A strategist for Mitt Romney says it's "increasingly difficult" for Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich to catch up with their candidate in the race for delegates.
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Romney\'s campaign says lead is too much for rivals
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Santorum\'s strategy: Get Gingrich out, barnstorm the South
The candidate could challenge Romney in the South, but not when Newt Gingrich stands in his way.
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Obama aide: Romney couldn\'t face Limbaugh, how will he face Iran?
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Peyton Manning's record-breaking run as quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts ended Wednesday, when owner Jim Irsay announced the team would release its best player.
"We all know that nothing lasts forever," Manning said. "Times change, circumstances change, and that's the reality of playing in the NFL."
Manning and Irsay each paused frequently, fighting tears and their voices shaking, as they appeared together at a news conference at the Colts' team complex. It was an unusual and awkward scene, two men whose NFL lives have been so closely intertwined, standing side-by-side in jackets and ties as they told the world they were splitting up.
"This has not been easy for Jim," Manning said, "and this has certainly not been easy for me."
The 35-year-old Manning will become a free agent, and is expected to generate interest from a half-dozen or so NFL clubs, provided he's healthy. Manning is coming off a series of operations to his neck and missed all of last season when his team's record, not coincidentally, plummeted to 2-14.
Indianapolis needed to cut him this week to avoid paying him a $28 million bonus, although both Irsay and Manning insisted the decision was not really about money. The Colts are widely expected to begin moving on by taking Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the No. 1 overall pick in April's draft.
Irsay repeatedly used the word "rebuilding" and acknowledged: "We're definitely a few years away."
Manning won't retire and hopes to be playing in the NFL at the start of next season.
Still, he said Wednesday: "I'll always be a Colt. I always will be. That'll never change."
Â
The announcement was made in a room at the Colts' complex normally reserved for celebratory news conferences, such as the hiring of a new coach or general manager - two other major steps Irsay took recently. The room is lined with banners honoring some of the team's greatest stars, including, of course, Manning himself, flanked by Pro Football Hall of Famer members Eric Dickerson and John Mackey.
Clearly, this was not an easy goodbye for Manning. He even got choked up while discussing all of the Colts employees he'll no longer be around, pausing to collect himself while noting: "We've got the greatest equipment guys in the world."
Manning forever will be thought of around these parts as No. 18, the quarterback who led the Colts to an NFL championship, barking out signals while waving his arms at the line of scrimmage to change a play after reading the defense - something he did as well as any QB.
He'll be remembered, too, for his record four MVP awards, his 50,000 yards passing and his 200 consecutive starts. Most of all, Manning will be the guy in the horseshoe helmet who turned around a franchise and transformed a basketball-loving city into a football hotbed that hosted the Super Bowl a month ago.
And during that Super Bowl week, the hottest topic of conversation was Peyton Manning, not his younger brother Eli, who wound up leading the New York Giants to the title.
Arizona, Miami, Tennessee, Washington and the New York Jets all have been rumored as possible destinations now; Manning's former offensive coordinator in Indianapolis, Tom Moore, worked for the Jets as a consultant last season.
"There will be no other Peyton Manning," Irsay said, adding that he hoped Wednesday's joint appearance would serve to "honor incredible memories and incredible things that he's done for the franchise, for the city, for the state."
This marks the end of a remarkably successful marriage between a player and team.
After being a No. 1 draft pick himself, Manning started every meaningful game for 13 seasons in Indianapolis - 227 in a row, including the playoffs - and took the Colts from perennial also-ran to one of the NFL's model franchises and the 2007 Super Bowl title.
In the two decades predating his arrival, the Colts won 116 games, one division title and made the playoffs three times. With Manning taking snaps, the Colts have won 150 games, eight division titles, two AFC championships and the franchise's first league championship since moving from Baltimore in 1984.
Indianapolis broke the NFL record for most regular-season wins in a decade (115), and tied Dallas' mark for most consecutive playoff appearances (nine).
Manning is one of just four players to reach 50,000 yards passing, one of three with more than 350 TD tosses, and one of two quarterbacks with more than 200 starts in a row. He broke all of the franchise's major career passing records, previously held by Hall of Fame quarterback John Unitas.
In 2009, Manning led the Colts to the cusp of NFL history with a 14-0 start, fueling talk of an unbeaten season.
But it has been mostly bad news ever since.
The Colts pulled their starters against the Jets and lost the final two games that season. Indy then wound up losing to New Orleans in the Super Bowl. During the offseason, Manning had the first of his neck operations.
Then, after making an early playoff exit in the 2010 season, Manning underwent another neck surgery to repair a damaged nerve that was causing weakness in his throwing arm.
When the nerve did not heal as quickly as expected, Manning had two vertebrae fused in September, an operation that forced him to miss a game for the first time in his NFL career. There are still questions about the strength of Manning's arm.
But given all that he's accomplished, there are sure to be new suitors.
"I'm throwing it pretty well. I've still got some work to do; I've got some progress to make," Manning said. "But I've come a long way. I've really worked hard. I can't tell you the hours and the time I've put in."
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Political Punch
Matt Flavin is part of the one percent. No, not necessarily that one percent -- Flavin served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, which makes him a minority in this country.
"One percent of the American population serves in uniform," said Flavin, who is not only a veteran, but also the former director of the White House's Office of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy.
In 2005 and 2006, Flavin was attached to a SEAL team in Baghdad, Ramadi and Fallujah, Iraq gathering intelligence. He later served in eastern Afghanistan, and not long afterward came to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The recent White House dinner honoring Iraq veterans was, as the president said, an opportunity for the country to express its gratitude for the men and women that served in Iraq, to welcome them home. But as Flavin knows all too well, coming home, is not always easy.
"I think everyone comes home changed," said Flavin, adding that it took him some time to transition back to life outside of a war zone.
"You don't sleep well, you think a lot about what you've been through, you think a lot about what you've come home to," said the retired navy officer.
"A lot of people have that story about going to get a cup of coffee and, you know, the person in front of them being upset about the foam on their latte ... not being foamy enough. And just being totally disgusted about being back."
The story illustrates the disconnect between the Americans who have escaped these wars untouched, and those who have not been so fortunate. The divide can be particularly painful for those who have lost loved ones. One father of a man who received an award posthumously told us the American people would rather think about anything other than the men and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Flavin says for those who are on active duty, it can be tough to turn around and see people across the United States simply living their regular lives.
"It's hard not to be a little bit angry when you see the tremendous sacrifice that some have paid in this war," said Flavin, while others have been completely unaffected.
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Valedictorian wins deportation fight — for now
The valedictorian of a Florida high school who was close to being deported has won a reprieve from the Department of Homeland Security, which is deferring action for two years.
Attorney Nera Shefer's office received notification from the Department of Homeland Security Tuesday that Daniela Pelaez was given a deferred action for two years.
Pelaez, 18, came to the United States from Colombia with her family when she was four years old. She has applied to several Ivy League universities and wants to become a surgeon. She has a 6.7 grade point average.
A judge denied her request for relief from deportation last Monday.Â
Students at North Miami High School rallied around her, holding a protest over the judge's decision and an online petition that collected thousands of signatures. The protest drew more than 2,600 students, teachers and community members who held banners and chanted “Justice for Daniela," according to the Miami Herald.
