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Jury Deliberates in Corruption Trial of John Edwards

19 May

The trial of former senator and presidential candidate John Edwards on campaign finance–related corruption charges continues with little hint of the outcome.

The trial centers around a $725,000 dollar donation Edwards received during his failed 2008 presidential campaign from 101-year-old Rachel Mellon, and the fact that he allegedly used that and other campaign funds to cover up the affair he was having with a staffer, Rielle Hunter, with whom he also had a child.

At the time, his wife, Elizabeth, was battling cancer. After the affair became public, she separated from her husband.  She died in December of 2010.

A key part of John Edwards’s defense is that he would have solicited money from friends and family regardless of whether he was running for president.  Because Mellon is a friend of Edwards, it’s not clear whether the money constitutes a campaign donation or a private gift from a friend.  Documents relating to the donation, including the checks themselves and a handwritten letter from Mellon to Edwards, are among the evidence in the trial. Ms. Mellon also offered to pay for Edwards’s haircuts and similar expenses, after his infamous $400 haircut drew the attention of the public.

A former Edwards aide, Patrick Young, testified in the trial under condition of immunity from prosecution.  Young was involved in the cover-up, even claiming paternity of Ms. Hunter’s child himself.  He and his wife received the checks that Mrs. Mellon wrote, rather than Edwards directly.  The defense has attacked Young’s character, claiming he kept large sums of money for himself.

Edwards initially refused to admit paternity, claiming a “one-in-three” chance that the child was his, but finally did after months of denial.

The jury adjourned this weekend after half a day of deliberations on Friday, with no sign that they were close to a verdict.  Edwards is facing charges on six felony counts, including conspiracy and illegal use of campaign funds.

If convicted, Edwards faces up to 30 years in prison, and fines up to $1.5 million, though it is unlikely he would be sentenced to the full penalty.  Because of the loosening of campaign finance laws since 2008, many experts think the prosecution will have difficulty convicting Edwards.

 
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President Obama Announces Drawdown In Afghanistan

02 May

In a speech Tuesday from Kabul, Afghanistan, President Obama announced the commencement of a long-expected drawdown of American troops in that country.

Soldiers leaving Iraq in 2008 | U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Erik Gudmundson

Soldiers leaving Iraq in 2008 | U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Erik Gudmundson

He spoke during an unannounced visit to the country, during which he and Afghani president Hamid Karzai signed an agreement outlining the terms of the drawdown.

“Today, I signed an historic agreement between the United States and Afghanistan that defines a new kind of relationship between our countries – a future in which Afghans are responsible for the security of their nation, and we build an equal partnership between two sovereign states; a future in which the war ends, and a new chapter begins,” the president said in his speech.

President Obama outlined the terms of the drawdown, emphasizing the goal of Afghani responsibility for security in the country.  He said that the transition had already begun, and that US troops would shift to a more advisory role rather than the active military role they are playing currently.  Under the terms of the pact, 23,000 troops will return home by the end of the summer, with regular drawdowns continuing after that as security is handed over to the Afghanis.  As expected, the transition should be complete by 2014.

The agreement is not, however, a full withdrawal.  Rather, the president said that the pact outlined terms of the United States’ sustained involvement in the country, suggesting a partnership designed to last at least for the next decade.

The president emphasized that while the major mission in Afghanistan is complete, there is still work to be done before the war is over.

“Still, there will be difficult days ahead,” he said. “The enormous sacrifices of our men and women are not over.”

Underscoring that point, Kabul was rocked by a suicide bombing soon after the President’s visit.  At least six people were killed in the blast.  The Taliban took credit for the attack, which targeted a compound used by United Nations workers, saying it was meant as a message and a show of strength.

The Taliban have been increasingly active in recent months, making their presence felt as the United States and NATO troops prepare to withdraw from the country.  Last month, they orchestrated a coordinated series of gun and bomb attacks throughout the country.  They are expected to be a major political factor in postwar Afghanistan.

 
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Taliban Rocks Afghanistan With Coordinated Attacks

17 Apr

In a coordinated, hours-long attack meant as a show of force, suicide bombers and gunmen on Sunday assaulted the diplomatic quarter and Parliament in Kabul, as well as locations in three other provinces of Afghanistan.

Officials blamed an offshoot of the Taliban, the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, for the attacks. The same group, which has transformed itself from a criminal family into a notorious fighting force, was responsible for a series of assaults on the American Embassy last September.

