Rivals\' Message to Puerto Rico Lost in Translation?

GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are standing by their claims that English should be the official U.S. language while attempting to court Spanish-speaking voters in Puerto Rico ahead of Sunday's presidential caucuses.

Romney is running a 60-second radio spot in which his son Craig and Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno tout the candidate's plans to include the U.S. territory is his economic-recovery package, if elected.

"Yo soy Mitt Romney ... Muchas gracias," the former Massachusetts governor says at the close of the ad.

On Thursday, Santorum toured the English- and Spanish-speaking island and attempted to clarify recent statements on the issue, saying English should be the official language but not the "only" one spoken in the United States.

"English should be taught here, and everyone should speak English here," Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, said in Old San Juan. "It's not the only language in California. It's not the only language in Arizona."

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich also has said English should be the official U.S. language.

Roberto de Posada, a conservative strategist and former president of the Latino Coalition, says Romney tells conservatives that English must be the official language, then says he supports statehood for Puerto Rico without any language or financial requirements.

De Posada also says that statehood would increase the size of the federal government, which goes against Romney's pledge to cut spending.

"Mitt Romney has a credibility problem among conservative voters," he said.

Romney leads Santorum and Gingrich in most polls and in the fight to get the most delegates before the GOP nominating convention in August. He also appears to be the favorite in the Puerto Rico contest, in which 23 delegates are up for grabs.

A recent Fox News Latino poll shows 70 percent of Hispanics, a key voting bloc, would vote for President Obama, compared to 14 percent for Romney in a potential matchup. The president would get 69 percent, compared to 14 percent for Santorum, and Gingrich would get 14 percent, compared to 72 percent for the president, according to the poll last month of 1,200 likely Latino votes.

Article from FOXNEWS

The Signal swaps gears, makes March Madness predictions

Like the rest of the nation, we're temporarily suspending our interest in politics to devote every ounce of our mental energy to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Fortunately, the same online betting sites we use to predict presidential elections can give us a lot of information about March Madness.

Kentucky is the top ranked NCAA basketball team in the country and the clear favorite to win the tournament at 26.7 percent odds. Those are tremendous odds, given that the team has to win six straight games against the best teams in the country (if you county an opening round game against 16-seed Western Kentucky).

The presence of Kentucky makes the South region the most dangerous for other top ranked teams: No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Baylor, and No. 4 Indiana all have the lowest likelihood of winning the title compared with the other teams of similar rankings.

The East is the most wide-open region due to the ineligibility of top ranked Syracuse's start center, Fab Melo. Second ranked Ohio State is 12.1 percent likely to win the tournament, the highest odds for a team not in the top seed. Fifth ranked Vanderbilt is the most likely seed outside the top 4 to escape their region.

The West is the least respected of the regions, with top seed Michigan State at only 8.1 percent likelihood to win the tournament. In the Midwest, North Carolina and Kansas are both quite strong at 13.0 % likelihood and 8.7 percent likelihood of winning, respectively, despite the fact that they would need to go through each other in the quarterfinals.

Likelihood of Winning NCAA Basketball Tounrnament

Sources: Betfair and PredictWise. Please follow along live with PredictWise's real-time likelihoods of winning the tournament.

David Rothschild is an economist at Yahoo! Research. He has a Ph.D. in applied economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Follow him on Twitter @DavMicRot and email him at thesignal@yahoo-inc.com.

Want more? Visit The Signal blog, connect with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter. Handy with a camera? Join the Yahoo! News Election 2012 Flickr group to submit your photos of the campaign in action.

Article from YAHOO NEWS

Poll: Voters divided on \'Obamacare\' constitutionality

American voters are about evenly divided over how the U.S. Supreme Court should decide the constitutional challenge to President Obama's health care reform law.

The Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments in the case on March 26.

A Fox News poll released Thursday found 46 percent want the nation's high court to overturn the law, while 43 percent think it should uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Click here for full Fox News poll results.

A year ago, by a 49-42 percent margin, voters wanted the law invalidated as unconstitutional (April 2011).

All four current Republican presidential candidates say they support legislation repealing President Obama's signature first-term legislative achievement.

Meanwhile, more voters disapprove (52 percent) than approve (43 percent) of the job Obama is doing on health care. His ratings on this issue have remained mostly unchanged for the last year.

A majority of voters wants Congress to repeal at least part of the health care law: 31 percent favor complete repeal and another 28 percent would like lawmakers to repeal parts of it.

A few voters -- 14 percent -- want lawmakers to leave the law in its current form. One voter in four (22 percent) would like to see it expanded. That's up from 18 percent who felt that way last year (April 2011).

Most Republicans want lawmakers to repeal all (56 percent) or parts (31 percent) of the law.

While few Democrats -- 7 percent -- think the health care law should be repealed entirely, about one in four (23 percent) would repeal some of it.

Most Democrats want the law expanded (39 percent) or left as is (24 percent).

A 63-percent majority of independents wants at least some of the law repealed.

The Fox News poll is based on land line and cell phone interviews with 912 randomly-chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from March 10 to March 12. For the total sample, it has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Article from FOXNEWS

Hacker who threatened White House appears in court

The Chicago-based hacker who once threatened to burn down the White House and took credit for an devastating computer attack on intelligence company Stratfor made his first appearance in a New York federal courtroom, after his March 5 arrest.

Jeremy Hammond, a 27-year-old with close ties to hacker group LulzSec, wore a bright orange T-shirt under prison-issue navy blue garb and glanced furtively around the magistrate's courtroom as he was led in, his face pale and his long hair unkempt. Hammond faces federal charges of conspiracy to commit computer hacking, computer hacking and access device fraud. Authorities say the ex-con is known for exhorting fellow hackers to violent acts and once mocked the 9/11 attacks.

But while his computer persona, which emerged under online names such as “Anarchaos” and “crediblethreat” and “tylerknowsthis,” showcased virulent anti-government beliefs, Hammond was respectful in court before the magistrate, who frequently handles early proceedings before cases go to district judges.

“Yes, your honor,” Hammond told Magistrate Judge James Francis when asked if a financial affidavit submitted on his behalf was accurate. Francis approved Hammond's petition to have attorney Liz Fink represent him.

Hammond chuckled when Fink asked a prosecutor if today was the Ides of March and said, “Et tu Brutus?” a possible reference to the betrayal Hammond might have felt at learning he and other hackers were undone by LulzSec leader-turned government informant Hector Xavier Monsegur, known online as “Sabu.”

Monsegur's FBI handler was present but declined to comment after the proceeding.

Hammond faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines on the hacking-related charges and 15 years and $250,000 on the fraud charge if convicted. Francis ordered him held, though Fink said she expects to apply for bond before the next court date, which is April 2.

“This is going to be fun,” Fink said afterward of the case, noting the hacker has a large group of supporters in New York.

Hammond took credit for the massive attack on the global intelligence company Stratfor and even embraced being branded a “terrorist” in a speech at a 2004 hacker convention caught on video. Chat logs first reported by FoxNews.com captured the dark and disturbing views of Hammond, whose mother said he has an IQ of 168 and called him a “genius without wisdom,” in a Chicago Tribune interview.

