Participant Media plans cable TV network targeting millenials






LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Entertainment company Participant Media, one of the backers of the hit historical drama “Lincoln”, will launch a cable TV network next summer with programming that focuses on social issues of interest to the millenials generation of teens and young adults.


The channel’s original programming, films and documentaries will be aimed at viewers age 18 to 34 in the large demographic group known as millenials, Participant Media CEO Jim Berk said in an interview on Monday.






Millenials are particularly interested in the type of content that Participant produces about social issues, Berk said. The studio’s credits include the current release “Lincoln”, about President Abraham Lincoln‘s push to ban slavery, last year’s civil rights drama “The Help” and Al Gore climate change documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”.


Participant Media is creating the new network by purchasing two existing cable channels, The Documentary Channel and Halogen TV. After those networks are combined and rebranded, the new channel will reach an estimated 40 million of the more than 100 million U.S. pay-TV subscribers.


The company, founded by billionaire and former eBay Inc President Jeff Skoll with the aim of producing entertaining content that inspires social change, interacts regularly with more than 2.5 million people through social media, local movie screenings and its Takepart.com website, Berk said.


The challenge for Participant will be to sign up additional pay-TV distributors and win viewership in a crowded media landscape. The company is privately held and is not part of a large media conglomerate.


“We have the funding necessary to take a very long-term view, and to spend what we need to spend in terms of programming,” Berk said.


The mainstay of the network’s lineup will be original programming from a variety of genres, said Evan Shapiro, a Participant executive who will run the new network.


The company is developing programming with established Hollywood names including former MTV President Brian Graden, “Inconvenient Truth” director Davis Guggenheim and documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock.


Participant also hopes to work with pay-TV distributors to make the channel’s content available on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, to meet the viewing patterns of younger audiences, Shapiro said.


(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; Editing by Edmund Klamann)


TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Participant Media plans cable TV network targeting millenials
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Bird flu kills 4-year-old boy in Indonesia






JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A 4-year-old Indonesian boy has died from bird flu, bringing the death toll to 160 in the world’s hardest-hit country.


Health Ministry official Rita Kusriastuti said Tuesday that the boy died Dec. 6 in Tangerang city, just west of Jakarta, the capital. He developed symptoms of a cold and fever on Nov. 30 and was treated at a public health center before being hospitalized the same day he died.






Kusriastuti said the boy, from the West Java district of Bogor, was believed to have been infected with the H5N1 virus after having direct contact with dead fowl around his house.


Bird flu has killed at least 360 people worldwide since 2003. It remains hard for people to catch, but experts fear it could mutate into a more deadly form.


Diseases/Conditions News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Bird flu kills 4-year-old boy in Indonesia
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

What If Nothing or Nobody is to Blame for Adam Lanza? Guns, Video Games, Autism or Authorities






What if there is nobody or nothing to blame for Adam Lanza‘s heinous acts? Other than Lanza, of course.


What if school security and the school psychiatrist kept an eye on Lanza since his freshman year? The Wall Street Journal has a compelling narrative about the red flags addressed.






What if he had a form of autism that has little or no link to violent behavior? Lanza may have had Asperger’s syndrome but, even so, that is not a cause.


(RELATED: How To Make Sense of America’s Confusing Patchwork of Gun Control Laws)


What if it’s too simple to lay the massacre at the feet of the gun lobby? Reader Larry Kelly tweets that shaming Aspies “makes about as much sense at stigmatizing the NRA. Pick an enemy … any enemy. Let outrage and fear rule.”


What if Lanza wasn’t provoked by video games? David Axelrod, a close friend an adviser of President Obama, tweeted last night: “In NFL post-game: an ad for shoot ‘em up video game. All for curbing weapons of war. But shouldn’t we also quit marketing murder as a game.”


When I asked whether he was laying groundwork for a White House initiative, Axelrod said no: “Just one man’s observation.” A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said today that Axelrod was not a stalking horse for Obama on this issue.


What if Lanza’s mother did everything she could, short of keeping her guns out her adult son’s reach? What if he wasn’t bullied?