The attacks, which were launched simultaneously at 1:45 PM local time, all began with small arms fire, followed by explosions. Taliban soldiers took up positions in buildings under construction and engaged local Afghani security forces.

While 39 attackers, some of them suicide bombers, died, according to Afghan officials, fewer than 11 Afghan security officers were killed, with few civilian casualties.  However, the attack was clearly meant more to send a message.

“This is a message to those foreign commanders who claim that the Taliban lost momentum,” Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said. “We just showed that we are here and we will launch and stage attacks whenever we want.”

NATO is preparing to hand over security to the Afghani government, a move that should see foreign troops—including Americans—out of the country by 2014.  In spite of NATO efforts to quash it, the Taliban is expected to be a major player in the new, independent Afghanistan, and the attacks call into question both NATO intelligence operations, and the ability of local security forces to fight off the Taliban once foreign troops leave.

President Hamid Karzai, who is from the same area of Afghanistan where the Taliban is based, has come under heavy fire domestically both for his administration’s corruption, and for his outreach efforts to the Taliban, who are reviled by many Afghans. In a speech on Tuesday, he denounced the attacks and praised the actions of the Afghan security forces, while speaking regretfully of the loss of life on both sides.  He also defended his outreach to the Taliban, who he has sometimes called his brothers, and outlined his vision of the future of an independent Afghanistan.

In the meantime, Australia, the largest non-NATO troop presence in the country, also announced Tuesday that it would pull its soldiers out sooner than scheduled. The country will begin withdrawing its soldiers as soon as Karzai declares Afghanistan capable of defending itself, which he is expected to do within a month.  Australia has had troops in the country since 2001, and the war has been increasingly unpopular with the Australian public.

 
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F-18 Fighter Jet Crashes into Virginia Apartment Complex

06 Apr

An F-18 fighter plane belonging to the US Navy crashed into an apartment complex in Virginia Beach, VA just after noon on Friday.

F/A-18C Hornet launching

F/A-18C Hornet launching | US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Benjamin Crossley

Both pilots managed to eject safely before the crash, which occurred just after takeoff.  NBC news reported that the pilots as well as 5 civilians had been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.  In the meantime, video surfaced showing the apartment building on fire. Residents described hearing a series of explosions followed by flames, and said that the pilots were bloodied and in shock, but seemed not to have suffered any serious injuries.

Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms released a statement Friday afternoon urging people to avoid the crash site, and applauding local agencies for their work in the aftermath of the accident. Authorities were still searching the damaged apartments for victims, but remained optimistic that no fatalities occurred.

According to the Associated Press, the jet dumped a large amount of fuel in the moments before it crashed, meaning there was a relatively small amount of fuel on board at the time of the impact. That action likely prevented the damage from being much worse. It was unclear whether the fuel was dumped on purpose or as a result of a malfunction.

Bruce Nedelka, EMS division chief in Virginia Beach, said that if the fuel hadn’t been dumped, the crash would have caused “an absolute massive, massive fireball and fire…. With all of that jet fuel dumped, it was much less than what it could have been.”

The plane took off from nearby Naval Air Station Oceana, less than ten miles from the crash site. The pilot team included a student and an instructor, although it was not immediately known how experienced the student pilot was. The Navy has blamed the crash on mechanical malfunction rather than pilot error.

In 2008, an F-18 on a training run crashed into two homes outside of San Diego, killing 4 members of a family. The plane was malfunctioning, but the pilot also missed an opportunity for an emergency landing.  He ejected safely but had to watch his plane destroy the homes as he parachuted to the ground.

 
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President Obama Speaks Out About Trayvon Martin Shooting

23 Mar

President Obama spoke out for the first time Friday about the recent shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Martin, who is black, was followed and shot in the gated community of Sanford, FL by George Zimmerman, a white neighborhood watch leader. Martin was on his way home from a convenience store when he was killed. Zimmerman, who has not been charged with anything, claims he thought Martin was armed.

“If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” Obama said, weighing in on the controversy for the first time. “And I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we’re going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.”

A federal investigation into the shooting is underway. Meanwhile, Sanford police chief Bill Lee has recused himself from the investigation after a vote of no-confidence from the Sanford City Commission over his handling of the incident. Lee and the local police have come under intense criticism for failing to arrest Zimmerman.

The self-styled watch leader had been the subject of numerous complaints from his neighbors about his overzealous approach to law enforcement, but police failed to act on the complaints.

Zimmerman called 911 immediately prior to the shooting, insisting that Martin was acting suspicious. The call shows that he followed Martin against the objections of the 911 operator on the line.