Miami Valedictorian Continues Fight Against Deportation Order
Press reports said the turnout in support of Pelaez was one of the largest immigration protests in South Florida since President George W. Bush first proposed the legalization of millions of undocumented immigrants in 2004.Â
She is also supported by Republicans Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Pelaez became a flashpoint of the raging national, years-long debate over what to do with the many undocumented youths across the country who were brought illegally by adults, grow up in the United States, and face deportation or encounter barriers when they try to go to college.
Fox News Latino Poll: Latino Voters Support the DREAM Act
Efforts to pass legislation, called the DREAM Act, to allow such youths a chance to legalize their status if they meet a strict set of criteria -- including graduating from high school, then either attending college or serving in the military -- have failed to pass in Congress.
The Obama Administration last year said it would overhaul the deportation process to prioritize tracking down and expelling undocumented immigrants who have criminal backgrounds or pose a threat to national security. The administration, which is rolling out the new deportation approach in phases, said it would review the deportation cases of other undocumented immigrants, including those brought to the country as children and who had no say in the decision to come to the United States illegally.
Larry Jurrist, a school administrator, told WSVN that he would like to see Pelaez continue her education in the United States.
"She has a brother whose been serving for two years in Afghanistan and Iraq, so here's her brother out defending the country, and a judge telling her, 'Oh, but you don't deserve to be here,'" he said to the station.
"It doesn't make any sense."
Pelaez says she is excited by the Department of Homeland Security's action, but that it is also bittersweet because it is a temporary solution.
This story contains material from The Associated Press.
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FDA warns consumers not to use skin products containing mercury
Federal health officials are warning consumers not to use certain off-brand skin creams, antiseptic soaps and lotions because they may contain mercury, according to a report released by the Food and Drug Administration.
The products are marketed as skin lighteners and anti-aging treatments that remove age spots, freckles, blemishes and wrinkles, said Gary Coody, the national health fraud coordinator for the FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs. Â Some are also marketed as acne treatments for teenagers.
Skin products containing mercury have been found in at least seven states, including Texas, California, Virginia, Maryland, New York and Minnesota.
In Texas, health officials reported samples of face cream they tested contained mercury up to 131,000 times the allowable level, while in California, a woman suffered symptoms of mercury poisoning after using a skin cream with mercury for three years.
The products are typically manufactured abroad and sold illegally in the U.S. or bought in other countries by consumers vacationing abroad.
“If you have a product that matches these descriptions (and others listed below), stop using it immediately,†Coody said in a press release.
Dr. Linda Katz, the director of FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors, added that while the products are marketed as cosmetics, they also may be considered as unapproved new drugs.  Furthermore, the FDA said it does not allow mercury in drugs or cosmetics, except under specific conditions â€" which these skin products do not meet.
Mercury exposure can have serious health consequences, according to Dr. Charles Lee, a senior medical advisor for the FDA.
“It can damage the kidneys and the nervous system, and interfere with the development of the brain in unborn children and very young children,†Lee said.  A person can get mercury in their bodies merely by breathing in mercury vapors or touching people who have used the skin products.
The FDA is advising consumers to check the label of any skin lightening, anti-aging or other skin product they use.  If the product contains ““mercurous chloride, calomel, mercuric, mercurio, or mercury,†stop using the product immediately, the FDA said. Â
Additionally, do not use any products without labels or without English labeling provided. Â If you suspect you have used a product with mercury, contact your health care provider or the Poison Center for advice.
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Colts release quarterback Peyton Manning
INDIANAPOLIS â€"  Peyton Manning's record-breaking run as quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts ended Wednesday, when owner Jim Irsay announced the team would release its best player.
Both men paused frequently, fighting tears and their voices shaking, when they appeared together at a news conference at the Colts' team complex.
"This has not been easy for Jim," Manning said, "and this has certainly not been easy for me."
The 35-year-old Manning will become a free agent, and there is expected be interest from a half-dozen or so NFL clubs, provided he's healthy. Manning is coming off a series of operations to his neck and missed all of last season.
Indianapolis needed to cut him this week to avoid paying him a $28 million bonus. The Colts are widely expected to begin moving on by taking Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the No. 1 overall pick in April's draft.
"It'll always be Colt," Manning said. "That'll never change."
He forever will be thought of around these parts as No. 18, the quarterback who led the Colts to an NFL championship.
He'll be remembered, too, for his record four MVP awards, his 50,000 yards passing and his 200 consecutive starts. Most of all, Manning will be the guy in the horseshoe helmet who turned around a franchise and transformed a basketball-loving city into a football hotbed that hosted the Super Bowl a month ago.
Arizona, Miami, Tennessee, Washington and the New York Jets all have been rumored as possible destinations; Manning's former offensive coordinator in Indianapolis, Tom Moore, worked for the Jets as a consultant last season.
Manning has said his goal was to play his entire career with the Colts, but a damaged nerve that forced him to have neck surgery kept him out of action for all of 2011, and not coincidentally, his team's record plummeted to 2-14.
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Santorum\'s Camp: Gingrich Must Go to Stop Romney
Rick Santorum's supporters, the morning after their candidate pulled out three Super Tuesday victories, began to apply serious pressure to Newt Gingrich to bow out of the presidential race -- arguing the former speaker is standing in the way of a fair fight between Santorum and Mitt Romney.
Santorum won Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Dakota on Super Tuesday, and in terms of the delegate count is in a solid second place.Â
The super PAC supporting the former Pennsylvania senator claimed Wednesday that Santorum -- who was overshadowed by Romney's victories in Ohio and five other states -- would have had a much bigger night had it not been for Gingrich's presence. Gingrich kept his campaign alive by winning Georgia Tuesday.Â
"With Gingrich exiting the race it would be a true head-to-head race and conservatives would be able to make a choice between a consistent conservative in Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney," Stuart Roy, an adviser to the Santorum-backing Red, White and Blue Fund, said in a statement.Â
"For instance, with Gingrich out of the race, Santorum would have won both Ohio and Michigan. Newt has become a hindrance to a conservative alternative."Â
Gingrich, though, made clear at his post-election rally in Atlanta Tuesday night that he plans to press forward.
Gingrich said he's not going to let the "elite" decide the nomination, ridiculing those who declared his campaign "dead" over the summer before he won South Carolina in January -- and suggesting he is ripe for another surge.Â
Gingrich claimed the media are depicting Santorum as the "non-Romney" candidate because they are desperate to push him out, but added: "I'm the tortoise. I just take one step at a time."
The former House speaker earned words of encouragement Tuesday night from the GOP's 2008 vice presidential nominee. Sarah Palin, though she has not formally endorsed a candidate, told Fox News that she cast her ballot for Gingrich in the Alaska caucuses Tuesday. She praised his energy policy as "spot on," acknowledging he is the "underdog" in the race. Gingrich placed fourth in the four-man race in Alaska.
