The UN's World Health Organization has raised the alert over the spread of swine flu to level five - one short of a full-blown pandemic.
A phase five alert means human-to-human transmission in at least two countries.
The move comes after a 23-month-old Mexican child died in Texas - the first death from swine flu outside Mexico, where the outbreak originated.
In Spain, officials confirmed the first case of swine flu in a person who has not travelled to Mexico.
Announcing the increased alert level, WHO Director General Margaret Chan urged all countries to activate their pandemic plans - including heightened surveillance and infection control measures.
She said action should be undertaken with "increased urgency".
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
WARNING: Facebook Scam On the Loose, Steals Passwords
by Pete Cashmore
Facebook is falling prey to a widespread phishing attack today that tries to steal your login and spam your friends.
I’ve got a number of messages in my Facebook inbox with links to “FBAction.net”, a site that displays a fake Facebook login. Enter your details there, and it will spam all your friends with the same message and link. More worrying: you might get locked out of your account for a time until Facebook sorts out this mess.
There is no malicious payload with the attack, it seems: no virus is downloaded or any other nasties: it’s simply a huge nuisance for Facebook users.
As always, don’t enter your Facebook password if the URL is not Facebook.com, and contact Facebook if you’re no longer able to access your account.
Facebook is falling prey to a widespread phishing attack today that tries to steal your login and spam your friends.
I’ve got a number of messages in my Facebook inbox with links to “FBAction.net”, a site that displays a fake Facebook login. Enter your details there, and it will spam all your friends with the same message and link. More worrying: you might get locked out of your account for a time until Facebook sorts out this mess.
There is no malicious payload with the attack, it seems: no virus is downloaded or any other nasties: it’s simply a huge nuisance for Facebook users.
As always, don’t enter your Facebook password if the URL is not Facebook.com, and contact Facebook if you’re no longer able to access your account.
Swine flu confirmed in Massachusetts, Maine
Posted by Christine Chinlund
Governor Deval Patrick (left) spoke today about the two swine flu cases in Lowell at a news conference with Dr.JudyAnn Bigby, Secretary of Health & Human Services, and Commissioner John Auerbach of the Department of Public Health.
By Stephen Smith and Kay Lazar, Globe Staff
Disease trackers in Massachusetts and Maine confirmed today that swine flu has arrived in New England, with two boys from Lowell recovering from the viral illness after being exposed while on vacation in Mexico.
Three adults in Maine have tested positive, authorities there said.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and state health authorities said there is no evidence that the Lowell children, whose names and ages were not disclosed because of patient confidentiality laws, have transmitted the virus.
]Massachusetts disease trackers confirmed today that swine flu has arrived in New England, with two boys from
"None of the contact cases, zero of the contact cases have been symptomatic," Patrick said, emphatically.
Dozens of people who might have had contact with the pair -- relatives, neighbors, playmates -- have either tested negative for swine flu, or shown no symptoms of the respiratory disease. Still, as a precautionary measure, those considered at high risk of flu complications because of underlying medical conditions have been given anti-flu medication.
Lowell's health director, Frank Singleton, said that the boys attend separate private schools but that neither attended classes after returning from Mexico a week ago. One child fell ill Thursday, while the other became sick Sunday, Singleton said. A third sibling is not ill and has returned to school, Singleton said. The boys' parents do not have symptoms either, but both opted to not go back to work.
"They recovering," Singleton said. "They are not very happy because it's not very pleasant to have the flu."
The state Department of Public Health received conclusive word from federal authorities at midmorning that the boys were indeed infected with swine flu, a disease that has stoked widespread fear because humans have no immunity against the ailment.
Patrick's presence at a late morning press conference, flanked by his top health officials, underscored both the concern about the disease and a desire to present a united front against the virus and public anxiety.
"We want the public to know we are prepared," the governor said, "and we want the public to be prepared."
Patrick urged precautions: "If you are sick, stay home from work, and I would ask special sensitivity from employers."
So far, theDepartment of Public Health has tested about 40 samples that doctors sent to the state laboratory because patients had flu-like symptoms and had traveled to regions with reported cases of swine flu. After preliminary testing, only three samples raised red flags and were sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Two of those samples were from the Lowell students; results are pending on the third sample, according to Dr. Alfred DeMaria, the state's epidemiologist.
State health authorities pledged to move swiftly to investigate potential cases and to prevent transmission through measures similar to the contact-tracing that was used in Lowell.
"Our major goal is for swine flu to not spread in Massachusetts," said Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, the state's secretary of health and human services. "We've already had two cases here and it's spread in the United States. So we know there's a chance it can spread here."
In Lowell, parents expressed concern about their own children's health as word spread about the two boys infected with swine flu.
Samantha Frazier, five months pregnant and with a 14-month-old in a stroller, said the viral illness left her "terrified. My kids are my life. I would absolutely lose it if one of them got sick."
Meanwhile, scores of families in the central Massachusetts town of Spencer kept children home from school today after reports that two elementary students were suspected of having swine flu. School officials decided to keep the Lake Street School open despite parents' concerns, as officials awaited definitive lab test results. The students -- believed to be a first grade girl and a third grade boy -- were not identified.
And in Brockton, a hospital spokeswoman said samples from two adults who exhibited flu-like symptoms were sent for testing. One had come to the Brockton Hospital emergency room. The other visited a doctor affiliated with the hospital. Their names, gender and ages were withheld, but hospital spokeswoman Rachel Labas (cq) said both patients had recently been to Mexico.
"At this point, that travel is the differentiating fact," Labas said. "We aren't taking samples for suspected swine flu if they are just exhibiting flu-like symptoms, at this point."
Lou Tartaglia, (cq) director of Brockton's health department, confirmed the two adults are the only suspected cases in the city at this point.
Governor Deval Patrick (left) spoke today about the two swine flu cases in Lowell at a news conference with Dr.JudyAnn Bigby, Secretary of Health & Human Services, and Commissioner John Auerbach of the Department of Public Health.
By Stephen Smith and Kay Lazar, Globe Staff
Disease trackers in Massachusetts and Maine confirmed today that swine flu has arrived in New England, with two boys from Lowell recovering from the viral illness after being exposed while on vacation in Mexico.
Three adults in Maine have tested positive, authorities there said.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and state health authorities said there is no evidence that the Lowell children, whose names and ages were not disclosed because of patient confidentiality laws, have transmitted the virus.
]Massachusetts disease trackers confirmed today that swine flu has arrived in New England, with two boys from
"None of the contact cases, zero of the contact cases have been symptomatic," Patrick said, emphatically.
Dozens of people who might have had contact with the pair -- relatives, neighbors, playmates -- have either tested negative for swine flu, or shown no symptoms of the respiratory disease. Still, as a precautionary measure, those considered at high risk of flu complications because of underlying medical conditions have been given anti-flu medication.
Lowell's health director, Frank Singleton, said that the boys attend separate private schools but that neither attended classes after returning from Mexico a week ago. One child fell ill Thursday, while the other became sick Sunday, Singleton said. A third sibling is not ill and has returned to school, Singleton said. The boys' parents do not have symptoms either, but both opted to not go back to work.
"They recovering," Singleton said. "They are not very happy because it's not very pleasant to have the flu."
The state Department of Public Health received conclusive word from federal authorities at midmorning that the boys were indeed infected with swine flu, a disease that has stoked widespread fear because humans have no immunity against the ailment.
Patrick's presence at a late morning press conference, flanked by his top health officials, underscored both the concern about the disease and a desire to present a united front against the virus and public anxiety.
"We want the public to know we are prepared," the governor said, "and we want the public to be prepared."
Patrick urged precautions: "If you are sick, stay home from work, and I would ask special sensitivity from employers."
So far, theDepartment of Public Health has tested about 40 samples that doctors sent to the state laboratory because patients had flu-like symptoms and had traveled to regions with reported cases of swine flu. After preliminary testing, only three samples raised red flags and were sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Two of those samples were from the Lowell students; results are pending on the third sample, according to Dr. Alfred DeMaria, the state's epidemiologist.
State health authorities pledged to move swiftly to investigate potential cases and to prevent transmission through measures similar to the contact-tracing that was used in Lowell.
"Our major goal is for swine flu to not spread in Massachusetts," said Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, the state's secretary of health and human services. "We've already had two cases here and it's spread in the United States. So we know there's a chance it can spread here."
In Lowell, parents expressed concern about their own children's health as word spread about the two boys infected with swine flu.
Samantha Frazier, five months pregnant and with a 14-month-old in a stroller, said the viral illness left her "terrified. My kids are my life. I would absolutely lose it if one of them got sick."
Meanwhile, scores of families in the central Massachusetts town of Spencer kept children home from school today after reports that two elementary students were suspected of having swine flu. School officials decided to keep the Lake Street School open despite parents' concerns, as officials awaited definitive lab test results. The students -- believed to be a first grade girl and a third grade boy -- were not identified.
And in Brockton, a hospital spokeswoman said samples from two adults who exhibited flu-like symptoms were sent for testing. One had come to the Brockton Hospital emergency room. The other visited a doctor affiliated with the hospital. Their names, gender and ages were withheld, but hospital spokeswoman Rachel Labas (cq) said both patients had recently been to Mexico.
"At this point, that travel is the differentiating fact," Labas said. "We aren't taking samples for suspected swine flu if they are just exhibiting flu-like symptoms, at this point."
Lou Tartaglia, (cq) director of Brockton's health department, confirmed the two adults are the only suspected cases in the city at this point.
U of Del: four students with “probable” swine flu
By Susan Snyder
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Four students at the University of Delaware have been identified with "probable" cases of swine flu, the University of Delaware announced in a special health alert to staff and in a notice on its web site tonight.
The students, who were experiencing mild flu like symptoms, were treated at the university's health services center on Monday, and the Division of Public Health received preliminary test results confirming the probable cases on Tuesday, the university said.
None of the four students have traveled to Mexico recently, said Jay Lynch, health and social services department spokesman. One had been to New Jersey, one to Florida and one to Chicago over spring break, however. Officials are unsure how the students may have come in contact with the illness, he said.
Lynch noted that a new definition of "probable" swine flu cases was issued at 3 p.m. yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and that under that definition, the University of Delaware cases qualified. The day before they would not have.