The case has thrown a harsh spotlight on Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which essentially allows a person to act with deadly force if they feel threatened by another. Under the law, a judge can dismiss charges without bringing a case to trial. Proponents of the law insist that Martin is still culpable and should be prosecuted.

The incident has ignited a firestorm of near-unanimous outrage across the country. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called Martin’s death “a tragedy” while calling for an investigation.

Rep. Allen West (R-FL) was more direct. In a statement posted online, West called the case “an outrage” and declared that Zimmerman “certainly should not be walking free.”

At the time of his death Martin was wearing a hooded sweatshirt—a detail that prompted Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade to post a picture of himself wearing a hoodie to his Facebook account; later, the entire Heat team wore hoodies for a group photo that LeBron James tweeted—and carrying a can of iced tea and a pack of Skittles. He was not armed.

 
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Disruption from Solar Flares Doesn’t Materialize

09 Mar

On Thursday, the earth’s upper atmosphere was buffeted by solar radiation emitted by a pair of coronal mass ejections that erupted from the sun Tuesday night.  However, disruption to GPS satellites, radio communications, and the power grid did not materialize as was widely feared.

March 6, 2012's X class solar flare

March 6, 2012's X class solar flare | NASA image

The radiation hit the earth at an angle and so the effect was minimized, according to Joe Kunches,  a spokesman for the NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, speaking in a press conference with reporters, though disruption could still occur.  Friday morning, the atmosphere was still undergoing a massive geomagnetic storm caused by the solar event.

The storm started in the middle of the week, but was relatively mild.  Lately, however, the orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field has shifted relative to the incoming radiation, allowing the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) to deposit radiation and magnetic energy more directly at the Earth.  In other words, what was a glancing blow is now more of a direct hit.

CMEs and solar flares are related but distinct phenomena. According to NASA, solar flares are an eruption of solar radiation associated with sunspots on the star’s surface, and can last for minutes or hours. Coronal Mass Ejections, by contrast, are essentially bubbles of gas and electromagnetic radiation that are released based on variations in the sun’s magnetic fields. Often, CMEs occur in conjunction with solar flares, as was the case on Tuesday.

While no damage has yet occurred from March 6th’s solar flares, scientists caution that disruption could still happen with future events.  The sun is approaching a period of volatility known as “solar maximum” that only occurs every 11 years.  Moreover, the region of the sun where the eruptions occurred will be facing the Earth for a week or more, and further flares and CMEs could hit the atmosphere more directly.  Most industries in the United States that might be affected, such as airliners and the military, were all prepared for the worst going into Tuesdays event.  The solar storms ongoing are much less severe than was expected and have had virtually no effect on the Earth’s surface.

So far, though one European satellite orbiting Venus has been damaged, the tangible effects of the events have been limited mostly to spectacular manifestations of the aurora borealis.

 

 
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ESPN employee dismissed over offensive Jeremy Lin headline

20 Feb

ESPN has fired the editor responsible for a controversial headline that appeared on the company’s website last Saturday, Feb. 18.

After the New Orleans Hornets beat the New York Knicks 89-85, snapping the Knicks’ 7 game win streak, the headline “A Chink In The Armor?” appeared on ESPN’s mobile site, accompanied by a picture of point guard sensation Jeremy Lin, who is Asian-American.

Lin, an undrafted second-year player out of Harvard, was on the verge of being waived when he was inserted into a game against the New Jersey Nets on February 4th.  Lin scored 25 points and dished out 7 assists, sparking a seemingly hopeless Knicks team to victory and earning a spot in the starting lineup in the process.  Lin became an overnight sensation—the phenomenon dubbed ‘Linsanity—and a hero to Asian-Americans who have few role models in American sports.

Since bursting onto the scene, Lin has led the Knicks to a 8-1 record, and seems to add to his legend every night. He hit the game-winning three at the buzzer against Toronto, scored 38 against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, and led several memorable comebacks, including Sunday’s victory against the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, when he scored 28 points and dished out 14 assists. He has revitalized the Knicks franchise, even boosting the stock of MSG, the company which owns the team.

Though Lin has electrified basketball fans everywhere, there has been a darker side to Linsanity, as Lin has been faced with racism, veiled or outright, from some fans and the media. The most high-profile of these incidents was the ESPN headline.

The headline was greeted by an online firestorm and ESPN removed it within half an hour of its going online at around 2:30 am Saturday. ESPN acted quickly to fire the headline writer, and release a statement apologizing to Lin and to the Asian-American community.