GOP strategist Ed Rollins suggested Gingrich would not be swayed by calls to bow out. "At the end of the day, no one tells Newt to quit," Rollins said.Â
However, Rollins said, "Unfortunately, the tortoise may get run over by a truck."Â
Santorum is already moving aggressively into the southern states Gingrich wants to target in order to regain his footing. The Santorum campaign on Wednesday is going up with $1 million ad buys in Alabama and in Mississippi, which hold primaries next week.Â
Gingrich is banking on a string of victories in southern states, after having won South Carolina and Georgia. Underscoring that approach, his campaign has cancelled stops in Kansas ahead of that state's caucuses, and plans on staying in Mississippi and Alabama to campaign, Fox News has learned. The campaign claimed it made the "tactical" decision in order to focus on primary states instead of caucus states.Â
But the Santorum super PAC argued that Gingrich does not have the "southern appeal" he claims, counting as evidence Santorum's win Tuesday night in Tennessee. In total, Santorum has won seven states to Gingrich's two.Â
Romney, meanwhile, racked up the wins Tuesday night in Ohio, Vermont, Virginia, Idaho, Alaska and Massachusetts.Â
Coming out of Super Tuesday, Romney has a big delegate lead with 415. Santorum trails with 176. Behind those two candidates are Gingrich with 105 and Ron Paul with 47.Â
Santorum strategist John Brabender claimed Tuesday night that some of those delegates linked to Gingrich could still shift to Santorum, because they "aren't necessarily binding delegates."
Nudging Gingrich, he said that "if conservatives and Tea Party supporters unite behind Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney will not be the nominee."Â
Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond fired back, saying the "same logic applies in reverse -- I am officially calling for John Brabender to drop out and stop selling a pipe dream."Â
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Court ruling prompts F.B.I. to turn off 3,000 tracking devices
A Supreme Court decision has caused a "sea change" in law enforcement, prompting the FBI to turn off nearly 3,000 Global Positioning System (GPS) devices used to track suspects, according to the agency's general counsel.
When the decision-U.S. v. Jones-was released at the end of January, agents were ordered to stop using GPS devices immediately and told to await guidance on retrieving the devices, FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann said in a recent talk at a University of San Francisco conference. Â Weissmann said the court's ruling lacked clarity and the agency needs new guidance or it risks having cases overturned.
The Jones case stemmed from the conviction of night club owner Antoine Jones on drug charges. Law enforcement had used a variety of techniques to link him to co-conspirators in the case, including information gathered from a GPS device that was placed on a Jeep primarily used by Jones. Law enforcement had no valid warrant to place the device on the car.
Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for a five-member majority, held that the installation and use of the device constituted a search under the Fourth Amendment based on trespass grounds. The ruling overturned Jones' conviction.
"It is important to be clear about what occurred in this case," Scalia wrote. "The government physically occupied private property for the purpose of obtaining information. We have no doubt that such a physical intrusion would have been considered a 'search' within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment."
It was a narrow ruling only directly impacting those devices that were physically placed on vehicles.
Weissmann said it wasn't Scalia's majority opinion that caused such turmoil in the bureau, but a concurring opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. Alito, whose opinion was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, agreed with the Court's conclusion in the case but wrote separately because his legal reasoning differed from the majority.
Alito focused not on the attachment of the device, but the fact that law enforcement monitored Jones for about a month. Alito said "the use of longer-term GPS monitoring in investigations of most offenses impinges on expectations of privacy." Â He also suggested that Scalia's reliance on laws of trespass, will "provide no protection" for surveillance accomplished without committing a trespass.
"For example," Alito wrote, "suppose that the officers in the present case had followed respondent by surreptitiously activating a stolen vehicle detection system that came with the car when it was purchased?"
In his talk at a University of San Francisco Law Review Symposium, Weissmann suggested that Alito's concurrence means that several members of the court are concerned with long-term surveillance by technologies beyond GPS systems and that the FBI needs new guidance in order to ensure that evidence does not get thrown out.
"I just can't stress enough," Weissmann said, "what a sea change that is perceived to be within the department."
He said that after agents were told to turn off the devices, his office had to issue guidance on how some of the devices that had been used without a warrant could actually be retrieved. "We had to come up with guidance about you could locate [the devices] without violating the law," Weissmann said. "It wasn't obvious that you could turn it back on to locate it because now you needed probable cause or reasonable suspicion to do that."
Weissmann said the FBI is working on two memos for agents in the field. One seeks to give guidance about using GPS devices. Â A second one targets other technologies beyond the GPS, because, Weissmann said, "there is no reason to think this is just going to end with GPS."
"I think the court did not wrestle with the problems their decision creates," Weissmann said. "Usually the court tends to be more careful about cabining its decisions" and offering useful guidance. But in the Jones opinion, he said, the court didn't offer much clarity or any bright line rules that would have been helpful to law enforcement.
"Guidance which consist of  'two days might be good, 30 days is too long' is not very helpful," Weissmann said.
Catherine Crump, and attorney with the ACLU, welcomed the court's ruling as a first step toward preserving privacy rights.
"Alito's concurrence concerned the FBI because if tracking someone's movements violates their privacy, that should be true no matter what technology the FBI uses," says Crump. "The FBI now needs to give guidance to agents in the field, and the Alito decision raises serious questions about the constitutionality of other ways of tracking suspects."
As for Antoine Jones, the man whose conviction was thrown out because of the ruling, the government has announced that it wants to retry Jones without using evidence obtained from the GPS device. The trial is expected to start in May.
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One man scares himself every single day, just like Eleanor Roosevelt told him to. http://t.co/QZZY8oU6
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Ashton Parties With Demi\'s Kid
spotted looking frail as she deplaned in the Bahamas this weekend after a long stint in rehab, her ex-husband of just a few months, Ashton Kutcher, was spotted partying in Los Angeles.
With Moore's daughter.
Kutcher and Rumer Willis were at the Hollywood club The Sayers Club for some late night carousing Tuesday night, before being photographed - separately - leaving the nightspot.
Click here for more exclusive photos of Rumer and Ashton on x17Online.com.
Kutcher and Moore's children from her marriage to Bruce Willis have always been close (perhaps due to their closeness in age), but is it cool for Rumer to be partying with the guy who cheated on her mom, thus causing their split after seven years of marriage, which may have also led to her downward spiral that prompted a scary 911 call and finally a visit to said rehab facility in Utah?
You may tell us your opinion in comments.
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Electronic Arts bringing back \'SimCity\' franchise
While most people have played the “if I had a million dollars I would ____ †thought game, few fill that blank in with “stay on public assistance.â€
Amanda Clayton, a 24-year-old from Lincoln Park, Michigan, is one of the few who does, and she is getting away with it. Clayton won $1 million from the Michigan State Lottery this fall, but she is still collecting and using $200 a month in food assistance from the taxpayers with her Michigan Bridge Card.
“I thought that they would cut me off, but since they didn't, I thought maybe it was okay because I'm not working,†the lottery winner who just purchased a new house and car told Local 4 in Detroit. The station even filmed her shamelessly purchasing goods.
When Local 4 asked if she felt she had a right to the money, Clayton responded, “I mean I kinda do.â€
Clayton justified the sentiment by explaining that after taking her winnings in a lump sum and having to pay taxes, the total amount was just over half of the initial winnings.
“I feel that it's okay because I mean, I have no income and I have bills to pay,†she said. “I have two houses.â€
Watch Local 4 confront Clayton:
A bill to prevent this type of behavior, sponsored by state Republican Rep. Dale Zorn has passed the state House, as has a companion bill in the state Senate.