"This is really evolving," he said.
He said it made sense for the university, a sprawling campus of 20,000 students and many buildings, to remain open, as opposed to the school in New York, which shut down after many cases were reported.
"The University of Delaware is not just one building," he said.
What's important is that students with symptoms stay away from others as they would if they had other illnesses.
He's not sure when the CDC will have the results of the tests which are needed to confirm whether the students have swine flu.
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell will hold a news conference at 11 this morning in his office in Wilmington to provide details on the cases.
The university and the public health division plan to conduct clinics on campus this morning to assess and treat other students with symptoms. The location of the clinic was to be announced this morning.
But classes will continue as usual, officials said, although some large campus activities may be rescheduled.
About 9 p.m. tonight, shortly after the university began sending out emergency messages by text and email to staff and students, more students showed up at the health center for medical help, said Andrea Boyle, a university spokeswoman.
The campus community is in a state of "concern" about the probable swine flu cases, she said.
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Four students at the University of Delaware have been identified with "probable" cases of swine flu, the University of Delaware announced in a special health alert to staff and in a notice on its web site tonight.
The students, who were experiencing mild flu like symptoms, were treated at the university's health services center on Monday, and the Division of Public Health received preliminary test results confirming the probable cases on Tuesday, the university said.
None of the four students have traveled to Mexico recently, said Jay Lynch, health and social services department spokesman. One had been to New Jersey, one to Florida and one to Chicago over spring break, however. Officials are unsure how the students may have come in contact with the illness, he said.
Lynch noted that a new definition of "probable" swine flu cases was issued at 3 p.m. yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and that under that definition, the University of Delaware cases qualified. The day before they would not have.
"This is really evolving," he said.
He said it made sense for the university, a sprawling campus of 20,000 students and many buildings, to remain open, as opposed to the school in New York, which shut down after many cases were reported.
"The University of Delaware is not just one building," he said.
What's important is that students with symptoms stay away from others as they would if they had other illnesses.
He's not sure when the CDC will have the results of the tests which are needed to confirm whether the students have swine flu.
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell will hold a news conference at 11 this morning in his office in Wilmington to provide details on the cases.
The university and the public health division plan to conduct clinics on campus this morning to assess and treat other students with symptoms. The location of the clinic was to be announced this morning.
But classes will continue as usual, officials said, although some large campus activities may be rescheduled.
About 9 p.m. tonight, shortly after the university began sending out emergency messages by text and email to staff and students, more students showed up at the health center for medical help, said Andrea Boyle, a university spokeswoman.
The campus community is in a state of "concern" about the probable swine flu cases, she said.
Toddler in Texas becomes 1st swine flu death in US
HOUSTON (AP) — A 23-month-old toddler in Texas became the first confirmed swine flu death outside of Mexico as authorities around the world struggled to contain a growing global health menace that has also swept Germany onto the roster of afflicted nations. Officials say the death was in Houston.
Kathy Barton, a spokeswoman for the Houston Health and Human Services Department, said Wednesday that the child had traveled with family from Mexico to Brownsville in South Texas. The child became ill in Brownsville and was taken to a Houston hospital and died Monday night, she said.
"Even though we've been expecting this, it is very, very sad," Dr. Richard Besser, acting chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday of the infant's death. "As a pediatrician and a parent, my heart goes out to the family."
President Barack Obama said this morning that Americans should know the government is doing all it can to control virus. Obama also says schools should consider closing if the spread of the swine flu virus worsens.
Canada, Austria, New Zealand, Israel, Spain, Britain and Germany also have reported cases of swine flu sickness. Deaths reported so far have been limited to Mexico, and now the U.S.
As the United States grappled with this widening health crisis, Besser went from network to network Wednesday morning to give an update on what the Obama administration is doing. He said authorities essentially are still "trying to learn more about this strain of the flu." His appearances as Germany reported its first cases of swine flu infection, with three victims.
"It's very important that people take their concern and channel it into action," Besser said, adding that "it is crucial that people understand what they need to do if symptoms appear.
"I don't think it (the reported death in Texas) indicates any change in the strain," he said. "We see with any flu virus a spectrum of disease symptoms."
Asked why the problem seems so much more severe in Mexico, Besser said U.S. officials "have teams on the ground, a tri-national team in Mexico, working with Canada and Mexico, to try and understand those differences, because they can be helpful as we plan and implement our control strategies."
Sixty-six infections had been reported in the United States before the report of the toddler's death in Texas.
The world has no vaccine to prevent infection but U.S. health officials aim to have a key ingredient for one ready in early May, the big step that vaccine manufacturers are awaiting. But even if the World Health Organization ordered up emergency vaccine supplies — and that decision hasn't been made yet — it would take at least two more months to produce the initial shots needed for human safety testing.
"We're working together at 100 miles an hour to get material that will be useful," Dr. Jesse Goodman, who oversees the Food and Drug Administration's swine flu work, told The Associated Press.
The U.S. is shipping to states not only enough anti-flu medication for 11 million people, but also masks, hospital supplies and flu test kits. President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.5 billion in emergency funds to help build more drug stockpiles and monitor future cases, as well as help international efforts to avoid a full-fledged pandemic.
"It's a very serious possibility, but it is still too early to say that this is inevitable," the WHO's flu chief, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, told a telephone news conference.
Cuba and Argentina banned flights to Mexico, where swine flu is suspected of killing more than 150 people and sickening well over 2,000. In a bit of good news, Mexico's health secretary, Jose Cordova, late Tuesday called the death toll there "more or less stable."
Mexico City, one of the world's largest cities, has taken drastic steps to curb the virus' spread, starting with shutting down schools and on Tuesday expanding closures to gyms and swimming pools and even telling restaurants to limit service to takeout. People who venture out tend to wear masks in hopes of protection.
The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States rose to 66 in six states, with 45 in New York, 11 in California, six in Texas, two in Kansas and one each in Indiana and Ohio, but cities and states suspected more. In New York, the city's health commissioner said "many hundreds" of schoolchildren were ill at a school where some students had confirmed cases.
The WHO argues against closing borders to stem the spread, and the U.S. — although checking arriving travelers for the ill who may need care — agrees it's too late for that tactic.
"Sealing a border as an approach to containment is something that has been discussed and it was our planning assumption should an outbreak of a new strain of influenza occur overseas. We had plans for trying to swoop in and knockout or quench an outbreak if it were occurring far from our borders. That's not the case here," Besser told a telephone briefing of Nevada-based health providers and reporters. "The idea of trying to limit the spread to Mexico is not realistic or at all possible."
"Border controls do not work. Travel restrictions do not work," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said in Geneva, recalling the SARS epidemic earlier in the decade that killed 774 people, mostly in Asia, and slowed the global economy.
Authorities sought to keep the crisis in context: Flu deaths are common around the world. In the U.S. alone, the CDC says about 36,000 people a year die of flu-related causes. Still, the CDC calls the new strain a combination of pig, bird and human viruses for which people may have limited natural immunity.
Hence the need for a vaccine. Using samples of the flu taken from people who fell ill in Mexico and the U.S., scientists are engineering a strain that could trigger the immune system without causing illness. The hope is to get that ingredient — called a "reference strain" in vaccine jargon — to manufacturers around the second week of May, so they can begin their own laborious production work, said CDC's Dr. Ruben Donis, who is leading that effort.
Vaccine manufacturers are just beginning production for next winter's regular influenza vaccine, which protects against three human flu strains. The WHO wants them to stay with that course for now — it won't call for mass production of a swine flu vaccine unless the outbreak worsens globally. But sometimes new flu strains pop up briefly at the end of one flu season and go away only to re-emerge the next fall, and at the very least there should be a vaccine in time for next winter's flu season, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health's infectious diseases chief, said Tuesday.
"Right now it's moving very rapidly," he said of the vaccine development.
Besser appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," CNN and CBS's "The Early Show."
Kathy Barton, a spokeswoman for the Houston Health and Human Services Department, said Wednesday that the child had traveled with family from Mexico to Brownsville in South Texas. The child became ill in Brownsville and was taken to a Houston hospital and died Monday night, she said.
"Even though we've been expecting this, it is very, very sad," Dr. Richard Besser, acting chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday of the infant's death. "As a pediatrician and a parent, my heart goes out to the family."
President Barack Obama said this morning that Americans should know the government is doing all it can to control virus. Obama also says schools should consider closing if the spread of the swine flu virus worsens.
Canada, Austria, New Zealand, Israel, Spain, Britain and Germany also have reported cases of swine flu sickness. Deaths reported so far have been limited to Mexico, and now the U.S.
As the United States grappled with this widening health crisis, Besser went from network to network Wednesday morning to give an update on what the Obama administration is doing. He said authorities essentially are still "trying to learn more about this strain of the flu." His appearances as Germany reported its first cases of swine flu infection, with three victims.
"It's very important that people take their concern and channel it into action," Besser said, adding that "it is crucial that people understand what they need to do if symptoms appear.
"I don't think it (the reported death in Texas) indicates any change in the strain," he said. "We see with any flu virus a spectrum of disease symptoms."
Asked why the problem seems so much more severe in Mexico, Besser said U.S. officials "have teams on the ground, a tri-national team in Mexico, working with Canada and Mexico, to try and understand those differences, because they can be helpful as we plan and implement our control strategies."
Sixty-six infections had been reported in the United States before the report of the toddler's death in Texas.
The world has no vaccine to prevent infection but U.S. health officials aim to have a key ingredient for one ready in early May, the big step that vaccine manufacturers are awaiting. But even if the World Health Organization ordered up emergency vaccine supplies — and that decision hasn't been made yet — it would take at least two more months to produce the initial shots needed for human safety testing.
"We're working together at 100 miles an hour to get material that will be useful," Dr. Jesse Goodman, who oversees the Food and Drug Administration's swine flu work, told The Associated Press.
The U.S. is shipping to states not only enough anti-flu medication for 11 million people, but also masks, hospital supplies and flu test kits. President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.5 billion in emergency funds to help build more drug stockpiles and monitor future cases, as well as help international efforts to avoid a full-fledged pandemic.
