DEMOCRATS SAY OBAMA SHOULD INVOKE 14 TH AMANDEMENTWASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats said Wednesday that President Barack Obama should invoke a little-known constitutional provision to prevent the nation from going into default if Congress fails to come up with a plan to raise the debt ceiling.
Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, a member of the Democratic leadership, said he told fellow Democrats that Obama should both veto any House GOP plan for a short-term extension of the debt ceiling and invoke the 14th amendment, which says that the validity of the nation's public debt "shall not be questioned."
The White House has rejected resorting to this tactic to keep the nation from defaulting, questioning its legality, but Rep. John Larson of Connecticut, who chairs the Democratic caucus, said "we're getting down to decision time" and "we have to have a failsafe mechanism and we believe that failsafe mechanism is the 14th Amendment and the president of the United States."
Larson said Clyburn's proposal on the 14th Amendment was met with applause by other Democrats at their meeting.
White House spokesman Jay Carney, asked about Clyburn's proposal, said only Congress has the authority to extend the government's borrowing authority. "The president does not have authority to raise the debt ceiling. It's not a plausible way to address this problem and we do not think it is an option," he said.
The Democratic leaders said the vast majority in their party still support a plan for raising the debt ceiling and cutting spending put forth by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. But they said the inability of the government to pay its debts could drive up interest rates and affect millions of Americans forced to pay higher mortgages and higher interest on student loans.
Rep. Xavier Becerra of California, the assistant caucus chair, said Democrats are telling Obama, "Mr. President, Republicans through their failure have given you license to do whatever it takes to not let the American family go down into that abyss with House Republicans."
The post-Civil War 14th Amendment guaranteeing citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States contains a provision that "the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned."
Some legal scholars have said the president can invoke that clause to keep the nation from defaulting on the debt, although there is no legal precedent for such an action.
SOURCE
http://news.yahoo.com/house-democrats-obama-invoke-14th-amendment-152323569.html
China sought to downplay the capability of its first aircraft carrier Wednesday, saying the vessel would be used for training and "research", amid concerns over the country's military build-up.
China recently confirmed it was revamping an old Soviet ship to be its first carrier, a project that has added to regional worries over the country's fast military expansion and growing assertiveness on territorial issues.
"We are currently re-fitting the body of an old aircraft carrier, and will use it for scientific research, experiments and training," defence ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng told a news briefing.
Asked whether the carrier's addition to China's military arsenal would significantly raise the country's military capability, Geng said only that to "overrate or underrate the carrier's role are both incorrect".
His comments came amid heightened tensions over a number of maritime territorial disputes involving China, notably in the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas and is claimed by several countries.
The issue has heated up recently with run-ins between China and fellow claimants Vietnam and the Philippines, sparking concern among its neighbouring countries and the United States.
In September, a row broke out between Japan and China over the disputed Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu Islands in Chinese, located in the East China Sea.
Chen Bingde, the nation's top military official, provided the first official acknowledgement of the aircraft carrier in a Hong Kong newspaper interview in early June.
Media reports and military analysts, however, have for years said the 300-metre (990-foot) ship was in development.
The ship, once called the Varyag, was originally built for the Soviet navy. Construction was interrupted by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
China reportedly bought the ship's immense armoured hull -- with no engine, electrics or propeller -- in 1998.
State television on Wednesday broadcast rare footage of the ship, which is based in the northeastern port city of Dalian.
Geng declined to specify when the vessel would be officially unveiled.
But he stressed that it would not signal any change in the country's official adherence to a peaceful military stance focused on national defence.
"We have a long coastline and vast waters under our jurisdiction, and guaranteeing maritime security and safeguarding maritime sovereignty and rights and interests is the sacred duty of China's armed forces," he said.
China's People's Liberation Army -- the largest armed force in the world -- is extremely secretive about its defence programmes, which benefit from a huge and expanding military budget boosted by the nation's runaway economic growth.
The PLA also operates the country's navy.
SOURCE
http://news.yahoo.com/china-downplays-capability-first-aircraft-carrier-
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Koreans were cautioned about rogue landmines and explosives on Thursday after scores of deadly landslides in and around the capital swamped homes, a monastery and military sites after the heaviest rainfall in a century, officials said.
At least 77 people died or are missing after landslides and flashfloods swept the Seoul region, home to about 25 million people and the damage bill is expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Defense Ministry said about 10 landmines buried near an air defense artillery unit at Mount Umyeon in southern Seoul had not been recovered after a mudslide in the area on Wednesday.
The mines were placed during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Explosives were also swept from an ammunition depot in Yangju, north of Seoul, when it collapsed under the weight of a mudslide. A military official said that all the explosives, including dozens of landmines, had been recovered.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered units to check for any misplaced explosives in the affected regions, but that did not allay residents' fears. The microblog forum Twitter was abuzz with anxious chatter about the missing landmines.
As more rain battered the mountainous region on Thursday, authorities drafted in the military to help with rescue and clean-up operations.
Hundreds of soldiers wearing helmets and long khaki coats shoveled mud from the site where the landslide slammed into an apartment block at Mount Umyeon. A wall of mud three storeys high hit the building, killing at least 15 people. President Lee Myung-bak visited the command center for emergency operations and one of the flood-hit sites.
"If it keeps raining like this, no country in the world can endure this," he said. "We should raise the bar of safety standards to deal with such natural disasters."
BUDDHIST MONASTERY
More than half a meter (19.5 inches) of rain has fallen in the Seoul region since late Tuesday, the weather bureau said, in the heaviest deluge for July since 1907.
The storms also hit secretive North Korea, but there were no immediate reports of damage in its state media. Experts are worried about landslides, as the eroded hillsides are unstable.
Power outages hit Seoul again on Thursday, including a cut in a business district, but the financial services industry and market trading were not affected.
Dozens of landslides were reported around Seoul and streams turned into raging torrents, flooding low-lying areas and swamping thousands of cars.
Some bridges over the main Han River, which runs through the center of the city, were closed. Train services were also disrupted.
Rescue workers were searching around a Buddhist monastery in Dongducheon, northeast of the capital, where a girl was believed buried under a mudslide. Three others were killed in the area.
Authorities in Seoul said more than 4,500 people had been forced from their homes and many houses were without power.
Emergency services put the death toll at 67, with 10 people missing.
The share price of insurers steadied after tumbling as much as 6 percent on Wednesday, but premiums are expected to rise causing further financial pain for homeowners already stung by rising inflation.
The Financial Supervisory Service, the country's financial regulator, estimated the bill for car damage alone would be about $38 million.
(Additional reporting by Jumin Park and Joonhee Yu; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
OSLO (Reuters) - A Norwegian cabinet minister will make a symbolic return on Wednesday to her bomb-damaged office as the nation tries to restore some normality after the massacre by a right-winger whose lawyer believes is insane.
Friday's attacks by Anders Behring Breivik killed 76 and traumatized normally peaceful Norway, which has been struggling to come to terms with his cold-blooded shooting of young people and bomb attack in the heart of Oslo's government district.
Administration and Church Affairs Minister Rigmor Aasrud will be the first cabinet member to return to her normal office after the bomb blew a hole through the prime minister's office and badly damaged other buildings.
