By Olivier Knox | The Ticket â€"Â
Article from YAHOO NEWS
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Jobless Rate Going Down, Or More Just Giving Up?
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April 1: An unemployed man looks at job listings in Menlo Park, Calif.AP
The Labor Department every month publishes the nation's unemployment rate, which is now hovering at roughly 8 percent after peaking at more than 10 percent in 2009.Â
But is that decline a result of thousands of Americans going back to work -- or thousands throwing in the towel on the job hunt?
The answer lies in the numbers.Â
If the percentage of adult Americans in the labor force -- that being the total number of people who are employed or looking for work -- were the same as it was during the end of the Bush administration, the April jobless rate would be at 11.1 percent.Â
That's 3 percentage points higher than the 8.1 percent reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this month.Â
The agency's official monthly unemployment number is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed into the number of working-age Americans who either have a job or are looking for one.Â
However, a statistic known as the "labor force participation rate" is key. That's the percentage of the adult population that is employed or looking for work -- in other words, the labor force. The lower the number, the worse the employment situation.Â
And it's a figure that's been trending steadily downward over the past decade. The lower number reflects a startling reality -- a smaller share of the working-age population is looking for work.Â
It was 67.3 percent when George W. Bush took office in 2001, and down to 65.5 percent when President Obama took office in 2009.
The rate was all the way down to 58.4 percent in April 2011 and, after increasing slightly, returned last month again to 58.4 percent, according to the federal government.Â
When potential workers give up that job hunt, the official unemployment number tends to improve. This helps explain how the economy added just 115,00 jobs from March to April while the unemployment rate went from 8.2 percent to 8.1 percent. Yet over the same period, 342,000 job seekers stopped looking for work.
Throw that scenario back to early 2009, and we'd be talking about an 11.1 percent jobless rate. Reach all the way back to the employment picture for when Bush took office, and the rate would be more like 13.1 percent.Â
"We need to look beyond the official number," Aparna Mathur, an economist with the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, said Thursday.
Experts point out Americans leaving the job market is at least a decade-long trend that did not start with President Obama, and attribute the situation largely to baby boomers retiring early.
Mathur said that is only part of the picture.
"It's not purely a trending down of the people in the higher age groups," she said. Mathur said both extremes of the workforce -- older workers and college graduates -- tend to exit the market during tough economic times. Those close to retirement give up after months, even years of  no success. And college graduates, without the responsibility of supporting a family, can make choices like graduate school.
Republicans have hammered the trend of people quitting the job hunt, as they push back on claims that the economy is brightening.Â
“The reason you're seeing the unemployment rate go down is because you have more people dropping out of the workforce than you have getting jobs,†GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Friday on Fox News, after the April numbers were released. “It's a terrible and disappointing report this morning.â€
Romney said Americans are concerned because the economic recovery appears to be slowing down, not accelerating.
“This is not progress,†he said.
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Bachmann moves to withdraw dual Swiss citizenship
Rep. Michele Bachmann announced Thursday that she is withdrawing her dual Swiss citizenship.Â
The issue of her citizenship had generated a flurry of news stories in recent days. The firebrand conservative congresswoman says she's been a dual citizen since 1978, when she married her husband of Swiss descent -- and that the status was automatic under Swiss law. Bachmann, R-Minn., on Wednesday called the issue a "non-story."Â
But on Thursday, she said she's making a change and wants to make clear she's a "proud" American. Â Â
"Today I sent a letter to the Swiss Consulate requesting withdrawal of my dual Swiss citizenship, which was conferred upon me by operation of Swiss law when I married my husband in 1978," Bachmann said in a statement.Â
"I took this action because I want to make it perfectly clear: I was born in America and I am a proud American citizen. I am, and always have been, 100 percent committed to our United States Constitution and the United States of America."Â
Bachmann is a former Republican presidential candidate. She recently endorsed Mitt Romney.
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Edwards wanted to be Court justice, ex-adviser says
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May 10, 2012: John Edwards arrives at a federal courthouse in Greensboro, N.C.AP
Even as John Edwards' presidential hopes dwindled, the candidate had ambitions for high office, his former senior economic adviser testified Thursday.Â
"We talked about a more elaborate long-term goal of Mr. Edwards, which was to be a Supreme Court justice," Leo Hindery said on the witness stand.Â
Instead of landing on the federal bench, Edwards is now a defendant in federal court. The detail about Edwards' lingering political aspirations emerged shortly before the prosecution rested its case Thursday in that trial, calling its last set of witnesses after a dramatic three weeks of testimony.Â
Prosecutors did not end up calling the mistress, Rielle Hunter, to the stand, despite her featuring prominently in much of the testimony so far.Â
"They probably thought she was too dangerous," Steven Friedland, a law professor at Elon University and former federal prosecutor, told Fox News.Â
Instead, prosecutors attempted to leave jurors with an impression of Edwards as a career politician who still had ambitions for high office, even as his presidential hopes and marriage were crumbling. On the prosecution's last day of witness testimony Thursday, the government was also working hard to prove that the botched attempt to hide Edwards' extramarital affair was to protect his political career -- and not just his family. They argue that money channeled toward Hunter while the affair remained a secret constituted an illegal campaign donation.Â
Prosecutors, as part of that effort, called two FBI agents to the stand to confirm payments that benefactor Fred Baron made while moving Hunter around the country along with former campaign aide, Andrew Young.Â
Throughout the trial, the defense has attempted to portray Young as an opportunist, who profited off his former boss's affair.Â
In an apparent attempt to humanize Young for the jury, prosecutors asked Hindery about a February 2009 meeting he had with Young and his wife, as the former aide was considering writing his tell-all book.Â
"He was very, very nervous," Hindery said. "Mrs. Young periodically had some tears. He was worried about employment and how he would pay the expenses of his family."Â
Later, Hindery added, "He was as sad a young man as I had ever been around."Â
Once prosecutors rest their case, Judge Catherine Eagles plans to dismiss the jury for the weekend and reserve Friday's session for discussions with the lawyers involved with the case.Â
On Monday, the defense is scheduled to begin calling its witnesses to the stand. Although Edwards' mistress is on the defense's list of witnesses, that's no guarantee she'll actually testify.Â
"We may not see Rielle Hunter," Friedland said. "We saw a big tactical decision by the prosecution not to call her. It may not be in the defense's interest right now to call her either."