"It's a very serious possibility, but it is still too early to say that this is inevitable," the WHO's flu chief, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, told a telephone news conference.
Cuba and Argentina banned flights to Mexico, where swine flu is suspected of killing more than 150 people and sickening well over 2,000. In a bit of good news, Mexico's health secretary, Jose Cordova, late Tuesday called the death toll there "more or less stable."
Mexico City, one of the world's largest cities, has taken drastic steps to curb the virus' spread, starting with shutting down schools and on Tuesday expanding closures to gyms and swimming pools and even telling restaurants to limit service to takeout. People who venture out tend to wear masks in hopes of protection.
The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States rose to 66 in six states, with 45 in New York, 11 in California, six in Texas, two in Kansas and one each in Indiana and Ohio, but cities and states suspected more. In New York, the city's health commissioner said "many hundreds" of schoolchildren were ill at a school where some students had confirmed cases.
The WHO argues against closing borders to stem the spread, and the U.S. — although checking arriving travelers for the ill who may need care — agrees it's too late for that tactic.
"Sealing a border as an approach to containment is something that has been discussed and it was our planning assumption should an outbreak of a new strain of influenza occur overseas. We had plans for trying to swoop in and knockout or quench an outbreak if it were occurring far from our borders. That's not the case here," Besser told a telephone briefing of Nevada-based health providers and reporters. "The idea of trying to limit the spread to Mexico is not realistic or at all possible."
"Border controls do not work. Travel restrictions do not work," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said in Geneva, recalling the SARS epidemic earlier in the decade that killed 774 people, mostly in Asia, and slowed the global economy.
Authorities sought to keep the crisis in context: Flu deaths are common around the world. In the U.S. alone, the CDC says about 36,000 people a year die of flu-related causes. Still, the CDC calls the new strain a combination of pig, bird and human viruses for which people may have limited natural immunity.
Hence the need for a vaccine. Using samples of the flu taken from people who fell ill in Mexico and the U.S., scientists are engineering a strain that could trigger the immune system without causing illness. The hope is to get that ingredient — called a "reference strain" in vaccine jargon — to manufacturers around the second week of May, so they can begin their own laborious production work, said CDC's Dr. Ruben Donis, who is leading that effort.
Vaccine manufacturers are just beginning production for next winter's regular influenza vaccine, which protects against three human flu strains. The WHO wants them to stay with that course for now — it won't call for mass production of a swine flu vaccine unless the outbreak worsens globally. But sometimes new flu strains pop up briefly at the end of one flu season and go away only to re-emerge the next fall, and at the very least there should be a vaccine in time for next winter's flu season, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health's infectious diseases chief, said Tuesday.
"Right now it's moving very rapidly," he said of the vaccine development.
Besser appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," CNN and CBS's "The Early Show."
Monday, April 27, 2009
CDC: How to Protect Yourself Against Swine Flu
WASHINGTON — The acting head of the Centers for Disease Control said Monday that people can best protect themselves against the swine flu threat by taking precautions they were taught as kids, like frequently washing their hands.
Asked what individual steps should be taken, Richard Besser replied: "The things that we learned when we were little, covering a cough ... staying home when you have a fever, frequent hand-washing. If people do these things, it will decrease the spread in our communities."
Besser also said the U.S. government is being "extremely aggressive" in the steps it has taken, or is considering, to protect the American public. He said he didn't think he would personally recommend traveling to parts of Mexico where the new virus has taken hold, but noted that no decision has been made on a possible travel ban.
Besser said he was not reassured by the fact that so far in the U.S., no one has died from the disease.
"From what we understand in Mexico, I think people need to be ready for the idea that we could see more severe cases in this country and possibly deaths," Besser said. "That's something people have to be ready for and we're looking for that. So far, thankfully, we haven't seen that. But we're very concerned and that's why we're taking very aggressive measures."
Besser said there can be no one-size-fits-all approach when the severity of the problem varies from area to area. "You cannot see an outbreak occur at the same level in all places," he said.
He also said the government has worked hard to have the necessary medications in place in such a scenario and already has begun distributing them to states.
Asked in one interview why the United States was not issuing travel bans and quarantining passengers at airports, as some countries have done, Besser said: "We are being extremely aggressive in our approach to this outbreak and each day we're evaluating what we're undertaking and we'll make additional measures as necessary. What you're going to see in an outbreak like this is different things taking place in different parts of the country based on what's going on there."
"What we're going to be doing at the borders, and that will be taking place starting today, is doing passive screening, asking people about fever and illness, looking for people who are ill and handing out cards that let people know what's going on in Mexico and what's going on here so people can take action to protect and prepare," Besser said.
The CDC was posting guidelines on its Web site Monday for health departments and members of the public to decide what to do in the event of illness.
Besser appeared on NBC's "Today" show, CBS's "The Early Show," and ABC's "Good Morning America."
Asked what individual steps should be taken, Richard Besser replied: "The things that we learned when we were little, covering a cough ... staying home when you have a fever, frequent hand-washing. If people do these things, it will decrease the spread in our communities."
Besser also said the U.S. government is being "extremely aggressive" in the steps it has taken, or is considering, to protect the American public. He said he didn't think he would personally recommend traveling to parts of Mexico where the new virus has taken hold, but noted that no decision has been made on a possible travel ban.
Besser said he was not reassured by the fact that so far in the U.S., no one has died from the disease.
"From what we understand in Mexico, I think people need to be ready for the idea that we could see more severe cases in this country and possibly deaths," Besser said. "That's something people have to be ready for and we're looking for that. So far, thankfully, we haven't seen that. But we're very concerned and that's why we're taking very aggressive measures."
Besser said there can be no one-size-fits-all approach when the severity of the problem varies from area to area. "You cannot see an outbreak occur at the same level in all places," he said.
He also said the government has worked hard to have the necessary medications in place in such a scenario and already has begun distributing them to states.
Asked in one interview why the United States was not issuing travel bans and quarantining passengers at airports, as some countries have done, Besser said: "We are being extremely aggressive in our approach to this outbreak and each day we're evaluating what we're undertaking and we'll make additional measures as necessary. What you're going to see in an outbreak like this is different things taking place in different parts of the country based on what's going on there."
"What we're going to be doing at the borders, and that will be taking place starting today, is doing passive screening, asking people about fever and illness, looking for people who are ill and handing out cards that let people know what's going on in Mexico and what's going on here so people can take action to protect and prepare," Besser said.
The CDC was posting guidelines on its Web site Monday for health departments and members of the public to decide what to do in the event of illness.
Besser appeared on NBC's "Today" show, CBS's "The Early Show," and ABC's "Good Morning America."
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Fiancee of suspected 'Craigslist Killer' Philip Markoff comes to his defense
BY BEVERLY FORD IN BOSTON AND HELEN KENNEDY IN NEW YORK
Med student Philip Markoff poses with fiancee Megan McAllister.
The fiancee of the accused "Craigslist Killer" insists her future husband is a "beautiful person" who's innocent of slaying a hired masseuse in a luxury Boston hotel.
Philip Markoff, arrested Monday after an intensive police investigation, "could not hurt a fly," his future wife Megan McAllister wrote in an e-mail to ABC's "Good Morning America."
"Philip is an intelligent man who is just trying to live his life so if you could leave us alone we would greatly appreciate it," she wrote Tuesday.
"We expect to marry in August and share a wonderful, meaningful life together."
Markoff, a 22-year-old medical student, was due for arraignment in Boston later Tuesday. He was arrested for the April 14 slaying of Julissa Brisman, along with an attack on a second woman four days earlier in another Boston hotel.
Police were investigating whether a similar assault involving an exotic dancer at a Rhode Island hotel was linked to Markoff, of Quincy, Mass.
Brisman, a 26-year-old masseuse, and the other alleged victims advertised their services on Craigslist. Brisman's massage table was set up inside a 20th-floor room at the tony Marriott Copley Place when police found her lying in a pool of blood.
Brisman was shot several times, apparently after resisting Markoff's attempts to bind her hands with plastic "zip tie" handcuffs, authorities said.
Markoff and McAllister met while attending SUNY Albany, with their Aug. 14 wedding coming four years after their first date. They met while volunteering in a local emergency room, according to a Web page devoted to their wedding.
By Globe Staff
The fiancée of the Boston University medical student accused of using Craigslist to target and attack women in hotels defended him today in an e-mail she sent to ABC News.
The fiancée, Megan McAllister, accused police of trying to make money off the plight of her fiancée, Philip Markoff, 23, who was arrested last night on charges that include murder.
"Unfortunately you were given wrong information as was the public," McAllister wrote in the e-mail, which is posted on ABC's website. "All I have to say to you is Philip is a beautiful person inside and out and could not hurt a fly! A police officer in Boston (or many) is trying to make big bucks by selling this false story to the TV stations."
McAllister continued, "What else is new?? Philip is an intelligent man who is just trying to live his life so if you could leave us alone we would greatly appreciate it. We expect to marry in August and share a wonderful, meaningful life together."
McAllister did not respond to email messages and could not be reached by the Globe for comment.
Med student Philip Markoff poses with fiancee Megan McAllister.
The fiancee of the accused "Craigslist Killer" insists her future husband is a "beautiful person" who's innocent of slaying a hired masseuse in a luxury Boston hotel.
Philip Markoff, arrested Monday after an intensive police investigation, "could not hurt a fly," his future wife Megan McAllister wrote in an e-mail to ABC's "Good Morning America."
"Philip is an intelligent man who is just trying to live his life so if you could leave us alone we would greatly appreciate it," she wrote Tuesday.
"We expect to marry in August and share a wonderful, meaningful life together."
Markoff, a 22-year-old medical student, was due for arraignment in Boston later Tuesday. He was arrested for the April 14 slaying of Julissa Brisman, along with an attack on a second woman four days earlier in another Boston hotel.
Police were investigating whether a similar assault involving an exotic dancer at a Rhode Island hotel was linked to Markoff, of Quincy, Mass.
Brisman, a 26-year-old masseuse, and the other alleged victims advertised their services on Craigslist. Brisman's massage table was set up inside a 20th-floor room at the tony Marriott Copley Place when police found her lying in a pool of blood.