For the time being, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will work from the defense ministry which is in another part of the city, and cabinet meetings will be held in a mediaeval fort near the Oslo waterfront. It is not clear whether the prime minister's 17-storey building will be rebuilt or torn down.
Breivik's lawyer said it was too early to say if his client would plead insanity at his trial, even though he thought the loner and computer games enthusiast was probably a madman.
"This whole case indicated that he is insane," lawyer Geir Lippestad said of the 32-year-old Breivik, who has confessed to "atrocious but necessary" actions, but denies he is a criminal.
Lippestad said Breivik had stated he belonged to a radical network that had two cells in Norway and more abroad. But police believe Breivik probably acted alone in staging his assaults, which have united Norwegians in revulsion.
"I can tell you on a general basis that so far we don't have any evidence of the cells, neither in Norway or in Britain," Janne Kristiansen, head of the PST security police, told the BBC. Breivik's online manifesto referred to a secret meeting in London in 2002 to found a 'Knights Templar' group to drive Islam out of Europe.
The BBC quoted Kristiansen as saying she rejected the theory that Breivik was insane, calling him calculating and evil.
CONTROLLED EXPLOSION
Police detonated on Tuesday night a cache of explosives found at a farm rented by Breivik. No one was hurt in the controlled explosion about 160 km (100 miles) north of Oslo.
Police believe that Breivik made his bomb using fertilizer which he had bought under the cover that he was a farmer.
Justice Minister Knut Storberget deflected criticism that police reacted too slowly to the shootings, hailing their work after the attacks as "fantastic."
An armed SWAT team took more than an hour to reach Utoeya island, some 45 km from Oslo, where Breivik was coolly shooting youngsters at a Labor Party youth camp. He killed 68 there and eight in the earlier bombing in Oslo.
Many Norwegians seem to agree the police do not deserve opprobrium for their response. At a rally of more than 200,000 in Oslo on Monday night, people applauded rescue workers.
Police reopened some streets around the blast site and Oslo's main thoroughfare, Karl Johans Gate, is showered with flowers as Norwegians pay their respects to victims while nearby vendors gradually reopen for business.
Workers at a corner store about 150 meters from the blast painted on Tuesday the plywood boards put up in place of blown-out windows. Others were busy cleaning up inside.
"Fixing the glass (windows) will take a week or two and the wood looks better painted," said deputy store manager Aykan Bastas. "We will fix it up nicely, just like before."
The Bugatti Veyron is a modern automotive legend. The sleek speedster from Volkswagen boasts a top speed of over 260mph, making it the fastest road-legal car in the world, and it has a stunningly large $1.5 million price tag to match. Because of this astronomical cost of entry, only a few hundred of the vehicles have ever been built, meaning your chances of owning one are rather slim. That is, unless you're Mike Duff, an ambitious 25-year-old from Florida who decided to build his very own Bugatti with his bare hands.
Starting with a complete 2002 Mercury Cougar coupe, Duff set to work transforming the vehicle's entire exterior into that of a world-class supercar. He used fiberglass and composite material to create the Veyron's iconic lines, and laid it all over a tubular steel frame. After a professional paint job and plenty of buffing, the car was ready for the showroom, but Duff wasn't done yet. He then took to the Cougar's interior, covering everything from the seats to the dashboard in genuine leather. When we spoke with him, he said the project took him a full 9 months from start to finish.
The detailed doppelgänger even sports usable back seats, which is something the real million-dollar ride completely lacks. Speaking of price, that's another area where this fantastic fake beats out its original counterpart. Duff currently has the vehicle up for sale with a price of $89,000 — less than 1/10th the price of a genuine Veyron.
Unfortunately, while that price will buy you the looks of a barely-legal race car, it doesn't buy you the performance. Under its gorgeous exterior, the "Cougatti" is still distinctly pedestrian, and remains equipped with its original 2.5-liter V6 engine that produces roughly 170 horsepower. This is in stark contrast to the 8-liter 16-cylinder powerplant of the real car, which produces a neck-snapping 1,000 horses.
Still, for the price of a Porsche, there's not much you can complain about when the car is a nearly indistinguishable replica of the fastest road car in the world. Not to mention the fact that some other Bugatti tributes can cost an order of magnitude more, and are never meant to leave your office.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When the sun rises above Los Angeles on Saturday, residents in this car-dependent, traffic-choked city will see a rare sight: a 10-mile stretch of one of the nation's busiest freeways turned into a virtual ghost road.
Interstate 405, a freeway normally so clogged that locals like to joke that its name is shorthand for "traffic that moves no faster than 4 or 5 miles an hour," is closing for 53 hours for a major construction project.
As crews worked feverishly to get the freeway open in time for Monday morning's rush-hour, residents have been making plans for weeks to stay off local roads, lest they trigger what officials dubbed "Carmageddon."
Such an event could back up vehicles from the 405 to surface streets and other freeways, causing a domino effect that could paralyze much of the city.
With warnings having been broadcast through television, radio, social media and flashing freeway signs as far away as San Francisco, much of the city's nearly 4 million residents appear ready to stay off the roads.
Traffic through the section of freeway that will close was lighter than usual during Friday evening's rush-hour.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he thinks traffic will move smoothly if motorists take his advice to stay close to home throughout the weekend.
"We can either say we survived Carmageddon or we survived the Carmageddon hype," he said.
If people listen, there will be no shortage of staycation activities awaiting them.
They can snag free popcorn at movie theaters along the 405 or drop in on Michael Jackson's dermatologist for 25-percent-off Botox injections so that frazzled commuters won't look quite so frazzled.
Those who do want that real road warrior look might consider swinging by T-Man's Tattoos (located just off the 405) in the San Fernando Valley.
"If you come on in and mention you're in town because you're stuck from Carmageddon, you can get 15 percent off tattoos and piercings," proprietor Howard Teman said.
For those who do get caught in traffic, LA musician Ken Elkinson is offering free downloads of his boxed set, "Music for Commuting," a collection of soothing tunes.
For those wanting a laugh, Grammy-winning humorist Stan Freberg is planning to visit a mall just off the freeway to sign copies of his latest CD, "Songs in the Key of Freberg," which features a song called "Gridlock."
That is if he can get there.
"We could end up just toodling around in traffic in our Prius, playing 'Gridlock' ourselves," he said of himself and his wife, Hunter.
Along with all the gimmicky promotions and attempts to cash in ("I Survived Carmageddon T-shirts are being sold all over the place), there have also been months of planning.
Construction crews have been gearing up, but so have police, fire and medical officials seeking to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Or, if it doesn't, to ensure they are prepared to handle any emergency.
Heavy equipment needed to demolish a section of a 50-year-old bridge as part of a $1 billion freeway-widening project, was already in place Friday, hours before the 405's midnight closure.
Sections of the bridge's pilings that are being torn out had been marked and prepped in advance.
The city fire department put two dozen additional engines, fire companies and ambulances into service, placing them in neighborhoods that firefighters might have a hard time getting to from jammed roadways.
"Our biggest concern is gridlock, obviously," Battalion Chief Chuck Butler said Friday. "There are a lot of areas over in West L.A. and the San Fernando Valley that we expect to be impacted due to the closure."
Much of the section of freeway that is being shut down winds through a hillside pass near Beverly Hills and other communities that are susceptible to brushfires.
Wildfire season, however, hasn't reached its peak yet, Butler said. Besides, this weekend's expected humid weather should further reduce the threat of a fire.