We again apologize, especially to Mr. Lin. His accomplishments are a source of great pride to the Asian-American community, including the Asian-American employees at ESPN. Through self-examination, improved editorial practices and controls, and response to constructive criticism, we will be better in the future.

Anthony Federico, the fired editor, called the headline an “honest mistake” but also said he understood why he was axed.  ”ESPN did what they had to do,” he said.

“This had nothing to do with me being cute or punny,” he told the New York Daily News. ”I’m so sorry that I offended people. I’m so sorry if I offended Jeremy.”

ESPN also suspended radio anchor Max Bretos, who used the same phrase during an interview, for 30 days. Bretos has since apologized.

 
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Tiger Woods Re-Enters The PGA With A New Rolex Deal

03 Oct
Professional golfer Tiger Woods is re-entering the professional golf tour in the hopes of resurrecting the ashes of a once promising and bright career.

Tiger Woods entered the pro golf world in 1996 at the age of 20 and became an overnight sensation in the sports world. He was named 1996’s PGA Rookie of the Year. By 1997, Woods had won his first Masters Tournament by a 12 stroke lead, and his career skyrocketed from there.

Tiger Woods shattered records set by previous golf legends for over ten years. He became the youngest pro golfer to win a Grand Slam. He tied with Jack Nicklaus to have won a Grand Slam three times. He earned the title PGA Player of the Year ten times. He held the number one position in the world rankings for more weeks in a row than any golfer before or since.

From a financial standpoint, Woods did quite well through PGA earnings as well as a number of lucrative endorsements. Woods was the spokesperson for Nike, Titleist, General Mills Foods, General Motors/Buick, AT&T, Tag Heuer, and the American Express Card. He was dropped from his endorsement deals in 2009.

For over a decade, Tiger Woods was an icon of sports and one of the best known Americans throughout the world. He was admired for his sports prowess and his dedication to success.

In December of 2009, the luck of Tiger Woods had changed. Amid a sex scandal that unfolded, revealing stories of over a dozen lurid extramarital affairs, Tiger Woods announced that he was taking an indefinite leave from playing golf. His subsequent divorce led to an alimony settlement of over $100 million dollars. He returned to pro golf in 2010 but ongoing knee injuries affected him throughout 2010 and he finished in the worst place of his career. Tiger Woods appeared to be finished in the golf world.

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the talented and determined Tiger Woods appears to be rising to attempt to reclaim his place among golf royalty.

With apologies to his fans for the sex scandals, a knee that appears to be on the mend, this new Tiger Woods has emerged. A little bit older, and a lot wiser, this Tiger Woods has worked on restoring his image in the American media.

On October 5, 2011, Tiger Woods signed an endorsement deal with watch manufacturer Rolex, who believes that Woods still has a lot of fans and a lot of good years of golfing ahead of him.

On October 6, 2011, Tiger Woods will re-enter the PGA on October 6, 2011 at the Frys.com open. The eyes of America will be on Tiger Woods as he tries to reclaim the feeling of victory in the golf world, and tries to reclaim the heart of the American people.

 
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Rising Incidents with Heat Stroke

05 Aug

We all know summertime is going to be hot, well we hope so.  Therefore, we all prepare for the humidity, sweaty sticky-ness, and inability to sleep comfortably through the night.  Seeing that heat is not exactly something new to us, you would assume that we know how to deal with it.

Unfortunately, this is not the case all the time especially when it comes to sports and working in the heat.  For some reasons humans like to think they are invincible, and the second before they realize they aren’t it can be too late.  In the past week there have been three deaths in Georgia caused by heat, claiming the life of two students and a coach. Between 1999 and 2003, there were 3,442 reported deaths resulting from exposure to extreme heat, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Thats four years where so many had to lose their lives because of the heat?

Hot Temperature

Photo provided by Sister72

Clearly there is a break down somewhere.  There have been guidelines set into place in school districts that coaches abide by to keep their players safe during the pre-season.  However, there are no actual rules protecting high schools students from heat related incidents.  No doubt that there is room for improvement here, but that is not the only issue.

One of the biggest issues is the lack of knowledge of what heat stroke actually is.  Kids aren’t aware that they are in severe danger because it doesn’t feel like such a departure from being mildly dehydrated.  When peoples’ muscles start cramping, your legs become weak, and vision is blurry, it’s time to seek help.  People need to understand what it is, in order to avoid it.

Overall, these tragic incidents, which are absolutely preventable, are not being given enough attention.  The need to become educated about the dangers of heat has never been more clear.

 
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