Brisman was shot several times, apparently after resisting Markoff's attempts to bind her hands with plastic "zip tie" handcuffs, authorities said.
Markoff and McAllister met while attending SUNY Albany, with their Aug. 14 wedding coming four years after their first date. They met while volunteering in a local emergency room, according to a Web page devoted to their wedding.
By Globe Staff
The fiancée of the Boston University medical student accused of using Craigslist to target and attack women in hotels defended him today in an e-mail she sent to ABC News.
The fiancée, Megan McAllister, accused police of trying to make money off the plight of her fiancée, Philip Markoff, 23, who was arrested last night on charges that include murder.
"Unfortunately you were given wrong information as was the public," McAllister wrote in the e-mail, which is posted on ABC's website. "All I have to say to you is Philip is a beautiful person inside and out and could not hurt a fly! A police officer in Boston (or many) is trying to make big bucks by selling this false story to the TV stations."
McAllister continued, "What else is new?? Philip is an intelligent man who is just trying to live his life so if you could leave us alone we would greatly appreciate it. We expect to marry in August and share a wonderful, meaningful life together."
McAllister did not respond to email messages and could not be reached by the Globe for comment.
Baby mammoth Lyuba, pristinely preserved, offers scientists rare look into mysteries of Ice Age
BY OLIVIA SMITH
She may be 40,000 years old, but an amazingly well-preserved baby mammoth is in great shape for her age, bringing scientists closer to solving some of the mysteries of the Ice Age.
Lyuba, who was discovered in 2007 in the Russian Artic, was about one-month old when she fell victim to a mudslide or drowned according to National Geographic, which will air a special about her, "Waking the Baby Mammoth," on Sunday April 26 at 9 p.m.
The clay-like substance that likely suffocated her also "pickled" her, preserving the little mammoth in a nearly pristine state, USAToday.com reported.
Her skin and organs are intact, and scientists were able to identify milk from her mother in her stomach.
"We are learning more about what [mammoths] ate and how to recognize animals that are healthy versus stressed," Daniel Fisher, a member of the research team, told National Geographic.
While previously discovered mammoth specimens, which are less well-preserved than Lyuba, appeared to be starving, Lyuba was the picture of health.
By examining Lyuba's teeth, researchers hope to gain insight into what caused Ice Age mammals, including the mammoths, to suddenly vanish around 10,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene era.
"This quirky line of investigation is a tool by which we'll be able to solve the late Pleistocene extinction," Fisher told National Geographic. "We'll be able to distinguish between the two main competitors: climate change and hunting."
She may be 40,000 years old, but an amazingly well-preserved baby mammoth is in great shape for her age, bringing scientists closer to solving some of the mysteries of the Ice Age.
Lyuba, who was discovered in 2007 in the Russian Artic, was about one-month old when she fell victim to a mudslide or drowned according to National Geographic, which will air a special about her, "Waking the Baby Mammoth," on Sunday April 26 at 9 p.m.
The clay-like substance that likely suffocated her also "pickled" her, preserving the little mammoth in a nearly pristine state, USAToday.com reported.
Her skin and organs are intact, and scientists were able to identify milk from her mother in her stomach.
"We are learning more about what [mammoths] ate and how to recognize animals that are healthy versus stressed," Daniel Fisher, a member of the research team, told National Geographic.
While previously discovered mammoth specimens, which are less well-preserved than Lyuba, appeared to be starving, Lyuba was the picture of health.
By examining Lyuba's teeth, researchers hope to gain insight into what caused Ice Age mammals, including the mammoths, to suddenly vanish around 10,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene era.
"This quirky line of investigation is a tool by which we'll be able to solve the late Pleistocene extinction," Fisher told National Geographic. "We'll be able to distinguish between the two main competitors: climate change and hunting."
Monday, April 20, 2009
New Photos of 'Craigslist Killer' Revealed
BOSTON — Police in New England released new surveillance photos of the so-called "Craigslist Killer," as they continue to hunt the man linked to at least two robbery cases and one death linked to the Web site.
Police in Warwick, R.I., released the pictures Monday in their investigation of another robbery at a Holiday Inn Express Hotel there on Thursday. On Tuesday, the body of Julissa Brisman was found in a room at the Boston Marriot Copley Place. She was shot multiple times in the torso during a robbery and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The same man was photographed Friday at the Westin Hotel in Boston, where a 29-year-old Las Vegas woman was found bound and robbed, police said.
Boston police are investigating more than 150 tips about Brisman's murder.
Brisman, of New York City, advertised massage services on Craigslist and had a massage table set up in the room where she was shot Tuesday. The woman attacked in Warwick advertised lap dances on Craigslist. She was held at gunpoint before her husband entered the room and her attacker fled.
Boston police haven't explicitly said the same man committed both crimes, though the suspects have similar descriptions. They cite only "a strong connection" in the cases.
Investigators from Boston and Warwick continue to work closely together following up on tips and reviewing crime scene evidence, MyFOXBoston.com reported.
Police in Warwick, R.I., released the pictures Monday in their investigation of another robbery at a Holiday Inn Express Hotel there on Thursday. On Tuesday, the body of Julissa Brisman was found in a room at the Boston Marriot Copley Place. She was shot multiple times in the torso during a robbery and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The same man was photographed Friday at the Westin Hotel in Boston, where a 29-year-old Las Vegas woman was found bound and robbed, police said.
Boston police are investigating more than 150 tips about Brisman's murder.
Brisman, of New York City, advertised massage services on Craigslist and had a massage table set up in the room where she was shot Tuesday. The woman attacked in Warwick advertised lap dances on Craigslist. She was held at gunpoint before her husband entered the room and her attacker fled.
Boston police haven't explicitly said the same man committed both crimes, though the suspects have similar descriptions. They cite only "a strong connection" in the cases.
Investigators from Boston and Warwick continue to work closely together following up on tips and reviewing crime scene evidence, MyFOXBoston.com reported.
Parents get cheerleader coach Carlie Beck fired for nude pix
But they say it was not revenge for their daughter’s being barred from team
Coach fired for nude Playboy photos
April 20: A high school cheerleading coach is out of a job after she posed for photos on Playboy magazine’s Web site. Adelle Geniella, who was captain of the cheer team, and her parents, Heather and Scott Geniella, discuss the controversy.
By Michael Inbar
“Sis boom bah” will never have the same meaning again at a California high school after the family of an ousted cheerleader ratted out a coach for posing nude on a Playboy Web site. But the family insists it was a matter of morals and respect — not sour grapes — that led them to full dis-clothesure.
Adelle Geniella appeared live on TODAY Monday with her parents, Scott and Heather Geniella, to talk about the case that has a high school near Sacramento up in arms — and debating just what it means to be a role model.
Adelle had been barred from next year’s tryouts for having more than three unexcused absences from Casa Roble High School. But when she learned cheerleading coach Carlie Beck had gone undraped as Playboy’s “Cyber Girl of the Week,” she said it smacked against her sensibilities.
Story continues below ↓
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“When I found out about it, I definitely lost respect,” Adelle, 14, told Matt Lauer. “That’s not where my morals stand.”
Divided community
When parents Scott and Heather Geniella informed a school administrator at Casa Roble High School about Beck’s extracurricular activities, the coach was promptly given the boot. The ouster has Beck, 20, pursuing legal action, and divided the community between Team Carlie and Team Adelle.
Some cheerleaders waved “We Want Carlie Back” banners in front of the high school, with one rooter telling NBC that Beck “was always so professional” and “was a really good role model for us.”
YOUR TURN
Discuss: Should coach get her job back?
Still others applauded the decision to give Beck her walking papers. And dad Scott noted to Lauer Monday that Beck wasn’t living up to the standards that are in effect for her cheerleading charges.
“This is a leader of young women,” he said. “They want to hold the children to a very high standard. These cheerleaders are not allowed to have racy pictures on MySpace, there’s a lot of things they’re not able to do, or shouldn’t.”
Heather Geniella says she understands that some people view the family’s whistle-blowing as revenge for her daughter’s not being allowed to compete for a spot on next year’s cheerleading squad. But she insists they would have brought Beck’s nude modeling to the school’s attention no matter what Adelle’s situation was.
“I would if it was a football player’s coach or it if was a teacher or anybody that worked at the school,” Heather told Lauer.
TODAY
From left, Scott Geniella, Heather Geniella and their daughter Adelle talk to Matt Lauer about the controversy at Casa Roble High School.
“When Adelle was not able to try out because she was absent one day of school that I failed to excuse, that took away from the fact that she’s an excellent student, she hasn’t cut a day of school in her life,” Heather Geniella said. “And when they say, ‘Well, we’re trying to set the standards very high for these girls,’ that upset Adelle,” the mother added.
“She said, ‘Mom, there are rumors that she has been on the Internet naked.’ So she was upset at the double standard, that [Beck] is good enough to be in a leadership position.”
Morals debate
Speaking with NBC, Carlie Beck — or Carlie Christine, as she is identified on the Playboy site — said she respects all viewpoints about her nude modeling, but feels that it should not have affected her employment at Casa Roble.
TODAY
Cheerleading coach Carlie Beck says that her nude photos should not have affected her employment.
“I understand that morals are a subject of opinion, and although parents may have different opinions than I, they’re entitled to those,” Beck said. “As far as [whether] the job can be based on someone’s opinions of morals, I don’t know that that is true.”
Ironically, Case Roble’s own strict standards prevented the school from finding out about Beck’s modeling activities during their background check. Heather Geniella said in an interview school officials had “Googled her from a school computer where there’s blocks on it and they can’t see those sites.”
Lauer asked Heather Geniella whether she would be willing to let bygones be bygones if Adelle were allowed to try out for the cheerleading team, and Beck was allowed to keep her job as a coach.
Heather said absolutely not.
“I get to choose who influences my daughter,” she told Lauer.
Coach fired for nude Playboy photos
April 20: A high school cheerleading coach is out of a job after she posed for photos on Playboy magazine’s Web site. Adelle Geniella, who was captain of the cheer team, and her parents, Heather and Scott Geniella, discuss the controversy.