What if there is nobody or nothing to blame? Would that make this inexplicable horror unbearable?


What if we didn’t rush to judgement? What if we didn’t waste our thoughts, prayers and actions on assigning blame for the sake of mere recrimination? What if we calmly and ruthlessly learned whatever lessons we can from the massacre — and prevented the next one?


What if it wasn’t one thing, but everything, that set off Lanza?


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: What If Nothing or Nobody is to Blame for Adam Lanza? Guns, Video Games, Autism or Authorities
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Egyptians hand Islamists narrow win in constitution vote






CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptians voted in favor of a constitution shaped by Islamists but opposed by other groups who fear it will divide the Arab world’s biggest nation, officials in rival camps said on Sunday after the first round of a two-stage referendum.


Next week’s second round is likely to give another “yes” vote as it includes districts seen as more sympathetic towards Islamists, analysts say, meaning the constitution would be approved.






But the narrow win so far gives Islamist President Mohamed Mursi only limited grounds for celebration by showing the wide rifts in a country where he needs to build a consensus for tough economic reforms.


The Muslim Brotherhood‘s party, which propelled Mursi to office in a June election, said 56.5 percent backed the text. Official results are not expected until after the next round.


While an opposition official conceded the “yes” camp appeared to have won the first round, the opposition National Salvation Front said in a statement that voting abuses meant a rerun was needed – although it did not explicitly challenge the Brotherhood‘s vote tally.


Rights groups reported abuses such as polling stations opening late, officials telling people how to vote and bribery. They also criticized widespread religious campaigning which portrayed “no” voters as heretics.


A joint statement by seven human rights groups urged the referendum’s organizers “to avoid these mistakes in the second stage of the referendum and to restage the first phase again”.


Mursi and his backers say the constitution is vital to move Egypt’s democratic transition forward. Opponents say the basic law is too Islamist and tramples on minority rights, including those of Christians who make up 10 percent of the population.


The build-up to Saturday’s vote was marred by deadly protests. Demonstrations erupted when Mursi awarded himself extra powers on November 22 and then fast-tracked the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies.


However, the vote passed off calmly with long queues in Cairo and several other places, though unofficial tallies indicated turnout was around a third of the 26 million people eligible to vote this time. The vote was staggered because many judges needed to oversee polling staged a boycott in protest.


The opposition had said the vote should not have been held given the violent protests. Foreign governments are watching closely how the Islamists, long viewed warily in the West, handle themselves in power.


“It’s wrong to have a vote or referendum with the country in the state it is – blood and killings, and no security,” said Emad Sobhy, a voter who lives in Cairo. “Holding a referendum with the country as it is cannot give you a proper result.”


INCREASINGLY DIVIDED


As polls closed, Islamists attacked the offices of the newspaper of the liberal Wafd party, part of the opposition National Salvation Front coalition that pushed for a “no” vote.


“The referendum was 56.5 percent for the ‘yes’ vote,” a senior official in the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party operations room set up to monitor voting told Reuters.


The Brotherhood and its party had representatives at polling stations across the 10 areas, including Cairo, in this round. The official, who asked not to be identified, said the tally was based on counts from more than 99 percent of polling stations.


“The nation is increasingly divided and the pillars of state are swaying,” opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on Twitter. “Poverty and illiteracy are fertile grounds for trading with religion. The level of awareness is rising fast.”


One opposition official also told Reuters the vote appeared to have gone in favor of Islamists who backed the constitution.


The opposition initially said its exit polls indicated the “no” camp would win comfortably, but officials changed tack during the night. One opposition official said in the early hours of Sunday that it would be “very close”.


A narrow loss could still hearten leftists, socialists, Christians and more liberal-minded Muslims who make up the disparate opposition, which has been beaten in two elections since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year.


They were drawn together to oppose what they saw as a power grab by Mursi as he pushed through the constitution. The National Salvation Front includes prominent figures such as ElBaradei, former Arab League chief Amr Moussa and firebrand leftist Hamdeen Sabahy.


If the constitution is approved, a parliamentary election will follow early next year.