The UCLA Health System, which runs the huge Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center located near the 405, put three helicopter companies on standby to transport patients and human organs.
The center also stockpiled extra medical supplies and 5,200 boxed lunches for its staff.
For those who do have to drive, a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center psychiatrist was offering advice on how to keep calm and stay safe.
Among Dr. Waguih William IsHak's advice: avoid road rage at all costs, apologize profusely to anyone you accidentally cut off in traffic, be sure to leave for your destination with a full tank of gas and a cell phone.
And, oh yeah, he said, don't forget to go to the bathroom before you leave.
Or, better yet, authorities say, stay at home.
For those who do, Time Warner Cable promised to have technicians in the affected area ready to fix any TV-related problem.
The company was also activating a special "Beat the Traffic" channel with 24-hour reports from the Los Angeles Regional Transportation Management Center.
Some people were throwing Carmageddon parties at their homes, while others left for their destinations well before the freeway shut down.
Dan Haff, who lives in the northwest San Fernando Valley, far away from the construction site, was hosting five friends Friday so that the entire group could get to a planned paintball competition on time Saturday.
"They may have to stay with me for the weekend," he said.
WEDNESDAY, July 13 (HealthDay News) -- Giving antiretroviral drugs to heterosexuals at high risk of HIV infection can significantly reduce the chance they will develop the AIDS-causing virus, two new studies suggest.
"This is an extremely exciting finding for the field of HIV prevention," said Dr. Jared Baeten, co-chair of one study and a University of Washington associate professor of global health.
Both trials were done in Africa. In one, a daily dose of Truvada, a combination pill that includes tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine, reduced the risk of getting HIV from infected partners by about 63 percent.
The other study found that two different regimens -- tenofovir, sold as Viread, and Truvada -- also reduced the risk of transmission through heterosexual sex.
Using antiretrovirals in this way is called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.
Earlier research found that PrEP reduced HIV transmission among gay and bisexual men, but whether it could prevent HIV infection among heterosexuals was unknown.
A subsequent trial, reported in May, that involved heterosexuals found that people with HIV could reduce the risk of infecting their sex partners by more than 90 percent if they started treatment with antiretroviral drugs when their immune system was still relatively healthy.
The latest research includes a trial conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Botswana Ministry of Health. For that study, researchers assigned 1,219 HIV-negative men and women to a daily dose of Truvada or a dummy pill. All the participants also received HIV prevention services, including condoms, risk-reduction counseling and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, according to the CDC.
Nine of those taking Truvada became HIV-positive, compared with 24 of those taking the placebo. That is a 62.6 percent reduced risk for those on Truvada, the researchers said.
Among those who continued taking the pill, the risk reduction was greater -- 77.9 percent.
No significant safety concerns were associated with Truvada, the study said, although people taking it were more likely to report nausea, vomiting and dizziness than those taking placebo.
The other new trial, called the Partners PrEP study, was headed up by the University of Washington and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The placebo portion of the study was halted sooner than expected because early findings so strongly indicated that the pill prevented the spread of HIV. That led to the CDC releasing the results of its study early as well, on Wednesday.
The Partners PrEP trial, done in Kenya and Uganda, included 4,758 couples with one partner who was HIV-positive. Individuals without HIV were randomly assigned to a single drug (Viread), a drug combination (Truvada) or a placebo.
As of late May, 78 HIV infections had occurred; 18 of them in the Viread group, 13 taking Truvada, and 47 who took the dummy pill.
For those getting Viread, the single drug, the risk of developing HIV was reduced 62 percent, while the two-drug combination reduced the risk 73 percent compared with placebo, the researchers said.
"Now, more than ever, the priority for HIV prevention research must be on how to deliver successful prevention strategies, like PrEP, to populations in greatest need," said Baeten in the statement.
Truvada is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in combination with other antiretroviral agents to treat HIV-1 infection in adults and children 12 and older. It has not been approved for PrEP.
Based on the new study results, the CDC will start working to develop guidance on the use of PrEP among heterosexuals in the United States, the agency said.
"To use PrEP in the United States we would use basically the same guidelines -- someone who is truly at risk for HIV," said Dr. Margaret A. Fischl, professor of medicine and director of the AIDS Clinical Research Unit and co-director of the University of Miami Developmental Center for AIDS Research, commenting on the study.
Those at high-risk have multiple sex partners, use intravenous drugs or have multiple sexually transmitted diseases, Fischl said. "You are talking about a group that is at risk for multiple sexually transmitted diseases including HIV," she said.
However, it might be difficult to get the drugs to the people who need them, Fischl said.
"In addition, we need to identify people with HIV and get them into care, because in doing that we know that we decrease the transmission of HIV," Fischl said.
BEIRUT (AP) — Witnesses say Syrian pro-government protesters have attacked the U.S. embassy compound in Damascus, causing damage.
The witnesses said the protesters smashed windows and raised a Syrian flag on the compound on Monday. They also wrote anti-US graffiti referring to the U.S. ambassador as a "dog," the witnesses said.
The protests were over visits by the U.S. and French ambassadors last week to the opposition stronghold of Hama in central Syria.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BEIRUT (AP) — A witness in Syria's capital says security guards at the French Embassy have fired into the air to drive back protesters taking part in two-pronged demonstrations outside the French and American embassies in Damascus.
The protests Monday come days after the U.S. and French ambassadors visited the opposition stronghold of Hama in central Syria. The witness says crowds were not allowed to get near the U.S. Embassy.
The witness, Hiam al-Hassan, says about 300 people had gathered outside the French Embassy. Hundreds others were at the American diplomatic compound.
The protests coincide with government-organized talks in Damascus on possible political reforms after four months of unrest against the regime of President Bashar Assad.
TOKYO (AP) — A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 hit Japan's northeastern coast on Sunday, prompting a tsunami warning for the area still recovering from a devastating quake and killer wave four months ago.
Residents in coastal areas were warned to evacuate, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
The quake hit at 9:57 local time (0057 GMT), and a warning of a tsunami was issued for most of the northeastern coastline. The epicenter of the quake was in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan's main island, Honshu, at a depth of about 6 miles (10 kilometers).
8 GREAT PLACES TO RETIRE ABROAD
Great places to retire can be found outside of Florida and Arizona. In fact, many can be found outside of the U.S. entirely. Safe, attractive and affordable places to retire are scattered across the globe, from Latin America to Asia and even Europe. We've narrowed our list to eight overseas retirement hot spots.
Two factors critical to retirees (and their wallets) shaped our choices: cost of living and health care. To make our picks we consulted several experts on travel, tourism and overseas retirement, including Jennifer Stevens, executive editor of International Living, and Kathleen Peddicord, publisher of LiveandInvestOverseas.com. We also gave added weight to the cost of living, real estate and health care components of International Living's Global Retirement Index of the top 25 countries for retirees.
A note on cost of living: Monthly budgets for overseas retirees will vary widely, depending on country, lifestyle and housing type. There's no one-size-fits-all dollar amount. The estimates provided for each retirement hot spot offer a ballpark figure, including housing expenses, for how much a "typical" retired American couple would need to live comfortably.