In the discussions with an unknown audience, Hammond hailed the 2007 book “How Nonviolence Protects the State,” by self-proclaimed anarchist Peter Gelderloos, praising it for encouraging violence and sabotage.

“I didn't start the conversation about burning the white house (sic), but I'll finish it,” vowed Hammond in one undated post.

In another post, Hammond calls for “organized, coordinated attacks against targets who are more directly responsible for our miserable conditions,” and proposes “a toast to the rich! with our choice of cocktail.”

Perhaps most disturbing is this chilling dialogue about 9/11:

“So what's the best way to celebrate 9/11? A jenga tournament!” Hammond posted. “We played a big 9/11 show on saturday, we had a pinata of the world trade towers … it was filled with candy and miniature plastic army men.”

“This guy is not some harmless kid living in his parents' basement,” a law enforcement source said of Hammond. “He's got a history and potential for violence.”

In 2005, Hammond formed a group he dubbed the “Internet Liberation Front.” He hacked into a conservative website and stole 5,000 credit card numbers which he intended to use to make donations to liberal causes, according to authorities. Although he was caught before he could carry out the plan, which prompted comparisons to Robin Hood, he served two years in prison.

Hammond was arrested again in 2010 for allegedly throwing a banner into a fire at a protest against the Olympics coming to Chicago. He was given 18 months on probation.

Authorities believe Hammond was the main player in the Stratfor hack last December, in which 5 million emails were stolen and handed over to WikiLeaks. According to the federal complaint against Hammond, the attack was designed to bankrupt Stratfor, a Texas-based company that works with intelligence agencies around the world.

Article from FOXNEWS

Massacre Suspect \'Wasn\'t Thrilled\' About Deployment

SEATTLE â€"  The U.S. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians last weekend had twice been injured during tours in Iraq and was reluctant to leave on his fourth deployment, a lawyer said Thursday.

"He wasn't thrilled about going on another deployment," said the lawyer, John Henry Browne. "He was told he wasn't going back, and then he was told he was going."

Browne said he has been asked to represent the soldier, a 38-year-old staff sergeant from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

The soldier is from the Seattle area and asked to be represented by Browne when he was taken into custody, the lawyer said. Browne said he has met with the staff sergeant's family, and unless the soldier is returned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the next few days, he will travel to meet the soldier wherever he is in custody.

Browne declined to release the soldier's name, which the Army has withheld.

"Everybody is worried about the safety of his family, and I am honoring that," Browne said.

The soldier is suspected of going on a shooting rampage in villages near his base in southern Afghanistan early Sunday, killing nine children and seven other civilians and then burning some of their bodies. The shooting, which followed a controversial Koran-burning incident involving U.S. soldiers, has outraged Afghan officials.

Browne said he has a limited amount of information about his prospective client. He described the soldier as highly decorated and said he had twice been injured during deployments to Iraq, once suffering a concussive head injury and once a serious leg injury.

Some reports have indicated that alcohol may have been a factor in the shootings. Browne said that as far as the soldier's family knew, he did not have a drinking problem.

Browne recently represented Colton Harris-Moore, who gained international attention as the "Barefoot Bandit" for stealing airplanes, boats and cars during a two-year run from the law. Browne said he has only handled three or four military cases before. The soldier will also have at least one military lawyer.

The soldier deployed in December. A congressional source, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information, told The Associated Press that he was with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team before being assigned to a village stability operation near the villages where the attack took place.

Article from FOXNEWS

As Blagojevich heads to prison, what will become of his hair?

Prior to making the long trip today from his Illinois mansion to a Colorado prison where he began serving out a 14 year sentence, disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich sought the advice of a long-trusted aid -- his barber.

"I taught him how to do the do haircut. Hopefully, he'll be okay in prison. Otherwise, I don't know what will happen to him" said Peter Vodovoz, the self-named Mr. Barber of Chicago, who has cut Blago's hair for 21 years.

Though impeached and later convicted of attempting to sell the Senate seat vacated by President Obama and then lying to the FBI about it, Blagojevich's coif generated as much comment as his crimes.

The Elvis inspired haircut has engendered so much attention, it has its own Twitter feed and has been the focus of David Letterman jokes.

That haircut, a feathery jet-black pompadour, once described by the Washington Post as a "menacing mop," was the Samson-like source of Blago's outsized confidence. Former aides said he would fly into a rage if he was unable to find his preferred Paul Mitchell hair brush, which he called the "football," a reference to the "nuclear football" or the bomb codes that are to always be within a hair's reach of the president.

Now Blago, who begins serving his stretch today, will have to figure out how to maintain his signature do in a place where blow dryers are contraband and his choice of brushes consist of a 25 cent "comb palm brush," a $1.90 "comb/brush set," or a $2.85 "brush, rubber base" sold at the prison commissary.

"Prison will be a real adjustment," said Tim Allport, who worked 25 years as a corrections officer and drug counselor at FCI Englewood, the minimum security prison in Littleton, Colo., where Blagojevich will serve time.

"Prison is an equalizing experience. There are people there from all walks of life. It doesn't matter that he used to be a governor, or was on a reality show. Once he's there he's an inmate doing time like everyone else," Allport said.

Blago won't have Vodovoz anymore to shape his trademark quaff. Instead, a fellow inmate, assigned a job in the prison barbershop, will get the honor.

Vodovoz says Blago doesn't use any hair products other than dye.

"He dyes his hair himself. He does it at home. You put in the dye and wait five minutes. After five minutes, he looks like he can go to a Halloween party. It's too black," he said.

According the Federal Bureau of Prisons commissary list, Blago's choice of hair products will be limited to a choice of shampoo â€" Pert, Suave, V05 or Head & Shoulders.

If Blago planned to blow dry his hair in his cell, he needs to think again, said Allport, the former guard now running to be a state representative in Colorado.

"Blow dryers are contraband. There's motors in them that inmate can use to make tattoos. But maybe he could get a job in the barbershop," he said.

Blagojevich will also have to trade-in tailor made suits for a khaki prison uniform, and move from a mansion in tony North Side of Chicago suburbs to sharing a cell in a dorm-style section of the Colorado prison.

Blagojevich, who in the days following federal allegations against him held press conferences in which he impersonated Elvis and quoted Kipling, held court for the last time outside his home before leaving for the airport.

"I'm leaving with a heavy heart, a clear conscience and I have high, high hopes for the future," Blagojevich said. "Saying goodbye is the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

Also Read

Article from YAHOO NEWS

Couple accused of beating, burning girl met online

PHILADELPHIA â€"  A Pennsylvania couple and two other suspects have been charged with beating and setting fire to a woman they met on a chat line, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday.

The 20-year-old victim was allegedly lured from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia last month, where she was attacked by three adults who beat her, doused her with a flammable liquid and set her on fire, according to court documents.

The victim was able to extinguish the flames herself but was badly hurt, The Inquirer reported. Her assailants then put her back on a bus to Pittsburgh, where she reported the crime to police.

Police arrested Tamara Rhoades, 24; her husband, Michael, 34; and Steven Mills, 22 in connection with the crime. A 14-year-old who is a relative of the couple was also charged in connection with the case, but the district attorney's office did not reveal further details.