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Jailed Iranian pastor writes supporters thank yous
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Undated photo of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani taken while in an Iranian Prison on charges of apostasy
The Christian pastor on death row in Iran has reportedly written a letter thanking his supporters and blasting those who he said use "insulting words" against Islam in what he considers a misguided effort to help his cause.
Washington-based human rights group American Center for Law and Justice released what it says is a letter written by Youcef Nadarkhani earlier this week from a prison in the Lakan Province of Iran, where he is currently being held  for charges of practicing Christianity and renouncing Islam. If the letter is real, it is the first time Nadarkhani has been heard from in a year.
“First, I would like to inform all of my beloved brothers and sisters that I am in perfect health in the flesh and spirit,†begins the letter, which is addressed to “All those who are concerned and worried about my current situation.â€
“From time to time I am informed about the news, which is spreading in the media, about my current situation…or campaigns and human rights activities which are going on against the charges which are applied to me.†Another passage from the pastor's letter reads, “I do believe that these kind of activities can be very helpful in order to reach freedom, and respecting the human rights in a right way can bring forth great results in this.â€
Nadarkhani also mentions those who have used his cause to attack Islam, saying "burning and insulting" is not "reverent" behavior. He did not specifically mention controversial Florida Pastor Terry Jones, who claims to have burned Korans in April to show solidarity with Nadarkhani.
The letter was obtained by evangelic ministry Present Truth, which operates missions in Iran. The group also had the letter translated into English from the pastor's native language of Farsi.
“Present Truth Ministries received the letter from its sources inside Iran. We believe the sources providing this letter have proven to be credible throughout this case and, therefore, we believe that Pastor Youcef is the author,†Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the ACLJ, told FoxNews.com.
Nadarkhani has been jailed since being arrested in 2009 after he went to his son's school to complain about them starting mandatory Koran classes.
He was then charged with apostasy from Islam. He was found guilty by the Iranian Supreme Court and sentenced to death and has been imprisoned ever since.
His attorney in Iran was recently arrested and sentenced to life in prison.
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Ohio immigration strategy for growth drawing notice
Dayton, Ohio â€"  The corner of East Third Street and Bell in Dayton's East End offers a view of what happens when the American Dream leaves town. Â
Paints peels off the wood siding of vacant homes. Feral cats roam among the overgrown weeds and ivy that have overtaken a crumbling parking lot. A graffiti-covered restaurant sits in a state of decay. In the surrounding neighborhood homes stand empty, windows covered by plywood and “No Trespassing†signs stapled to the front doors.Â
The East End is one of many neighborhoods throughout the city, and the Rust Belt as a whole, that have fallen on hard times in the wake of the population loss and the departure of manufacturing jobs.
Yet, detectable too, are rumblings of new life.
Less than a quarter mile west of East Third and Bell sits a Latino owned grocery and women's clothing shop; farther down is a law office that advertises in Spanish; a few blocks from that is Taqueria Mixteca, a Mexican restaurant which overflows with customers during lunch.
These stores make up a small but growing Latino community in Dayton, attracted by cheap housing, lenient immigration enforcement, and a city initiative meant to boost its population, and its economy, by welcoming immigrants. Dayton's innovative immigration initiative --which is already having an impact-- is being closely followed as a potential model other Rust Belt communities.Â
“The city has been losing residents for decades with big companies like GM leaving the area,†said Francisco Peláez Diaz, a Hispanic Missionary pastor at Dayton's College Hill Community Church and one of the founders of Welcome Dayton, the municipal initiative to attract immigrants.
“What is happening is that these immigrants are repopulating the city,†added Peláez Diaz, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 2006. “What many people are doing is coming, buying vacant houses and fixing them up because housing is very affordable in Dayton.â€
Gradual Decline and Then a Devastating Blow
After World War II, Dayton thrived as one of the country's manufacturing hubs, along with cities like Detroit and Buffalo. Dayton's population rose 15.7 percent between 1940 and 1950 and another 7.6 percent in the next decade, according to the U.S. Census.