By Michael Inbar
“Sis boom bah” will never have the same meaning again at a California high school after the family of an ousted cheerleader ratted out a coach for posing nude on a Playboy Web site. But the family insists it was a matter of morals and respect — not sour grapes — that led them to full dis-clothesure.
Adelle Geniella appeared live on TODAY Monday with her parents, Scott and Heather Geniella, to talk about the case that has a high school near Sacramento up in arms — and debating just what it means to be a role model.
Adelle had been barred from next year’s tryouts for having more than three unexcused absences from Casa Roble High School. But when she learned cheerleading coach Carlie Beck had gone undraped as Playboy’s “Cyber Girl of the Week,” she said it smacked against her sensibilities.
Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here
“When I found out about it, I definitely lost respect,” Adelle, 14, told Matt Lauer. “That’s not where my morals stand.”
Divided community
When parents Scott and Heather Geniella informed a school administrator at Casa Roble High School about Beck’s extracurricular activities, the coach was promptly given the boot. The ouster has Beck, 20, pursuing legal action, and divided the community between Team Carlie and Team Adelle.
Some cheerleaders waved “We Want Carlie Back” banners in front of the high school, with one rooter telling NBC that Beck “was always so professional” and “was a really good role model for us.”
YOUR TURN
Discuss: Should coach get her job back?
Still others applauded the decision to give Beck her walking papers. And dad Scott noted to Lauer Monday that Beck wasn’t living up to the standards that are in effect for her cheerleading charges.
“This is a leader of young women,” he said. “They want to hold the children to a very high standard. These cheerleaders are not allowed to have racy pictures on MySpace, there’s a lot of things they’re not able to do, or shouldn’t.”
Heather Geniella says she understands that some people view the family’s whistle-blowing as revenge for her daughter’s not being allowed to compete for a spot on next year’s cheerleading squad. But she insists they would have brought Beck’s nude modeling to the school’s attention no matter what Adelle’s situation was.
“I would if it was a football player’s coach or it if was a teacher or anybody that worked at the school,” Heather told Lauer.
TODAY
From left, Scott Geniella, Heather Geniella and their daughter Adelle talk to Matt Lauer about the controversy at Casa Roble High School.
“When Adelle was not able to try out because she was absent one day of school that I failed to excuse, that took away from the fact that she’s an excellent student, she hasn’t cut a day of school in her life,” Heather Geniella said. “And when they say, ‘Well, we’re trying to set the standards very high for these girls,’ that upset Adelle,” the mother added.
“She said, ‘Mom, there are rumors that she has been on the Internet naked.’ So she was upset at the double standard, that [Beck] is good enough to be in a leadership position.”
Morals debate
Speaking with NBC, Carlie Beck — or Carlie Christine, as she is identified on the Playboy site — said she respects all viewpoints about her nude modeling, but feels that it should not have affected her employment at Casa Roble.
TODAY
Cheerleading coach Carlie Beck says that her nude photos should not have affected her employment.
“I understand that morals are a subject of opinion, and although parents may have different opinions than I, they’re entitled to those,” Beck said. “As far as [whether] the job can be based on someone’s opinions of morals, I don’t know that that is true.”
Ironically, Case Roble’s own strict standards prevented the school from finding out about Beck’s modeling activities during their background check. Heather Geniella said in an interview school officials had “Googled her from a school computer where there’s blocks on it and they can’t see those sites.”
Lauer asked Heather Geniella whether she would be willing to let bygones be bygones if Adelle were allowed to try out for the cheerleading team, and Beck was allowed to keep her job as a coach.
Heather said absolutely not.
“I get to choose who influences my daughter,” she told Lauer.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Mel Gibson's Wife Files for Divorce After 28 Years of Marriage
Mel Gibson 's wife Robyn has filed for divorce after 28 years of marriage.
In the papers -- signed Apr. 9 -- she cites "irreconcilable differences."
"Throughout our marriage and separation we have always strived to maintain the privacy and integrity of our family and will continue to do so," a rep for Gibson, 53, tells Usmagazine.com in a statement.
TMZ.com alleges that "there is no prenuptial agreement" based on source reporting. In 2006, Gibson's fortune was estimated at $900 million. Under California law, community property -- which includes earnings -- is divided 50/50.
See Hollywood's ugliest splits
Robyn -- who famously stood by Gibson during his highly publicized 2006 DUI arrest -- lists the date of separation as "to be determined," which TMZ points out is important because "earnings generally cease to be community property when the couple separates."
Robyn, who has seven children with Gibson, has requested spousal support and attorneys' fees.
She is also seeking joint physical and legal custody of their son, Tom, who turns 10 Tuesday. (Tom is their only child who is a minor.)
See Hollywood's longest relationships
Robyn has snapped up attorney Laura Wasser, who most recently represented Britney Spears in her split from Kevin Federline .
The couple has dogged split rumors for some time.
Gibson was recently photographed with a woman who did not appear to be his wife in Costa Rica on March 4.
See today's top celeb news photos
Asked at the time if he and Robyn had split, his rep had no comment.
"Mel is on family vacation with his entire family and their friends," a source told Us. "His sons are there with their girlfriends, his pregnant daughter is there - the whole family is there."
More news from Usmagazine.com
In the papers -- signed Apr. 9 -- she cites "irreconcilable differences."
"Throughout our marriage and separation we have always strived to maintain the privacy and integrity of our family and will continue to do so," a rep for Gibson, 53, tells Usmagazine.com in a statement.
TMZ.com alleges that "there is no prenuptial agreement" based on source reporting. In 2006, Gibson's fortune was estimated at $900 million. Under California law, community property -- which includes earnings -- is divided 50/50.
See Hollywood's ugliest splits
Robyn -- who famously stood by Gibson during his highly publicized 2006 DUI arrest -- lists the date of separation as "to be determined," which TMZ points out is important because "earnings generally cease to be community property when the couple separates."
Robyn, who has seven children with Gibson, has requested spousal support and attorneys' fees.
She is also seeking joint physical and legal custody of their son, Tom, who turns 10 Tuesday. (Tom is their only child who is a minor.)
See Hollywood's longest relationships
Robyn has snapped up attorney Laura Wasser, who most recently represented Britney Spears in her split from Kevin Federline .
The couple has dogged split rumors for some time.
Gibson was recently photographed with a woman who did not appear to be his wife in Costa Rica on March 4.
See today's top celeb news photos
Asked at the time if he and Robyn had split, his rep had no comment.
"Mel is on family vacation with his entire family and their friends," a source told Us. "His sons are there with their girlfriends, his pregnant daughter is there - the whole family is there."
More news from Usmagazine.com
Obama girls name their new puppy 'Bo' Portuguese water dog
By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer – Sun Apr 12, 10:25 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Bo? No jest. The first family has settled on a first pet — a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog that the Obama girls are naming Bo.
The selection was one of the White House's most tightly kept secrets.
President Barack Obama's daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha, picked a black and white pup, a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press Saturday night.
The dog is a gift from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who owns several Portuguese water dogs himself.
"We couldnt be happier to see the joy that Bo is bringing to Malia and Sasha," Kennedy said in a statement. "We love our Portuguese water dogs and know that the girls — and their parents — will love theirs, too."
The Washington Post reported in its online editions Saturday night that Obama's daughters chose the name Bo for the pup because first lady Michelle Obama's father was nicknamed Diddley. The name for the dog was an apparent reference to the singer "Bo" Diddley.
White House aides told the AP that the office of the first lady arranged an exclusive deal on the dog story with the Post. The officials, who demanded anonymity because of the deal with the Post on exclusive details, said the dog was not in the White House as of Saturday evening.
Throughout the day Saturday, celebrity Web sites and bloggers were abuzz with rumors of the first family's selection of a Portuguese water dog; one site even claimed it had pictures of the future first pet.
The president had embraced the frenzy: "Oh, man, now, that's top secret," Obama joked Friday to reporters.
Obama promised his daughters a puppy during the campaign.
"This is Washington. That was a campaign promise," Obama said when he appeared on Jay Leno's talk show last month, as the audience roared with laughter. "No, I'm teasing. The dog will be there shortly."
The president and first lady had said their choice was down to either a Portuguese water dog or a Labradoodle because they were considered good pets for children who have allergies, as Malia does.
WASHINGTON – Bo? No jest. The first family has settled on a first pet — a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog that the Obama girls are naming Bo.
The selection was one of the White House's most tightly kept secrets.
President Barack Obama's daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha, picked a black and white pup, a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press Saturday night.
The dog is a gift from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who owns several Portuguese water dogs himself.
"We couldnt be happier to see the joy that Bo is bringing to Malia and Sasha," Kennedy said in a statement. "We love our Portuguese water dogs and know that the girls — and their parents — will love theirs, too."
The Washington Post reported in its online editions Saturday night that Obama's daughters chose the name Bo for the pup because first lady Michelle Obama's father was nicknamed Diddley. The name for the dog was an apparent reference to the singer "Bo" Diddley.
White House aides told the AP that the office of the first lady arranged an exclusive deal on the dog story with the Post. The officials, who demanded anonymity because of the deal with the Post on exclusive details, said the dog was not in the White House as of Saturday evening.
Throughout the day Saturday, celebrity Web sites and bloggers were abuzz with rumors of the first family's selection of a Portuguese water dog; one site even claimed it had pictures of the future first pet.
The president had embraced the frenzy: "Oh, man, now, that's top secret," Obama joked Friday to reporters.
Obama promised his daughters a puppy during the campaign.
"This is Washington. That was a campaign promise," Obama said when he appeared on Jay Leno's talk show last month, as the audience roared with laughter. "No, I'm teasing. The dog will be there shortly."
The president and first lady had said their choice was down to either a Portuguese water dog or a Labradoodle because they were considered good pets for children who have allergies, as Malia does.
Friday, April 3, 2009
At least 12 killed at immigration center in NY
By WILLIAM KATES, Associated Press Writer – 2 mins ago
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – A gunman opened fire on a room where immigrants were taking a citizenship exam in downtown Binghamton on Friday, killing as many as 13 people before committing suicide, officials said.
Gov. David Paterson said at a news conference that 12 or 13 people had been killed. The suspected gunman carried identification with the name of 42-year-old Jiverly Voong of nearby Johnson City, N.Y., a law enforcement official said.