The three adults are charged with attempted murder, false imprisonment and arson, and bail was set at $750,000. All three remain in custody, the newspaper reported.

When police executed a search warrant at the couple's apartment, they discovered a second woman who was being held against her will, the newspaper reported. The 21-year-old victim had been beaten, prosecutors said.

Both women told police they had met Tamara Rhoades on a chat line.

Article from FOXNEWS

Voters: Don\'t Send US Troops to Syria

American voters oppose U.S. military involvement in Syria, where the government has killed an estimated 7,500 people as it tries to end a year-long uprising. In addition, a majority thinks there should be a national debate before the U.S. intervenes in hot-spots around the world.

Arizona Sen. John McCain has called for U.S. air strikes to help the anti-government rebels -- something the United States did in Libya. A Fox News poll released Thursday shows that a slim 51 percent majority of voters opposes that action, while 37 percent support it.

Click here for full Fox News poll results.

Larger majorities oppose the U.S. providing weapons to anti-government groups (64 percent) and launching air strikes to try to oust the Syrian government (68 percent). Fully 78 percent of voters oppose U.S. troops on the ground in Syria.

Instead of military action, most voters -- 82 percent -- think the United States should provide humanitarian aid.

Current opinion on U.S. involvement in Syria is in line with sentiment last year on Libya. A 55-percent majority opposed military involvement in Libya, and 64 percent opposed providing funding to Libyan rebels (August 29-31, 2011).

President Obama authorized military intervention in Libya without first consulting Congress.

American voters think it should be the other way around. The poll found 59 percent think there must be a national debate and approval from Congress before the U.S. intervenes overseas. That includes majorities of Republicans (65 percent), independents (60 percent) and Democrats (54 percent).

About a third of voters -- 34 percent -- think the president must be able to decide what actions the U.S. should take on his own.

Many voters think the U.S. will soon face such a decision on Iran. A 56 percent majority thinks force will be required to stop Iran from working on nuclear weapons, while 30 percent think diplomacy and sanctions alone will work.

Just under half of voters (49 percent) support U.S. taking military action against Iran. That's down from 60 percent support last month (February 6-9, 2012).

“With disturbing news coming daily from Afghanistan and Syria, some American's appear to be reconsidering whether opening another military front right now is a good idea,” says Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, who conducts the Fox News poll with Republican pollster Daron Shaw.

Still, a 61-percent majority thinks the United States should provide military support if Israel attacks Iran.

Fifty-three percent think Israel should take action to keep Iran from getting nukes, while 33 percent disagree.

The Fox News poll is based on land line and cell phone interviews with 912 randomly-chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from March 10 to March 12. For the total sample, it has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Article from FOXNEWS

Google\'s low-tech security plan: Remove all lightbulbs

Like the rest of the nation, we're temporarily suspending our interest in politics to devote every ounce of our mental energy to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Fortunately, the same online betting sites we use to predict presidential elections can give us a lot of information about March Madness.

Kentucky is the top ranked NCAA basketball team in the country and the clear favorite to win the tournament at 26.7 percent odds. Those are tremendous odds, given that the team has to win six straight games against the best teams in the country (if you county an opening round game against 16-seed Western Kentucky).

The presence of Kentucky makes the South region the most dangerous for other top ranked teams: No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Baylor, and No. 4 Indiana all have the lowest likelihood of winning the title compared with the other teams of similar rankings.

The East is the most wide-open region due to the ineligibility of top ranked Syracuse's start center, Fab Melo. Second ranked Ohio State is 12.1 percent likely to win the tournament, the highest odds for a team not in the top seed. Fifth ranked Vanderbilt is the most likely seed outside the top 4 to escape their region.

The West is the least respected of the regions, with top seed Michigan State at only 8.1 percent likelihood to win the tournament. In the Midwest, North Carolina and Kansas are both quite strong at 13.0 % likelihood and 8.7 percent likelihood of winning, respectively, despite the fact that they would need to go through each other in the quarterfinals.

Likelihood of Winning NCAA Basketball Tounrnament

Sources: Betfair and PredictWise. Please follow along live with PredictWise's real-time likelihoods of winning the tournament.

David Rothschild is an economist at Yahoo! Research. He has a Ph.D. in applied economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Follow him on Twitter @DavMicRot and email him at thesignal@yahoo-inc.com.

Want more? Visit The Signal blog, connect with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter. Handy with a camera? Join the Yahoo! News Election 2012 Flickr group to submit your photos of the campaign in action.

Article from YAHOO NEWS

Benefits of Beer

What should celebrities do to stop having their nude photos and sexts scammed off of their smart phones?

Well, there are high-priced cyber security measures one can enact. Or, one can just keep one's privates private.

Following the reported hack of several nude photos from ‘Glee' star Heather Morris' smart phone, scores of young people took to Twitter to announce that they know better than to ever pose provocatively or text intimate information, and that perhaps much older, wiser celebrities should know better, too.

“Heather Morris' nude photos leaked! Why are girls so stupid?'” tweeted one.

Another wrote “next time, think twice before you do something as stupid as that."

Another added “when are celebs going to figure out that they should NOT take nudes unless they want them leaked?”

The young  readers at Teen.com were also quick to dish out their disgust.

“Why can't celebrities (or teenagers) keep their clothes on???? It's just so immodest. If you didn't want the pictures out, then why take them???” one female teen wrote on the website.

A male reader also weighed in: “it's inapprops! Why do stars do that?”

The Morris nude photo scandal was the third in less than a week. Olivia Munn and Christina Hendricks both recently had to answer questions when nude photos, allegedly of the 30-something stars, appeared, out of the blue, online. The rash of flesh flashes (which come on the heels of handfuls of hacked naked celeb pics over the past few years) have some saying common sense may not be enough.

“Celebrities pay big money for bodyguards and home security systems, but they leave their personal devices open to chance. Most CEOs hire cyber security consultants to protect their phones, laptops and tablets â€" but for some reason this hasn't caught on in Hollywood,” certified “ethical hacker” Michael Gregg, who is hired by Fortune 500s and the US government to advise on cyber security issues, told FOX411's Pop Tarts column. “Hackers target celebrities because they are after anything of value, and since these folks are not security experts, they make tempting targets.”

Gregg said Hollywood needs to take a tougher stance on security, and this involves bringing security experts on board in the same way they might use a bodyguard for physical protection.

“The cost of a cyber bodyguard could range from a few thousand and up, depending on if it is an individual computer, or much more if they have offices that need a security review,” he continued. “The alternative is to hope you don't get hacked, and if you do, be prepared to deal with the fallout.” 

Or, just do what your young fans advise, and keep your clothes on.

“First of all, by not storing sensitive personal information on a device, celebrities can avoid embarrassing data breaches,” said Ken Westin, Founder & CTO of GadgetTrak. “Awareness is key, data just no longer resides on your laptop or phone, but also the (iTunes) Cloud, with private and personal data stored in a lot of different places.”

Brian Lawson, co-creator of Action Alert, Keyware, Inc.'s parental control software, agrees.

“Education is the most important â€" parents should teach kids to never post inappropriate photos on social networking and other sites,” Lawson said. “Don't e-mail or share photo's that you would not want the entire world to see... because they just might be seen by the world.”