However, as more and more businesses left for cheaper, non-union labor in the Sun Belt and overseas in the 1970s and 80s, Dayton's population began to hollow out. The city saw a drastic decrease over the last 40 years, going from 243,601 residents in 1970 to 141,527 in 2010 â€" a 41.6 percent decrease.
I think what you'll find is that other states and cities are reacting to a perceived problem instead of being proactive
- Mayor Gary Leitzell
The city's economic plight was epitomized by the departure of its signature companies in the last decade. NCR, which opened its doors as the National Cash Register Company in Dayton in 1884, pulled up its stakes and moved to Atlanta in 2009. GM closed the doors of its enormous Moraine Assembly plant in December 2008 â€" leaving behind 2,400 jobs.
“After GM left it was like a triple effect. said Patricia Rickman, a former GM employee and the chair of Dayton's Southwest Priority Board. “All the other factories started laying off, closing up and leaving town,â€
“It was really devastating to this city,†she added.
As businesses and manufacturing left, the inevitable happened: Unemployment and home foreclosure rates climbed. Currently 10.3 percent of Dayton's citizens are unemployed â€" over two percent higher than the national average, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“The psychology of the local person in Dayton now seems to be that they are very down on themselves,†said Dayton's Mayor Gary Leitzell,
Banking on Immigrants to Turn the Tide
With a vanishing population and more and more vacant homes, the city saw a solution where other states and towns saw a problem: immigrants.
“I've always said that if you want to get rich in America you back any immigrant off the boat because they have the work ethic to succeed,†Leitzell said.
As the debate over immigration took center stage with the introduction of hardline immigration laws in states like Arizona, Alabama and Georgia, Dayton quietly bucked the trend last October when it adopted the Welcome Dayton initiative. The plan involves ideas to help immigrant start small businesses, integrate into the local government and gain access to certain heath and social services.Â
The plan started when the city's Human Relations Council decided to look into rumored unfair housing practices plaguing city's Latinos residents. From the study emerged Welcome Dayton, the initiative aimed at bringing immigrants to Dayton to start small businesses, fix up homes and make Dayton a more diverse community.
“The things these immigrants here are bringing are good things,†Peláez Diaz said. “They are rebuilding houses, they are hard working people, they're family oriented and they're bringing energy to the city.â€
Peláez Diaz said that the initiative is multi-faceted. With business development the plan aims to revamp the strip of East Third Street and help start up immigrant-owned businesses. Other goals are to increase immigrant participation in local government and help smooth the way for both immigrants and refugees to access community and health services.
“The idea with the initiative is to create an atmosphere and environment where people helping these immigrants can optimize their resources,†said Tom Wahlrab, Welcome Dayton's chairperson.
Welcome Dayton Key PointsBusiness & Economic Development
    - Identify & support a business district for immigrants
    - Reduce barriers in opening businesses
Local Government & Justice System
    - Improve language interpreter capabilitiesÂ
    - Increase immigrant participation in local government
    - Increase trust between communities and law enforcement
    - Overcome language barriers in court system
Social & Health Services
    - Eliminate barriers to services due to language and cultural differences
    - Review all laws that create unnecessary barriers for immigrants
Besides Latinos, Dayton has also attracted a large population of Ahiska Turks as well as a burgeoning refugee communities from countries like Iraq and Burundi.
Welcome Dayton is viewed used as a potential model for cities facing a similar plight, and is helping to change the perception of Dayton as a downbeat town to one on the move. Earlier this year Wahlrab spoke to Global Detroit, a network of organizations and people that want to revive the Motor City's economy through immigration.
“We've been at it a lot longer, we've attracted a lot more money,†said Steve Tobocman of Global Detroit. “But I believe there is a certain elegance and opportunity in the plan that Dayton has put together. They've done certain things so profoundly right that I think we have a lot to learn from it.â€
Using Immigrants to Attract Immigrants
Juan Urbieta is one of Dayton's immigrant success stories.
Born in Guanajuato, Mexico, Urbieta came to the U.S. at the age of 14 in the trunk of car. He spent his youth moving around Texas, building condominiums before following work to Dayton. In Dayton he met his late wife and decided to put down roots.
“When I came here in [1986] there were almost no Hispanic people,†Urbieta said. “They didn't even know what a tortilla or a hot pepper was.â€
Urbieta gained legal residency in 1988 and a few years later gained his citizenship. In that time, he saved up his money and built up his construction business.
More than 20 years later, the stocky man with a fleeting resemblance to actor Luis Guzmán may seem a little out of place in the Midwest city with his cowboy boots, pencil-thin mustache and thick accent, but he has become a well-known name in the community. And his company, Urbieta Construction, has rebuilt homes from the East End to the surrounding suburbs.
“People come here because they want to find the American Dream,†Urbieta said. “As an immigrant you have to have goals, you have to plan them and you have to go for them.â€
It appears that immigrants are following Urbieta's lead and making their way to Dayton. In 2006 the total foreign-born population of the city was 22,461 out of 838,940 total residents. Six years later, Dayton's immigrant community numbers 29,478 out of 841,310 total residents, according to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI).