“Public assistance should be given to those who are in need of public assistance, not those who have found riches,†said Zorn, who has sponsored a bill requiring the state to cross-check the names of lottery winners of prizes over $1,000 with names of individuals on the dole.
Until Clayton is cut off, however, she says she intends to continue to use her benefits.
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CNN\'s election technology overshadowed by lucky break in Wasilla
CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) - A former New Mexico mayor who called President Barack Obama "the carnal manifestation of evil" and said Obama's election was part of a CIA conspiracy has been elected to his former job, according to unofficial results.
The Clovis News Journal reports (http://bit.ly/yRR7Uy ) that former Clovis mayor David Lansford won his old job back Tuesday by defeating Mayor Gayla Brumfield with almost 63 percent of the votes.
Lansford, 53, recently gained national attention after the newspaper reported his ties to a fringe religious and political group, ATLAH Media Network in New York. After threatening to withdraw from the race, Lansford later changed his mind and stayed in the race but said he felt disclosing his activities was unfair and would prompt others to label him "a whack job."
Lansford participated in ATLAH's mock treason trial of Obama and wrote articles for its online publication, calling Obama an illegitimate president under the Constitution and "the carnal manifestation of evil," claiming Obama's election was part of a CIA conspiracy.
Lansford later told KOB-TV that he didn't believe Obama had the legal right to be president because he's "not a natural born citizen."
ATLAH Media Network has come under fire from the Southern Poverty Law Center who posted details of the group's trial on the center's "Hatewatch" blog." ATLAH's leader, James David Manning, on various YouTube videos, also has blasted Obama for wanting turn America into an "Islamic Caliphate" and has compared him to a pimp.
"I think everybody in this country has their opinions," Lansford said on Tuesday night after winning his race. "And I think the great thing is America is where you can freely express your opinions."
Lansford also said he doesn't believe his views on the president will affect federal funding needed to complete the estimated $500 million Ute Water Project - a plan to pipe water from the Ute Reservoir in Quay County to Clovis, Portales and other communities.
Cannon Air Force Base also is located next to Clovis.
Brumfield said she was surprised that someone with Lansford's extreme views of the president managed such a large margin of votes. She added, however, that she wouldn't have done anything differently.
"I guess," said Brumfield, "the city made their choice."
The city clerk said Lansford will be sworn in Monday.
The eastern New Mexico city of 38,000 is located along the Texas border.
___
Information from: Clovis News Journal, http://www.cnjonline.com
"Joe the Plumber" faces an uphill battle in his bid for Congress: http://t.co/8T3zMWil
Anders Behring #Breivik charged for killing 77 people in a rampage in Norway, but he likely won't go to prison: http://yhoo.it/wdulqp
What you might see from the new iPad Apple is expected to unveil today: http://t.co/w6SOmzpQ What features do you think it should have?
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Romney\'s campaign says lead is too much for rivals
RT @jonward11: Top Romney adviser: "We are going to be the Republican nominee ... nomination is an impossibility for Rick Santorum" http ...
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New Mexico town elects mayor who called Obama evil
CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) - A former New Mexico mayor who called President Barack Obama "the carnal manifestation of evil" and said Obama's election was part of a CIA conspiracy has been elected to his former job, according to unofficial results.
The Clovis News Journal reports (http://bit.ly/yRR7Uy ) that former Clovis mayor David Lansford won his old job back Tuesday by defeating Mayor Gayla Brumfield with almost 63 percent of the votes.
Lansford, 53, recently gained national attention after the newspaper reported his ties to a fringe religious and political group, ATLAH Media Network in New York. After threatening to withdraw from the race, Lansford later changed his mind and stayed in the race but said he felt disclosing his activities was unfair and would prompt others to label him "a whack job."
Lansford participated in ATLAH's mock treason trial of Obama and wrote articles for its online publication, calling Obama an illegitimate president under the Constitution and "the carnal manifestation of evil," claiming Obama's election was part of a CIA conspiracy.
Lansford later told KOB-TV that he didn't believe Obama had the legal right to be president because he's "not a natural born citizen."
ATLAH Media Network has come under fire from the Southern Poverty Law Center who posted details of the group's trial on the center's "Hatewatch" blog." ATLAH's leader, James David Manning, on various YouTube videos, also has blasted Obama for wanting turn America into an "Islamic Caliphate" and has compared him to a pimp.
"I think everybody in this country has their opinions," Lansford said on Tuesday night after winning his race. "And I think the great thing is America is where you can freely express your opinions."
Lansford also said he doesn't believe his views on the president will affect federal funding needed to complete the estimated $500 million Ute Water Project - a plan to pipe water from the Ute Reservoir in Quay County to Clovis, Portales and other communities.
Cannon Air Force Base also is located next to Clovis.
Brumfield said she was surprised that someone with Lansford's extreme views of the president managed such a large margin of votes. She added, however, that she wouldn't have done anything differently.
"I guess," said Brumfield, "the city made their choice."
The city clerk said Lansford will be sworn in Monday.
The eastern New Mexico city of 38,000 is located along the Texas border.
___
Information from: Clovis News Journal, http://www.cnjonline.com
"Joe the Plumber" faces an uphill battle in his bid for Congress: http://t.co/8T3zMWil
Anders Behring #Breivik charged for killing 77 people in a rampage in Norway, but he likely won't go to prison: http://yhoo.it/wdulqp
What you might see from the new iPad Apple is expected to unveil today: http://t.co/w6SOmzpQ What features do you think it should have?
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Best Food Snap Tools
Sometimes food just calls out to be photographed -- that is if you can stand the wait before digging in.
Whether it's a dish almost too pretty to eat, or something so extravagant you need photographic evidence to show your friends, there are plenty of smartphone apps to help you photograph your food.
Many apps take advantage of your smartphone's GPS system to help you locate the restaurant where you're eating, or restaurants nearby, and share food photos with other users.
Mobile Food SpottingÂ
One such app is Foodspotting, a free app from Foodspotting Inc. available for Windows Phone, iPhone, Android and Blackberry.
When you first open the app, you can browse 'what's nearby' by scanning through photos other users have taken at nearby restaurants and rate their dishes â€" from want it, to nom it, great shot or great find.
You can easily take or upload your own food photo, then describe the dish and where it came from.
Foodspotting also allows you to search for restaurants, or you can use the 'find the best' search for a specific food item and view images uploaded from other users.
You can take a culinary journey using different 'Guides,' where you are challenged to spot foods from multiple restaurants near your location. The Guides provide a map telling you the restaurants' locations and menu suggestions.
Foodspotting allows you to follow people via Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. You can also follow specific places or foods. Foodspotting sends out a weekly 'Personal Spotter's Digest' email featuring the most interesting sighting of the week and personal recommendations for places and dishes.
Meals in a Snap
If you're looking to keep a food journal of everything you eat, then Meal Snap is the app for you.
Meal Snap, an app available for iPhone and Windows Phone by Daily Burn that costs $.99, is a dieter's best friend. The app allows you to take a picture of your food, then estimates how many calories it has.
The test can take a few minutes, but can be surprisingly accurate.
Meal Snap correctly identified a York peppermint patty and calculated that it contained 108-162 calories. There are actually 140 calories.