That goes for you too, celebrities.

Article from FOXNEWS

Sen. Lugar can vote in Senate, but not in Indiana

The Marion County Election Board today voted 2-1 to strip Senator Richard Lugar and his wife of their eligibility to vote. The vote reportedly fell along partisan lines; two Democratic members voting for the motion to revoke the Lugars' registration, the lone Republican member voting against.

The six-term Republican US Senator has acknowledged his voter registration is linked to his former Indianapolis home which he sold decades ago. Lugar's current residence is in the Washington suburb of McLean, Virginia.

"Since Senator Lugar took office, he and Mrs. Lugar have scrupulously complied with Indiana law. The Lugars have also sought and followed the express direction of every legitimate government authority to have addressed the question," said Lugar spokesman Andy Fisher.

Lugar maintains he remains eligible to vote in Indiana based on the state constitution which reads: "No person shall be deemed to have lost his residence in the State, by reason of absence, either on business of the State or of the United States."Additionally, three state Attorneys General have supported Lugar's Indiana residency first validated in an opinion by Attorney General Linley Pearson, back in 1982.

But in 1995 state election law was changed to define a candidate's residence as a "person's true, fixed, and permanent home...to which the person has...the intention of returning."

The Marion County Election Board ruled that because the Lugars had no connection to their former Indianapolis home, they abandoned their residence and their legal residency, causing their voter registration to be invalid.

The board additionally ruled the Lugars' continued voting since moving to Virginia was a non-criminal violation.

Not surprisingly, Lugar's primary and general election opponents have chimed in.

Christopher Connor spokesman for Republican primary challenger Richard Mourdock said, "It's sad that Senator Lugar had to be instructed by the Marion County Election Board that he must maintain an actual home in the state he represents in the US Senate."

The winner of the May GOP primary will face Democratic Congressman Joe Donnelly in November.

Today, Donnelly's campaign communications director Elizabeth Shappell flashed her boss' Hoosier roots, "Joe still lives in the house his father-in-law helped build almost 30 years ago. He thinks it is important that the people of Indiana have a U.S. Senator who is focused on them."

It's been suggested Lugar could regain his voting status in Indiana by simply establishing a new Indiana residence and re-registering. But that idea has seemingly been shot down by long-time Lugar aide David Willkie who said, "I don't think that's the way we're going to go."

Another avenue may be to appeal the Election Board decision in the Marion County Circuit Court.

Article from FOXNEWS

Utah boy, 8, takes 5-year-old sister on joyride

OGDEN, Utah â€"  An 8-year-old Utah boy made sure he and his 5-year-old sister buckled up before heading out on a middle-of-the-night drive in their mother's minivan, but they didn't get far.

The boy, who couldn't even see above the steering wheel, made it just a few hundred feet before crashing the vehicle into a line of trees along the Ogden River, about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City.

No one was injured and the children were returned to a stunned mother who awoke to police officers in her apartment at about 2 a.m. Thursday, authorities said.

"They had just come out of the driveway, went across both lanes, then hit those trees," said Ogden police Lt. Danielle Croyle. "It could have been much worse if they didn't have their seatbelts on. They were just too smart for their own good."

Authorities didn't identify the mother, and she did not answer her door on Thursday. No telephone number was listed for her.

Croyle said police have no previous history with the woman or her children, and neglect was not an issue. She called it an accident and said no charges were pending.

Witnesses said it was a shock.

"It was crazy," said Justine McDonald, 18, who heard the crash and ran outside with a friend to help.

"They looked a little freaked out. The kids just kept saying they were happy to be alive," McDonald said. "I said, `Where's your mommy and daddy? Are they still in the car?' But she was at home asleep."

The young boy told Ogden police that his sister wanted to go to the store, so he grabbed the keys and headed out with his mother asleep in another room.

Several witnesses called 911 to report the crash.

"This kid wasn't even tall enough to see above the steering wheel," said neighbor Holly Maxwell, who also ran across the street to help. "They were worried their mother was going to be mad at them."

The 25-year-old said she held the little girl's hand and walked with police back to their apartment, along with McDonald.

An officer knocked repeatedly on the woman's door, then walked in, McDonald said.

"He called her name like four or five times," she said.

The woman eventually walked out from a back room.

"Did you know your kids took a joyride in your car?" McDonald said the officer asked the mother. "She just rubbed her head."

Article from FOXNEWS

71,581-Foot \'Test\' Plunge a Success — Next: 120,000

• Felix Baumgartner doing the first Red Bull Stratos Full Suit and Helmet Jump test.Luke Aikins / Red Bull Photofiles

The plunge from 71,581 feet was a success. Next up: 120,000 feet.

Daredevil adventurer Felix Baumgartner's plans to plunge 23 miles from the edge of space back to Earth -- a Red Bull-sponsored stunt that would be the world's highest freefall -- and on Thursday, his team announced the completion of a key test flight over Roswell, N.M.

"The height of Felix's test flight was significant, as it was the first time he passed the Armstrong Line of approximately 63,000 feet, where the atmospheric pressure truly tests Felix's custom-made space suit," his team said in a news release.

"I like the challenge. I have a passion for aviation."

- Daredevil adventurer Felix Baumgartner

It may not have reached the level of a space plunge, but what a fall it was. Baumgartner is said to have reached about 365 mph and fell for three minutes and 43 seconds before he opened his parachute at 7,890 feet.

Perviously, Baumgartner's highest freefall was from a paltry 30,000 feet.

The launch window for the 120,000 jump starts in July in New Mexico, Baumgartner told FoxNews.com last month. 

With air temperatures of -70 F degrees, his very blood would boil if exposed to the air. So what could compel a man to make such a dangerous attempt?

"I like the challenge," Baumgartner said. "I have a passion for aviation, and I love working on things that start from scratch," he explained. 

To do it at all required a custom supersonic spacesuit, designed by the David Clark Company, which made the first such pressurized suits to protect World War II fighters during high-speed maneuvers.

In the process of his leap, Baumgartner hopes to become the first parachutist to break the sound barrier, plummeting toward the ground at 760 miles per hour.

Article from FOXNEWS

Santorum super PAC swipes at Romney in escalating ad war

RT @GingrichIdeas: Ask Jim Boeheim the best way to bribe elections officials.

Article from YAHOO NEWS

Rush Limbaugh joins Twitter

Limbaugh (AP/Chris Carlson)

Rush Limbaugh has joined Twitter. The outspoken conservative talker announced on his radio show Thursday that he now has an account on the social messaging service in an effort to combat his critics and mobilize his "army" of supporters.

"Everybody has been asking me what they can do to help in all of this, and I've been saying, 'Nah, just do what you've been doing just, if you listen, keep listening, that's fine," Limbaugh said, according to Politico. "But there's an army out there that wants to be mobilized, and so, I figured, use Twitter for it. I'm just going to put some things on Twitter that you can help us circulate. It's that simple you just retweet them."

His first tweet, from the yet-to-be verified @Limbaugh handle, linked to a story claiming there has been a "secondary boycott" of advertisers on his radio show orchestrated by the liberal organization Media Matters:

http://bit.ly/y6Tnnv @mmfa

It did not appear at the time of this publication that anyone has retweeted him, but three Twitter users-two supporters, one not-so-supportive-replied.

