Proof The Obama Administration Is Going After The Good Guys With Guns


CHICAGO, IL - FEBRUARY 11: Chicago Police Sup...Chicago Police Superintendant Garry McCarthy speaks next to a picture of homicide victim Sergio Mora during a press conference which he called to promote a plan to increase mandatory minimum sentencing for serious gun crimes in an effort to combat the city's growing gun violence problem on February 11, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. Last year the city had more than 500 murders. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
What got us to a time when the mainstream media thinks it’s a non-story that Chicago rated dead last in federal prosecutions of gun crimes while it earned the gruesome distinction of being the murder capital of the U.S.? Why is it that the National Rifle Association (NRA), a civil-liberties group with four-million-plus members, has to call journalists out for not reporting bloody and startling facts?
Last Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, held up a print out of a study done by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a data-gathering and research organization run by Syracuse University, that found that out of 90 federal jurisdictions, in 2012 Chicago ranked last for prosecuting bad guys with guns. LaPierre asked, “Do you know where Chicago ranks in terms of enforcement of the federal gun laws? Out of 90 jurisdictions in the country, they ranked 90th. Why doesn’t NBC News start with, ‘Shocking news on Chicago. Of all the jurisdictions in the country, Chicago’s dead last on enforcement of the federal gun laws?’ Why doesn’t the national press corps, when they’re sitting down there with Jay Carney and the president and the vice president, why don’t they say, ‘Why is Chicago dead last in enforcement of the gun laws against gangs with guns, felons with guns, drug dealers with guns?’”


“Meet the Press” host David Gregory didn’t even shrug. He simply changed the topic with a question. Later, Gregory’s three liberal guests wouldn’t address the lack of prosecutorial zeal either.
However, David Burnham, co-director of TRAC, says LaPierre “had it 100 percent right. On a per-capita basis Chicago ranks dead last for prosecuting gun crimes.” Burnham explained that according to case-by-case U.S. Justice Department information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by TRAC, there were 52 prosecutions in Illinois North (Chicago) in 2012, or 5.52 per million in population. By this measure, compared with the 90 federal judicial districts in the U.S., the prosecution rate in Chicago was the lowest.
Shouldn’t journalists be asking why?
Consider that in 2012 some 532 people were murdered in the city of Chicago, according to statistics compiled by the website Crime in Chicago (log on here for their names and stories). Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has said 500 people were killed in 2012, but whatever the precise number of fatalities, honesty from the media is needed for the best solutions to be found.
The TRAC study also determined that the number of federal weapons prosecutions has fallen nearly every year in the U.S. from a high of 11,015 in 2004 to 7,774 in 2012. In fact, according to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), in 2010 of the 6 million Americans who attempted to buy a gun, about 76,000 were denied. Of those, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) referred 4,732 cases for prosecution. Of these, 44 people were prosecuted and 13 were punished.
Such numbers explain why felons who attempt to buy guns from gun stores—and thereby subject themselves to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)—know there is only a slightly higher chance they’ll be prosecuted (1.7 in 10,000) than struck by lightening (1 in 10,000, according to the National Weather Service). Also, those who take money to buy guns for felons, know they probably won’t face any consequences—not even if the guns they buy for criminals turn up at murder scenes.
In a democratically elected government, why isn’t the system more responsive to the safety of its citizens? Why does it take LaPierre to pose such basic questions? Could the reason be that many in the media are blindly blaming guns, not criminals? Isn’t this is a case of ideology trumping reporting?
Instead of manning up to these facts Chicago’s police superintendant, Garry McCarthy, has been letting his ideology trump common sense. McCarthy expressed his views of gun rights in June 2011. He went to St. Sabina’s Church in Chicago and told parishioners that the “black codes,” “Jim Crow laws” and “segregation” that occurred in the South were “government-sponsored racism.” That’s true. But then he said today’s federal gun laws are also “government-sponsored racism.” He said, “I want you to connect one more dot on that chain of African-American history in this country, and tell me if I’m crazy: Federal gun laws that facilitate the flow of illegal firearms into our urban centers … are killing black and brown children.”
McCarthy’s solution to reducing violent crime is to use the government to take away an individual right—the Second Amendment of our Bill of Rights—from law-abiding citizens everywhere, yet he doesn’t see the parallel between this position and the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws he called “government-sponsored racism”? Black Codes and Jim Crow laws once disarmed and disenfranchised people on the basis of race. These were government sponsored just as the restrictions preventing law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms for their protection are government sponsored.
McCarthy also told the congregation, “The NRA does not like me, and I’m okay with that.”
He said all that in 2011. The next year Chicago became the murder capital of the U.S. as federal prosecutors dithered. Isn’t it time he was forced to answer some tough questions?
If more in the media would ask them, Chicago residents might learn that in McDonald v. Chicago (2010) the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that whether someone lives in an inner-city or a rural county they have the same right to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment in the U.S. Bill of Rights. They’d certainly learn that while they’re kept disarmed, the criminals with guns among them aren’t being brought to justice often enough.
To this point, when Gregory asked LaPierre if the NRA wants felons charged for gun crimes, LaPierre said, “Absolutely. And we want them taken off the street. I mean, if you’re the president and the vice president, and the attorney general, and your job is to enforce these laws against the—I’m talking about drug dealers, gangs and felons that are walking around with guns in the street, and you don’t do it?—you bear some responsibility….”
If the media would only hold officials accountable for prosecuting the bad guys, Chicago and the rest of us would be better off. Then, dare I wish it, if more in the media would wonder why violent crime rates have been falling in much of the country as gun ownership has been rising, more would have to concede that freedom works.
Source:forbes