If you're a serious calorie counter, one downside is that the calorie estimate can be a bit broad. For a bowl of ramen soup, which Meal Snap identified as 'A Bowl of Soup With Noodles,' the app estimated between 298-447 calories. There were actually 480 calories.
Meal Snap is not easily fooled. When presented with a photo of someone's hand, the app identified it as 'Not Food' and therefore zero calories. Â
The app keeps track of the meals you've submitted and the total estimated calories in an easy to follow scrolling calendar along the side of the screen.
You can share your Meal Snap account via Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare.
Picture Perfect
Flickr by Yahoo is already a thriving photo sharing community, but add the 'Foodtography' tag to your photo and you can join the group of over 3,000 users who love to upload and share their food pics from around the world.
Users can show off their homemade concoctions or share photos of dishes tasted at street fairs, food carts, restaurants and more.
When uploading or taking a photo from your smartphone, you can add a title to your dish pic and a caption to your picture before you post it on Flickr. You can also add your location.
The app stores your uploads and recent activity so it's easy to keep track of your food pics and Flickr also allows you to add contacts so you can keep track of your friends' photos.
You have to create a Yahoo account if you want to use it, but a plus is you can also go online to the Foodtography group page and discuss food photography with other users. The Flickr app is free and available for Android, iPhone and Windows Phone users.
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Authorities investigate white powder mailed to school- Conn. schools consider banning tight clothing
DEVELOPING: Â Authorities in Connecticut are reportedly investigating a white powder mailed to an elementary school.
The Island Avenue Elementary school in Madison was placed in lockdown at 9:45 a.m., shortly after a letter containing the substance was found in the school's office.
Students are being kept in their classrooms and no injuries have been reported, CTNow.com reports.
The incident marks the second time a Connecticut school has received white powder in the mail this week, joining a middle school in Enfield. FBI officials are conducting an ongoing investigation.
Click here for more on this report from CTNow.com.
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Missing Family Left Home In a \'Hurry,\' Authorities Say
A young Michigan couple and their 4-month-old son who have been missing for nearly a month left their home "in a hurry," authorities told FoxNews.com.
Timothy Medsker, 33, his wife Sabrina Medsker, 34, and their 4-month old son Joshua, were reported missing from their Petoskey home on Feb. 23, a week after they failed to appear for several appointments, Petoskey Department of Public Safety Det. David Schultz said Wednesday.
Authorities do not believe foul play is involved in the case. Schultz said the family -- who ran a successful commercial cleaning business -- left the area by choice, but left behind sizable amounts of food, toiletries and other everyday items.
"There's nothing in the home that looks like a crime scene," he said. "But something scared them enough to leave in a hurry. It looked like they packed up and left in a hurry."
Schultz said the couple's finances were not believed to be a concern, as their bills were all up to date.
"They had a very successful small business in town cleaning offices and businesses," he said.
The couple worked long hours and were known to be "very private," Schultz said.
Relatives of Timothy Medsker are cooperating with authorities. Petoskey Director of Public Safety John Calabrese told the Orlando Sentinel that the family has ties to Orlando, Chicago and Gary, Ind., and is believed to have spent time in Arizona.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the family is urged to contact the Petoskey Department of Public Safety at (231) 347-2500.
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Colts announce they\'re releasing Peyton Manning
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Colts owner Jim Irsay says the team is releasing quarterback Peyton Manning after a 14-year run that included one Super Bowl title and four MVP awards.
Irsay and Manning are appearing together Wednesday at a news conference at the Colts' team complex to announce the move.
The 35-year-old Manning will become a free agent, and there is expected be interest from a half-dozen or so NFL clubs, provided he's healthy. Manning is coming off a series of operations to his neck and missed all of last season.
Indianapolis needed to cut him this week to avoid paying him a $28 million bonus. The Colts are widely expected to begin moving on by taking Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the No. 1 overall pick in April's draft.
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Sun fires off 2 huge solar flares in one-two punch
The sun unleashed a cosmic double whammy Tuesday (March 6), erupting with two major flares to cap a busy day of powerful solar storms. One of the flares is the most powerful solar eruption of the year, so far.
Both of the huge flares ranked as X-class storms, the strongest type of solar flares the sun can have. They followed several weaker, but still powerful, sun storms on Tuesday and came just days after another major solar flare on Sunday night.
The first big solar storm was also the most powerful one, ranking as an X5.4-class flare after erupting at 7:02 p.m. EST (0002 March 7 GMT), according to an alert from the Space Weather Prediction Center operated by the National Weather Service. It is the strongest solar flare yet for 2012.
The second event occurred just over an hour later, reaching a maximum strength of X1.3.
Several space-based observatories witnessed the solar flares, including NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and the agency's Stereo-B spacecraft. The sun-watching observatories spotted huge clouds of charged particles - called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs - erupting from the solar flares.
"First-look data from Stereo-B are not sufficient to determine if the cloud is heading for Earth," astronomer Tony Phillips wrote on his website Spaceweather.com, which monitors space weather events. "Our best guess is 'probably, yes, but not directly toward Earth.' A glancing blow to our planet's magnetosphere is possible on March 8th or 9th." [Worst Solar Storms in History]
According to Phillips, the big X5.4 solar flare erupted from the giant active sunspot AR1429, which was also responsible for the major sun storm on Sunday.
When aimed directly at Earth, X-class solar flares can endanger astronauts and satellites in orbit, interfere with satellite communications and damage power grids on Earth. They can also amplify the Earth's display of northern and southern lights, also known as auroras. Charged particles from the solar storms can interact with Earth's upper atmosphere, resulting in a glow that is typically visible to observers at high northern or southern latitudes.
Astronomers rank solar flares by strength using five categories: A, B, C, M and X. The A-class flares are the weakest sun storms, while the X-class events are the most powerful solar flares.
This ranking system was designed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and resembles the Richter scale used for earthquakes in that each category is 10 times stronger than the one before it, NASA officials have said. So a B-class solar flare is 10 times stronger than an A-class event, while a C-class solar storm releases 10 times more energy than B-class flare (or 100 times more energy than an A-class event).
The categories are also broken down into subsets, from 1 to 9, to pinpoint a solar flare's strength. Only X-class solar flares have subcategories that go higher than 9. The most powerful solar flare on record occurred in 2003 and was estimated to be an X28 on the solar flare scale, NASA officials said.Â
Tuesday's X-class solar flares followed a string of other eruptions that included M-class and C-class events, space weather officials said. Both of the day's X-class sun storms were stronger than the X1.1 solar flare of March 5.
Prior to this week, the only huge solar flare of 2012 occurred on Jan. 27, when the sun unleashed an X1.7-class eruption.
The sun is currently going through an active phase of its 11-year weather cycle. The current cycle is known as Solar Cycle 24 and is expected to reach its peak level of activity in 2013, NASA officials have said.
You can follow SPACE.com Managing Editor Tariq Malik on Twitter @tariqjmalik. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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Thousands of spiders blanket Australian farm after escaping flood
What appears to be snow are actual spider webs blanketing an Australian farm (Daniel Munoz/Reuters)
Thousands of normally solitary wolf spiders have blanketed an Australian farm after fleeing a rising flood.
Reuters reports that the flooding has forced more than 8,000 Australian (human) residents from their homes in the city of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. But for every temporarily displaced person, it appears several spiders have moved in to fill the void.