Limbaugh's account already has more than 102,700 followers.

"I've had a Twitter account just to lock it up, a genuine Rush Limbaugh Twitter account, not a fake phony one, just to keep it under my domain control," Limbaugh told listeners.

@Iimbaugh, already exists.

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Santorum nomination? Not likely - but not impossible

Bottom Line

Can Rick Santorum get his wish and force a brokered convention in Tampa? Mitt Romney's campaign said it would take an "act of God" for Santorum to secure enough delegates to win the nomination, and last night Santorum seemed to side with the former Massachusetts governor.

"One of my opponents recently said that it would take an act of God for me to win this primary. I agree with him," Santorum told the congregation at an evangelical church in Puerto Rico.

Santorum would have to win nearly 70% of the remaining delegates in order to secure the nomination, and as long as Romney is in the race that's close to impossible.

On the other hand Mitt Romney needs to get nearly half of the remaining delegates in order to win the nomination. So there is a chance Santorum could block him and force a brokered convention, meaning none of the candidates received the 1,144 delegates needed.

But to do it, Santorum would have to basically sweep all the big states left:

Illinois next week. (And even that win might not get him most of the delegates because Santorum's off the ballot in a few districts.)

Then he needs upsets in Wisconsin and Maryland on April 3rd - plus a sweep of New York and Pennsylvania at the end of the month.

In May, he'd need to win big on the 8th:  Indiana, West Virginia and North Carolina - and hope that gives him enough momentum to win three of the five contests on June 5th.  One of those wins would have to be either New Jersey or California.

All that would cripple Romney heading to Tampa.  Is it likely?  Not really, but not impossible either.

Article from YAHOO NEWS

U.S. reacts cautiously to Karzai\'s surprising troop request

American officials are reacting cautiously after Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced Thursday that he had asked foreign troops to be withdrawn from Afghan villages and confined to large military bases.

Karzai apparently made the surprise request Thursday in a meeting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who was visiting to try to defuse tensions after a string of inflammatory incidents--chief among them, the March 12 shooting rampage by a U.S. staff sergeant in Kandahar province that killed 16 Afghans, including nine children.

But Karzai's request apparently took the Americans by surprise.

Panetta believes the request "reflects President Karzai's strong interest in moving as quickly as possible to a fully independent and sovereign Afghanistan," Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement sent to Yahoo News Thursday.

But he "believes that we have made good progress thus far in both security gains and transition, and that it is important for us to remain focused on those efforts in the months ahead," Little added.

The requested troop pullback, if implemented, would "essentially end the U.S. combat role just as the annual Taliban spring offensive begins," the Wall Street Journal's Afghanistan editor Yaroslav Trofimov wrote. NATO-led forces are currently due to turn over combat responsibilities to Afghan security forces by the middle of 2013, and to be withdrawn from the country by the end of 2014.

And while the NATO-led command was still digesting the implications of Karzai's request, the Americans got more bad news: the Taliban announced they were suspending reconciliation talks with the United States. The United States sees the peace talks as a key part of their overall exit strategy. But the Afghan insurgent group said Thursday they were putting the talks on hold, complaining that the Americans were "shaky, erratic and vague."

"The Islamic Emirate has decided to suspend all talks with Americans taking place in Qatar from today onwards until the Americans clarify their stance on the issues concerned," the Afghan insurgent group said in a statement, McClatchy reported.

American and NATO officials were muted in their public response to both developments Thursday, only the latest in a string of bad news in the 10-year-old war.

Panetta, characteristically, even sought to put an upbeat spin on his meetings with Afghan leaders in Kabul Thursday, despite an attempted car bomb attack on the runway where his plane was landing in southern Afghanistan Wednesday. The Afghan civilian who hijacked the vehicle and charged the runway as Panetta's plane was landing died overnight from burns sustained in the attack, the Pentagon said.

"Secretary Panetta enjoyed a very detailed and productive set of discussions in Afghanistan with Interior Minister Mohammadi, Defense Minister Wardak and President Karzai," Little said, avoiding any mention of the runway incident.

Some experienced Afghan hands said the latest string of grim developments show it's time for western and Afghan governments to reassess the transition plan.

"It is high time that both sides review their interests and strategies and come to an understanding for the sake of a better and safer environment for Afghans," Farid Maqsudi, an Afghan-American businessman who travels frequently to the country as a founding member of the U.S.-Afghan Chamber of Commerce, told Yahoo News by email Thursday.

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Mexican cartels branching out to Europe

A Fox News report from Wednesday night's On the Record with Greta Van Susteren indicates violent Mexican cartels have infiltrated Europe, specifically, Britain, France and the Netherlands.

Oscar Hagelsieb, a U.S. Homeland Security special agent, says intelligence and sources have indicated cartels have spread to Europe, Africa, and in the Middle East.

"Compared to a year, and I point back to my time in Mexico, I believe that the cartels have grown in violence and in tactics and ruthlessness," Hagelsieb said. 

"Right now what we see is that this cartel violence has taken hold.  We attribute to that perhaps the cartels are in a wait-and-see posture with an election coming up.  They are trying to determine if the new administration will be as vigorous in pursuing them as the Calderón administration." 

The video clip is above and the transcript of the exchange between Van Susteren and Hagelsieb is below.

VAN SUSTEREN:  This is the ignored crisis.  We have been telling you this almost nightly ON THE RECORD.  We have taken you to Mexico.  Mexican cartels are vicious, violent and growing out of control.  It is no longer a war in Mexico saving their citizens and spilling onto our streets.  

Tonight, we can report that they are in Europe, in Britain, France, and the Netherlands.  

Oscar Hagelsieb is a U.S. homeland security special agent.  He joins us.  Good evening, sir.  And tell me, am I right that these Mexican cartels have now spread to Europe?  

OSCAR HAGELSIEB, HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS:  Yes, you are correct.  We have intelligence and our sources have indicated that they have spread to Europe, including England, the Netherlands, France, and as far away as Africa, and in the Middle East.  

VAN SUSTEREN:  What is being done, if anything?  I understand that the British are talking to you -- is that right, sir?  

HAGELSIEB:  Yes.  We have established the contact with the British authorities, specifically, this organized crime agency.  The British have visited us here in El Paso to see how we tackle the cartels.  We have experience investigating high-level cartel members all over the world.  We have offices all over the world.  So they have reached out to us and we are now beginning to share intelligence and information.  

VAN SUSTEREN:  If you were to compare a year ago with right now, has it gotten better, the control over the cartels, or are the cartels grown and spread out over the world in a year?  

HAGELSIEB:  Compared to a year, and I point back to my time in Mexico, I believe that the cartels have grown in violence and in tactics and ruthlessness.  Right now what we see is that this cartel violence has taken hold.  We attribute to that perhaps the cartels are in a wait-and-see posture with an election coming up.  They are trying to determine if the new administration will be as vigorous in pursuing them as the Calderón administration.

VAN SUSTEREN:  You are talking about the administration in Mexico.  
You are not referring to our election in the United States, right?  