Francis begins his challenging papacy

Cardinal Bergoglio addresses the crowd in Rome as Pope Francis
Pope Francis is beginning his first day at the helm of the Catholic Church, attempting to set out his vision for his papacy amid a testing schedule.
He will lead cardinals in his first Mass, begin appointing senior Vatican staff and may visit his predecessor, Benedict, Pope Emeritus.
The first Latin American and Jesuit pope has received a flood of goodwill messages from around the world.
But the Argentine also faces a series of tough challenges.
The Church has been dogged by infighting and scandals over clerical sex abuse and alleged corruption.
Thursday morning saw Pope Francis begin the day with a visit to a Rome basilica, Santa Maria Maggiore, for a private prayer.
'Journey of love' The election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio shocked many onlookers when it was revealed on Wednesday.

Analysis

Michael Hirst BBC News, Rome
The election of the first non-European Pope for more than a millennium- and the first from Latin America, home to 40% of the world's Catholics - reveals in the cardinals who elected him an awareness of the size and importance of the flock outside Europe.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio had a reputation as a humble pastor who even in high office commuted to work by bus, lived in an apartment rather than an apostolic palace and cooked his own meals.
In the inevitable comparisons with his predecessor, Benedict XVI, some will point to the new pontiff's credentials as a local bishop, rather than a Vatican insider.
The 76-year-old Argentine has described inequality as "a social sin that cries out to Heaven" - and has emphasised the Church's duty to serve the poor and disenfranchised.
Although he reportedly came second to Pope Benedict XVI during the 2005 conclave, few had predicted the election of the first pope from outside Europe in 1,300 years.
Pope Francis will return to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday afternoon, scene of his election, to celebrate Mass with the cardinals.
Over the weekend, he will meet the world's media at a special papal audience, an opportunity perhaps to set out some of his global vision, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent, James Robbins, in Rome.
Pope Francis had been greeted by crowds roaring their approval when he appeared at the balcony overlooking St Peter's Square on Wednesday evening, about an hour after white smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel to announce to the world that a new pontiff had been elected.
"It seems that my brother cardinals have gone to the ends of the earth [to find a pope]," Francis said wryly, referring to his native Argentina.
"Now, we take up this journey... A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us," he said.
He endeared himself to the crowds - and underlined his reputation for humility - when he asked them to bless him before blessing them in return. Later, according to the New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Pope Francis shunned a special car and security detail provided to take him to the Vatican - "I'll just go with the guys [cardinals] on the bus," Cardinal Dolan quoted him as saying.
At the dinner itself, Cardinal Dolan said the Pope had made the cardinals laugh when he referred to the seven days of meetings that led to his election, saying: "I am going to sleep well tonight and something tells me you are too."
Gruelling schedule The 76-year-old from Buenos Aires is the first pope to take the name of Francis - reminiscent of Francis of Assisi, the 13th Century Italian reformer and patron saint of animals, who lived in poverty.
The new Pope faces a gruelling schedule over coming days, with a visit to his predecessor Benedict XVI at his retreat at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome reportedly planned, as well as audiences with his cardinals, the media and the faithful.

Pope's next steps

  • Thursday: Pope celebrates Mass with cardinals in Sistine Chapel - closed to public but televised
  • Friday: Pope meets all cardinals, including those over 80 who did not take part in conclave
  • Saturday: Papal audience with media
  • Sunday: Pope recites Angelus with faithful in St Peter's Square
  • Tuesday: Pope formally installed at Mass in St Peter's Square
The visit to Benedict is important, correspondents say, as the existence of a living retired pope has prompted fears of a possible rival power.
Francis will be installed officially in an inauguration Mass on Tuesday 19 March, the Vatican said.
His election was met with thunderous applause at the cathedral in Buenos Aires and with delight and surprise elsewhere in Latin America - home to 40% of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
Guillermo Lopez Mirau from Salta, Argentina, said he was delighted with Cardinal Bergoglio's election.
"People here are overjoyed. You can hear sirens and church bells ringing in the air."