Merida, Mexico Population: 777,615 Climate: Tropical. Temperatures range from the low 80s to the mid 90s. Risk of hurricanes. Proximity to major airport: Merida has an international airport with some nonstop flights to the U.S. Mexico City is less than two hours by plane. Access to health care: There's a slew of quality medical facilities, including the highly regarded Clinica de Merida. Some retirees may qualify for Mexico's low-cost public health insurance program, known as IMSS. Mexico ranks 14th out of 25 countries on International Living's Global Retirement Index for health care. Cost of living: Mexico tied for third (with Colombia and Thailand) on the Global Retirement Index for cost of living. A retired American couple can live comfortably in Merida on $1,700 a month. The draw: City living meets colonial charm. Merida, the capital of the state of Yucatan, is a world away from Cancun, its touristy cousin across the peninsula. Sitting 22 miles inland, Merida has a European feel, thanks to its Old World architecture and abundant culture. There are opera houses and cathedrals to explore, and foodies rave about the dining scene. There's a growing population of retirees from the U.S., as evidenced by an English-language newspaper and library. Merida has escaped the violence that has plagued Mexico's border towns.
Lunigiana, Italy Population: 130,000 Climate: Temperate. Summers can stretch from April to October, with temperatures from the mid 70s to low 90s. In winter, it's in the 50s and 60s. Proximity to airport: Major airports in Pisa, Genoa and Parma are all about an hour's drive from the Lunigiana region. There's very limited nonstop service to the U.S. Expect to make a connection. Access to health care: Italy ranks second (tied with Spain) out of 25 countries on International Living's Global Retirement Index for health care. Towns in the Lunigiana region with hospitals include Aulla, Fivizzano, La Spezia, Pontremoli and Sarzana. Pharmacists are found in most villages. Italy offers residents, including U.S. citizens legally residing in Italy, access to its national health plan, though many Americans opt instead to use private hospitals, which tend to provide better care than public ones. Cost of living: Italy tied for 11th (with Uruguay) on the Global Retirement Index for cost of living, but 18th for real estate. A retired American couple can live comfortably on about $2,500 a month. The draw: Tuscany on the cheap. The Lunigiana region of northern Tuscany is home to a network of villages connected by well-marked hiking paths. The Mediterranean coast is a short drive away, and Florence, Lucca and Pisa are all manageable day trips. Lunigiana isn't on the radar of too many retirees yet, which means the region is more affordable than areas farther south in the heart of Tuscany. Italy has a Social Security agreement with the U.S. that can benefit people who've worked in both countries.
Bocas del Toro, Panama Population: 125,461 Climate: Warm and tropical, with temperatures ranging from the low 70s to high 80s. Rainy season can stretch from May to January. Proximity to major airport: It's a one-hour flight to Panama City, where connections are available to the U.S. Access to health care: There's a public hospital on Isla Colon, the main island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago. It's adequate and cheap, but most expats head to David or Panama City for checkups and planned treatments. Panama tied for 12th (with Portugal) out of 25 countries on International Living's Global Retirement Index for health care. Cost of Living: Panama tied for 13th (with Costa Rica) on the Global Retirement Index for cost of living. A retired American couple can live comfortably in Bocas del Toro on $1,500 a month. The draw: Laid-back island living. Bocas del Toro province, on the Caribbean in western Panama, boasts miles of sandy beaches, turquoise waters and sprawling rainforests. The currency is the U.S. dollar and, while Spanish is the country's official language, English is widely spoken. Panama has a "pensionado" program for retirees that provides discounts on public transportation, entertainment and health care.
Granada, Nicaragua Population: 105,171 Climate: Hot and sticky. Temperatures span the 70s to the 90s, with humidity often high. The wettest months are May to October. Proximity to airport: It's 45 minutes by car to Managua's international airport, where you can catch nonstop flights to the U.S. Access to health care: Nicaragua tied for 22nd (with Honduras) out of 25 countries on International Living's Global Retirement Index for health care. In addition to local medical facilities, close proximity to Managua, the capital, gives retirees access to several specialized hospitals. Cost of living: Nicaragua tied for sixth (with Brazil, Malta and Malaysia) on the Global Retirement Index for cost of living. It tied for second (with Colombia) for real estate. A retired American couple can live comfortably in Granada on $1,250 a month. The draw: Rooms with a view. Granada, a picturesque colonial city that dates back to the 16th century, sits on the shores of Lake Nicaragua. Brightly painted buildings liven up the architecture, and volcanoes are visible in the distance. There are local restaurants, shops and access to freshwater activities. Nearby Managua has shopping malls, movie theaters and other entertainment options. Look into the government's incentive program for foreign retirees, which offers duty-free imports and other tax breaks.
Nha Trang, Vietnam Population: 361,454 Climate: It's hot most of the year. Temperatures hover between the 80s and low 90s. The heart of the monsoon season is November and early December. Proximity to airport: Cam Ranh International Airport is about 25 miles from downtown Nha Trang. There are no nonstop flights to the U.S. Access to health care: The 1,000-bed Khanh Hoa General Hospital is located in Nha Trang. International Living didn't include Vietnam in its Global Retirement Index rankings. Cost of living: A retired American couple can live comfortably in Nha Trang on $750 a month. The draw: Live like a king for less. Located on the coast of South-Central Vietnam, Nha Trang is encased by miles of beaches and massive mountain ranges. An American couple can get by on less than $600 a month; $1,000 a month would land you in the lap of luxury. U.S. dollars, preferably crisp, clean ones, are widely accepted. There's a small population of foreigners in Nha Trang, as well as many restaurants and bars, a supermarket and a mall.
Roatan, Honduras Population: approximately 70,000 Climate: The average temperature is 81 degrees. January is the coolest month; August, the hottest. Honduras lies in the hurricane belt. Proximity to airport: There are nonstop flights to the U.S. from Roatan's international airport. Access to health care: Roatan has several clinics and two hospitals on the island. Larger medical facilities are located on the mainland in San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba. Honduras tied for 22nd (with Nicaragua) on International Living's Global Retirement Index for health care. Cost of living: Honduras ranks tenth on the Global Retirement Index for cost of living, but fourth for real estate. A retired American couple can live comfortably in Roatan on $1,200 a month. The draw: Life's a beach. Located in the Bay Islands of Honduras, Roatan is home to the world's second longest coral reef, warm ocean waters and long strands of white sand. English is the primary language, the U.S. dollar is accepted, and real estate prices have come down in recent years. There's an established expat community. Retirees looking for a Caribbean experience for less probably won't be disappointed.
Bearn, France Population: 350,000 Climate: Seasonal. Temperatures range from the 30s to 50s in the winter and the 70s to 80s in the summer. Proximity to airport: The main airport is in Pau. No nonstop flights to the U.S., but easy connections via Paris, London and elsewhere. Access to health care: France is tops on International Living's Global Retirement Index for health care. There are several hospitals in the Bearn region, including in the towns of Pau, Orthez, Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Mauleon, Tardets and Mourenx. Private medical insurance is required of non-E.U. residents. The Association of Americans Resident Overseas offers a group plan. Cost of living: France ranks 18th on the Global Retirement Index for cost of living. A retired American couple can live comfortably on about $2,000 a month. The draw: Basque in the moment. The Bearn area of southwestern France, near the border with Spain, is influenced by Basque culture from both sides of the Pyrenees (note the berets). The pastoral landscape is dotted with medieval towns, and hunting and fishing are favorite pastimes. There are loads of markets and vineyards to explore, not to mention a fair share of churches and castles. Living in Bearn is cheaper than in better-known parts of France such as Provence, a plus for retirees. France also has an agreement with the U.S. that provides Social Security advantages for people who've worked in both countries.