HAGELSIEB:  No.  Exactly.  I am referring to the Mexican elections.  

VAN SUSTEREN:  Do the British seem to have the same level of urgency or more of a greater level of urgency to this problem than the Americans?  
Or are they both on the same page?  

HAGELSIEB:  I think we are both on the same page.  The only difference is that they haven't been exposed to these kinds of investigations.  They have never had to deal with the ruthlessness of the Mexican cartels and to how they operate.  So they took this opportunity to communicate with us to see exactly what our methods are, to investigate and dismantle them.  We have done this for years.  We have investigated the cartels for numerous years in the United States and Mexico.  So who better to teach them our methods than us?  

VAN SUSTEREN:  When you talk about the cartels spreading to Europe, are you talking about a distribution network for their drugs?  Or are you also including the vicious violence that we see -- that we have heard about in Mexico, like beheadings and tortures?  Is that also spreading to Europe?  

HAGELSIEB:  Well, from what we have gathered from our intelligence is that right now what spread to Europe is a distribution network.  
Specifically the Sinaloa cartel has been very adept at doing that and setting up distribution networks throughout Europe.  They don't have much competition there, so you won't see the level of violence that there is in Mexico where they are battling against each other for the lucrative wraps.  

So at this point, what Europe and anybody else in Africa, the Middle East should be concerned is that they set up and entrench themselves in the society to launder money and try to legitimize their illicit money.  And at this point, we don't foresee the violence spreading there, but it has the potential.  For example, we see how lucrative the distribution is in Europe, who is to say they don't muscle there way over there and continue the violence there.  

VAN SUSTEREN:  Agent, thank you and good luck, sir.  

HAGELSIEB:  Thank you.  

Catch On the Record with Greta Van Susteren weeknights at 10pm EST and visit their website here.

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Social Media Jealousy

What should celebrities do to stop having their nude photos and sexts scammed off of their smart phones?

Well, there are high-priced cyber security measures one can enact. Or, one can just keep one's privates private.

Following the reported hack of several nude photos from ‘Glee' star Heather Morris' smart phone, scores of young people took to Twitter to announce that they know better than to ever pose provocatively or text intimate information, and that perhaps much older, wiser celebrities should know better, too.

“Heather Morris' nude photos leaked! Why are girls so stupid?'” tweeted one.

Another wrote “next time, think twice before you do something as stupid as that."

Another added “when are celebs going to figure out that they should NOT take nudes unless they want them leaked?”

The young  readers at Teen.com were also quick to dish out their disgust.

“Why can't celebrities (or teenagers) keep their clothes on???? It's just so immodest. If you didn't want the pictures out, then why take them???” one female teen wrote on the website.

A male reader also weighed in: “it's inapprops! Why do stars do that?”

The Morris nude photo scandal was the third in less than a week. Olivia Munn and Christina Hendricks both recently had to answer questions when nude photos, allegedly of the 30-something stars, appeared, out of the blue, online. The rash of flesh flashes (which come on the heels of handfuls of hacked naked celeb pics over the past few years) have some saying common sense may not be enough.

“Celebrities pay big money for bodyguards and home security systems, but they leave their personal devices open to chance. Most CEOs hire cyber security consultants to protect their phones, laptops and tablets â€" but for some reason this hasn't caught on in Hollywood,” certified “ethical hacker” Michael Gregg, who is hired by Fortune 500s and the US government to advise on cyber security issues, told FOX411's Pop Tarts column. “Hackers target celebrities because they are after anything of value, and since these folks are not security experts, they make tempting targets.”

Gregg said Hollywood needs to take a tougher stance on security, and this involves bringing security experts on board in the same way they might use a bodyguard for physical protection.

“The cost of a cyber bodyguard could range from a few thousand and up, depending on if it is an individual computer, or much more if they have offices that need a security review,” he continued. “The alternative is to hope you don't get hacked, and if you do, be prepared to deal with the fallout.” 

Or, just do what your young fans advise, and keep your clothes on.

“First of all, by not storing sensitive personal information on a device, celebrities can avoid embarrassing data breaches,” said Ken Westin, Founder & CTO of GadgetTrak. “Awareness is key, data just no longer resides on your laptop or phone, but also the (iTunes) Cloud, with private and personal data stored in a lot of different places.”

Brian Lawson, co-creator of Action Alert, Keyware, Inc.'s parental control software, agrees.

“Education is the most important â€" parents should teach kids to never post inappropriate photos on social networking and other sites,” Lawson said. “Don't e-mail or share photo's that you would not want the entire world to see... because they just might be seen by the world.”

That goes for you too, celebrities.

Article from FOXNEWS

Can Hyundai\'s Hybrid Hang?

Rival models already have the knives out for the Sports Illustrated (SI) Swimsuit cover beauty Kate Upton.

There was a frosty atmosphere during a launch event last month in front of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for this year's issue.

Sources said when the 18 SI models -- including Izabel Goulart, Irina Shayk, Chrissy Teigen, Anne V., Genevieve Morton and Julie Henderson -- lined up for a photo, Upton, standing on one side, was asked to move to the middle of the group by a producer.

At first she was hesitant, but moved after further prompting.

But some of the ladies at the shoot were not pleased at making space. An onlooker said one model rolled her eyes while another mumbled under her breath.

When Upton asked what she said, the model snapped, "Don't worry about me, honey, cause I'm not worrying about you!"

A rep for Upton did not respond to inquiries about the incident. An SI rep said, "If there were words exchanged, it's news to me. Kate was elegant and a complete force of spirit throughout the launch."

Article from FOXNEWS

Iran cut off from global financial system- What UN nuke inspectors think they\'ll find in Iran

BRUSSELS â€"  Iran was largely cut off from global commerce on Thursday, when the company that handles financial transactions said it was severing ties with many Iranian banks -- part of an international effort to discourage Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

The action is meant to enforce European Union sanctions, as global financial transactions are impossible without using SWIFT, and will go a long way toward isolating Iran financially.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, is a banking hub crucial to oil, financial transactions and other trades.

Because of its reach, SWIFT's decision to cut off about 30 Iranian banks and subsidiaries could hinder not only banking but also the country's lucrative crude oil industry and possibly hurt Iranian households that depend on remittances from relatives living abroad.

"Disconnecting banks is an extraordinary and unprecedented step for SWIFT," said Lazaro Campos, chief executive of the company. "It is a direct result of international and multilateral action to intensify financial sanctions against Iran."

In a statement, the company said the EU decision to impose sanctions "prohibits companies such as SWIFT to continue to provide specialized financial messaging services to EU-sanctioned banks" and "forces SWIFT to take action."

There was no immediate reaction from the Iranian government or the banks involved.

Though Thursday's move adds no new sanctions, it is intended to make sure that EU sanctions that have already been approved are watertight.

In a statement, the European Council -- comprised of the government leaders of the 27 European Union countries -- said it had "developed the application" of its restrictive measures against Iran.

"In this context, the Council agreed that no specialized financial messaging shall be provided to those persons and entities subject to an asset freeze," the statement said.

In addition to sanctioning various officials and freezing the assets of certain companies, the European Union plans to institute an embargo on the import of Iranian oil in July -- an attempt to choke off funding for Iran's nuclear program.

