steps: It laid off 12.5% of government workers (1,800 people), floated its currency (the Seychelles rupee, which has fallen from eight to the U.S. dollar to 16, effectively doubling the prices of imports), lifted foreign exchange controls and agreed to sell state assets.
The IMF has given a thumbs-up to the initial progress, but it warned that the economy would contract 9.5% this year. The government of Australia is sending tax experts to help overhaul the revenue collection system and audit local companies.Now the Seychelles is negotiating with the governments of Britain, France and other Western countries including the U.S. - the so-called Paris Club - to reschedule $250 million in debt it owes them. It is asking for 50% of it to be forgiven - a rate it hopes its commercial creditors will then apply to its remaining $550 million outstanding.
"We borrowed more than we can repay," complains Ralph Volcere, the editor of Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly and a vocal government critic. "This was wholly irresponsible."
Heavily reliant on tourism, the Seychelles is desperately searching for ways to raise capital - at a time when tourism is forecast to drop precipitously this year. In early March, Seychelles Vice President Joseph Belmont told a meeting of local tourism industry business owners that the country has already seen a drop of 15% in visitor arrivals from the start of 2009; tourism revenue for the year, he said, could drop by some 25% more as a result of the global recession.
Seychelles officials have another idea though: to promote the country's longstanding virtue of being an off-shore business haven, with no corporate tax, no minimum capital requirements, only one shareholder or director required, and an annual licensing fee of just $100.It also hopes to grow revenue from fishing licenses in its territorial waters, and on March 26 it will present a proposal to the United Nations to expand its exclusive rights to the surrounding seabed, potentially increasing prospects of revenue from underwater minerals, oil and gas.
And hopes for expanding tourism remain high. In addition to the usual roster of luxury-seeking royals and high-spending celebs, the middle-tier traveler is now being heartily courted, too. The government in early March announced an "Affordable Seychelles" campaign - what would have until recently been an oxymoron - with the motto: "Once-in-a-lifetime vacation at a once-in-a-lifetime price," based on lower prices caused by the halving in value of the currency.
Most hotels and meals in restaurants frequented by foreigners, however, remain priced in euros - like the new Four Seasons Seychelles, which opened its five-star resort, more than two years in the works, in February. Rates start at 1,000 euros ($1,345) per night, although current packages include stay-an-extra-day offers. Free-standing, multi-room houses with private swimming pools, billed as "Presidential" and "Royal" suites, are also available (from 4,500 euros, or $6,055).
The company claims it's seeing interest from travelers: "We have extremely strong demand; a lot of people are calling and asking for information," says General Manager Markus Iseli, surveying the property of 67 private, luxury villas perched on a hillside overlooking a stunning powdery-sand beach. But while normal luxury hotel occupancy averages 70-to-75%, he says he expects perhaps 30-to-35% occupancy this year.
"That's still good in a recession," Iseli says. "When you look around the world, everybody is suffering."
The tiny country's debt burden may be tiny compared to Iceland, which needed a $2.1 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund last fall, but the Seychelles' problems illustrate the degree to which the global economic crisis has leveled some economies altogether.And because of its small size, with just 87,000 people, the Seychelles now has the unenviable stature of being perhaps the most indebted country in the world. Public and private debt totals $800 million - roughly the size of the country's entire economy.
Last year, as tourism and fishing revenue began slowing, the Seychelles defaulted on a $230 million, euro-denominated bond that had been arranged by Lehman Brothers before its own bankruptcy. The IMF came in in November with a two-year, $26 million rescue package, and the country has since taken a series of emergency steps: It laid off 12.5% of government workers (1,800 people), floated its currency (the Seychelles rupee, which has fallen from eight to the U.S. dollar to 16, effectively doubling the prices of imports), lifted foreign exchange controls and agreed to sell state assets.
The IMF has given a thumbs-up to the initial progress, but it warned that the economy would contract 9.5% this year. The government of Australia is sending tax experts to help overhaul the revenue collection system and audit local companies.Now the Seychelles is negotiating with the governments of Britain, France and other Western countries including the U.S. - the so-called Paris Club - to reschedule $250 million in debt it owes them. It is asking for 50% of it to be forgiven - a rate it hopes its commercial creditors will then apply to its remaining $550 million outstanding.
"We borrowed more than we can repay," complains Ralph Volcere, the editor of Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly and a vocal government critic. "This was wholly irresponsible."
Heavily reliant on tourism, the Seychelles is desperately searching for ways to raise capital - at a time when tourism is forecast to drop precipitously this year. In early March, Seychelles Vice President Joseph Belmont told a meeting of local tourism industry business owners that the country has already seen a drop of 15% in visitor arrivals from the start of 2009; tourism revenue for the year, he said, could drop by some 25% more as a result of the global recession.
Seychelles officials have another idea though: to promote the country's longstanding virtue of being an off-shore business haven, with no corporate tax, no minimum capital requirements, only one shareholder or director required, and an annual licensing fee of just $100.It also hopes to grow revenue from fishing licenses in its territorial waters, and on March 26 it will present a proposal to the United Nations to expand its exclusive rights to the surrounding seabed, potentially increasing prospects of revenue from underwater minerals, oil and gas.