Corozal Town, Belize Population: 9,901 Climate: Warm year-round, with temperatures mostly in the 80s. Mild rainy season starts in June. Risk of hurricanes. Proximity to major airport: It's a short commuter flight via San Pedro -- each leg is less than half an hour -- to the country's main airport in Belize City, where connections are available to the U.S. Access to health care: Corozal Town has its own hospital. More extensive medical options are available ten miles away in Chetumal, the capital of Mexico's state of Quintana Roo. Belize ranks 24th out of 25 countries on International Living's Global Retirement Index for health care. Cost of living: Belize is second on the Global Retirement Index for cost of living, but 19th for real estate. A retired American couple can live comfortably in Corozal Town on $2,500 a month. The draw: The best of both worlds. The town, located in northernmost Belize, offers retirees beaches and tranquility in Corozal, and big-city amenities such as malls and museums just across the border in Chetumal, Mexico. English is the official language, though Spanish is widely spoken. The government operates a "qualified retired persons" program that allows non-Belizeans to enjoy perks such as tax-free imports of household goods, cars and even airplanes. One-time application and program fees add up to $1,350, plus another $750 per dependent.
You'll see this a lot from players, both current and retired. "I feel as if I'm the best at [whatever skill they prize the highest]." Then when they hear this sort of braggadocio coming out of their mouths, they immediately switch to, "Well, this is the sort of attitude you have to have if you want to be successful at this level."
They're not wrong. There's something inherent in most successful pro players that has them consistently thinking, no matter the mitigating factors, that that next shot is going in the net. Or that the next attempt shot in their face will be summarily sent into the 10th row.
It's not the smartest attitude to boast, but it helps make up for the other 90 percent of the time, avoid the willies, insure self-confidence when things aren't going well, and steel themselves for when it's a wide-open shot they should make. I remember reading Reggie Miller tell a journalist that he gets ticked off at himself when he doesn't make an absurd amount of his wide-open looks, something like 75 to 80 percent, even if they're from 25 feet away. Why wouldn't he far eclipse his usual averages, he thought? He's wide open!
The latest to come clean with this line of thinking is former Dallas, Milwaukee, but mostly Seattle sharpshooter Dale Ellis, who had this to say to the Boston Globe over the weekend:
"I'm the best shooter of all time,'' he said. "I know that from the jump. I set the standard. I gave them something to shoot for. I was the first player in the history of the game to get 1,000 3-pointers. To be able to play on that level, you have to have that attitude about yourself. You can say it's arrogant or cocky or whatever, but that's OK. There's no way you can compete without it. There's no way you can excel without that confidence level.''
"I'm the best," followed immediately by "I mean, I set the template for all to follow," followed by, "Well, this was and is a necessary attitude that I need."
Dale Ellis: ‘I’m the best shooter of all time.’ Oh, boyHe's right about the template, and that it was a necessary attitude, but Ellis doesn't have to keep pretending he's the best ever, and he certainly doesn't need that attitude now, 11 years after retiring. It's unfortunate that current fans often don't remember just how brilliant Ellis was, and as a 3-point pioneer, he was the guy. Not Larry Bird, not anyone else, not even close. It was Ellis.
But he's also ranked 24th all time in 3-point percentage, at 40.3 percent -- though those looking to nit-pick should note that he actually shot below his averages when the line was moved in to 22 feet from 1994-1997. He's ranked 84th in True Shooting Percentage (which accounts for 2-pointers and free throws) with about 30 or so pure shooters (that is to say, those whose stats aren't pumped up by dunks or high-percentage drives) ranked ahead of him.
So teach, Dr. Ellis (who made a point to say some really complimentary things about Ray Allen(notes) the person, and the player, in Gary Washburn's column, and some smart things about the labor impasse to Marc Spears on Friday). You were the guy that made this shot that you could hit at a 40 percent clip and that was worth a whole extra point such a force. You were a groundbreaker, and you needed that attitude back then. You just don't, anymore.
And let's let history, and not bluster, decide who was really the best
It's the same old story. Locked out NBA player returns back to his college to run a basketball camp, and brings a truck that possibly might be worth up to a quarter of a million dollars with him. The kids at the camp like basketball, and are enjoying the camp, but all they really want to know about is that giant, giant truck. And apparently, over the weekend, all the camp kiddies in question wanted to know about Atlanta Hawk guard Joe Johnson's(notes) massive Ford truck. And also why he makes so much money, which they could probably guess from ... well, look at the size of his truck!
Back in 2008, when word bubbled up about Johnson's massive Ford F-650 Super Truck XUV, we missed out on posting about it on Ball Don't Lie. Maybe because there wasn't a lockout to battle against. Or maybe it's because Joe's new paint job has sent us over the moon.
Either way, Joe's still truck'-er, toolin' around in this diesel-powered beast, which can apparently hold 200 gallons of fuel at a time, which means even despite the poor mileage Johnson no doubt gets, he has to fuel up about once every solstice. Which is also a terrible name for a car, but not a bad car at all.
Joe got back into the news with the truck over the weekend as he met up with kiddie campers on the University of Arkansas (he's a product) campus, and though I'm sure there were plenty of questions about Joe's footwork on a 1/3 screen and roll and just where exactly he thinks the BRI should end up in the upcoming labor negotiations this November (smart kids, these are), that didn't stop a few of them from wondering about the truck, along with a zing:
During a Q&A session Johnson was asked by a kid attending camp: "How much did you pay for your car?" Johnson, of course, declined to answer. Johnson was later asked by an incoming basketball player why he "makes more than Kobe [Bryant]."
[...]
Johnson, a Little Rock native, has come a long way from his college days. Former teammate Jannero Pargo(notes) provided some insight when a camper asked if Johnson owned any video games:
"I remember he'd take out a loan to get a PlayStation 3", Pargo said.
Nice line, Jannero Pargo. And, if anyone is still wondering, the price of this car plus the features he's installed like runs well past $200k. A lot of money, just well within budget for someone that makes, well, more than Kobe Bryant(notes).
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Everyone-look-at-Joe-Johnson-8217-s-giant-truck?urn=nba-wp5970
The event - a foul-shooting contest for top academic students at Compton High School in Los Angeles - was created with a simple premise: Organizers wanted to show the kids at Compton how to create community spirit with college scholarship money as the incentive.
Allen Geui won in front of a packed house.
Following a tear-jerking gesture from the winner - it appears the true lessons learned were by the adults.
The kids in Compton are more than alright.
Three months after winning the $40,000 top prize, Allan Guei donated all of his winnings to the seven other finalists.
Guei, a star player on the basketball team who is headed to Cal-State Northridge on a full scholarship, said he felt the others could use the college cash more than he could. He wanted to give his classmates a chance to make their academic dreams come true, too.
"I've already been blessed so much and I know we're living with a bad economy, so I know this money can really help my classmates," he said in a release from the school. "It was the right decision."
One that stunned Court Crandall, the man behind the event.
"What he has done is exceptional, just like Allan," he said. "Like any young people, whether it's my kids or someone else's, you hope they are given opportunities to show what they can do. These Compton High grads have a lot of talent. They have a lot of drive, and I wish them all the best."