DEADLY VIOLENCE


Analysts question whether the opposition group will keep together until the parliamentary election. The Islamist-dominated lower house of parliament elected earlier this year was dissolved based on a court order in June.


Violence in Cairo and other cities has plagued the run-up to the referendum. At least eight people were killed when rival camps clashed during demonstrations outside the presidential palace earlier this month.


In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of those casting ballots. There are 51 million eligible voters in the nation of 83 million.


Islamists have been counting on their disciplined ranks of supporters and on Egyptians desperate for an end to turmoil that has hammered the economy and sent Egypt’s pound to eight-year lows against the dollar.


The army deployed about 120,000 troops and 6,000 tanks and armored vehicles to protect polling stations and other government buildings. While the military backed Mubarak and his predecessors, it has not intervened in the present crisis.


(Additional reporting Yasmin Saleh and Marwa Awad; Writing by Edmund Blair and Giles Elgood; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)


World News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Egyptians hand Islamists narrow win in constitution vote
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Obama: ‘We can’t tolerate this anymore’



President Barack Obama assured the grieving, shell-shocked Newtown community on Sunday that "you are not alone" and vowed sternly to wield "whatever power this office holds" in a quest to prevent future mass shootings.


"We can't tolerate this anymore," Obama said from behind a podium on the stage of a Newton High School auditorium, as adults wept, or hugged, or sat quietly, many hugging small children. "These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change."


"In the coming weeks, I'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens -- from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents, and educators -- in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have?"he said.


The speech, broadcast nationwide, offered the bold suggestion that Obama might engage lawmakers on the subject of gun control -- a topic that has not been among his top priorities during his presidency.


"We can't accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage?" Obama said.  That the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year, after year, after year is somehow the price of our freedom?"


There were sobs from the crowd as the president read the first names of the 20 children slaughtered at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday and paid tribute to the six adults who died defending them. Twenty-six candles in twenty-six shining glass vases shone from the base of the podium.


Obama anticipated — and dismissed — some of the time-honored arguments against stricter restrictions on guns. "We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true," he said. "No single law no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society."


"But that can't be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this," he said. 


Across the country, people grieved for the 20 children — six and seven years old — and six adults killed in one of the worst mass shootings in America's history.


In Newtown and elsewhere, mourners gently piled notes, stuffed animals and American flags, balloons and flowers, in makeshift memorials where candles fluttered.


New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz played wearing a shoe that read "R.I.P. Jack Pinto" in black marker, an homage to a child slain in the massacre. Flags from coast to coast flew at half-staff. As the president's motorcade climbed the hill up the school, he could glimpse a few homes with Christmas lights -- but most were dark.


"Here in Newtown, I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation," the president said. "I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts."


"I can only hope it helps for you to know you are not alone in your grief that our world too has been torn apart. That all across this land of ours, we have wept with you. We've pulled our children tight," Obama said. "And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. Whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it."


In the auditorium where the president spoke, the audience included a large number of elementary school-age children, some carrying cuddly toys like teddy bears, according to pool reporter Stephen Collinson of Agence France-Presse.


Before the service, Obama met privately for more than an hour with families of the victims and emergency workers who responded to the crisis. As those workers entered the auditorium, the crowd erupted in a standing ovation. Some traded long hugs with members of the audience.


"We needed this. We needed to be together," said Rev. Matt Crebbin, the senior minister at Newtown Congregational Church. "These darkest days of our community shall not be the final word heard from us."


Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, describing his meeting with Obama, said that the president had called Friday "the most difficult day of  his presidency."



By 4 p.m., the line cars trying to reach the interfaith vigil stretched more than 2 miles from Newtown High School back through Sandy Hook -- and its growing makeshift memorial -- to Saint Rose church, the site of several vigils for (and hoax threats related to) Friday's massacre.

In Sandy Hook center, a lawn displayed lights with the phrase "FAITH. HOPE. LOVE." Across the street, a sign wrapped around a street lamp read, "Heaven must have been short on 27 angels."



The president spoke about the shooting on Friday,  his voice choked with emotion, one finger wiping away tears as they welled up. He vowed to "take meaningful action, regardless of the politics" to try to prevent future such tragedies. But hours before,  White House press secretary Jay Carney had decreed that "today's not the day" to discuss possible gun control measures.