While other cities in the Rust Belt, such as Detroit, Buffalo and Cleveland also have seen an uptick in their foreign-born population, the impact on Dayton has been more significant because of its smaller population.
“They're not real big numbers but for a small population it is still very sizeable,†said Jeanne Batalova, a demographer with the MPI. “It definitely helps out.â€
Some Residents Feel Left Behind
Despite the success stories and the jobs they created, some area residents wonder why the city is putting so much effort into attracting immigrants when there are so many long term residents unemployed and looking for work. On any given day the city is full of people, hauling scrap metal in shopping carts, waiting at gas stations and doing anything they can to make a buck.
“We've got a lot of Americans like us that get out and scrap all day long just to make some money and get by,†said Scott Wiley, a unemployed painter who is working odd jobs to make ends meet. “It's everywhere you look; you've got Hispanics working all the jobs that we used to work growing up.â€
Welcome Dayton and immigration activists, however, don't see it the same way.
“The way I look at it is that everybody has an opportunity and its what you make of that opportunity,†said Tony Ortiz, a professor and Latino community liaison for Wright State University. “If you're just going to wait around and not go where the jobs are and go to work then that's not a community issue, that's a personal issue.â€
Some critics of the initiative claim it has turned Dayton into a so-called “sanctuary city†for undocumented immigrants. The term refers to towns where local authorities don't question immigrants about their legal status and has become a hot button term in the wake of the battle over Arizona's SB1070 immigration law.
Those involved in Welcome Dayton have reported inquiries from undocumented immigrants living in states like Alabama who ask if Dayton is a safe place to live.
“Dayton, Ohio, is going to become another [illegal] immigrant-friendly ‘sanctuary city' with its “Welcome Dayton Plan,†whereat [sic] cheap-labor and government lovers and others can pick and choose which federal laws they want ignored or enforced … excepting those regarding guns, race, sex, taxes and test scores, of course,†complains Leon Harrison of West Carrollton, Ohio in a letter to the Dayton City Paper.
The mayor and immigration activists scoff at the “sanctuary city†label and say that they are doing nothing to skirt federal laws. Leitzell said that Dayton is just taking a different approach than other states and towns.Â
Instead of checking people's immigration status, Dayton takes the approach that as long as immigrants are contributing to the community and not committing crimes, the police and other local authorities won't ask any questions.
“I think what you'll find is that other states and cities are reacting to a perceived problem instead of being proactive,†Letizell added. “I've spoken to people who have been here illegally for over 10 years, and they're married with kids and I think the issue then becomes you do them an injustice by deporting them.â€
As a former undocumented immigrant, Urbieta counts himself lucky to be so successful. Sitting in a booth inside a packed Taqueria Mixteca, Urbieta carefully assembles his fajita as the restaurant fills ups with the lunchtime crowd coming from East Third Street. While the East End may seem like a post-industrial graveyard, the inside of the former fast-food-joint-turned-Mexican-restaurant may give a good indication of where the neighborhood, and maybe Dayton as a whole is headed.
“I think things are going beautiful,†Urbieta said as he mixed his steak and peppers into a tortilla. “If we bring in more immigrants who want to start businesses and have new ideas than I think we're going in the right direction.†Â
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Did Time\'s Breast-Feeding Cover Cross the Line?
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Time's latest cover, for a story on extreme parenting, is sparking a debate over the image as much as the parenting.
Time magazine made a bold move with its cover story this week that has industry experts calling it everything from a cheap shot to desperate.
This week's cover features an attractive 26-year-old mother, clad in trendy skinny jeans with sleekly muscled bare arms, breast-feeding her toddler son under the headline, “Are You Mom Enough?â€
The story is about Dr. Bill Sears, a parenting educator who advocates extreme child-rearing techniques.
Industry insiders told Fox411 that they think this is Time's attempt to take a page from Newsweek/Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief Tina Brown's handbook of shocking your way into the news cycle.
“There is no question the morning shows and The View are going to be all over this, and Time can claim to be talked about (if not read),†said Glynnis MacNicol, a journalist who covers media.
Whether this move sells magazines is trickier than just getting folks to talk about it.
“In the case of Newsweek, Tina Brown's most controversial covers, Michele Bachmann and Princess Diana, haven't resulted in long-term upticks in subscriptions or ad sales,†MacNicol said. “People tend to see the cover online or on television, read or listen to what people are saying about it, and go on with their day. The engagement rarely goes past the cover image to the inside pages let alone the subscription form. This sort of cover suggests Time is getting increasingly desperate to garner people's attention.â€
Media analyst Brad Adgate of Horizon Media agrees and even added that some subscribers may go so far as to cancel their subscription due to the cover.
“The downside is subscribers canceling because it is too provocative for a news magazine. Time and Newsweek are both trying to get noticed and remain relevant as consumers get news around the clock on a variety of sources,†Adgate said. “I think like everything else risque you push the envelope as far as you can. You could eventually run the risk of having newsstands covering up the magazine like a Walmart or banning it if it goes to far. 