Crandall, a partner at the Southern California advertising firm WDCW and a hollywood screenwriter whose credits include "Old School," came up with the idea after watching his 16-year-old son play on a basketball team with some Compton students.
Crandall felt foul shooting was something that could unite a community regardless of racial divide. He felt doing it in Compton - a community battling an image problem - could help change those attitudes, too.
"I thought the free throw is a good metaphor in a world where there's a bunch of lines that are kind of dividing us," Crandall said afterward. "The focus became, how do we show the world another side of Compton, that's more positive, beyond the stereotypical guns and crime stuff."
The only requirement for the contest is that the students must have a GPA of 3.0 and above. After receiving nearly 100 applicants, eight contestants were chosen at random. The contest was held in March.
"My hope was that what started as a competition would become a collaboration with the kids supporting each other," Crandall told the L.A. Times. "They did, but in the end they did that to a much greater extent than I ever could have anticipated."
The students were filmed throughout the ordeal as part of a documentary that is scheduled to be released this fall.
One of the final scenes figures to be Compton principal Jesse Jones making the surprise announcement at the school's graduation in June.
"Allan is a great basketball player, but he is a better citizen than a basketball player," Jones said. "It's truly a blessing."
Even though Guei was a basketball star, Crandall allowed him to enter the contest to reward him for his academic efforts.
Guei would have been allowed to keep the money under NCAA rules. The other finalists, who will receive roughly $5,500, are thankful that he will not.
Donald Dotson, who also plans to attend Cal-State Northridge, said Guei is "a very deep, intelligent, and warm person."
Dotson figures his gesture will pay forward.
"He's going to go really far in life," he said. "Because of what he's done for us, God will bless him. That's what life is all about; stepping forward to help other people."
The irony in this story: Compton's boys basketball team advanced to the Southern Section Division 2AA title game last winter before losing . The team was done in by poor foul shooting.
SOURCE
http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1237085
As the No. 2 pick in this year's MLS SuperDraft, expectations were always going to be high for Portland Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe. But I doubt many people expected him to score his first MLS goal like this.
With Portland down 2-0 after a pair of early goals from Sporting KC, Nagbe made Kansas City goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen regret punching the ball directly to him (and the KC defenders regret forgetting he was on the pitch) by juggling the ball just outside the box a couple of times to casually set himself up for a shot that rose up over his teammate's attempt to head it and into the far corner of the goal. Portland still lost the game 2-1, presumably because KC learned to not set up Nagbe like that again.
If for some bizarre reason we had to compare them, this wasn't as impressive as Eric Hassli's goal a few weeks ago. It was still quite nice and definitely not a bad way to get started, though.
SOURCE
http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Nagbe-juggles-scores-wonder-goal-from-distance-?urn=sow-wp2985
Oftentimes when a boy becomes a soldier, it is a lifestyle change that he cannot escape. In the new fiction White Lion (published by AuthorHouse) Walter Williams tells a story about one man’s struggle though life after Vietnam.
The story takes him from being a young boy in the country to being drafted into the Army at 18 to fight in the Vietnam War, and training to become a sniper. The book details his training and highlights the extreme emotions he encountered during the fight. The war imbued him with a kill-or-be-killed lifestyle.
His experiences haunted him for the rest of his life, especially the loss of his best friend in combat, who died protecting him. Coming home from the war, he is shocked at the public’s reaction when some call him a baby killer, spitting on him for doing his duty.
Next it was my turn. I told my story and when asked if I had any remorse for my actions, I said yes, as a trained soldier, I was embarrassed that I lost control of my emotions. For these two men to make a mockery of me and the soldiers I have served with was simply more than I could take. I was not only defending my honor but that of my men as well. I was sorry for what I did to these two men however they need to accept some of the responsibility for their actions as well.
He becomes even closer with his friend’s family as they introduce him to God – but he is skeptical and resists. Instead, he feels the only thing he is good at is killing, turning to a life as a mercenary for three years, serving in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa.
He begins to realize there is something more to life, reuniting with his friend’s family and joining them in their evangelistic ministry. He even marries his high school sweetheart, and creates an outreach for homeless veterans. He is unable, however, to leave his past behind him as he continues to be a hired assassin. His lifestyle has dire consequences that lead to the murder of his wife.
About the Author
Walter Williams has been blessed to be able to travel to different parts of the world. A self-admitted adventure junkie, he has been able to put some of those adventures into print to share with his readers. He has written articles for several publications, and spent most of his life working with and studying people.
AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is a leading provider of book publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe and offers the industry’s only suite of Hollywood book-to-film services. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service, AuthorHouse assigns each author personal publishing and marketing consultants who provide guidance throughout the process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, AuthorHouse will celebrate 15 years of service to authors in Sept. 2011.For more information or to publish a book visit authorhouse.com or call 1-888-519-5121. For the latest, follow @authorhouse on Twitter.
On July 7, YouTube will be live streaming the red carpet premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 from Trafalgar Square in London. Many famous faces are expected to appear at the event, including author J.K. Rowling, Emma Watson who plays Hermione, Rupert Grint of Ron Weasley fame, and Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe. The livecast will be reaired immediately after it is done so those with time zone differences can watch. The stream begins at 8 a.m. Pacific/11 a.m. Eastern/4 p.m. British Summer Time.
You can watch the event on YouTube's official Harry Potter Channel. If you go there now, you'll see a countdown clock and be able to watch the most recent trailers for the film, read the official Twitter feed or enter a sweepstakes to be at the London premiere.
Can't wait for the final film's July 15th premiere? There are plenty of Potter-themed distractions for you to indulge in from watching the early movies on YouTube or Facebook as well as ABC Family's upcoming Harry Potter Weekend to downloading the Harry Potter Wand app and dueling your friends.
Unfortunately, we'll have to wait even longer, October to be exact, before we learn the full scope of what the newly announced Pottermore site has to offer for fans who want to continue their passion for all things Harry Potter.
SOURCE
http://beta.news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/london-premiere-last-harry-potter-film-livecast-youtube-011411072.html
Harry Potter authorJ.K. Rowling said on Monday she had ended her 16-year association with the literary agent who helped to launch the multi-million-selling series of books about the boy wizard.
Christopher Little began working with Rowling in 1995, although it took until August 1996 to find a publisher for her first book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
Their partnership lasted through the seven-book series, which sold 400 million copies and made Rowling into one of the richest women in the world.
But just days before the final film based on the books hits the big screen, the author confirmed their working relationship had come to an end, without giving any further explanation.
"We can confirm that J.K. Rowling has terminated her association with the Christopher Little Literary Agency," said a statement from a public relations agency on Rowling's behalf.
"This was a painful decision, especially as Ms Rowling had actively sought a different outcome for some weeks. However, it was not taken without good reason and it finally became unavoidable."
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2", the final film in the epic saga starring Daniel Radcliffe as Harry and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, has its world premiere in London on Thursday.
Rowling laid down her pen -- and Harry's magic wand -- when she finished the seventh book in 2007. But the author has yet to let go of her creation.
Last month she unveiled an interactive website featuring new material about Potter's world, and announced that his adventures would be sold as e-books for the first time.
The free website, www.pottermore.com, will go live from July 31 for one million Potter fans who pass a special online challenge, and to the general public from October.