"What we've seen here is a type of wolf spider," Owen Seeman, an arachnid expert at Queensland Museum, told Reuters. "They are trying to hide away (from the waters)."
The Australian Museum's entomology collections manager Graham Milledge told Reuters that there's even a term for the phenomenon, "ballooning," and that it is typical behavior for spiders forced to escape rising waters.
You can watch a video here of researchers on the hunt for ballooning spiders from the safety of a hot air balloon.
A dog casually walks through the ballooning spider webs (Daniel Munoz/Reuters)Thankfully for local residents, the occupying arachnids are not likely to set up permanent residence, a la the 1977 William Shatner clunker "Kingdom of the Spiders." Weather reports say the flood waters in Wagga Wagga have begun receding, meaning that locals will soon be returning to their homes and the wolf spiders will also be returning to their natural underground habitats.
And it turns out the spiders are actually doing quite a bit of good while setting up shop above ground. The spiders are feasting on mosquitoes and other insect populations that have boomed with the increased moisture brought about by the rising waters.
"The amount of mosquitoes around would be incredible because of all this water," Taronga Zoo spider keeper Brett Finlayson told the Sydney Morning Herald. "The spiders don't pose any harm at all. Â They are doing us a favor. They are actually helping us out."
Spiders and other insects fill the trees after flooding last year in Pakistan (Russell Watkins/U.K. Department …
As amazing as this display may be, it's not the first time photographers have captured massive displaced spider migrations. One of the most famous pictures of 2011, above, showed millions of spiders and other insects in Pakistan who had formed massive web clusters in trees to escape rising floodwaters.
"It was largely spiders," Russell Watkins, U.K. Department for International Development, told National Geographic. "Certainly, when we were there working, if you stood under one of these trees, dozens of small, very, very tiny spiders would just be dropping down onto your head."
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Lottery winner on food stamps after $1 million win
While most people have played the “if I had a million dollars I would ____ †thought game, few fill that blank in with “stay on public assistance.â€
Amanda Clayton, a 24-year-old from Lincoln Park, Michigan, is one of the few who does, and she is getting away with it. Clayton won $1 million from the Michigan State Lottery this fall, but she is still collecting and using $200 a month in food assistance from the taxpayers with her Michigan Bridge Card.
“I thought that they would cut me off, but since they didn't, I thought maybe it was okay because I'm not working,†the lottery winner who just purchased a new house and car told Local 4 in Detroit. The station even filmed her shamelessly purchasing goods.
When Local 4 asked if she felt she had a right to the money, Clayton responded, “I mean I kinda do.â€
Clayton justified the sentiment by explaining that after taking her winnings in a lump sum and having to pay taxes, the total amount was just over half of the initial winnings.
“I feel that it's okay because I mean, I have no income and I have bills to pay,†she said. “I have two houses.â€
Watch Local 4 confront Clayton:
A bill to prevent this type of behavior, sponsored by state Republican Rep. Dale Zorn has passed the state House, as has a companion bill in the state Senate.
“Public assistance should be given to those who are in need of public assistance, not those who have found riches,†said Zorn, who has sponsored a bill requiring the state to cross-check the names of lottery winners of prizes over $1,000 with names of individuals on the dole.
Until Clayton is cut off, however, she says she intends to continue to use her benefits.
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Lottery winner on food stamps: 'I thought maybe it was okay because I'm not working'
Krauthammer: Romney 'not a strong frontrunner,' gets 'weaker, not stronger' every week
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Calls for Holder's resignation heating back up as six more congressmen join the surge
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Bizarre, Deep-Sea Critters
Scientists have discovered a strange and rare hybrid site in the deep sea where two extreme seafloor environments exist side by side, and are home to a parade of weird hybrid creatures seemingly adapted to the hardships posed by both intense environments.
Researchers discovered hydrothermal vents and cold methane seeps in a swath of the the deep sea off Costa Rica in 2010, and found a host of unknown species living there.
Scientists made the discovery during a dive in the manned submersible Alvin to an area known as the Jaco Scar, where an underwater mountain is moving under a tectonic plate.
"The most interesting aspects of this site are the presence of vent-like and seep-like features together, along with a vast cover of tubeworms over large areas and a wealth of new, undescribed species," lead researcher Lisa Levin, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, said in a statement.
Hydrothermal vents exist where cracks or rifts in the seafloor spew forth volcanically heated, chemical-rich seawater, whereas cold seeps, as their name reflects, are far less intense environments where fluids laden with methane and other hydrocarbons slowly seep out of the seafloor and cover a large area.
The team coined the phrase "hydrothermal seep" to describe the ecosystem. Their research is published in the March 7 issue of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Although researchers had previously sent remotely operated vehicles to the site, the 2010 expedition marked the first time humans ever visited, which proved key to the discovery, Levin said.
"It was not until human eyes saw shimmering water coming from beneath a large tubeworm bush that we really understood how special Jaco Scar is," she said.
Recent expeditions have uncovered many interesting creatures new to science at hydrothermal vent sites around the planet. Near Antarctica, researchers spied yeti crabs clamoring on the hot volcanic vents, and in the Caribbean, scientists foundswarms of eyeless shrimp.
Copyright 2012 OurAmazingPlanet, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Stars\' Real Names
©2012 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. All market data delayed 20 minutes. Privacy - Terms
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Tebow Passing on \'Bachelor\'?
Tim Tebow will stick to passing footballs and not roses.
Rumors about the Broncos quarterback being “The Bachelor†were put to rest yesterday, the New York Post reports.
“Tim will not be participating in the show,†a Broncos spokesman told TheWrap.com.
Tebow backed up the denial, tweeting: “Haha rumors can be crazy! Even though I've watched the show before, I'm definitely not gonna be on ‘The Bachelor.' â€
Buzz about Tebow, 24, finding love on TV began when “Bachelor†host Chris Harrison confirmed that Tebow was being courted by the show.
“I met him about becoming our next ‘Bachelor' . . . I think he'd be a great ‘Bachelor,' †Harrison said on “Access Hollywood Live.â€
“He did say yes . . . but he would never do it,†he clarified. “He has a little job called quarterback for at least another year.â€
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Utah approves bill requiring daily Pledge of Allegiance at all public schools
SALT LAKE CITY â€"  Utah lawmakers have approved a bill requiring all public school students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily.
Senate Bill 223 expands the current law that mandates the pledge daily for elementary school students and once a week for those in middle and high school.
The bill passed the House 48-25 on Tuesday, and passed the Senate unanimously a week earlier. It now heads to the governor's desk for approval.
The proposal drew impassioned speeches from legislators. Orem Republican Rep. Stephen Sandstrom said people nowadays are being taught to be ashamed of being Americans, and said he had Marine friends who died defending the flag.
Salt Lake City Democratic Rep. Brian King questioned whether reciting the pledge rote was instilling patriotism. Others say they worry the bill could prompt lawsuits.
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Apple\'s New iPad MayHave Secret Touchscreen
Amid the inevitable rush of last-minute iPad rumors we're trying desperately to avoid, one report in particular caught our eye. It suggests that Apple may include an emerging tactile technology in its third-generation iPad display that is as fascinating as it is unexpected.