.â€
Jessica Wakeman, a blogger who writes about women's issues for TheFrisky.com, thinks the magazine simply didn't have to go this far in order to raise questions about breast-feeding in America. Breast-feeding is already a divisive issue for mothers.
“They're trying to sell magazines, but they could have picked a cover that wasn't trying so hard to be controversial and even sexy,†Wakeman said. “It's not an accident that the real-life mom used for the cover is young, blonde and attractive. It's daring you to either be defensive or repulsed, or have some strong reaction of any kind.â€
It didn't take long for Hollywood to weigh in, either. Actress Alyssa Milano, who had a baby last year, exclaimed on Twitter that the magazine was exploiting breast-feeding mothers.
“@Time no! You missed the mark! You're supposed to be making it easier for breast-feeding moms. Your cover is exploitive & extreme," Milano tweeted.
A spokesman for Time magazine directed Fox411 to an interview that Rick Stengel, Time's managing editor, gave to Forbes on Thursday morning, admitting that the magazine was courting controversy.
“To me, the whole point of a magazine cover is to get your attention,†Stengel said. “From the moment that we started talking about this story as a cover possibility, it was like I couldn't get out of the meetings. There was so much opinion and passion about it and discussion. What that told me is, boy, this is a story that people care a lot about.â€
But where does Time go from here? What is more provocative than a woman breast-feeding a child with teeth who is able to stand and walk on his own.
“I sort of shudder to think where we go from here,†MacNicol said. "Presumably, there are some gay marriage covers in the works. Otherwise ... porn? Until someone figures out how to make these dead-tree print institutions profitable, I think this race to the bottom sort of coverage will likely continue.â€
Wakeman, of The Frisky, agreed.
“Nipple?†she said. “I guess next they'll have to show nipple.â€
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VW\'s All American Passat
After all of these years Volkswagen has finally gotten around to building a People's Car…for big people.
Big cheap people.
The 2012 Passat was designed with Americans specifically in mind and is built at an all-new and much ballyhooed factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's the first US-made VW since the company shut down its Rabbit farm in Westmoreland, Penn., back in 1988 when it realized we didn't really like driving around in microscopic cars all that much.
While the Passat nameplate has found some success here over the years among fans of VW's premium European engineering and ride quality, its relatively high price and small size has kept it from competing with the likes of local favorites such as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord on the sales charts. The new one was designed to eat their lunch, and looks like it could consume them, too.
Although it was known as the New Midsize Sedan while it was being developed, the Passat is large enough to embarrass many full size cars on both price and interior volume, let alone its more direct competition. VW can be rightfully accused of stereotyping the American consumer when it created this bulk purchase worthy of a warehouse store. Any red, white and blueblood will find it hard not to get excited over such a huge car that, with a starting price of $20,765, is just two bills more than a Beetle.
For that you get a Passat equipped with a 5-speed manual transmission and a 170 hp 5-cylinder engine good for 32 mpg. Of course, being the loafs that we are most U.S. shoppers will opt for the 6-speed automatic, which promises to be the best-selling model in a range that also includes a $26,765 diesel version with an EPA rating of 43 mpg and a powerful 280 hp V6 model that kills the whole value proposition at $29,765.
All come with essentially the same, easy to produce plain wrapper styling that is meant to keep costs down and not shake things up, while the roomy but simple interior also focuses on function rather than fashion. In essence, the Passat hails from the T-square school of design that brought the world the classic three-box 1977 Chevrolet Caprice, which happened to be the best-selling car that year.
VW followed the same bargain+boredom formula with the 2011 Jetta and turned it into a top 20 selling car. The Passat is off to a similarly promising start.
Even if you're not the roomy car type, it's impossible to get into this car without experiencing a painful bout of eye-popping at how spacious it is. Large windows help enhance the effect, but with the driver's seat properly adjusted for my 6-foot 1-inch tall frame, I can still fit in the back with plenty of daylight in front of my knees. Although I enjoy a spirited drive as much as the next person who gets paid to take spirited drives, I value nothing more than legroom of this stature.
A true five-passenger ride, the Passat is so wide that the middle mount in the rear doesn't even qualify as a hump, is 10-gallon hat friendly and requires a skilled spelunker to fully exploit the cargo carrying capability of its bottomless trunk. Dollar for dollar, buying one of these may be the best land grab since the Louisiana Purchase.
As for what you do with all of that space, don't expect to get too creative. All the basics are on offer, including heated front seats, navigation and a sunroof, but the only unique feature available is a rather nice 400-watt Fender audio system, as if VW hadn't already kowtowed sufficiently to local tastes.
(Note to Wolfsburg, Gibson is the one from Tennessee.)
On the road, the Passat does good impression of a Detroit-bred cruiser, too, with just enough float to make a Midwesterner feel at home, but not so much that it can't still handle a good Alpine two-lane. You can take the German out of Germany…
As if by design, while on a very typical American family outing to the zoo (Space Farms in New Jersey, which has an excellent car museum, but was not in any way the reason I chose it) I forgot to reset the navigation system preferences and was directed off of the highway, where the Passat was acquitting itself quite nicely, and onto a shorter, but very twisty route through the countryside where it could show off. On roads barely wider than the Passat, and with more asphalt patches than not, it plowed right over them like they were painted on and never skipped a beat.