The seven e-books will be available through the website from October in partnership with Sony.
Rowling's fortune is estimated at £530 million (580 million euros, $855 million), according to this year's annual list of Britain's wealthiest people published in The Sunday Times newspaper.
SOURCE
http://news.yahoo.com/harry-potter-author-ends-16-spell-agent-103133065.html
WASHINGTON (AP) — After Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, the White House released a photo of President Barack Obama and his Cabinet inside the Situation Room, watching the daring raid unfold.
Hidden from view, standing just outside the frame of that now-famous photograph was a career CIA analyst. In the hunt for the world's most-wanted terrorist, there may have been no one more important. His job for nearly a decade was finding the al-Qaida leader.
The analyst was the first to put in writing last summer that the CIA might have a legitimate lead on finding bin Laden. He oversaw the collection of clues that led the agency to a fortified compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. His was among the most confident voices telling Obama that bin Laden was probably behind those walls.
The CIA will not permit him to speak with reporters. But interviews with former and current U.S. intelligence officials reveal a story of quiet persistence and continuity that led to the greatest counterterrorism success in the history of the CIA. Nearly all the officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters or because they did not want their names linked to the bin Laden operation.
The Associated Press has agreed to the CIA's request not to publish his full name and withhold certain biographical details so that he would not become a target for retribution.
Call him John, his middle name.
John was among the hundreds of people who poured into the CIA's Counterterrorism Center after the Sept. 11 attacks, bringing fresh eyes and energy to the fight.
He had been a standout in the agency's Russian and Balkan departments. When Vladimir Putin was coming to power in Russia, for instance, John pulled together details overlooked by others and wrote what some colleagues considered the definitive profile of Putin. He challenged some of the agency's conventional wisdom about Putin's KGB background and painted a much fuller portrait of the man who would come to dominate Russian politics.
That ability to spot the importance of seemingly insignificant details, to weave disparate strands of information into a meaningful story, gave him a particular knack for hunting terrorists.
"He could always give you the broader implications of all these details we were amassing," said John McLaughlin, who as CIA deputy director was briefed regularly by John in the mornings after the 2001 attacks.
From 2003, when he joined the counterterrorism center, through 2005, John was one of the driving forces behind the most successful string of counterterrorism captures in the fight against terrorism: Abu Zubaydah, Abd al-Nashiri, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, Ramzi bin Alshib, Hambali and Faraj al-Libi.
But there was no greater prize than finding bin Laden.
Bin Laden had slipped away from U.S. forces in the Afghan mountains of Tora Bora in 2001, and the CIA believed he had taken shelter in the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan. In 2006, the agency mounted Operation Cannonball, an effort to establish bases in the tribal regions and find bin Laden. Even with all its money and resources, the CIA could not locate its prime target.
By then, the agency was on its third director since Sept. 11, 2001. John had outlasted many of his direct supervisors who retired or went on to other jobs. The CIA doesn't like to keep its people in one spot for too long. They become jaded. They start missing things.
John didn't want to leave. He'd always been persistent. In college, he walked on to a Division I basketball team and hustled his way into a rotation full of scholarship players.
The CIA offered to promote him and move him somewhere else. John wanted to keep the bin Laden file.
He examined and re-examined every aspect of bin Laden's life. How did he live while hiding in Sudan? With whom did he surround himself while living in Kandahar, Afghanistan? What would a bin Laden hideout look like today?
The CIA had a list of potential leads, associates and family members who might have access to bin Laden.
"Just keep working that list bit by bit," one senior intelligence official recalls John telling his team. "He's there somewhere. We'll get there."
John rose through the ranks of the counterterrorism center, but because of his nearly unrivaled experience, he always had influence beyond his title. One former boss confessed that he didn't know exactly what John's position was.
"I knew he was the guy in the room I always listened to," the official said.
While he was shepherding the hunt for bin Laden, John also was pushing to expand the Predator program, the agency's use of unmanned airplanes to launch missiles at terrorists. The CIA largely confined those strikes to targets along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. But in late 2007 and early 2008, John said the CIA needed to carry out those attacks deeper inside Pakistan.
It was a risky move. Pakistan was an important but shaky ally. John's analysts saw an increase in the number of Westerners training in Pakistani terrorist camps. John worried that those men would soon start showing up on U.S. soil.
"We've got to act," John said, a former senior intelligence official recalls. "There's no explaining inaction."
John took the analysis to then CIA Director Michael Hayden, who agreed and took the recommendation to President George W. Bush. In the last months of the Bush administration, the CIA began striking deeper inside Pakistan. Obama immediately adopted the same strategy and stepped up the pace. Recent attacks have killed al-Qaida's No. 3 official, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, and Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
All the while, John's team was working the list of bin Laden leads. In 2007, a female colleague whom the AP has also agreed not to identify decided to zero in on a man known as Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, a nom de guerre. Other terrorists had identified al-Kuwaiti as an important courier for al-Qaida's upper echelon, and she believed that finding him might help lead to bin Laden.
"They had their teeth clenched on this and they weren't going to let go," McLaughlin said of John and his team. "This was an obsession."
It took three years, but in August 2010, al-Kuwaiti turned up on a National Security Agency wiretap. The female analyst, who had studied journalism at a Big Ten university, tapped out a memo for John, "Closing in on Bin Laden Courier," saying her team believed al-Kuwaiti was somewhere on the outskirts of Islamabad.
As the CIA homed in on al-Kuwaiti, John's team continually updated the memo with fresh information. Everyone knew that anything with bin Laden's name on it would shoot right to the director's desk and invite scrutiny, so the early drafts played down hopes that the courier would lead to bin Laden. But John saw the bigger picture. The hunt for al-Kuwaiti was effectively the hunt for bin Laden, and he was not afraid to say so.
The revised memo was finished in September 2010. John, by then deputy chief of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Department, emailed it to those who needed to know. The title was "Anatomy of a Lead."
As expected, the memo immediately became a hot topic inside CIA headquarters and Director Leon Panetta wanted to know more. John never overpromised, colleagues recall, but he was unafraid to say there was a good chance this might be the break the agency was looking for.
The CIA tracked al-Kuwaiti to a walled compound in Abbottabad. If bin Laden was hiding there, in a busy suburb not far from Pakistan's military academy, it challenged much of what the agency had assumed about his hideout.
But John said it wasn't that far-fetched. Drawing on what he knew about bin Laden's earlier hideouts, he said it made sense that bin Laden had surrounded himself only with his couriers and family and did not use phones or the Internet. The CIA knew that top al-Qaida operatives had lived in urban areas before.
A cautious Panetta took the information to Obama, but there was much more work to be done.
The government tried everything to figure out who was in that compound.
In a small house nearby, the CIA put people who would fit in and not draw any attention. They watched and waited but turned up nothing definitive. Satellites captured images of a tall man walking the grounds of the compound, but never got a look at his face.
Again and again, John and his team asked themselves who else might be living in that compound. They came up with five or six alternatives; bin Laden was always the best explanation.
This went on for months. By about February, John told his bosses, including Panetta, that the CIA could keep trying, but the information was unlikely to get any better. He told Panetta this might be their best chance to find bin Laden and it would not last forever. Panetta made that same point to the president
Panetta held regular meetings on the hunt, often concluding with an around-the-table poll: How sure are you that this is bin Laden?