The Obama administration has reportedly considered new gun restrictions in the past, only to shelve them.


The White House has shied from seeking tough new action from Congress — where new restrictions on gun purchases would likely run into stiff Republican opposition.


Obama's speech was the fourth in his presidency to memorialize a mass shooting. After the January 2011 rampage in Tucson, AZ, where then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured, the president spoke at a memorial for the six people killed, including Christina Taylor Green, 9.


Dylan Stableford contributed from Newtown



Read More..

Springsteen, Gaga join Stones; Newtown noted






NEW YORK (AP) — Only at a Rolling Stones concert could appearances by Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga seem almost like afterthoughts.


Those superstars and other top acts including the Black Keys and John Mayer jammed with the Stones on Saturday night, winding down a series of concerts celebrating the 50th year of rock’s most enduring band (the occasion was also marked by a pay-per-view special).






The Boss rocked out with the band on out “Tumbling Dice”; Gaga matched Mick Jagger shimmy-for-shimmy on “Gimme Shelter”; the Black Keys joined on “Who Do You Love,” and John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr. showed their considerable guitar chops alongside Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood on “Goin’ Down.”


But the Stones would not be upstaged. While the sold-out crowd roared with each special guest, it was the aging but dynamic foursome that generated the most excitement of the night, as they put new energy into their decades-old catalog of hits, including “It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll (But I Like It),” ”Start Me Up,” ”Brown Sugar,” ”Sympathy for the Devil” and more.


The band took a moment to acknowledge the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school Friday in Newtown, Conn. “We just wanted to send our love and condolences to all the people who lost loved ones in the tragedy in Connecticut,” Jagger early on in the concert as the audience applauded. Jagger noted the entire world was feeling the pain of the stunned nation.


But it was the only somber moment in an a frenetic show that showed why the Stones are considered by many to be the greatest rock band, and belied the much-discussed advanced age of the group’s lineup (their ages range between 65 and 71).


Jagger himself poked fun at the senior citizen status of the band and their fans; speaking of the pay-per-view crowd at home, he joked: “Some of you have got your grandchildren watching you.”


But few acts in their so-called prime would have been able to match the energy the Stones radiated onstage. The group had the crowd on its feet for the entire show as Jagger gyrated across the stage, his voice in top form. Both Wood and Richards dazzled on guitar (Richards got a raucous, sustained ovation as he took over vocals on two songs). And Charlie Watts kept the beat strong on the drums.


Before performing in London together late last month for the first of the concerts, the Stones hadn’t performed in concert together since 2007. Going into these shows, there was some speculation that Saturday’s concert, held at the Prudential Center, might be their last.


Earlier in the evening, Jagger teased that the concert might signal the end: “This could be the last time; I don’t know,” he said. But by the end of the evening, it seemed clear that the question was not when the Stones would return, but when.


“This is the last show of our anniversary tour, and we hope to see you all again soon,” Jagger said.


Perhaps the night’s most special guest was Mick Taylor, the former Stones guitarist who was part of some of their biggest moments from 1969 to 1975, when he left the group. He rejoined his band mates (and the man who replaced him, Wood) onstage for a powerful performance of “Midnight Rambler”.


At the concert’s end, while other special guests gave their final bows and left the stage, Jagger motioned for Taylor to stay, and the five took their final bow together.


___


Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP’s Global Entertainment & Lifestyles Editor. Follow her at http://twitter.com/nekesamumbi


Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Springsteen, Gaga join Stones; Newtown noted
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Apple says China iPhone 5 sales in first weekend top two million






(Reuters) – Apple Inc sold more than 2 million of its new iPhone 5 in China during the three days after its launch there on Friday, marking China’s best-selling iPhone rollout ever, the company said late on Sunday.


“Customer response to iPhone 5 in China has been incredible, setting a new record with the best first weekend sales ever in China,” Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said in a statement.






Apple’s latest iPhone, which offers a larger 4-inch screen and 4G capability, was launched in the United States and 30 other countries in September, when the company sold more than 5 million of the devices in the first three days.