The Passat is not a creative car, but it is texbook â€" one written in English with a picture of George Washington and the 1980 Olympic hockey team flying the Space Shuttle to the Moon on the cover.
VW, you've got us pegged. Thank you.
----------
2012 Volkswagen Passat SE w/Sunroof and Navigation
Base Price: $27,565
Type: 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
Engine: 2.5L inline-5-cylinder
Power 170 hp, 177 lb-ft torque
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
MPG: 22 city/31 hwy
Related Images
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2012 Volkswagen Passat 3.6SE
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2012 Volkswagen Passat 3.6SE
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Al-Qaeda mole recruited by British intelligence
A mole recruited by British intelligence is the hero who penetrated al Qaeda's most recent bomb plot, intelligence sources told ABC News.
The operation in which the mole -- who travelled on a European Union passport that would have gotten him through U.S. security, should that have been a part of the plot -- had been in place for several months and the American role in the operation only took on operational urgency in the past two or so months, the officials said.
The long running operation with the deep cover operative was one that intelligence agencies planned to keep running. It was pulled up short in the past week when leaks developed and put the infiltrator in jeopardy. Sources involved in the intelligence operation said the plan was to keep the operation running until a more complete picture of the still developing plots and plans of the Yemen based group and its sinister, creative bombmaker, were learned.
"This was gold dust," one senior intelligence official said. "Such assets are few and far between."
Authorities would not discuss the whereabouts of the wanted bombmaker, known as Ibrahim al-Asiri, at this time.
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Parents told their baby on \'no-fly\' list, pulled from flight
Your forecast today: cloudy with a chance of royalty. None other than Prince Charles delivered the weather report on the BBC.
The Prince of Wales was touring the network's Scottish studio when he stepped in to deliver the afternoon forecast. The heir to the throne looked like a natural, standing comfortably in front of the meteorology maps in a crisp dark suit and red striped tie.
Holding a clicker to control the maps, he ticked off the forecast with a slight smile, pronouncing the afternoon “cold, wet, and windy†(we're talking about Scotland, after all) and pointing to areas on the maps behind him.
The 63-year-old read a script especially written for him, which included references to the royal residences in Scotland. But even the royal touch could not improve the gloomy forecast.
This is not the first time the prince has tried doing a job meant for ordinary people: Earlier this year, Charles piloted a London Underground tube train while touring the factory where the trains are built.
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Justice Dept. plans civil rights suit against Ariz. sheriff
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April 3, 2012: Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio answers questions during a news conference in Phoenix.AP
PHOENIX â€"  Federal authorities said Wednesday they plan to sue an Arizona county sheriff and his office over allegations of civil rights violations, including the racial profiling of Hispanics.
The U.S. Justice Department has been seeking an agreement requiring sheriff Joe Arpaio office to train officers in how to make constitutional traffic stops, collect data on people arrested in traffic stops and reach out to Hispanics to assure them that the department is there to also protect them.
Arpaio has denied the racial profiling allegations and has claimed that allowing a court monitor would mean that every policy decision would have to be cleared through an observer and would nullify his authority.
DOJ officials told a lawyer for Arpaio on April 3 that the lawman's refusal of a court-appointed monitor was a deal-breaker that would end settlement negotiations and result in a federal lawsuit.
The "notice of intent to file civil action" came Wednesday from Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez in a letter to an Arpaio lawyer.
Perez, who heads the DOJ's civil rights division, noted that it's been more than 100 days since the sheriff's office received the DOJ's findings report and federal authorities haven't met with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office counsel since Feb. 6 to discuss the terms of a consent agreement.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Arpaio defended himself in the face of the pending lawsuit.
"If they sue, we'll go to court. And then we'll find out the real story," he said. "There's lots of miscommunication emanating from Washington. They broke off communications.
"They're telling me how to run my organization. I'd like to get this resolved, but I'm not going to give up my authority to the federal government. It's as simple as that," Arpaio added.
Last December, the DOJ released a scathing report accusing Arpaio's office of racially profiling Latinos, basing immigration enforcement on racially charged citizen complaints and punishing Hispanic jail inmates for speaking Spanish in Arizona's most populous county.
The DOJ also accused Arpaio of having a culture of disregard for basic constitutional rights.
The civil rights allegations have led some Arpaio critics to call for his resignation, including the National Council of La Raza, a prominent advocacy group for Latinos.
The sheriff's office also is facing criticism over more than 400 sex-crimes investigations -- including dozens of alleged child molestations -- that hadn't been investigated adequately or weren't examined at all over a three-year period ending in 2007.
Arpaio has apologized for the botched cases, reopened 432 sex-crimes investigations and made 19 arrests.
Separate from the civil rights probe, a federal grand jury has been investigating Arpaio's office on criminal abuse-of-power allegations since at least December 2009. That grand jury is examining the investigative work of the sheriff's anti-public corruption squad.
The self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America has been a national political fixture who has built his reputation on jailing inmates in tents and dressing them in pink underwear, selling himself to voters as unceasingly tough on crime and pushing the bounds of how far local police can go to confront illegal immigration.