The suspect's body was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an office of the American Civic Association building, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and was talking on condition of anonymity.
The gunman barricaded the rear door of the building with his car before entering through the front door, firing his weapon, the official said.
Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at an event in New York, told the crowd that someone entered a room where an examination was being given from immigrants to become U.S. citizens, then shot and killed 12 or 13 people.
The Binghamton SWAT team responded, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was also sending agents to Binghamton.
The American Civic Association helps immigrants in the Binghamton area with naturalization applications, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The association describes itself as helping immigrants and refugees with counseling, resettlement, citizenship, family reunification and translators.
The association's president, Angela Leach, "is very upset right now," said Mike Chanecka, a friend who answered a call at her home as Leach wept in the background.
"She doesn't know anything; she's as shocked as anyone," Chanecka said. "For some reason, she had the day off today. And she's very worried about her secretary."
Two women and a man suffering gunshot wounds were being treated at Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, said hospital spokeswoman Christina Boyd. One was stable, one was serious and one was critical. Their ages ranged from 20s to 50s, she said.
Linda Miller, a spokeswoman at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, said a student from Binghamton University was being treated there.
The shooting occurred in a mixed neighborhood of homes and small businesses in the center of Binghamton, a city of about 47,000 located 140 miles northwest of New York City.
College student Leslie Shrager told the AP that she and her five housemates were sleeping when police pounded on the front door of their house next door to the shooting scene.
Officers escorted the six Binghamton University students outside, she said, and that's when they learned of the shooting.
"One of our housemates thought they heard banging of some kind. But when you're living in downtown Binghamton, it's always noisy," said Shrager, of Slingerlands, an Albany suburb. "Literally two minutes later the cops came and got us out."
At the junction of the Susquehanna and the Chenango rivers, the Binghamton area was the home to Endicott-Johnson shoe company and the birthplace of IBM, which between them employed tens of thousands of workers before the shoe company closed a decade ago and IBM downsized in recent years.
___
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers George M. Walsh and Chris Carola in Albany and Devlin Barrett in Washington.
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – A gunman opened fire on a room where immigrants were taking a citizenship exam in downtown Binghamton on Friday, killing as many as 13 people before committing suicide, officials said.
Gov. David Paterson said at a news conference that 12 or 13 people had been killed. The suspected gunman carried identification with the name of 42-year-old Jiverly Voong of nearby Johnson City, N.Y., a law enforcement official said.
The suspect's body was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an office of the American Civic Association building, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and was talking on condition of anonymity.
The gunman barricaded the rear door of the building with his car before entering through the front door, firing his weapon, the official said.
Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at an event in New York, told the crowd that someone entered a room where an examination was being given from immigrants to become U.S. citizens, then shot and killed 12 or 13 people.
The Binghamton SWAT team responded, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was also sending agents to Binghamton.
The American Civic Association helps immigrants in the Binghamton area with naturalization applications, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The association describes itself as helping immigrants and refugees with counseling, resettlement, citizenship, family reunification and translators.
The association's president, Angela Leach, "is very upset right now," said Mike Chanecka, a friend who answered a call at her home as Leach wept in the background.
"She doesn't know anything; she's as shocked as anyone," Chanecka said. "For some reason, she had the day off today. And she's very worried about her secretary."
Two women and a man suffering gunshot wounds were being treated at Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, said hospital spokeswoman Christina Boyd. One was stable, one was serious and one was critical. Their ages ranged from 20s to 50s, she said.
Linda Miller, a spokeswoman at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, said a student from Binghamton University was being treated there.
The shooting occurred in a mixed neighborhood of homes and small businesses in the center of Binghamton, a city of about 47,000 located 140 miles northwest of New York City.
College student Leslie Shrager told the AP that she and her five housemates were sleeping when police pounded on the front door of their house next door to the shooting scene.
Officers escorted the six Binghamton University students outside, she said, and that's when they learned of the shooting.
"One of our housemates thought they heard banging of some kind. But when you're living in downtown Binghamton, it's always noisy," said Shrager, of Slingerlands, an Albany suburb. "Literally two minutes later the cops came and got us out."
At the junction of the Susquehanna and the Chenango rivers, the Binghamton area was the home to Endicott-Johnson shoe company and the birthplace of IBM, which between them employed tens of thousands of workers before the shoe company closed a decade ago and IBM downsized in recent years.
___
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers George M. Walsh and Chris Carola in Albany and Devlin Barrett in Washington.
Source: 4 die, up to 40 held hostage in Binghamton shootings
(CNN) -- At least four people were killed Friday when a man opened fire in a building in Binghamton, New York, a law enforcement source close to the situation said.
Armed law enforcement officers gather at the scene of Friday's shootings in Binghamton, New York.
The source said more than a dozen were wounded.
The man began shooting in the American Civic Association, which helps immigrants and refugees, during a citizenship test, the source said.
The source said there may be 20 to 40 people who have been taken hostage.
The local newspaper, the Press & Sun-Bulletin, said on its Web site that at least four people were shot and 41 people had been taken hostage.
It said sharpshooters from the city's SWAT team were poised outside the building.
Video from the scene showed a person on a stretcher being taken to an ambulance.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the FBI is sending hostage negotiators and an evidence response team to the scene. The agency has an office in Binghamton, and agents are being sent from offices in Albany and Syracuse as well.
The newspaper said the incident began around 10:30 a.m. ET. Nearby apartments were being evacuated and Binghamton High School is on lockdown, it said.
"Within minutes [the situation] turned into one just flooded with police," Bob Joseph, news director of WNBF Radio, told CNN.
The American Civic Association helps immigrants and refugees with a number of issues, including personal counseling, resettlement, citizenship and reunification, and provides interpreters and translators, according to a United Way of Broome County Web site, which is affiliated with the association.
Binghamton is about 140 miles northwest of New York City.
Armed law enforcement officers gather at the scene of Friday's shootings in Binghamton, New York.
The source said more than a dozen were wounded.
The man began shooting in the American Civic Association, which helps immigrants and refugees, during a citizenship test, the source said.
The source said there may be 20 to 40 people who have been taken hostage.
The local newspaper, the Press & Sun-Bulletin, said on its Web site that at least four people were shot and 41 people had been taken hostage.
It said sharpshooters from the city's SWAT team were poised outside the building.
Video from the scene showed a person on a stretcher being taken to an ambulance.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the FBI is sending hostage negotiators and an evidence response team to the scene. The agency has an office in Binghamton, and agents are being sent from offices in Albany and Syracuse as well.
The newspaper said the incident began around 10:30 a.m. ET. Nearby apartments were being evacuated and Binghamton High School is on lockdown, it said.
"Within minutes [the situation] turned into one just flooded with police," Bob Joseph, news director of WNBF Radio, told CNN.
The American Civic Association helps immigrants and refugees with a number of issues, including personal counseling, resettlement, citizenship and reunification, and provides interpreters and translators, according to a United Way of Broome County Web site, which is affiliated with the association.
Binghamton is about 140 miles northwest of New York City.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Flag of Facism?
By John Wallace
Mr. G. Richard Wagoner, the chairman and chief executive officer of General Motors, was recently forced to resign his position because of pressure from the Obama administration. He was told that if he didn't leave, the Obama administration would not give General Motors any more federal bailout money. President Obama also told General Motors and the Chrysler Corporation that if they wanted more federal bailout money, they would have to shrink and refocus their businesses according to his (the federal government's) wishes.
In our country's history, there have been some limited instances of the federal government exercising some sort of control over private industry, but that was during wartime. The current assault on American capitalism by the Obama administration is unprecedented in both its scope and speed and should raise the red flag of alarm for all freedom-loving Americans.
World history has shown us that the implementation of strict government controls over private industries has been one of the first steps in the introduction of various forms of Fascism to formerly free countries. The practice of a government taking control of private industries was refined by Benito Mussolini in Italy in the 1920's and it is called 'corporatism.'
According to Wikipedia, political scientists use the term 'corporatism' to describe "a practice whereby a state, through the process of licensing and regulating officially-incorporated social, religious, economic, or popular organizations, effectively co-opts their leadership or circumscribes their ability to challenge state authority by establishing the state as the source of their legitimacy, as well as sometimes running them, either directly or indirectly." Mussolini described it more simply when he said, "Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power."
Some corporatist-style regimes of the 20th century included those of Benito Mussolini of Italy (1922-1945), Adolph Hitler of Germany (1933 to 1945); Francisco Franco of Spain (1936 to 1973); Juan Peron of Argentina (1943 to 1955) and even our own President Franklin Roosevelt (1933 to 1945) during the 'New Deal.' The Mussolini, Hitler, Franco and Peron regimes were brutal, totalitarian, Fascist dictatorships, but not all the regimes that had a corporatist foundation were fascist. The Roosevelt administration, despite its many faults, could not be described as fascist, but the 'New Deal' program was definitely corporatist.
Corporatism boils down to this: The government tells industry (and eventually labor unions) what to do and that they must do it for the supposed good of the country, or else their individual leaders will pay a price. Does this sound similar to what is happening to the auto industry today?
Where in the U.S. Constitution does it authorize the President of the United States to fire the head of a major private corporation just because he disagrees with his management policies? Where in the U.S. Constitution does it authorize the President of the United States to decide what kind of cars a private company will build? or what kind of car I will drive? President Barack 'Mussolini' Obama is taking this country down a very dangerous road and a road that America has never taken before.
Confucius said "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Are the 'corporatist' policies of President Obama and his administration just the first steps of many in a move towards a government takeover of our major industries? Are these policies much different than those that Mussolini and Hitler initiated in the early stages of their rise to power?
With the Politburo in our expanding federal government now having the power to hire and fire the leaders of major private corporations and to tell the auto makers what cars they can produce, will they soon be telling Americans what kind of cars they can drive; how much money they can earn; where they can go to school, what sodas they can drink, what foods they can't eat, where they can travel, what national ID card they must carry at all times and it will impose any number of other restrictions on them. Look at California, where the state legislature is currently considering banning black cars by 2012, for some bogus global warming reason.