The EU sanctions are aimed at forcing Iran to demonstrate to the international community that it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, but officials in many other countries -- including Israel -- believe otherwise.

SWIFT and similar services facilitate not only large financial transactions, but small ones as well, raising the question of whether the EU directive could have unintended consequences. Numerous Iranians, including opponents of the current regime, live abroad and many may use these financial transaction services to send small amounts of money to their families back home on a regular basis.

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Schools can opt out of \'pink slime\' beef

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday that school districts don't have to receive meat products that contain "pink slime" beef in food provided by the government, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The decision to allow school districts to have a choice beginning in the 2012-13 school year comes after mounting public concern over the USDA's plans to buy millions of pounds of the ammonia hydroxide-treated beef trimmings for the federal school lunch program.

The USDA said "requests from school districts across the country" forced its hand.

Chellie Pingree, a Democratic congresswoman from Maine, said, "There is only one word for this product: gross. McDonald's and Burger King won't serve it in their restaurants and it doesn't belong in school cafeterias either."

She sent a letter dated March 14 to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack asking the department not to allow what the industry and USDA calls "lean finely textured beef" into school lunches.

The USDA has been buying meat containing the beef product for the National School Lunch Program since the early 1990s, but says it is always limited to 15 percent of a single serving of ground beef. About seven million pounds, or 6.5 percent, of the roughly 112 million pounds of ground beef purchased for the current 2011-12 school year was made up of the lean finely textured beef, according to USDA data.

A petition launched by food columnist Bettina Siegel a week ago demanding the USDA not purchase the beef product has received more than 226,000 signatures as of Thursday.

It's wrong, she said in the petition, "to feed our children connective tissues and beef scraps that were, in the past, destined for use in pet food and rendering and were not considered fit for human consumption."

About 32 million children are served every school day in the federal school lunch or breakfast programs and 15 percent to 20 percent of that food comes directly from USDA procurements, according to the School Nutrition Association.

Meat-industry representatives say there is absolutely nothing unsafe about the product, which is approved and inspected by the USDA.

Click here to read more from The Wall Street Journal.

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Arizona bill would let more employers nix contraceptive coverage

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) - An Army private aided al-Qaida by leaking hundreds of thousands of military and other government documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, the military said Thursday.

Pfc. Bradley Manning had previously been charged with aiding the enemy among a total of 22 counts, but on Thursday the military identified the enemy Manning's actions aided. Manning and his attorneys are appearing at a hearing at a military courtroom at Fort Meade, near Baltimore, for two days of hearings in the case.

During Thursday morning's hearing the military judge in the case announced military prosecutors' answers to a series of questions about the accusations against Manning. The judge, Col. Denise Lind, said the government contends Manning indirectly aided al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula by giving information to the WikiLeaks site.

Military prosecutors say Manning, a 24-year-old Oklahoma native, downloaded and sent to WikiLeaks nearly half a million sensitive battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables, and a video of a deadly 2007 Army helicopter attack that WikiLeaks shared with the world and dubbed "Collateral Murder."

Defense lawyers say Manning was clearly a troubled young soldier whom the Army should never have deployed to Iraq or given access to classified material while he was stationed there from late 2009 to mid-2010. They say the leaked material did little or no harm to national security.

Manning is expected to learn during the current two days of hearings when his trial will start. During his most recent hearing in late February, no trial date was set, though the timing was discussed. During that hearing, which lasted less than an hour, Manning declined to enter a plea to the counts he faces, including aiding the enemy, which could result in life imprisonment. He also put off choosing whether to be tried by a military jury or judge alone.

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British P.M. David Cameron visits NYC and Newark, N.J. Where would you take him to visit? http://t.co/M3ItF2sf

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Pope Benedict orders his own personal fragrance

Pope Benedict meets with Cologne Archbishop Joachim Cardinal Meisner (AP/Andrew Medichini)

Already one of the most important religious figures in the world, Pope Benedict has now joined the ranks of Sting and Madonna in receiving his own personal fragrance from a world-renowned fragrance designer.

The Guardian reports that the infallible religious leader appears to enjoy a second higher calling, that of high fashion. Italian boutique perfume maker Silvana Casoli acknowledges that she has created a custom made cologne for the leader of the Catholic Church at his personal request.

Pope Benedict reportedly already has his own tailor made red shoes and matching panama hats, which he says are worn out of respect for papal tradition, rather than personal taste.

The custom-blended eau de cologne reportedly mixes the aromas of lime trees, verbena and grass, reflecting Benedict's love of nature. But good luck picking up your own bottle, as Casoli has reportedly entered into a "pact of secrecy" with the religious leader. "I would not ever repeat the same perfume for another customer," Casoli told the Guardian.

Were Pope Benedict to officially endorse his own personal fragrance, he'd join the growing ranks of other famous men pushing their own cologne lines, including country singer Tim McGraw, pop star Justin Bieber, baseball player Derek Jeter and even action star Bruce Willis.

However, Casoli does offer the general public some other eye-catching fragrances, including one called "Cannabis," and another simply titled, "Nude." Perfume blog Eiderdown Press described the Cannabis perfume as such, "It reminds me of pipe tobacco bought at Wal-Mart and intended to be consumed there (in that section where the old folks gossip and have coffee)." While the Nude perfume is described by Casoli's company as being inspired "by the smell that only a woman's skin emanates in a state of ecstasy."

Now, if Pope Benedict really wanted to reach out to the common man, he might have instead opted for Fargginay's Bacon scented cologne and perfume.

And this is not the first personal scent Casoli has created for the Catholic Church. Earlier, she created two fragrances, "Water of Faith," and "Water of Hope," for Catholic pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela, according to the Guardian.

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TSA to elderly passengers: Let\'s try keeping your shoes on

A TSA officer at a security check-point at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. (AP/File)

One cause of delays at airports could soon be eased: The Transportation Security Administration announced on Wednesday that it will begin testing a program next week that would allow passengers 75 and older to keep their shoes and light jackets on as they pass through security.

The TSA will begin testing the program at Chicago's O'Hare, Denver International, Orlando International and Portland (Ore.) International airports on Monday. Older passengers may still be subject to normal screening procedures if the full-body scanners detect any anomalies, the TSA said.

Last year, the TSA instituted a similar program to reduce the time spent getting children 12 and under through security.

The new program-which the TSA hopes reduces the number of pat-downs conducted on the elderly-is part of a broader initiative to target riskier passengers and speed up check-ins.

"These changes will allow officers to better focus their efforts on passengers who may be more likely to pose a risk to transportation, while expediting the screening process," Joseph Terrell, TSA's security director in Orlando, told USA Today.

TSA officers "will make a visual assessment to determine which passengers are 75 or older and inform them of changes to the screening procedures."

If the program proves successful, the TSA said it would consider expanding it.

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Missing New York girl found by FBI in Thailand - Texas mom to be reunited with son taken in 2004

Authorities say a New York girl abducted nearly five years ago by her non-custodial father has been found in good health in Thailand.

Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh said Deonna Shipman, now 8, was found just over two weeks ago by the FBI in Bangkok and is back in the county. Walsh said Tuesday she'd been missing from the town of Salina, near Syracuse, N.Y., since July 2007 after Jeffery Shipman took her and fled the country.