Pope Francis

  • Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936 (age 76) in Buenos Aires, of Italian descent
  • Ordained as a Jesuit in 1969
  • Studied in Argentina and Germany
  • Became Cardinal of Buenos Aires in 1998
  • Seen as orthodox on sexual matters but strong on social justice
US President Barack Obama sent "warm wishes" on behalf of the American people to the newly elected pontiff, hailing the Argentine as "the first pope from the Americas".
The new leader of the world's Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, said he was looking forward to "walking and working together".
And Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner - who is said to have clashed with the Argentine archbishop in the past over issues including gay marriage - wished the pontiff a "fruitful pastoral mission".
Pope Francis takes the helm at a difficult time for the Catholic Church, facing an array of challenges which include the role of women, interfaith tensions and dwindling congregations in some parts of the world.
Cardinal Bergoglio, who was not among the frontrunners before the election, is regarded as a doctrinal conservative.
But he is also seen as a potential force for reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, which may have won the support of reforming cardinals.
Pope Francis will come under strong pressure to reform the Curia, the governing body of the Church.

How The World's Billionaires Get Rich


Want to be a billionaire? You may want to consider which of the many paths to wealth–ballet flats? real estate in China? the next Facebook?–could be most likely to land you a spot on the Forbes Billionaires List.
To give you some ideas, we poured through the wealth database to come up with the industries that give you the best chances. The No. 1 wealth-producing industry: Investments, which made 148 billionaires including George Soros, Carl Icahn and newcomers Seth Klarman and Isabel dos Santos. Investments is a catch-all category we use here at Forbes to categorize the wealth created by hedge fund managers, people who play stockbroker with the family money, and the titans of investing who make moves like snapping up steel assets out of bankruptcy court.
But you often need money – yours or someone else’s – to make this kind of money. Plus it’s not necessarily the most creative endeavor.
You might want to instead consider, of all things, becoming a fashionista.
Why should you flip open the fashion mags? Well, because the fashion and retail industry produced the second-highest number of billionaires on the 2013 Forbes Billionaires List: 146. Twenty-one of this year’s new billionaires got rich in this field including Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana of the eponymous luxury fashion house, and Renzo Rosso, founder of Diesel jeans.
Consider too newly-minted billionaire Tory Burch, whose $200 ballet flats and preppy-bohemian women’s wear line have pushed both she and ex-husband Chris Burch to billionaire status. Or Kevin Plank, who made his $1.2 billion with his Under Armour undershirts, which wick away sweat. Or Peru’s Eduardo Belmont, who has reaped a $6.1 billion fortune through his Belcorp, which sends sales folk throughout 15 Latin American countries, vending cosmetics door-to-door.
In all these instances, these now billionaires came up with items or stores that resonated with the masses. And therein is perhaps the best bet for becoming a billionaire: inventing, designing, creating something that will have broad appeal to consumers. Two other newcomers to this year’s list, Nicholas Woodman of GoPro (Industry: Technology), which makes video cameras for capturing outdoor adventures, and Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani yogurt (Industry: Food and Beverage), the thick, tart yogurt flying off grocery stores shelves, also made their riches by filling a consumer desire.
In all of these cases, individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to build something from scratch made their own luck.
The No. 3 industry for creating billionaires is Real Estate, which made 129 people rich. After that is Diversified, a category we use for people whose wealth comes from multiple sources. Next is Food and Beverage, and then finally, at the No. 6 spot, Technology.
Industries that produce Forbes Billionaires Worldwide
1. Investments: 148
2. Fashion and Retail: 146
3. Real Estate: 129
4. Diversified: 125
5. Food and Beverage: 100
6. Technology: 95
7. Manufacturing 89
8. Energy 83
9. Finance 78
10.Media 69
Of course, different regions of the world tend to specialize in different industries, and thus produce billionaires in those areas. Europe, for example, is the reigning fashion and retail leader, with 62 European fashion and retail billionaires. The United States is the leader in technology, home to a whopping 53–more than half–of the 95 tech billionaires on the Forbes List. And the Asia-Pacific region has produced the greatest number of real estate tycoons, with 71 billionaires in that region. The Americas is home to 21 billionaires in finance.
So take a look at the regional breakdown, and see where you might want to place your bet:
Top 5 Billionaire-Producing Industries Per Region
Asia-Pacific
Real Estate: 71
Diversified: 52
Manufacturing: 41
Fashion and Retail: 29
Technology: 26
Europe
Fashion and Retail: 62
Investments: 31
Metals & Mining: 30
Energy: 26
Food and Beverage: 26
Middle East & Africa
Diversified: 36
Construction & Engineering: 9
Finance: 8
Metals & Mining: 7
Food and Beverage: 6
The Americas
Finance: 21
Fashion and Retail: 19
Food and Beverage: 16
Diversified: 14
Media: 11
USA
Investments: 102
Technology: 53
Media: 34
Energy: 33
Food and Beverage: 33
Source:Forbes