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Dispute May Cost One WTC Tallest US Building Title
Think One World Trade Center is poised to become the tallest building in America? Think again.
A dispute is shaping up over whether to enclose the building's antenna in a protective shell, and the decision could make the difference in securing a spot in the record books for the gleaming 104-story building at Ground Zero.
One World Trade Center, scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013, already is classified as the tallest building in New York City after reached 1,271 feet on April 30 to eclipse the Empire State Building. When it is completed, the new building's spire is to reach a symbolic height of 1,776 feet, putting it above Chicago's Willis Tower as the nation's tallest.
But the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and developer Douglas Durst intend to drop a plan to enclose the 408-foot antenna, a move that would save about $20 million and save the hassle of maintaining the shell, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Not everyone is happy with the change.
"Eliminating this integral part of the building's design and leaving exposed antenna and equipment is unfortunate," lead designer David Childs said in a statement quoted by the Journal. "We stand ready to work with the Port on an alternate design."
And when sizing up the country's tallest buildings, the people who keep records on such things typically count spires toward overall height but not antennas, which could put the official height at only 1,368 feet. That could cause problems with One World Trade Center's claim as tallest, though the developers insist the top of the building will still count as a spire.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has yet to rule on the matter.
Experts and architects have long disagreed about where to stop measuring super-tall buildings outfitted with masts, spires and antennas that extend far above the roof.
Consider the case of the Empire State Building: Measured from the sidewalk to the tip of its needle-like antenna, the granddaddy of all super-tall skyscrapers actually stands 1,454 feet high.
Purists, though, say antennas shouldn't count when determining building height. An antenna, they say, is more like furniture than a piece of architecture.
Unlike antennas, record-keepers like spires. It's a tradition that harkens back to a time when the tallest buildings in many European cities were cathedrals. Groups like the Council on Tall Buildings, and Emporis, a building data provider in Germany, both count spires when measuring the total height of a building, even if that spire happens to look exactly like an antenna.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Wisconsin gears up for bruising finish to Walker recall
Wisconsin Democrats have made their choice. Now both parties are preparing for a costly and bruising fight to the finish in the state's gubernatorial recall election.Â
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, after Tuesday night's primary, will now face off against Republican Gov. Scott Walker in the state's closely watched recall. Barrett will effectively lead his party into the final stretch of the ideological battle that has kept the Dairy State bitterly divided for a year-and-a-half and the nation looking to Wisconsin as a weather vane for national partisanship.Â
Barrett narrowly lost to Walker in the 2010 gubernatorial race. He seemed an obvious choice for a second round. If his victory speech in downtown Milwaukee Tuesday was any gauge, the final stretch is going to be nasty.Â
The newly minted Democratic contender hammered Walker for the job losses in the Dairy State and emphasized that two-thirds of Walker's record-breaking $25 million war chest came from wealthy conservative contributors outside Wisconsin. Â Â
"Scott Walker, instead of staying home in Wisconsin and focusing on creating jobs here, has decided that he is going to be a rock star," Barrett said. "A rock star to the far right in this nation."Â
Donors to Walker's recall campaign include many familiar names -- casino owner Sheldon Adelson, who supported Newt Gingrich's presidential run; Foster Friess, who backed Rick Santorum; Orlando magic owner Rich DeVoss; and Bob Perry who created the infamous "swift boat" ads.Â
Walker is also supported by Americans for Prosperity, a PAC founded by the wealthy Koch brothers who are often portrayed as political villains by the left.Â
The embattled governor says he needs all the support he can get to fight against the power lust of big labor.Â
"Do we want to go back to the days when a handful of special interests controlled our state and local governments? No, instead we put reforms in place that rightfully put the hardworking taxpayers of Wisconsin in charge," Walker said to his supporters.Â
Labor is spending big money in this race -- $7 million came from labor, according to the latest financial disclosures. The Democratic Governor's Association is also weighing in though they are sly about it. They contribute money to the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund, which produces some of the most negative ads of this campaign.Â
However, Republican governors are weighing in through a PAC called Right Direction.Â
As broadcast outlets profit and Wisconsin viewers are bombarded with partisan messages, even the chair of the State Democratic Party Mike Tate admits the party has lost control of the message. He was recorded telling volunteers, "It's not the party that pays for the ads. It's the candidate's money and a lot of the money is from third party groups that we can't talk to at all."Â
Mordecai Lee, professor of government affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, says that is the new reality in politics. "Super PACs and other third parties are really going to be able to define what an election is all about."Â
A victory will be all about motivating the base to turn out. That is because the undecided vote in Wisconsin is so small; minds are made up and few are persuadable. The winning side is the one that gets the most supporters on their feet when Election Day rolls around. Â Â
Republicans claim they have the advantage in that department and point to the highest turnout for a primary in 60 years. Though Walker was only up against a protest candidate on Tuesday, 626,538 Wisconsin Republicans cast a ballot to prevent a fluke. A spokesman for that party says that shows the state GOP has a better ground game than opponents on the left. Â Â
Tate says Democrats will turn out when it means getting Walker out of office. "We are set up in great shape to with this, and on June 5 this is going to be a turnout fight, and I feel really good about our abilities to win," Tate said.Â
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Mars rover moves again after surviving Winter
PASADENA, Calif. â€"  The Mars rover Opportunity is on the go again. After spending nearly five months conducting experiments in one spot, the NASA rover moved for the first time this week, rolling off the rock outcrop where it hunkered down for the Martian winter.