Speaking with Pocket-lint last week during the annual Mobile World Congress trade show, touchscreen interface solutions developer Senseg seemingly hinted that Apple may be including the company's innovative technology in the iPad 3, or iPad HD, as it may be named.
Senseg's technology allows touchscreen device makers to alter the feel of a screen to coincide with graphics being displayed at any given time. So rocks might feel rough, silk might feel smooth and the user might actually feel an object he or she is moving around the device's UI. Read on for more.
“Senseg turns touch screens into Feel Screens,†the company said on its website. “With Senseg touch screens come alive with textures, contours and edges that users can feel. Using Senseg technology, makers of tablet computers, smart phones, and any touch interface device can deliver revolutionary user experiences with high fidelity tactile sensations. Your customers will Feel the Difference with Senseg.â€
When asked if its technology might be included in Apple's new iPad, a Senseg spokesperson replied that the firm “won't be making any statements until after Apple's announcement.â€
While Pocket-lint takes that along with a number of other hints to mean we might see Senseg's exciting technology appear in the third-generation Apple tablet that will be unveiled on Wednesday, there is still no firm evidence to support the speculation.
Apple will unveil its next-generation iPad at a press conference on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, 11:00 a.m. Pacific.
This content was originally published on BGR.com
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Santorum\'s strategy: Get Gingrich out, barnstorm the South
@obsense The love you take is equal to the love you make. Same goes for snark.
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Sarah Palin crashes Super Tuesday party on Twitter
Rick Santorum won the zero-delegate Twitter primary on Super Tuesday with the two largest spikes in mentions over the course of the night, but his closest competition wasn't fellow candidate Mitt Romney. The silver medal in the most-tweeted competition was a tie between Newt Gingrich and none other than Sarah Palin, whose CNN interview in which she hinted at a run for the White House exacted more interest than the election itself.
volume.super.tuesday copy
As we've seen time and again, however, the people with the tallest spikes on the tweet-volume graphs are those who inspire the most passion and the most hatred. Our in-house algorithms that measure positive and negative sentiment identify a common pattern: When a candidate takes the stage in a televised speech, an initial spike in positive tweets is quickly accompanied by a negative one as detractors join the commentary.
Mitt Romney's speech registered the highest negative sentiment spike of the night for the four candidates. Surface criticisms touched on his appearance and a few flubs while speaking.
@MattGoldich: Mitt Romney is so boring, he dresses as Jason Sudeikis for Halloween.
@DSHurricane93 : Does Mitt Romney have a speaking problem?
More importantly, the criticisms addressed the substance of his speech. Our quote extraction technology, which measures which statements resonate the most on Twitter, found that Romney's most-shared quote was a humorous paraphrase of his standard stump speech: "I'll do everything opposite of Obama!"
In addition to hashtags expressing support, such as
Denver authorities: Dead inmate killed up to 20
DENVER (AP) - A man who died in prison in 1996 after being convicted of murdering three women also killed four others between 1979 and 1988 and might be responsible for as many as 20 homicides, authorities said.
Vincent Groves, a tall hulking athlete who was a member of a state basketball championship team in the 1970s, strangled most of his victims, said Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.
Groves was first convicted of second-degree murder in 1982 for killing Tammy Sue Woodrum, 17, and was released in 1987 on mandatory parole. In 1990, Groves was sentenced to life in prison for the slaying of Juanita "Becky" Lovato, 19, and 20 years in prison for second-degree murder in the death of Diane Montoya Mancera, 25.
By using DNA from one of those murders, crime analysts have since linked Groves to the slayings of Emma Jenefor, 25, Joyce Ramey, 23, and Peggy Cuff, 20, who were all strangled in 1979, authorities said. Strong circumstantial evidence also tied Groves to the 1988 killing of Pamela Montgomery, 35, said cold-case detective Mylous Yearling.
"We now know that he killed these four women. That's really important to the families of the victims. This gives them an answer," Morrissey told the Denver Post (http://bit.ly/wUq5d5 ) Tuesday.
"They were very surprised. They thought their cases had been forgotten," Yearling added.
Groves stalked the Colfax Avenue corridor, and different jobs also brought him to locations throughout the Denver area, Yearling said. Some of the women Groves targeted were prostitutes, but others were acquaintances, he said.
Groves was intelligent and could coax women into compromising situations, Yearling said.
Jenefor's body was found in her bathtub in March 1979, according to Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for Morrissey's office. Ramey's body was found in an industrial park in July 1979, Kimbrough said. Cuff's body was found in an alley in November 1979, she said.
Nine years later, a witness last saw Montgomery with a man matching Groves' description driving a very loud, beat-up car that looked and sounded identical to his vehicle, Yearling said. Montgomery's body was found in an alley.
While trying Groves in 1988, Morrissey presented evidence that tied Groves to eight other assault and homicide victims around the Denver area, including Ramey. Groves was the last person to be seen with the victims before they were found dead or escaped. The jury acquitted Groves at the time.
As part of a cold-case project funded with federal grants, Yearling said he was reviewing unsolved homicides when he realized the cases "were more than coincidences" and DNA evidence made the connection.
When Groves was dying in 1996 at age 42, detectives asked him to share the fate of his victims, but he refused, Morrissey said.
"This man destroyed lives. He destroyed families," Morrissey said. "We figured that he was killing two women a month. He was maybe the most prolific serial killer in the state of Colorado. I believe we'll link him to more."
___
Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
What you might see from the new iPad Apple is expected to unveil today: http://t.co/w6SOmzpQ What features do you think it should have?
March 7 is National Be Heard Day, Cereal Day, Discover What Your Name Means Day: http://t.co/uV7yGJGN
BREAKING NEWS: Mitt Romney wins the Republican primary in Ohio (AP) #SuperTuesday
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Health uncertainties torment Japanese in nuke zone
FUKUSHIMA, Japan (AP) - Yoshiko Ota keeps her windows shut. She never hangs her laundry outdoors. Fearful of birth defects, she warns her daughters: Never have children.
This is life with radiation, nearly one year after a tsunami-hit nuclear power plant began spewing it into Ota's neighborhood, 40 miles (60 kilometers) away. She's so worried that she has broken out in hives.
"The government spokesman keeps saying there are no IMMEDIATE health effects," the 48-year-old nursery school worker says. "He's not talking about 10 years or 20 years later. He must think the people of Fukushima are fools.
"It's not really OK to live here," she says. "But we live here."
Ota takes metabolism-enhancing pills in hopes of flushing radiation out of her body. To limit her exposure, she goes out of her way to buy vegetables that are not grown locally. She spends 10,000 yen ($125) a month on bottled water to avoid the tap water. She even mail-ordered a special machine to dehusk her family's rice.
Not everyone resorts to such measures, but a sense of unease pervades the residents of Fukushima. Some have moved away. Everyone else knows they are living with an invisible enemy.
Radiation is still leaking from the now-closed Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, though at a slower pace than it did in the weeks after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. It's not immediately fatal but could show up as cancer or other illnesses years later.
The uncertainty breeds fear. Some experts say the risks are quite low outside the 20-kilometer (12-mile) no-go zone, and people can take steps to protect themselves, such as limiting intake of locally grown food, not lingering in radiation "hot spots" such as around gutters and foliage, and periodically living outside the area. But risks are much higher for children, and no one can say for sure what level of exposure is safe.