The Banning of Google Glass Begins (And They Aren't Even Available Yet)

A Seattle bar has declared that ‘Google Glass’ (aka Google Glasses)–not yet available to the public–are banned “in advance” from the establishment.
Seattle’s 5 Point Cafe posted a message to their Facebook page saying:
“For the record, The 5 Point is the first Seattle business to ban in advance Google Glasses. And [butt] kickings will be encouraged for violators.”
Sure, this is partly a tongue-in-cheek pronouncement, and a bit of a publicity stunt, but the owners of 5 Point Cafe are quite clear that they mean it–and there’s little doubt that other businesses will follow their lead.
Speaking to Jamie Griswold, a reporter with MyNorthwest.com, 5 Point Cafe owner Dave Meinert said that in the tech-savvy city of Seattle it’s just a matter of time before Google Glass becomes a regular feature of the city’s social scene.
“The 5 Point appeals to a wide variety of people,” says Meinert. “Some of the tech geeks come here, we’re close by Amazon [...] It’s OK if you wear them. I just don’t want them worn inside.”
His main reason for the ban has to do with preserving patrons’ privacy.
“You have to understand the culture of The 5 Point which is a sometimes seedy, maybe notorious place and I think people want to go there and be not known,” says Meinert, who says patrons of The 5 Point certainly don’t want to be secretly videotaped.
“Part of this is a joke, to be funny on Facebook and get a reaction, but part of it is serious because we don’t let people film other people or take photos unwanted of other people in the bar because it’s kind of a private place people go.” [reported in MyNorthwest.com, March 8, 2013]
What does this mean for the future of Google’s groundbreaking product, set for release by the end of 2013?  Well, at the very least it means that privacy concerns are swiftly taking center stage for the company’s public relations machine.
Beyond that, it may mean very little, since doing things like taking photos and video of people in public places is already possible with virtually any mobile phone 0n the market and has been for years.  The distinction is how covertly Google Glass will enable such privacy encroachments–and that is no doubt an issue Google will need to address in detail before preemptive banning of its product goes viral.
If you aren’t familiar with Google Glass, watch the video below for a sample of things to com
Source:forbes

Daylight Saving Time 2013: Is It Time To Switch When We Change Our Clocks?