The device’s highly anticipated release in China, Apple’s second-biggest market, failed to stop the recent share slide of the world’s most valuable technology company, and analysts said Apple’s longer-term China hopes may hinge on a partnership with China Mobile Ltd, the country’s top telecoms carrier.


(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Edmund Klamann)


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Apple says China iPhone 5 sales in first weekend top two million
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

'Always smiling': Portraits of Connecticut victims


Most died at the very start of their young lives, tiny victims taken in a way not fit for anyone regardless of age. Others found their life's work in sheltering little ones, teaching them, caring for them, treating them as their own. After the gunfire ended Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the trail of loss was more than many could bear: 20 children and six adults at the school, the gunman's mother at home, and the gunman himself.


A glimpse of some of those who died:


Olivia Engel, 6, student


The images of Olivia Engel will live far beyond her short lifetime. There she is, visiting with Santa Claus, or feasting on a slice of birthday cake. There's the one of her swinging a pink baseball bat, and another posing on a boat. In some, she models a pretty white dress, in others she makes a silly face.


Dan Merton, a longtime friend of the girl's family, says he could never forget the child, and he has much to say when he thinks of her.


"She loved attention," he said. "She had perfect manners, perfect table manners. She was the teacher's pet, the line leader."


On Friday, Merton said, she was simply excited to go to school and return home and make a gingerbread house.


"Her only crime," he said, "is being a wiggly, smiley 6-year-old."


Victoria Soto, 27, teacher


She beams in snapshots. Her enthusiasm and cheer was evident. She was doing, those who knew her say, what she loved.


And now, Victoria Soto is being called a hero.


Though details of the 27-year-old teacher's death remained fuzzy, her name has been invoked again and again as a portrait of selflessness and humanity among unfathomable evil. Those who knew her said they weren't surprised by reports she shielded her first-graders from danger.


"She put those children first. That's all she ever talked about," said a friend, Andrea Crowell. "She wanted to do her best for them, to teach them something new every day."


Photos of Soto show her always with a wide smile, in pictures of her at her college graduation and in mundane daily life. She looks so young, barely an adult herself. Her goal was simply to be a teacher.


"You have a teacher who cared more about her students than herself," said Mayor John Harkins of Stratford, the town Soto hailed from and where more than 300 people gathered for a memorial service Saturday night. "That speaks volumes to her character, and her commitment and dedication."


Ana Marquez-Greene, 6, student


A year ago, 6-year-old Ana Marquez-Greene was reveling in holiday celebrations with her extended family on her first trip to Puerto Rico. This year will be heartbreakingly different.


The girl's grandmother, Elba Marquez, said the child's family moved to Connecticut just two months ago, drawn from Canada, in part, by Sandy Hook's reputation. The grandmother's brother, Jorge Marquez, is mayor of a Puerto Rican town and said the child's 9-year-old brother also was at the school, but escaped safely.


Elba Marquez had just visited the new home over Thanksgiving and finds herself perplexed by what happened. "What happened does not match up with the place where they live," she said.


A video shows a confident Ana hitting every note as she sings "Come, Thou Almighty King." She flashes a big grin and waves to the camera when she's done.


Jorge Marquez confirmed the girl's father is saxophonist Jimmy Greene, who wrote on Facebook that he was trying to "work through this nightmare."


"As much as she's needed here and missed by her mother, brother and me, Ana beat us all to paradise. I love you sweetie girl," he wrote.


Dawn Hochsprung, 47, principal


Dawn Hochsprung's pride in Sandy Hook Elementary was clear. She regularly tweeted photos from her time as principal there, giving indelible glimpses of life at a place now known for tragedy. Just this week, it was an image of fourth-graders rehearsing for their winter concert, days before that the tiny hands of kindergartners exchanging play money at their makeshift grocery store.


She viewed her school as a model, telling The Newtown Bee in 2010 that "I don't think you could find a more positive place to bring students to every day." She had worked to make Sandy Hook a place of safety, too, and in October, 47-year-old Hochsprung shared a picture of the school's evacuation drill with the message "Safety first." When the unthinkable came, she was ready to defend.