What's clear is Fukushima will be a test case that the world is watching for long-term exposure to low-dose radiation.
More than 280,000 people live in Fukushima city alone, though some have left, and many more live in surrounding towns, including many of the 100,000 who have been evacuated from the no-go zone.
"People are scared to death," says Wolfgang Weiss, chairman of the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, which is studying Fukushima. "They are thinking, 'Tell me. Is it good or bad?' We can't tell them. ... Life is risky."
It hasn't helped that the government has given only the most optimistic scenarios of the risks to avoid mass panic.
Public skepticism of government assurances grew when the man appointed as health adviser for Fukushima prefecture, Shunichi Yamashita, repeatedly said exposure to 100 millisieverts of radiation a year was safe.
Studies have found that cancer risks rise at an annual exposure of 100 millsieverts or above but aren't statistically detectable at lower levels. Below 100, experts can't say for sure whether it's safe, just that a link to cancer can't be proven.
In Fukushima and nearby areas, outside the 20-kilometer evacuation zone, the annual exposure is 20 millisieverts in some places and as high as 50 in others. Before the disaster, people in Japan were exposed to about 1 millisievert of natural background radiation a year; in the United States the average is about 3 millisieverts.
The controversy earned Yamashita a nickname: "Mr. 100 Millisieverts." Toshiso Kosako, a professor at the University of Tokyo's graduate school, stepped down as government adviser last year in a tearful protest of Yamashita's views.
Kouta Miyazaki is among those who have lost confidence in the government.
"Government officials should all come live in Fukushima for several years and bring their families. They're all staying in places where it's safe," Miyazaki says. "We're being told to get radiated and drop dead."
Miyazaki, 40, closed his online business selling Fukushima peaches; he doubts anyone would buy them now. He plans to move away with his 15-year-old son, although that would mean living separately for a while from his wife, who works as a counselor in Fukushima.
The nature of the threat has changed over time. Initially, it was exposure to the large releases of radiation from explosions at the plant. The risk from leaks remains but at a much reduced level.
These days, the main danger is less obvious but just as real: consuming contaminated food and water and ingesting radioactive particles. Radioactive material has accumulated in gutters where rainwater collects and shrubs with leaves that suck in radiation.
The risk is cumulative. The radioactivity in one's body builds up through various activities, including eating contaminated food every day or staying in a hot spot for an extended period.
Schools are restricting outdoor activities, and radiation meters dot the streets. Some people are using their own devices to measure radioactivity.
At area hospitals, thousands of people are on waiting lists to get their radiation levels measured with whole-body counters. One child at Minami Soma Hospital, southeast of Fukushima, was found with 2,653 becquerels of radioactive cesium.
It's a big number, but is it dangerous? Jacques Lochard, an International Commission on Radiological Protection official advising Fukushima prefecture, says the child's exposure could amount to as little as 0.3 millisieverts a year, or as much as 8 millisieverts, depending on how the child was exposed to the radiation.
All most residents know is that their bodies are contaminated. What the numbers mean is unanswered.
Kunihiko Takeda, a nuclear and ecology expert who has been more outspoken about the dangers than many others, says people become less afraid after he explains the risks.
"They are freed from the state of not knowing," says Takeda, who has a blog with instructions on how parents can protect their children from radiation. "They now know what to do and can make decisions on their own."
Lochard says he was sad to hear about a Fukushima woman whose children were too afraid to bring her grandchildren from Tokyo for visits. All the parents need to do, he said, is bring food from home and keep the children indoors.
Still, Lochard says, "There is no safe level. It is a small risk but not zero."
After the 1986 Chernobyl accident, more than 6,000 thyroid cancers clearly linked to radioactive iodine were found in children and adolescents. A study by Weiss' U.N. committee found exposure to iodine was lower in Fukushima than at Chernobyl. Still, parents are worried because the Chernobyl cancers didn't emerge until a couple of years later.
"Nobody can say this is over. I'd be the last to say that," Weiss says.
Mayor Shouji Nishida of Date, a city of 66,000 people in Fukushima prefecture, says his community is preparing for the future by relying less on the central government, and by adjusting expectations. He believes 5 millisieverts of radiation a year - five times the typical amount of background radiation in Japan - is a realistic goal.
"We are defining policies to live and coexist with radiation," he says.
___
Online:
Kunihiko Takeda's blog (in Japanese): http://takedanet.com/
___
Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama
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Higgs Boson may be real, just don\'t call It the \'God particle\'
While American physicists today offer more tantalizing evidence that the Higgs boson exists, the term journalists once loved to call it, the "God particle," is going out of fashion. Speaking at the Moriond Physics Conference in Italy, scientists from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (above) say that after flinging a photon and antiphoton together on a four-mile track, they noticed a bump in their data could signal the particle's existence, confirming earlier results in December from European colleagues. Wired explains the science better than we ever could:
Scientists in charge of the two detectors on Fermilab's Tevatron particle collider, CDF and DZero, announced that they have seen a small excess of events between 115 and 135 GeV that could correspond to the mysterious HiggsÂ
In short, though scientists, with their typical hesitation, are saying nothing has been proven, it's another step closer to knowing that the Higgs boson is real. It's the last undiscovered particle in the Standard Model, the theory reputed to explain the behavior of particles, which has led to the media dubbing it the "God particle," even though scientists resent the name. "I hate that “God particle' term," one member of the CERN team in Europe said last December. "The Higgs is not endowed with any religious meaning. It is ridiculous to call it that."Â
RELATED: Has the 'God Particle' Been Found?
So it's interesting to see reports today abstain from using the term. Wired, The New York Times, and the BBC did not use it once, whereas the latter two were using it back just last December. (The AP and Reuters today did not get the memo.) It's nice to see hints of the often tenuous relationship between scientists and reporters ease. Or at least the copy editors are listening.
Article from YAHOO NEWS
Higgs Boson may be real, just don\'t call It the \'God particle\'
While American physicists today offer more tantalizing evidence that the Higgs boson exists, the term journalists once loved to call it, the "God particle," is going out of fashion. Speaking at the Moriond Physics Conference in Italy, scientists from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (above) say that after flinging a photon and antiphoton together on a four-mile track, they noticed a bump in their data could signal the particle's existence, confirming earlier results in December from European colleagues. Wired explains the science better than we ever could:
Scientists in charge of the two detectors on Fermilab's Tevatron particle collider, CDF and DZero, announced that they have seen a small excess of events between 115 and 135 GeV that could correspond to the mysterious HiggsÂ
In short, though scientists, with their typical hesitation, are saying nothing has been proven, it's another step closer to knowing that the Higgs boson is real. It's the last undiscovered particle in the Standard Model, the theory reputed to explain the behavior of particles, which has led to the media dubbing it the "God particle," even though scientists resent the name. "I hate that “God particle' term," one member of the CERN team in Europe said last December. "The Higgs is not endowed with any religious meaning. It is ridiculous to call it that."Â
RELATED: Has the 'God Particle' Been Found?
So it's interesting to see reports today abstain from using the term. Wired, The New York Times, and the BBC did not use it once, whereas the latter two were using it back just last December. (The AP and Reuters today did not get the memo.) It's nice to see hints of the often tenuous relationship between scientists and reporters ease. Or at least the copy editors are listening.
Article from YAHOO NEWS
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