The mission team received confirmation late Tuesday that Opportunity successfully drove downhill. Engineers will check its power supply before directing it north to study dust and bedrock.
Opportunity will have to wait until there's more sunlight before it can head south where there's tantalizing evidence of clay deposits believed to have formed in a warm and wet environment early in Mars' history.
Since landing in 2004, Opportunity has surpassed expectations. Its twin Spirit lost contact in 2010 not long after it got stuck in a sand trap.
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Yemen: Al-Qaida hotbed for terror 101
By Christiane Amanpour, Matthew Drake, Iva Zoric, David Miller & Mark Monroy | Around the World â€"Â
Article from YAHOO NEWS
Article from YAHOO NEWS
Missing words from 9-11 tribunal: CIA and \"big-boy pants\"
The man suspected of kidnapping a woman and her three daughters -- and then killing two of them -- has been rushed to the top of the FBI's list of its Top Ten Most Wanted fugitives.
Adam Mayes is believed to be armed and on the run from authorities with two of the girls he allegedly kidnapped on April 27.
Mayes, 35, and his wife, Teresa, 31, are both charged with first degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping.
He takes the place on the FBI's infamous wanted list of Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger who was captured last year.
Mayes is charged with kidnapping JoAnn Bain and her three daughters, who were family friends from Tennessee, before taking them to his home in Mississippi where he allegedly killed JoAnn and the eldest daughter, 14-year-old Adrienne.
The bodies of mother and daughter were found ealier this week in the backyard of the home Mayes shares with his wife, Teresa, and his mother and father.
Police believe the two youngest daughters, Alexandra Bain, 12, and Kyliyah Bain, 8, are still in Mayes' custody and may be in extreme danger. The FBI has warned that Mayes may have changed his appearance and the appearances of the two girls since they were last seen.
Police arrested Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes, Adam's mother, on Tuesday in connection with the kidnapping. According to the arrest warrants, Teresa Mayes helped bring the four captives from Tennessee to Mississippi on April 27, and Mayes' wife and mother watched Adam Mayes dig holes in the backyard, where the bodies were later found by police.
Mayes was last seen on April 30, in surveillance video from a grocery market in Guntown, Miss., where he lives. Police have also found a trailer Mayes rented from Guntown that contained personal items belonging to the two young girls.
Teresa Mayes' sister, Bobbi Booth, said her sister knew about the killings, but may have been too scared to call the police, according to the Associated Press.
Mary Mayes is charged with conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping, while Teresa is charged with committing especially aggravated kidnapping.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is offering a $6,000 reward for information leading to Adam Mayes' whereabouts and arrest, and the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the location of the missing victims and the arrest of Mayes.
Also ReadArticle from YAHOO NEWS
Pay no attention to the pollster behind the curtain
The man suspected of kidnapping a woman and her three daughters -- and then killing two of them -- has been rushed to the top of the FBI's list of its Top Ten Most Wanted fugitives.
Adam Mayes is believed to be armed and on the run from authorities with two of the girls he allegedly kidnapped on April 27.
Mayes, 35, and his wife, Teresa, 31, are both charged with first degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping.
He takes the place on the FBI's infamous wanted list of Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger who was captured last year.
Mayes is charged with kidnapping JoAnn Bain and her three daughters, who were family friends from Tennessee, before taking them to his home in Mississippi where he allegedly killed JoAnn and the eldest daughter, 14-year-old Adrienne.
The bodies of mother and daughter were found ealier this week in the backyard of the home Mayes shares with his wife, Teresa, and his mother and father.
Police believe the two youngest daughters, Alexandra Bain, 12, and Kyliyah Bain, 8, are still in Mayes' custody and may be in extreme danger. The FBI has warned that Mayes may have changed his appearance and the appearances of the two girls since they were last seen.
Police arrested Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes, Adam's mother, on Tuesday in connection with the kidnapping. According to the arrest warrants, Teresa Mayes helped bring the four captives from Tennessee to Mississippi on April 27, and Mayes' wife and mother watched Adam Mayes dig holes in the backyard, where the bodies were later found by police.
Mayes was last seen on April 30, in surveillance video from a grocery market in Guntown, Miss., where he lives. Police have also found a trailer Mayes rented from Guntown that contained personal items belonging to the two young girls.
Teresa Mayes' sister, Bobbi Booth, said her sister knew about the killings, but may have been too scared to call the police, according to the Associated Press.
Mary Mayes is charged with conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping, while Teresa is charged with committing especially aggravated kidnapping.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is offering a $6,000 reward for information leading to Adam Mayes' whereabouts and arrest, and the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the location of the missing victims and the arrest of Mayes.
Also ReadArticle from YAHOO NEWS
Mark Zuckerberg gets flak for hoodie
After two days on the road, Facebook leader Mark Zuckerberg has not impressed investors with his business savvy, when that's just what he should be doing.
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