Thomas Jefferson said: "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have." Americans must remember that we cannot fully enjoy our freedoms and liberties in America unless we keep our government limited. As our government grows and becomes more intrusive, as it is today, it is our freedoms and liberties that are becoming limited.
Welcome to the United Socialist States of America!
If we continue on President Obama's road to socialism, the American people will no longer be free. The question is: "Will we learn to accept our captivity at the hands of our new masters or will we be willing to do something about it?"
John Wallace
"For Freedom, Liberty and Sovereignty"
New York Campaign for Liberty
Chatham, New York
www.NYCampaignForLiberty.com
Mr. G. Richard Wagoner, the chairman and chief executive officer of General Motors, was recently forced to resign his position because of pressure from the Obama administration. He was told that if he didn't leave, the Obama administration would not give General Motors any more federal bailout money. President Obama also told General Motors and the Chrysler Corporation that if they wanted more federal bailout money, they would have to shrink and refocus their businesses according to his (the federal government's) wishes.
In our country's history, there have been some limited instances of the federal government exercising some sort of control over private industry, but that was during wartime. The current assault on American capitalism by the Obama administration is unprecedented in both its scope and speed and should raise the red flag of alarm for all freedom-loving Americans.
World history has shown us that the implementation of strict government controls over private industries has been one of the first steps in the introduction of various forms of Fascism to formerly free countries. The practice of a government taking control of private industries was refined by Benito Mussolini in Italy in the 1920's and it is called 'corporatism.'
According to Wikipedia, political scientists use the term 'corporatism' to describe "a practice whereby a state, through the process of licensing and regulating officially-incorporated social, religious, economic, or popular organizations, effectively co-opts their leadership or circumscribes their ability to challenge state authority by establishing the state as the source of their legitimacy, as well as sometimes running them, either directly or indirectly." Mussolini described it more simply when he said, "Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power."
Some corporatist-style regimes of the 20th century included those of Benito Mussolini of Italy (1922-1945), Adolph Hitler of Germany (1933 to 1945); Francisco Franco of Spain (1936 to 1973); Juan Peron of Argentina (1943 to 1955) and even our own President Franklin Roosevelt (1933 to 1945) during the 'New Deal.' The Mussolini, Hitler, Franco and Peron regimes were brutal, totalitarian, Fascist dictatorships, but not all the regimes that had a corporatist foundation were fascist. The Roosevelt administration, despite its many faults, could not be described as fascist, but the 'New Deal' program was definitely corporatist.
Corporatism boils down to this: The government tells industry (and eventually labor unions) what to do and that they must do it for the supposed good of the country, or else their individual leaders will pay a price. Does this sound similar to what is happening to the auto industry today?
Where in the U.S. Constitution does it authorize the President of the United States to fire the head of a major private corporation just because he disagrees with his management policies? Where in the U.S. Constitution does it authorize the President of the United States to decide what kind of cars a private company will build? or what kind of car I will drive? President Barack 'Mussolini' Obama is taking this country down a very dangerous road and a road that America has never taken before.
Confucius said "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Are the 'corporatist' policies of President Obama and his administration just the first steps of many in a move towards a government takeover of our major industries? Are these policies much different than those that Mussolini and Hitler initiated in the early stages of their rise to power?
With the Politburo in our expanding federal government now having the power to hire and fire the leaders of major private corporations and to tell the auto makers what cars they can produce, will they soon be telling Americans what kind of cars they can drive; how much money they can earn; where they can go to school, what sodas they can drink, what foods they can't eat, where they can travel, what national ID card they must carry at all times and it will impose any number of other restrictions on them. Look at California, where the state legislature is currently considering banning black cars by 2012, for some bogus global warming reason.
Thomas Jefferson said: "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have." Americans must remember that we cannot fully enjoy our freedoms and liberties in America unless we keep our government limited. As our government grows and becomes more intrusive, as it is today, it is our freedoms and liberties that are becoming limited.
Welcome to the United Socialist States of America!
If we continue on President Obama's road to socialism, the American people will no longer be free. The question is: "Will we learn to accept our captivity at the hands of our new masters or will we be willing to do something about it?"
John Wallace
"For Freedom, Liberty and Sovereignty"
New York Campaign for Liberty
Chatham, New York
www.NYCampaignForLiberty.com
Large recall of Evenflo high chairs for choking hazard
My kids highchair is the one my wife used when she was a kid. We know that that thing is solid and won't have any problems with it. The same goes for the babies crib. It was mine and is still in perfect condition.
Two Evenflo models — Envision and Majestic — linked to injuries in children
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Evenflo Co., announced Thursday a voluntary recall of about 643,000 Envision high chairs and expanded a recall of 90,000 Majestic model high chairs. Both models of high chairs were recalled due to risks from falls and choking hazards.
Consumers should stop using the recalled products immediately, the company said.
In the Envision model, recline fasteners and metal screws on both sides of the high chair can loosen and fall out, allowing the seatback to detach or recline unexpectedly. Children can fall backwards or fall out of the high chair and suffer bumps, bruises or cuts to the head. Detached hardware also poses a choking hazard to children.
Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here
Evenflo has received 320 reports of Envision seatbacks detaching or reclining unexpectedly, resulting in 19 reports of bumps and bruises to the head and 35 reports of other injuries including abrasions, pinches and bruises. The Envision models were manufactured in China and sold in stores from December 2002 through April 2006 for between $80 and $110.
The recall involves all Envision high chairs, including model numbers: 2891321, 2891321A, 2891333, 2891351, 2891351A, 2891365, 2891375, 2891403, 2891403A, 2891466, 2891466A, 2891478, 2891536, 2891536A, 2891573, 2891586, 2892351 and 2892351A. The model number can be found on a white label on the seatback. “Evenflo” and “Envision” are printed on the front of the tray.
In the expanded recall of the Majestic line, plastic caps and metal screws on both sides of the high chair can loosen and fall out, allowing the seatback to suddenly fall back or detach from the high chair, causing children to fall backwards out of the high chair.
Evenflo has received 16 reports of Majestic seatbacks reclining, falling back and/or detaching unexpectedly, resulting in five reports of bumps and bruises to the head and five reports of other injuries including bruises and abrasions.
The expanded recall involves Evenflo Majestic high chairs, model numbers: 3001395, 3001395A, 3001604, 3001700, 3001713, 3001713A, 3001730A, 3001732, 3001733, 3001742, 3001742A, 3001756, 3001821A, 3001840A, 3001845, 30011848, 3001852, 3001932, 3002719 and 3003845 manufactured between Jan. 23, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2008. The model number and manufacture date are located on a white label on the seatback. “Evenflo” is printed on the label and on the front of the tray.
Majestic models manufactured in 2009 are not included in the recall.
Two Evenflo models — Envision and Majestic — linked to injuries in children
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Evenflo Co., announced Thursday a voluntary recall of about 643,000 Envision high chairs and expanded a recall of 90,000 Majestic model high chairs. Both models of high chairs were recalled due to risks from falls and choking hazards.
Consumers should stop using the recalled products immediately, the company said.
In the Envision model, recline fasteners and metal screws on both sides of the high chair can loosen and fall out, allowing the seatback to detach or recline unexpectedly. Children can fall backwards or fall out of the high chair and suffer bumps, bruises or cuts to the head. Detached hardware also poses a choking hazard to children.
Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here
Evenflo has received 320 reports of Envision seatbacks detaching or reclining unexpectedly, resulting in 19 reports of bumps and bruises to the head and 35 reports of other injuries including abrasions, pinches and bruises. The Envision models were manufactured in China and sold in stores from December 2002 through April 2006 for between $80 and $110.
The recall involves all Envision high chairs, including model numbers: 2891321, 2891321A, 2891333, 2891351, 2891351A, 2891365, 2891375, 2891403, 2891403A, 2891466, 2891466A, 2891478, 2891536, 2891536A, 2891573, 2891586, 2892351 and 2892351A. The model number can be found on a white label on the seatback. “Evenflo” and “Envision” are printed on the front of the tray.
In the expanded recall of the Majestic line, plastic caps and metal screws on both sides of the high chair can loosen and fall out, allowing the seatback to suddenly fall back or detach from the high chair, causing children to fall backwards out of the high chair.
Evenflo has received 16 reports of Majestic seatbacks reclining, falling back and/or detaching unexpectedly, resulting in five reports of bumps and bruises to the head and five reports of other injuries including bruises and abrasions.
The expanded recall involves Evenflo Majestic high chairs, model numbers: 3001395, 3001395A, 3001604, 3001700, 3001713, 3001713A, 3001730A, 3001732, 3001733, 3001742, 3001742A, 3001756, 3001821A, 3001840A, 3001845, 30011848, 3001852, 3001932, 3002719 and 3003845 manufactured between Jan. 23, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2008. The model number and manufacture date are located on a white label on the seatback. “Evenflo” is printed on the label and on the front of the tray.
Majestic models manufactured in 2009 are not included in the recall.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Mark Ballas Sports Dancing with the Stars Boner
by Elizabeth Fairview
Mark Ballas is having an embarrassing moment.
Where's Chris Hansen with To Catch a Predator when you need him? Poor 17-year-old Shawn Johnson, who last week, was almost nabbed by her stalker, is now dealing with another kind of weirdo - her own dance partner!
Mark Ballas and Shawn Johnson performed the lindy hop on Tuesday night’s Dancing with the Stars, however the Internets started to blow up with the news that Ballas was sporting more than just some jivin' moves. Now it could have been those flimsy, red cotton shorts, or a bad camera angle, but judge for yourself - TMZ has the video. Don't act like you're not impressed, people.
Mark Ballas is having an embarrassing moment.
Where's Chris Hansen with To Catch a Predator when you need him? Poor 17-year-old Shawn Johnson, who last week, was almost nabbed by her stalker, is now dealing with another kind of weirdo - her own dance partner!
Mark Ballas and Shawn Johnson performed the lindy hop on Tuesday night’s Dancing with the Stars, however the Internets started to blow up with the news that Ballas was sporting more than just some jivin' moves. Now it could have been those flimsy, red cotton shorts, or a bad camera angle, but judge for yourself - TMZ has the video. Don't act like you're not impressed, people.