Phoenix Arizona Daylight Savings Time 2013 Daylight Savings Time StartsWhen we turned our clocks forward one hour earlier Sunday morning to mark the start of Daylight Saving Time, it was with more than a little anxiety. We're well-versed in the all-too-real risks of getting too little sleep, and yes, that one lost hour can make a difference.
To start, that's one hour less on top of not very much sleep to begin with. According to the National Sleep Foundation's recent Sleep in America poll, American adults average about six hours and 51 minutes of sleep every night. Sure, that's only nine minutes shy of the seven to nine hours experts recommend -- until you make an hour disappear Sunday morning.
On top of that, even though it will only take most people a couple of days to adjust to the newly-brightened evenings, those first few days can spell trouble. On the Monday after the time switch, the number of car crashes increases, as does the number of fatal, alcohol-related accidents. Heart attacks become more common during the next few days, as do injuries in the workplace, not to mention that workers in general are less productive and more likely to waste time perusing the Internet.
And while there are ways to combat the fatigue, it's understandable why some have begun to question the necessity of this antiquated circadian rhythm shakeup.
In fact, according to a new poll conducted by mattress company Sleepy's, just about 70 percent of people support switching the start of Daylight Saving Time to 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning, giving us an extra weekend day to recover before heading back to the office Monday morning. Some have even taken action: Thousands of sleepyheads have signed a "We the People" petition to either do away with DST once and for all, or make it the year-round standard.
"The time clock may change with an easy click, but our body clock's adjustment is more complicated," sleep educator and Sleepy's consultant Nancy Rothstein said in a statement. "DST can challenge our sleep, health and even our safety by imposing an unnatural tweak to our internal clock."
This year's survey shows a 16 percent increase in people saying they'd favor the switch from a similar poll in 2011, perhaps a sign that, in the spirit of National Sleep Awareness Week, the general public is starting to recognize the importance of sufficient shuteye.
"It's nice to see people outside the discipline of sleep medicine recognizing the need for greater awareness of some of the consequences of Daylight Saving Time," says Michael Decker, Ph.D., an associate professor at Georgia State University and spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. "I think it's a terrific idea."
Springing forward at 2:00 a.m. Saturday would mean two mornings before a workday commute and fewer drowsy drivers on the road, not to mention fewer exhausted attempts at making the schoolbus, he says: "There are tremendous numbers of sleepy children those couple of days after Daylight Saving Time kicks in, and think about what that does to diminish their learning abilities! Why wouldn't we want to do this?"
There seems to be no real reason why DST starts early Sunday, says Dr. Robert Oexman, director of the Sleep to Live Institute. "It typically takes about one day to shift our circadian clocks one hour," he says, "so if we do all the right things [and move Daylight Saving Time] we are going to set ourselves up to feel just fine on Monday morning."
"There's no reasons from a sleep standpoint or a business standpoint that I can think of that would say that this is not a good idea," Oexman says. "We might have to change some programming that changes calendars and clocks around the world, but we handled Y2K just fine!"
However, as tempting as it might be to sleep extra late this weekend to make up for the lost hour, experts advise against it. "We need to be especially diligent with sleep hygiene," says Oexman, since sleeping late Sunday or taking a nap in the afternoon can just make it harder to fall asleep Sunday night and harder to make it to work on time Monday morning. Some would likely still experience the "Monday morning blues" thanks to a weekend on a different sleep schedule, says Dr. Matthew D. Mingrone, lead physician for EOS Sleep California centers. "But giving the body clock an extra 24 to 48 hours to adjust would be a great idea," he says.
While a change may never come, at the very least, greater awareness will move us in the right direction. But, it seems there's no denying Daylight Saving Time's increasing insignificance. As Gizmodo so succinctly put it: "A century ago, we didn't have data to tell us whether DST made a real measurable impact; it was acceptable to run with it because, for all we knew, it was useful. Now, we know better."
Source:The Huffington Post  |  By

No Catching or Doubting a Healthy, Happy Woods

Joe Skipper/Reuters
After capturing the Cadillac Championship, Tiger Woods has five wins in the last year.
By
DORAL, Fla. — On the second hole Sunday at the Blue Monster, Tiger Woods drained a 19-foot putt for birdie. When at last the applause died down, Graeme McDowell stood over a 7-footer for birdie that suddenly looked twice as long. He rolled it in to remain three strokes behind Woods, and as he walked off the green, he made eye contact with a friend and said, “We’re not playing for second place here.”