And hopes for expanding tourism remain high. In addition to the usual roster of luxury-seeking royals and high-spending celebs, the middle-tier traveler is now being heartily courted, too. The government in early March announced an "Affordable Seychelles" campaign - what would have until recently been an oxymoron - with the motto: "Once-in-a-lifetime vacation at a once-in-a-lifetime price," based on lower prices caused by the halving in value of the currency.
Most hotels and meals in restaurants frequented by foreigners, however, remain priced in euros - like the new Four Seasons Seychelles, which opened its five-star resort, more than two years in the works, in February. Rates start at 1,000 euros ($1,345) per night, although current packages include stay-an-extra-day offers. Free-standing, multi-room houses with private swimming pools, billed as "Presidential" and "Royal" suites, are also available (from 4,500 euros, or $6,055).
The company claims it's seeing interest from travelers: "We have extremely strong demand; a lot of people are calling and asking for information," says General Manager Markus Iseli, surveying the property of 67 private, luxury villas perched on a hillside overlooking a stunning powdery-sand beach. But while normal luxury hotel occupancy averages 70-to-75%, he says he expects perhaps 30-to-35% occupancy this year.
"That's still good in a recession," Iseli says. "When you look around the world, everybody is suffering."
Facebook changes coming in response to user complaints
Facebook users haven't exactly been reticent about their dislike for Facebook's recent redesign. And Facebook staff want you to know they're listening.
Facebook has been deluged with feedback on its new layout, much of it negative but constructive, according to a blog posted Tuesday by Product Director Christopher Cox.Hundreds of thousands of people gave the redesign a thumbs-down in a user poll. And groups like "MEMBERS WANT THE OLD FACEBOOK BACK!" have formed to voice their discontent.
While the social network isn't reverting back to the old page design, they are making a handful of changes to appease some of the outraged masses, according to Cox, who has also worked as director of human resources and software engineer at the company.
Some of the changes already in the works include:
Live updating: Users will have the ability to turn on auto updating so they don't have to refresh the page to see what's new.
Photo tags: Facebook will add photos tagged with a person's friends to her stream.
Applications: Users will have the ability to cut down on the application-related content that's showing up in streams.
Highlights: This section in the right-hand column will update more frequently and show more content so it'll be more like the old News Feed.
Requests: Friend requests and event invites will be moved to the top of the right-hand column so they're more prominent.
Friends lists: Users will be able to create a new list of friends with which to filter their streams.
From the post: "Over time, we'll continue to give you more control over what's in your main stream and how you consume it. We have the eventual goal of building filters that summarize this activity so you can see a more condensed view of what's been going on. We're also thinking about ways of filtering out some of the Wall posts and content directed to specific people to focus more on posts shared with everyone."
No specific timeframe was mentioned for most of the updates, though they did say the photo tag update would happen "in the coming weeks."To be sure, it can't be easy to redesign a site with 175 million users. For one thing, different people use the site very differently, so one man's feature is another's peeve.
Many of Facebook's users are online and interacting with the site for hours each day and no doubt have a personal connection to what goes on there. And as Cox points out in his post, sometimes change is just hard to take.
Facebook has been deluged with feedback on its new layout, much of it negative but constructive, according to a blog posted Tuesday by Product Director Christopher Cox.Hundreds of thousands of people gave the redesign a thumbs-down in a user poll. And groups like "MEMBERS WANT THE OLD FACEBOOK BACK!" have formed to voice their discontent.
While the social network isn't reverting back to the old page design, they are making a handful of changes to appease some of the outraged masses, according to Cox, who has also worked as director of human resources and software engineer at the company.
Some of the changes already in the works include:
Live updating: Users will have the ability to turn on auto updating so they don't have to refresh the page to see what's new.
Photo tags: Facebook will add photos tagged with a person's friends to her stream.
Applications: Users will have the ability to cut down on the application-related content that's showing up in streams.
Highlights: This section in the right-hand column will update more frequently and show more content so it'll be more like the old News Feed.
Requests: Friend requests and event invites will be moved to the top of the right-hand column so they're more prominent.
Friends lists: Users will be able to create a new list of friends with which to filter their streams.
From the post: "Over time, we'll continue to give you more control over what's in your main stream and how you consume it. We have the eventual goal of building filters that summarize this activity so you can see a more condensed view of what's been going on. We're also thinking about ways of filtering out some of the Wall posts and content directed to specific people to focus more on posts shared with everyone."
No specific timeframe was mentioned for most of the updates, though they did say the photo tag update would happen "in the coming weeks."To be sure, it can't be easy to redesign a site with 175 million users. For one thing, different people use the site very differently, so one man's feature is another's peeve.
Many of Facebook's users are online and interacting with the site for hours each day and no doubt have a personal connection to what goes on there. And as Cox points out in his post, sometimes change is just hard to take.
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