Officials said she died while lunging at the gunman in an attempt to overtake him.


"She had an extremely likable style about her," said Gerald Stomski, first selectman of Woodbury, where Hochsprung lived and had taught. "She was an extremely charismatic principal while she was here."


Mary Sherlach, 56, school psychologist


When the shots rang out, Mary Sherlach threw herself into the danger.


Janet Robinson, the superintendent of Newtown Public Schools, said Sherlach and the school's principal ran toward the shooter. They lost their own lives, rushing toward him.


Even as Sherlach neared retirement, her job at Sandy Hook was one she loved. Those who knew her called her a wonderful neighbor, a beautiful person, a dedicated educator.


Her son-in-law, Eric Schwartz, told the South Jersey Times that Sherlach rooted on the Miami Dolphins, enjoyed visiting the Finger Lakes, relished helping children overcome their problems. She had planned to leave work early on Friday, he said, but never had the chance. In a news conference Saturday, he told reporters the loss was devastating, but that Sherlach was doing what she loved.


"Mary felt like she was doing God's work," he said, "working with the children."


Lauren Gabrielle Rousseau, 30, teacher


Lauren Rousseau had spent years working as a substitute teacher and doing other jobs. So she was thrilled when she finally realized her goal this fall to become a full-time teacher at Sandy Hook.


Her mother, Teresa Rousseau, a copy editor at the Danbury News-Times, released a statement Saturday that said state police told them just after midnight that she was among the victims.


"Lauren wanted to be a teacher from before she even went to kindergarten," she said. "We will miss her terribly and will take comfort knowing that she had achieved that dream."


Her mother said she was thrilled to get the job.


"It was the best year of her life," she told the paper.


Rousseau has been called gentle, spirited and active. She had planned to see "The Hobbit" with her boyfriend Friday and had baked cupcakes for a party they were to attend afterward. She was born in Danbury, attended Danbury High, college at the University of Connecticut and graduate school at the University of Bridgeport.


She was a lover of music, dance and theater.


"I'm used to having people die who are older," her mother said, "not the person whose room is up over the kitchen."


Anne Marie Murphy, 52, teacher


A happy soul. A good mother, wife and daughter. Artistic, fun-loving, witty and hardworking.


Remembering their daughter, Anne Marie Murphy, her parents had no shortage of adjectives to offer Newsday. When news of the shooting broke, Hugh and Alice McGowan waited for word of their daughter as hour by hour ticked by. And then it came.


Authorities told the couple their daughter was a hero who helped shield some of her students from the rain of bullets. As the grim news arrived, the victim's mother reached for her rosary.


"You don't expect your daughter to be murdered," her father told the newspaper. "It happens on TV. It happens elsewhere."


Chase Kowalski, 7, student


Chase Kowalski was always outside, playing in the backyard, riding his bicycle. Just last week, he was visiting neighbor Kevin Grimes, telling him about completing — and winning — his first mini-triathlon.


"You couldn't think of a better child," Grimes said.


Grimes' own five children all attended Sandy Hook, too. Cars lined up outside the Kowalski's ranch home Saturday, and a state trooper's car idled in the driveway. Grimes spoke of the boy only in the present tense.


Emilie Parker, 6, student


Quick to cheer up those in need of a smile, Emilie Parker never missed a chance to draw a picture or make a card.


Her father, Robbie Parker, fought back tears as he described the beautiful, blonde, always-smiling girl who loved to try new things, except food.


Parker, one of the first parents to publicly talk about his loss, expressed no animosity for the gunman, even as he struggled to explain the death to his other two children, ages 3 and 4. He's sustained by the fact that the world is better for having had Emilie in it.


"I'm so blessed to be her dad," he said.


Nancy Lanza, 52, gunman's mother


She was known before simply for the game nights she hosted and the holiday decorations she put up at her house. Now Nancy Lanza is known as her son's first victim.


Authorities say Lanza's 20-year-old son Adam gunned his mother down before killing 26 others at Sandy Hook. The two shared a home in a well-to-do Newtown neighborhood, but details were slow to emerge of who she was and what might have led her son to carry out such horror.