Graeme McDowell finished in a four-way tie for third, five strokes behind Tiger Woods.
McDowell’s mettle was moving, albeit misplaced. McDowell, who opened with a birdie, could be forgiven for believing that pluck could pull him through in a final-round duel against Woods. At the 2010 World Challenge, McDowell came from four strokes back, the same deficit he faced at Sunday’s start, to tie Woods, whom he then dispatched in a playoff.
But the Woods he beat then was not the same player who grabbed a share of the lead in the first round of the Cadillac Championship and held onto it like a guard dog to a pant leg. After four years of rehabilitating injuries and then his swing, Woods is playing — and especially putting — like the player who averaged six tour titles a season in the three years before McDowell turned professional in 2002.
With a closing one-under-par 71, Woods claimed his 76th PGA Tour title, and his first World Golf Championships event since 2009. At 19-under 269, Woods finished two strokes ahead of Steve Stricker, who posted a 68.
Five strokes back, in a four-way tie for third, were Sergio García (69), Phil Mickelson (71), McDowell (72) and Adam Scott, whose final-round 64 was the low score of the week.
Rory McIlroy, the world No. 1, who opened the tournament feeling lost because of a faulty swing, finished with a 65, the second-lowest round of the day, which catapulted him into a four-way tie for eighth at 278.
While McIlroy marveled at what a difference a week can make, Woods, the world No. 2, reflected on how his fortunes have turned in the last year. In the final round of this tournament last year, he withdrew on the 12th hole because of a recurring Achilles’ tendon injury.
“It’s nice to be healthy,” Woods said. “I was struggling there for a while.”
Woods has won 5 of his last 19 official tour starts dating to the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his next start after his 2012 withdrawal from this event. This year, he has won two of his three stroke-play appearances on tour, but he laughed when it was suggested that his four-stroke victory at the Farmers Insurance Open and Sunday’s victory were stress-free.
“Stress-free?” Woods said, laughing. “Did you not see 18?”
On the 18th, a par 4 with teeth as sharp as ever, Woods drove into the rough, flirted with the water on his approach and settled for a bogey after a chip and two putts. Mickelson also bogeyed the hole, while McDowell carded a 6.
In pulling away from a field that featured 19 of the top 20 players in the world, Woods drew closer to Sam Snead, the career leader in tour titles with 82. Snead was six days past his 45th birthday when he won his 76th event. Woods reached that victory total at 37 years 2 months 10 days.
A few of the golfers Woods left in his rearview mirror have had their best years during his fallow period. Since 2010, Stricker has five victories, a total Woods matched Sunday. McDowell, Mickelson and McIlroy have combined for four major titles since Woods won his 14th, at the 2008 United States Open.
Stricker, who was playing with Mickelson in the group directly ahead of Woods, has been a witness over the years to Woods’s playing at close to his best, his better and his most excellent, so he harbored no illusions about a Woods stumble in the final round.
“You don’t have a lot of — what’s the right word? — belief that he’s going to come back to the field, I guess,” Stricker said. “He’s been so solid with 54-hole leads over his career that you just don’t think he’s going to come back. And he didn’t, again.”
Woods has won 41 of 43 times when holding the 54-hole lead outright. He is golf’s answer to Mariano Rivera, so it was fitting that his latest front-running victory came on the same weekend when Rivera, the Yankees’ closer, announced that this baseball season would be his last.
“I enjoy being there,” Woods said. “That’s why I work my tail off and lift all those weights, hit all those balls and spend those countless hours out there — to be in that position.”
Woods’s first and only true putting guru was his father, Earl. Since Earl’s death in 2006, Woods has gotten by on the greens with a little help from his friends. On Wednesday, he received an impromptu putting tutorial from Stricker, who happened to be on the practice green when Woods showed up.
After Stricker adjusted Woods’s alignment, Woods went out and had 100 putts in four rounds, five fewer than Ben Crenshaw took when he won here in 1988. Woods joked that now he knows why Stricker always seems so happy.
“I made my share of putts this week,” Woods said, “and it felt good.”
Of the 19-footer on the second hole, Woods said: “It was important to make that. Graeme hits it stiff there, I need to answer.”
McDowell said: “The way Tiger was playing, I guess I was always in chase mode. I was trying to make it happen instead of letting it flow.”
In other words, Sunday was like yesterday once more on the PGA Tour.

Mother's Day 2013: Susan Greenfield says 'Mum? I owe her everything'

Baroness Susan Greenfield, the ground-breaking professor of neuroscience, crossbench peer and burgeoning novelist, says her achievements are down to her formidable mother, Dorice

When she was eight years old, Susan Greenfield was chosen to be a duchess in her school play. “I woke up that morning and there, hanging on the door, was this most amazing dress,” she remembers. “It was lilac. This was a fairytale dress.”
Baroness Greenfield’s mother, Dorice, recalls making it: “I stuck loads of cottonwool on, then dotted blobs of ink to make it look like ermine,” she says. “On stage, it looked really good.”
They glance at each other, and Susan says: “That is the sort of thing a loving mother will do for a daughter. Not telling you, either, so you wake up and there’s this real surprise.”
A young Susan Greenfield pictured with her mother
More than half a century has passed since then. The little girl has become a famous scientist, author and broadcaster. She is also a life peer, and when she stood up to make her maiden speech in the House of Lords, dressed in robes, her mother was watching from the gallery. “Mum said that day: ‘Do you remember the first time you wore ermine?’ ”
The story makes both of them glow, as they sit together on a big leather sofa at Baroness Greenfield’s flat in Oxford, where she is a professor of pharmacology. Later this month, she will speak to the Oxford Science Festival about what digital technology is doing to our brains. Best known for books on science, she will soon publish her first novel, set in a dystopian future.
Dorice, 85, remembers the fierce pride with which she watched her daughter make that first speech to the Lords. “Oh, the tears. I couldn’t see her for tears. The whole family was there, including her brother and her dad, Reggie. The speech she gave? Wow. She got loud applause.”
Susan Greenfield breaks in. “No I didn’t, Mum; there is no applause in the Lords.” Her mother isn’t having it. “I would swear to this day I heard applause.”
She knows what it sounds like, having been a professional dancer in her youth. Dorice ran away from school at 14 and joined a chorus line. “We did the Moss Empires tour with the Crazy Gang,” she says. As they crossed the country, a particular commercial traveller kept popping up in the front row, time and again. His name was Reg, and he wouldn’t leave her be. “I didn’t like him at first, but perseverance won. He was a really nice man. We were married for 63 years.”