Asian Irrawaddy Dolphin Less Rare Than Thought
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Recent surveys estimated that Bangladesh’s coast is home to nearly 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins, several orders of magnitude more than any other population.
Dolphin and porpoise species that have adapted to rivers and deltas around the world have long been considered some of the most vulnerable of marine mammals because of their restricted habitats. In 2007, the baiji, a river dolphin that thrived in the Yangtze River for 20 million years in today’s China, was said by experts to have been driven to extinction by a mix of impacts from the nearly half billion people now living in that watershed. The vaquita, a porpoise living in brackish waters where the Colorado River empties into the Gulf of California, is critically endangered, biologists say, depleted by fishing nets and the disruptions in the great river’s flow in the 20th century from dam construction.
The maze-like coast of Bangladesh is a haven for river dolphins, but fishing nets and disrupted water flows from upriver dams pose threats.
But in the great weaving of mangrove-fringed islets and channels that make up the sprawling coast of Bangladesh, biologists have found a thriving population of another species that marine mammal experts had also thought depleted — the Irrawaddy dolphin. After methodical surveys, biologists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Chittagong University in Bangladesh estimate that the region is home to 6,000 of the dolphins, by far the largest known population.
Little research had been conducted on marine mammals in the area until now, the wildlife group said. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the species as vulnerable. The new research, published this week in two conservation journals, is reassuring, but the scientists who conducted the surveys warn of growing threats to the species, including risks from entanglement in fishing nets and changes in water flows from damming of the river (as with the Mexican porpoise).
“This discovery gives us great hope that there is a future for Irrawaddy dolphins,” Brian D. Smith of the conservation society, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “Bangladesh clearly serves as an important sanctuary for Irrawaddy dolphins, and conservation in this region should be a top priority.”
As I’ve written here before, it may well be that the rarest thing in nature these days is abundance. So it’s worth celebrating this survey in Bangladesh. But it’s also worth having another look at the departed baiji, as a reminder of what can be lost when human activities overwhelm an ecosystem:
Recent surveys estimated that Bangladesh’s coast is home to nearly 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins, several orders of magnitude more than any other population.
Dolphin and porpoise species that have adapted to rivers and deltas around the world have long been considered some of the most vulnerable of marine mammals because of their restricted habitats. In 2007, the baiji, a river dolphin that thrived in the Yangtze River for 20 million years in today’s China, was said by experts to have been driven to extinction by a mix of impacts from the nearly half billion people now living in that watershed. The vaquita, a porpoise living in brackish waters where the Colorado River empties into the Gulf of California, is critically endangered, biologists say, depleted by fishing nets and the disruptions in the great river’s flow in the 20th century from dam construction.
The maze-like coast of Bangladesh is a haven for river dolphins, but fishing nets and disrupted water flows from upriver dams pose threats.
But in the great weaving of mangrove-fringed islets and channels that make up the sprawling coast of Bangladesh, biologists have found a thriving population of another species that marine mammal experts had also thought depleted — the Irrawaddy dolphin. After methodical surveys, biologists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Chittagong University in Bangladesh estimate that the region is home to 6,000 of the dolphins, by far the largest known population.
Little research had been conducted on marine mammals in the area until now, the wildlife group said. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the species as vulnerable. The new research, published this week in two conservation journals, is reassuring, but the scientists who conducted the surveys warn of growing threats to the species, including risks from entanglement in fishing nets and changes in water flows from damming of the river (as with the Mexican porpoise).
“This discovery gives us great hope that there is a future for Irrawaddy dolphins,” Brian D. Smith of the conservation society, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “Bangladesh clearly serves as an important sanctuary for Irrawaddy dolphins, and conservation in this region should be a top priority.”
As I’ve written here before, it may well be that the rarest thing in nature these days is abundance. So it’s worth celebrating this survey in Bangladesh. But it’s also worth having another look at the departed baiji, as a reminder of what can be lost when human activities overwhelm an ecosystem:
G-20 protesters break into Royal Bank of Scotland
I think it will be a year or two maybe even less before America will follow England as rejecting these banksters. Hopefully we will get the peoples out there and it will say "stop handing out our money to your friends" The banks who knew they were screwing people over in the long run with bad debts.
By RAPHAEL G. SATTER
LONDON – G-20 protesters in downtown London have smashed windows and entered the Royal Bank of Scotland building. They have also tried to storm the Bank of England.
At least 4,000 protesters have jammed into London's financial district for demonstrations Wednesday. Protesters broke windows and scrawled the word "thieves" on the side of the Royal Bank of Scotland building.
Protesters were also pelting riot police with eggs and fruit and confronting them at barricades.
Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama held a news conference in London ahead of the Group of 20 summit being held Thursday. World leaders are gathering with hopes of resolving the global financial crisis.
Eight people have been arrested in the G-20 demonstrations so far. There have been no reports of injuries.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
LONDON (AP) — Thousands of G-20 protesters jammed downtown London on Wednesday and some tried to storm the Bank of England, pelting police with eggs and fruit and rocking the barricades designed to control them.
Demonstrators shouted "Abolish Money!" and clogged streets in the financial district known as "The City" even as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama held a news conference elsewhere in the British capital.
Protesters had branded the day "Financial Fool's Day" ahead of Thursday's summit of world leaders who are gathering in hopes of resolving the global financial crisis that has lashed nations and workers worldwide.
"Every job I apply for there's already 150 people who have also applied," said protester Nathan Dean, 35, who lost his information technology job three weeks ago. "I have had to sign on to the dole (welfare) for the first time in my life. You end up having to pay your mortgage on your credit card and you fall into debt twice over."
Demonstrators hoisted effigies of the "four horsemen of the apocalypse," representing war, climate chaos, financial crimes and homelessness.
"The greed that is driving people is tearing us apart," said Steve Lamont, 45, flanked by his family and protesters who were banging on bells, playing drums and blowing whistles.
At least eight people were reportedly arrested for having police uniforms. One police officer lost his helmet and demonstrators tossed it around like a trophy and chanted slogans.
Helicopters hovered above the protests and some buildings were boarded up in case the protests turned ugly. Many banks had extra security and hundreds of police officers lined the streets.
Despite the pushing and shoving along the police barricades, there were no reported injuries.
Fearing they would be targeted by protesters, some bankers swapped their pinstripe suits for casual wear and others stayed home. Bolder financial workers leaned out their office windows Wednesday, taunting demonstrators and waving 10 pound notes at them.
Especially in Britain, bankers have been lambasted as being greedy and blamed for the recession that is making jobless ranks soar.
"It seems like everything is in a mess," said protester Steve Johnson, 49, an unemployed construction worker. "You get bankers getting massive bonuses, and the MPs (British lawmakers) are lining their own pockets."
Musician and political activist Billy Bragg said the time was now to make a difference.
"It's better than sitting down shouting at the television at these bankers," he said. "We cannot go back to the way things were before to the million-dollar bonus culture."
Protesters included anarchists, anti-capitalists, environmentalists, students, unionized workers, unemployed workers and others hurt by the global financial crisis.
One protester dressed as the Easter bunny managed to hop through the police cordon but was stopped before he could reach the Bank of England. Another black-clad demonstrator waved a fake light saber at officers.
By RAPHAEL G. SATTER
LONDON – G-20 protesters in downtown London have smashed windows and entered the Royal Bank of Scotland building. They have also tried to storm the Bank of England.
At least 4,000 protesters have jammed into London's financial district for demonstrations Wednesday. Protesters broke windows and scrawled the word "thieves" on the side of the Royal Bank of Scotland building.
Protesters were also pelting riot police with eggs and fruit and confronting them at barricades.
Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama held a news conference in London ahead of the Group of 20 summit being held Thursday. World leaders are gathering with hopes of resolving the global financial crisis.
Eight people have been arrested in the G-20 demonstrations so far. There have been no reports of injuries.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
LONDON (AP) — Thousands of G-20 protesters jammed downtown London on Wednesday and some tried to storm the Bank of England, pelting police with eggs and fruit and rocking the barricades designed to control them.
Demonstrators shouted "Abolish Money!" and clogged streets in the financial district known as "The City" even as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama held a news conference elsewhere in the British capital.
Protesters had branded the day "Financial Fool's Day" ahead of Thursday's summit of world leaders who are gathering in hopes of resolving the global financial crisis that has lashed nations and workers worldwide.
"Every job I apply for there's already 150 people who have also applied," said protester Nathan Dean, 35, who lost his information technology job three weeks ago. "I have had to sign on to the dole (welfare) for the first time in my life. You end up having to pay your mortgage on your credit card and you fall into debt twice over."
Demonstrators hoisted effigies of the "four horsemen of the apocalypse," representing war, climate chaos, financial crimes and homelessness.
"The greed that is driving people is tearing us apart," said Steve Lamont, 45, flanked by his family and protesters who were banging on bells, playing drums and blowing whistles.
At least eight people were reportedly arrested for having police uniforms. One police officer lost his helmet and demonstrators tossed it around like a trophy and chanted slogans.
Helicopters hovered above the protests and some buildings were boarded up in case the protests turned ugly. Many banks had extra security and hundreds of police officers lined the streets.
Despite the pushing and shoving along the police barricades, there were no reported injuries.
Fearing they would be targeted by protesters, some bankers swapped their pinstripe suits for casual wear and others stayed home. Bolder financial workers leaned out their office windows Wednesday, taunting demonstrators and waving 10 pound notes at them.
Especially in Britain, bankers have been lambasted as being greedy and blamed for the recession that is making jobless ranks soar.
"It seems like everything is in a mess," said protester Steve Johnson, 49, an unemployed construction worker. "You get bankers getting massive bonuses, and the MPs (British lawmakers) are lining their own pockets."
Musician and political activist Billy Bragg said the time was now to make a difference.
"It's better than sitting down shouting at the television at these bankers," he said. "We cannot go back to the way things were before to the million-dollar bonus culture."
Protesters included anarchists, anti-capitalists, environmentalists, students, unionized workers, unemployed workers and others hurt by the global financial crisis.
One protester dressed as the Easter bunny managed to hop through the police cordon but was stopped before he could reach the Bank of England. Another black-clad demonstrator waved a fake light saber at officers.
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