Kingston, N.H., Police Chief Donald Briggs Jr. said Nancy Lanza once lived in the community and was a kind, considerate and loving person. The former stockbroker at John Hancock in Boston was well-respected, Briggs said.


Court records show Lanza and her ex-husband, Peter Lanza, filed for divorce in 2008. He lives in Stamford and is a tax director at General Electric. A neighbor, Rhonda Cullens, said she knew Nancy Lanza from get-togethers she had hosted to play Bunco, a dice game. She said her neighbor had enjoyed gardening.


"She was a very nice lady," Cullens said. "She was just like all the rest of us in the neighborhood, just a regular person."


Catherine Hubbard, 6, student


A family friend turned reporters away from the house but Catherine's parents released a statement expressing gratitude to emergency responders and for the support of the community.


"We are greatly saddened by the loss of our beautiful daughter, Catherine Violet and our thoughts and prayers are with the other families who have been affected by this tragedy," Jennifer and Matthew Hubbard said. "We ask that you continue to pray for us and the other families who have experienced loss in this tragedy."


Madeleine Hsu, 6, student


Dr. Matthew Velsmid was at Madeleine's house on Saturday, tending to her stricken family. He said the family did not want to comment.


Velsmid said that after hearing of the shooting, he went to the triage area to provide medical assistance but there were no injuries to treat.


"We were waiting for casualties to come out and there was nothing. There was no need unfortunately," he said. "This is the darkest thing I've ever walked into by far."


Velsmid's daughter, who attends another school, lost three of her friends.


___


Associated Press writers Denise Lavoie, Mark Scolforo, Allen Breed and Danica Coto contributed to this report.


Read More..

Pop star Kelly Clarkson announces engagement






LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Kelly Clarkson, who became the first contestant to win “American Idol” a decade ago and went on to several chart-topping successes, has gotten engaged to her boyfriend, the singer said in a Twitter message on Saturday.


Clarkson, 30, previously revealed she had been dating talent manager Brandon Blackstock since early this year. Blackstock is the stepson of country singer Reba McEntire.






“I’M ENGAGED!” Clarkson said on Twitter. “I wanted y’all to know!! Happiest night of my life last night!”


She then followed that by posting a link to a photo of her canary yellow diamond engagement ring on a website. She wrote that her boyfriend helped design it and that she “can’t wait to make Brandon’s ring.”


Clarkson’s album “Stronger” hit No. 2 last year on the Billboard 200 sales chart, and she in previous years topped pop charts with her songs “My Life Would Suck Without You” and “A Moment Like This.”


The Texas-born singer won the Fox television singing contest “American Idol” in the show’s debut year in 2002, and has had more success than many of the show’s stars from following years.


Clarkson has burnished an image as an artist willing to speak her mind, even confessing to feelings of loneliness.


Last month, in an appearance on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Clarkson said she had been dating Blackstock since earlier this year and was thankful to have him.


“I am not alone for the first time for Thanksgiving and Christmas and I’m very happy,” she said on the show.


In the same November appearance, Clarkson said she expected to get engaged to Blackstock. “We will totally, probably elope,” she told DeGeneres.


(Reporting By Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by David Bailey)


Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..

White House won’t accept new tax offer from Republican leader






WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is not ready to accept a new offer from the Republican leader of the U.S. the House of Representatives to raise taxes on top earners in exchange for major cuts in entitlement programs, a source said late Saturday.


The shape and details of Boehner‘s offer were uncertain Saturday night, as was the exact reason the president was prepared to reject it.






The source said Obama sees the offer made on Friday by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner as a sign of progress, but simply believes it is not enough and there is much more to be worked out before Obama can reciprocate.


Tax rates and entitlements are the two most difficult issues in the so-far unproductive negotiations to avert the “fiscal cliff” of steep tax hikes and spending cuts set for the new year unless Congress and the president reach a deal to avoid them.


The Boehner offer is the first significant sign of a shift in the Republican insistence that low tax rates set to expire on December 31 be extended for all taxpayers, and comes at some risk to the speaker.