Shipman, 51, was arrested in Bangkok on federal international parental kidnapping charges. He was arraigned in Los Angeles and will eventually be returned to Onondaga County for further court appearances.

Shipman had reportedly been on the FBI's Most Wanted List.

Walsh said the girl's mother, Lioubov Shipman, is returning from Russia to be re-united with her daughter, the Post-Standard newspaper reported. 

Authorities believe Shipman acted after losing custody of Deonna.

Click for more on this story from the Post-Standard. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Global financial group, SWIFT, boots Iran banks from network

BOSTON (AP) - An East African gay advocacy group filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against a Massachusetts evangelist, alleging he has waged a decade-long campaign to persecute gays in Uganda.

The suit was filed in federal court in Springfield against minister Scott Lively under a statute that Sexual Ministries Uganda says allows non-citizens to file U.S. court actions for violations of international law.

Frank Mugisha, who heads the advocacy group, said it was singling out Lively for "helping spread propaganda and violence" against Uganda's gay people.

"We hope that he will be held accountable for what he did in Uganda," said Mugisha, who won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award last year. "We want to send out a clear message to him and to others."

Lively, of Abiding Truth Ministries, is one of a handful of American pastors whom Ugandan gay activists accuse of having helped draft the original version of the African nation's anti-homosexuality bill.

The bill called for the death penalty for certain homosexual acts such as when gay people with AIDS were caught having sex. It has since been revamped to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment as a maximum sentence.

Lively said Wednesday the legal action was "absurd" and "completely frivolous." He said in an email to The Associated Press that he has never advocated violence against homosexuals. He said he has preached against homosexuality but advised therapy for gays, not punishment.

Lively also told the AP in November that he advised the Ugandan parliament "to focus on rehabilitation and not punishment." He said he didn't oppose the criminalization of gays but said imprisonment and the death penalty are too harsh. He was among U.S. evangelicals who visited Uganda in 2009, after which debate began about the bill.

About 70 protesters marched Wednesday about a half-mile (kilometer) from the U.S. District Court in Springfield to Lively's business, the Holy Grounds Coffee House. They dressed in black and beat drums, carrying signs with the names of persecuted Ugandans and coffins to symbolize death allegedly due to persecution. The group spent about 10 minutes in front of the coffee house, leaving white flowers there.

World leaders including President Barack Obama have condemned the Ugandan bill. But the draft legislation is popular in that country, where pastors frequently preach against homosexual behavior.

The Ugandan government said in a statement last month that it didn't support the bill, but that debate about it is allowed under the constitution.

The suit against Lively, whose Springfield church is known as Redemption Gate Mission Society, is part of wide-ranging legal action Ugandan gay groups are considering against individuals they consider hostile to the rights of homosexuals.

The complaint claims Lively issued a call in Uganda to fight against a "genocidal" and "pedophilic" gay movement, "which he likened to the Nazis and Rwandan murderers." The suit asks for a judgment that Lively's actions are illegal and violate international law and human rights.

Lively said in his email that his words have been taken out of context.

"Most of the ostensibly inflammatory comments attributed to me are from selectively edited video clips of my 2009 seminars in Kampala," he said. "I challenge the plaintiffs and their allies to publish the complete footage of the seminar on the Internet. They will not do this or their duplicity would be exposed."

The New York-based group Center for Constitutional Rights filed the suit on behalf of Sexual Minorities Uganda. Center attorney Pam Spees said it also seeks monetary damages.

___

Associated Press writer Rodney Muhumuza contributed to this story from Kampala, Uganda.

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Romney looking to halt Santorum\'s momentum

Also said he hasnt seen Kony2012 but anything that makes war criminals' names famous is a good thing

Article from YAHOO NEWS

Majority in U.S. oppose intervention in Syria

New Pew poll finds Americans wary of intervening in Syria. (PEW)Almost two-thirds of Americans oppose any form of U.S. military intervention in Syria, according to a new poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

The findings may reflect the public's wariness about wading into what it perceives as a protracted civil war between the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and Syrian rebels. The year-old Syrian uprising and crackdown has killed an estimated 8,000 people.  The results also appear to reflect Americans' war-weariness more than a decade after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Sixty-two percent of Americans surveyed expressed opposition to bombing the Syrian military, an idea recently proposed by Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), the new Pew poll found. Almost the same number--63 percent--said they oppose sending weapons to Syrian groups fighting the Assad regime.

Notably, the poll found little difference among Republicans and Democrats. "Majorities of Republicans and Democrats say the U.S. does not have a responsibility to get involved, and reject airstrikes or the shipment of arms to anti-government forces," the Pew pollsters wrote in an overview of their latest findings.

By contrast, polls have consistently found "much wider partisan differences over whether or not to maintain U.S. forces in Afghanistan and in concerns about Iran," the Pew publication stated. While overall, 57 percent of those surveyed say U.S. forces should be removed from Afghanistan as fast as possible, a far higher majority of Democrats-69 percent-favor the faster pull out, versus just 41 percent of Republicans surveyed. Just under two-thirds of independents polled-58 percent-favor the faster drawdown as well.

The national survey was conducted March 7-11-entirely before the March 12 shooting rampage by a U.S. staff sergeant that killed 16 Afghans-among 1,503 adults.

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- Iran banks booted from SWIFT global financial network

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Article from YAHOO NEWS

Making Hunger Games a Reality

'Extreme Weather'

From the publisher
A terrorist hit is coming. The CIA, FBI, and Department of Defense systems have spiked, but traditional intel is going nowhere. It falls to the Taskforce-a top secret team that exists outside the bounds of U.S. law and is charged with finding and destroying asymmetric threats-to stop the unknown conspirators. Click here to learn more

'All Necessary Force'

From the publisher
A terrorist hit is coming. The CIA, FBI, and Department of Defense systems have spiked, but traditional intel is going nowhere. It falls to the Taskforce-a top secret team that exists outside the bounds of U.S. law and is charged with finding and destroying asymmetric threats-to stop the unknown conspirators. Click here to learn more

'The People's Money'

From the publisher
In The People's Money, Rasmussen explores clear-headed, responsible, and reasonable ways to eliminate a deficit that is much larger than politicians would have us believe -- $123 trillion and counting-all with the vast support of the American people. Click here to learn more

'Left Turn'

Dr. Tim Groseclose, a professor of political science and economics at UCLA, has spent years constructing precise, quantitative measures of the slant of media outlets. He does this by measuring the political content of news, as a way to measure the PQ, or "political quotient" of voters and politicians. Click here to learn more

'As Good As She Imagined'

From the publisher
Christina-Taylor Green was beautiful, precocious, smart and popular, a member of her elementary school's student council and the only girl on her Little League team. Born on 9/11/2001, it was perhaps no surprise that she harbored aspirations of becoming a politician-thus her presence at the political rally that fateful day in Tucson last January. Click here to learn more

'Choose to Lose: The 7-Day Carb Cycle Solution'

From the publisher
From celebrated fitness trainer Chris Powell, star of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition", comes this inspirational weight loss book to help anyone conquer their weight. Click here to learn more

Article from FOXNEWS