Dorice Greenfield pictured in her days as a dancer
After two years of marriage, in 1950, she gave birth to Susan. “I was so thrilled. I couldn’t get over her lovely little baby fingers.” Susan started speaking before she learnt to sit up. “She was a little baby lying there going, ‘Mum, Mum, Mum, Dad, Dad, Dad.’ ”
They lived in a middle flat on the Chiswick High Road, west London, sharing a toilet and bathroom with the people upstairs. “We were broke,” says Dorice with a chuckle, before her daughter interrupts again, typically.
“People say, ‘You’ve done so well, given your background.’ Actually, I had the biggest break of all, being born to Mum and Dad and not rich. I had time to think, time to get bored. I wasn’t shoved on self-improvement courses after school, or taken on fancy holidays. I had time just to dream.”
Dorice is calm and elegant, in a long skirt, white blouse and black waistcoat, with a ballerina brooch. Susan is intense and restless, in platform boots, skinny jeans and stripy top.
As a child, she spent hours drawing or with a toy theatre. “When I was growing up, a sketch book didn’t ask you to draw in it. You drove the story. Nowadays, I fear people follow passively the narrative given to them on a screen. It’s a second-hand imagination.”
She did play chess with her parents, from the age of eight or nine. “Even though we were a working-class family, there was this element of stimulation.”
Susan spent so much time reading that Dorice went to the doctor to ask what was wrong. “It worried me. All her friends were out and about and there was Susan sitting in her room. The doctor said to me, ‘You’re very lucky.’ ”
There was, says the mother, “plenty of love around. I used to kiss and cuddle her a lot, make sure I was always there. She never came home to an empty flat.”
Susan says of her parents: “They gave you confidence and real support, but at the same time, freedom.”
Her father was an electrician, with a fascination for taking things apart to see how they worked. “In another time, he would have been a philosopher or a scientist.” She inherited his enthusiasm, and once bought a rabbit from a butcher in order to cut its head open and see what was inside, while her three-year-old brother watched.
Graham was born when she was 13, and she was sometimes merciless towards him. “The best torture was to take his plastic water pistol and put it in the oven, which had a glass door. He could see it melt before his very eyes.” As she cackles theatrically, Dorice insists: “This was all done when I wasn’t in.”
Having run away from the Godolphin and Latymer School as a girl, Dorice now arranged for her daughter to try for a scholarship. “Lots of kids were getting promised rewards for passing the
11-plus,” says Susan. “Mum said, ‘No bribes. You’ll pass it if you want to pass it.’ ”
She did, and loved the school. “In terms of being stretched intellectually, it was amazing. In particular I had a teacher called Veronica Lemon, who did Ancient Greek. I thought she was the most exciting, stimulating person.”
Some parents of brilliant children are intimidated. Dorice says she wasn’t. But could she help with Ancient Greek? “I didn’t help her with her homework. She went in her room, shut the door and that was the end of Susan for a couple of hours.” Susan is grateful. “The middle-class children I know have parents breathing down their necks. I was left to get on with it. Sink or swim.”
What about boys? “Susan didn’t go out much as a teenager,” says her mother. “There wasn’t much to say about boys, really, until she went to Oxford. By then, they had the Pill.”
First, Susan worked on a kibbutz in Israel for nine months in 1969, a troubled time. “She sold her blood to get money to buy a Bedouin dress. She smuggled back a bullet for Reg. That period was very worrying for me.”
Then it was time for Susan to leave permanently. “I was heartbroken. That is the most difficult thing about being a mum: when they leave home. You’ve really got to reorganise yourself, and your feelings,” says Dorice. “You miss them so much. Susan being a girl, we were very close. More like a sister than a daughter. We’d sit together and make her frocks, you know? When she went I felt very lonely.”
Her daughter was the first in the family to go to university. “We brought her here in our old banger. The locks on her suitcase were broken, so we had to tie it up. She took me into the dining room and there were all these dons, sitting up on a high level. I remember saying, ‘I wonder if you’ll ever be a don and sit up there.’ ”
Her daughter achieved a lot more than that. Susan Greenfield is an honorary fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and was given the Michael Faraday Prize by the Royal Society. The French government awarded her the Légion d’honneur.
She was made a life peer in 2001. “I said, ‘Mum, something really nice has happened to me, but I can’t say what it is yet.’ Mum said, ‘I can guess what it is. You’re pregnant.’ I said, ‘No, no.’ So Mum said, ‘I know what it is. You’ve won that Nobel Prize.’ ” They both roar with laughter. “Notice,” says Susan, “that pregnancy came ahead of the Nobel Prize.” Dorice grins. “I always wanted a grandchild.”
It never happened. “That’s perfectly all right. I’ve had other things which are as good, maybe better.”
They are obviously close, and talk for half an hour every Saturday morning. “I get that phone call every week, wherever she is in the world,” says Dorice. Reg died two years ago, but she remains active, line dancing three nights a week. She has also written a memoir.
Her proudest moment was when Baroness Greenfield was director of the Royal Institution in Mayfair, and introduced her to the Queen there. “She had lovely eyes. Susan said, ‘This is my Mum.’ The Queen went, ‘Ooh!’ I thought, ‘What’s the ooh for?’ She didn’t say anything, but the Duke of Edinburgh came over and said, ‘Do you come here often?’ I said, ‘Well, seeing as Susan’s running it, yes.’ ”
She is clearly very proud of her daughter, but what does this charming, sparky woman think it takes to be a good mother? “Patience. Plenty of love. No smacking. Let them have their head, but be behind them when they go for it.”
Baroness Greenfield watches, nodding. What does she owe to her mother? “I owe her everything.”
Source:By