Conservatives, particularly Tea Party-supported Republicans, see opposition to tax increases for anyone as an abandonment of party principles, and of the Republican base.


Obama wants high earners – those earning roughly $ 250,000 a year or more – to pay higher taxes in order to put the burden of deficit reduction on those he says can best afford it.


Republicans have privately spoken of coming back at Obama with a threshold of $ 1 million. Obama has previously called that unacceptable because it would not raise enough money on its own to cut the deficit significantly or provide enough money to avert across-the-board spending cuts.


On entitlements, the president faces pressures of his own from Democrats, who see protecting Medicare, the government health insurance program for seniors, as a bedrock principle.


A major bloc of congressional Democrats has already signaled they will not accept major cutbacks in Medicare as part of any deal.


It was unclear on Saturday if the president had communicated his response to Boehner.


NOT A COMPLETE SURPRISE


Boehner’s shift did not come as a complete surprise. Recent polls have suggested little public support for his position and he has been getting pressure from Senate Republicans to be more flexible.


The massacre in Connecticut silenced fiscal cliff talk in public on Saturday as the both sides got ready for a final scramble, with sessions of the House now scheduled just days before Christmas.


Obama canceled a trip he had planned to make next Wednesday to Portland, Maine, to press his case for tax hikes for the wealthy. He is heading on Sunday to Newtown, the site of Friday’s school shootings, in which a gunman killed 20 children and six adults before taking his own life. The gunman also killed his mother, according to police.


Boehner of Ohio canceled the standard Republican radio response on Saturday to Obama “so that President Obama can speak for the entire nation at this time of mourning,” he said in a statement issued late on Friday.


The moratorium on cliff pronouncements masked a growing recognition the two sides could remain deadlocked at the end of the year on the key sticking points – taxes and entitlements.


Senate Republicans prodded their counterparts in the House to beat a retreat on tax hikes, in a fashion that would allow Obama’s proposal to pass the Republican-controlled House while allowing Republicans to cast a face-saving vote against it.


Republicans could then shift the debate onto territory they consider more favorable to them, cutting government spending to reduce the deficit.


“Just about everyone is throwing stuff on the wall to see if anything sticks,” one Republican aide said in reference to various proposals being discussed on how to proceed.


Alluding to public opinion polls, the aide added: “We know if there is no deal, we will get blamed.”


“We could win the argument on spending cuts,” said a Republican senator who asked not to be identified. “We aren’t winning the argument on taxes.”


However, Republican leaders in both chambers are leery about seeming to cave on taxes. “There’s concern that if we did that, Obama would simply declare victory and walk away and not address spending,” said one aide. “We don’t trust these guys.”


‘A BALANCED PLAN’


Some of the prodding was coming from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.


Don Stewart, a McConnell spokesman, said the minority leader in the Democratic-controlled Senate hasn’t embraced any single plan, but has discussed and circulated measures offered by fellow Senate Republicans.


“Senator McConnell does not advocate raising taxes on anybody or anything,” Stewart said.


“We’re focused on getting a balanced plan from the White House that will begin to solve the problem of our debt and deficit to improve the economy and create American jobs,” said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.


“Right now, all the president is offering is massive tax hikes with little or no spending cuts and reforms,” Steel said.


House Majority Leader Eric Cantor scheduled “possible legislation related to expiring provisions of law,” a reference to the expiring tax cuts, for the end of the week, portending a weekend session.


Cantor has said the House would meet through the Christmas holidays and beyond.


Hopes expressed after the November 6 general election of some “grand bargain” on deficit reduction have all but disappeared, at least for this year.


This is partly because time is running out and partly the result of growing warnings from Democrats in Congress that they would not support big changes in the Medicare program, the government-run health insurance program for seniors that is a major contributor to the government’s debt.


House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California ruled out one frequently mentioned proposal – raising the age of eligibility for Medicare, in a December 12 CBS television interview.


Asked if she was drawing a “red line” around that idea, Pelosi said her comments were “something that says, ‘don’t go there,’ because it doesn’t produce money.


(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro, Richard Cowan and Kim Dixon; Editing by Fred Barbash and Todd Eastham)


Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..