John was always bullish, rating his confidence as high as 80 percent.
Others weren't so sure, especially those who had been in the room for operations that went bad. Not two years earlier, the CIA thought it had an informant who could lead him to bin Laden's deputy. That man blew himself up at a base in Khost, Afghanistan, killing seven CIA employees and injuring six others.
That didn't come up in the meetings with Panetta, a senior intelligence official said. But everyone knew the risk the CIA was taking if it told the president that bin Laden was in Abbottabad and was wrong.
"We all knew that if he wasn't there and this was a disaster, certainly there would be consequences," the official recalled.
John was among several CIA officials who repeatedly briefed Obama and others at the White House. Current and former officials involved in the discussions said John had a coolness and a reassuring confidence.
By April, the president had decided to send the Navy SEALs to assault the compound.
Though the plan was in motion, John went back to his team, a senior intelligence official said.
"Right up to the last hour," he told them, "if we get any piece of information that suggests it's not him, somebody has to raise their hand before we risk American lives."
Nobody did. Inside the Situation Room, the analyst who was barely known outside the close-knit intelligence world took his place alongside the nation's top security officials, the household names and well-known faces of Washington.
An agonizing 40 minutes after Navy SEALs stormed the compound, the report came back: Bin Laden was dead.
John and his team had guessed correctly, taking an intellectual risk based on incomplete information. It was a gamble that ended a decade of disappointment. Later, Champagne was uncorked back at the CIA, where those in the Counterterrorism Center who had targeted bin Laden for so long celebrated. John's team reveled in the moment.
Two days after bin Laden's death, John accompanied Panetta to Capitol Hill. The Senate Intelligence Committee wanted a full briefing on the successful mission. At one point in the private session, Panetta turned to the man whose counterterrorism resume spanned four CIA directors.
He began to speak, about the operation and about the years of intelligence it was based on. And as he spoke about the mission that had become his career, the calm, collected analyst paused, and he choked up.
SOURCE
http://news.yahoo.com/ap-enterprise-man-hunted-osama-bin-laden-040627805.html
It's been a rough six months for Hollywood, which turned out a string of disappointments at the domestic box office.
Some hurt more than others, depending upon their production budgets and marketing spends. The following list doesn't account for how much was spent on marketing, since studios hold those figures closed to their chests, but we're talking many, many millions.
Rihanna rocked stripes as part of a nautical-themed ensemble for her performance on "Today" in New York. The "Only Girl (In the World)" singer accessorized with long red locks, high-waisted shorts, fishnet stockings, and -- the kicker -- a captain's hat.
SYCAMORE, Ill. (AP) — Charles "Chuck" Ridulph always assumed the person who stole his little sister from the neighborhood corner where she played and dumped her body in a wooded stretch some 100 miles away was a trucker or passing stranger — surely not anyone from the hometown he remembers as one big, friendly playground.
And, after more than a half century passed since her death, he assumed the culprit also had died or was in prison for some other crime.
On Saturday, he said he was stunned by the news that a one-time neighbor had been charged in the kidnapping and killing that captured national attention, including that of the president and FBI chief. Prosecutors in bucolic Sycamore, a city of 15,000 that's home to a yearly pumpkin festival, charged a former police officer Friday in the 1957 abduction of 7-year-old Maria Ridulph after an ex-girlfriend's discovery of an unused train ticket blew a hole in his alibi.
Jack Daniel McCullough, 71, has been held in Seattle on $3 million bail. A judge overseeing a Saturday court appearance for him said he had been taken to a regional trauma center but did not elaborate. She rescheduled his bail hearing for 12:30 p.m. Monday.
"I just can't believe that after all these years they'd be able to find this guy," Chuck Ridulph told The Associated Press at his duplex in Sycamore, about 50 miles west of Chicago.
A 65-year-old minister who mainly serves his area's senior citizens, Ridulph once shared a bedroom with his sister and already has his headstone placed on a burial plot next to her grave. With McCullough's arrest, he worries about a drawn-out legal process that will dredge up bad memories but also perhaps answer some nagging, stomach-churning questions about what happened to the little girl who loved to play dress up.
"It's in my every thought, even in my dreams," he said of his sister's death. "It was just like it was yesterday. It comes up all the time in conversation."
Sycamore Police Chief Donald Thomas was reluctant to discuss the case when found at home Saturday. But he said, "we believe we know who did it. We believe we have a strong case."
His department's breakthrough was a long time coming.
Maria disappeared Dec. 3, 1957, while doing what kids in Sycamore did then — playing. Maria's friend, Kathy Chapman, who was 8 at the time, recalled that she and Maria were under a corner streetlight when a young man she knew as "Johnny" offered them a piggyback ride. Chapman, now 61 and living in St. Charles, Ill., told the AP she ran home to get mittens and that when she returned, Maria and the man were gone.
"She was my best friend," Chapman told the AP on Saturday. "We played every day. We were always together."
The search for Maria grew to involve more than 1,000 law enforcement officers and numerous other community members, ultimately catching the eye of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who requested daily updates.
"Things never went back to normal," Chapman said. "It was always a struggle. I didn't have a normal childhood after that."
Christmas came and went, with a pogo stick wrapped as a gift for Maria remaining unopened, her brother remembered. Then in April 1958, two people foraging for mushrooms found her remains.
Police suspected McCullough, who lived less than two blocks from the Ridulphs and who fit the description of the man said to have approached the girls, Thomas said Friday. But McCullough seemed to have an alibi, claiming he took the train from Rockford to Chicago the day of the abduction.
His story fell apart last year after investigators reinterviewed a woman who dated him in 1957 and asked her to search through some personal items, the Seattle Times reported, citing court documents. She found an unused train ticket from Rockford to Chicago dated the day the girl went missing.
"Once his alibi crumbled, we found about a dozen other facts that helped us build our case," Thomas said.
The Times reported investigators also determined a collect phone call McCullough purportedly made to his then-girlfriend from Chicago actually came from his Sycamore home the day Maria vanished — and he gave a ride to a relative when he should have been on the train.
Chapman said police never showed her a photo of McCullough in the days and months after Maria was kidnapped. But in September of last year, she said investigators came to her with a photo of a teenage McCullough. She identified him as the "Johnny" who approached her and Maria the night her friend vanished. At the time, McCullough's name was John Tessier.
Chapman was shocked to learn the case was still being investigated. She said she had received information some years before about it being closed.
When she got the news that McCullough was charged, she said she was "just ecstatic, could not be happier."
"We've been waiting a long, long time for this," said Chapman, who has three children and three grandchildren.
By Saturday, word of McCullough's arrest had swept throughout Sycamore, its main street adorned by American flags tethered to parking meters and lined by mom-and-pop shops. The prospect of reliving one of the most upsetting moments in the town's history during a trial was already weighing on Dick Larson, a rural mail carrier who went to school with Chuck Ridulph.
"It breaks my heart to think we have to go through this again. This is 54 years ago. It just brings back a whole river flow of memories," the 65-year-old said before crying.
He doesn't believe a conviction will bring closure or help the town heal.
"That's a standard way of thinking, that there's justice and closure," he said. "The people who go through it, they deal with it forever."
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Associated Press writers Jim Suhr in St. Louis and Donna Blankinship in Seattle contributed to this report.