Danielle Fishel poses for Maxim: 'Hello, it's Topanga'

She talks about Bob Saget, Ben Savage and that name, Topanga.

Topanga never looked like this on 1990s sitcom Boy Meets World.
But Danielle Fishel is 31 now and posing on the cover of Maxim magazine.
In the interview, Fishel talks about the show, which was part of a TGIF block of programming on ABC, as she prepares to co-star again with Ben Savage, who played Cory on the show, for an updated version, Girl Meets World.
She recalls one story of flying on a plane with Bob Saget, who at the time was starring on Full House.
"One time we were all on a private jet going to Disney World, and my mom, dad, and brother were also with me. We had these four seats facing each other with curtains, so we had our own little private family area. Anyway, we were trying to take a nap, and all of a sudden Bob Saget walks down the aisle, rips open our curtain, and shouts, 'Do you guys have any coke?!' Then he looks my dad in the eye, laughs, and closes the curtain. My mom was like, 'What was that all about?' "
And Fishel, who is engaged, explains how her character came to be called Topanga. Answer: Yes, she was named after the canyon in L.A.
"Michael Jacobs, who created Boy Meets World, says he was driving down the highway when production called and said, 'We need a name for this character!' He happened to be driving past Topanga Canyon, so he said, 'Topanga.' He says that if they had called him two miles later, I would've been named Canoga, which is the next exit."
She's also inspired parents to name their kids Topanga. "I've met five little girls named Topanga, all after me, and I've heard about many more. People will tweet me, and I've had family members who have met other Topangas. It's crazy and it's flattering, but I never know what to say when they're showing me their beautiful little girls. I'm like, 'Really? Topanga!?' "
And did she and Ben Savage ever date in real life?
"No! That rumor was entirely my fault because I once said, on The Tyra Banks Show, that Ben and I went on a date, and that turned into 'Danielle and Ben dated.' We went on one date, when I was about 15, and by the time the dinner was over we realized mutually that we were more like family than lovers."

Nelson Mandela In Hospital For Tests


Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela pictured in June 2012

President Zuma's spokesman says there is "no need for panic" as doctors are treating Mr Mandela for a pre-existing condition.

Former South African leader Nelson Mandela has been admitted to hospital for a scheduled medical check-up s.
The latest tests come just months after Mr Mandela, 94, was treated for a lung infection and gallstones.
The government said he was in hospital for a "routine test", and a spokesman for the country's president, Jacob Zuma, said there was "no need for panic".
He added that doctors were treating Mr Mandela for a pre-existing condition.
According to a statement from the presidency, he was taken to a hospital in Pretoria.
It said: "Doctors are conducting tests and have thus far indicated that there is no reason for any alarm."
Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said: "Former president Nelson Mandela was admitted to hospital in Pretoria this afternoon for a scheduled medical check-up to manage the existing conditions in line with his age."
He appealed for the public to respect the privacy of Mandela and his family.
The Nobel laureate has become increasingly frail and last made a public appearance on a major stage when South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament.
He has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis during his 27 years in prison under South Africa's apartheid regime.

Uhuru Kenyatta declared winner of Kenya's presidential vote

http://www.givenumbers.com/images/new_politicians_pics/Uhuru-Kenyatta1.jpg
Uhuru Kenyatta, indicted for crimes against humanity, was declared winner of Kenya's presidential election on Saturday, but rival Raila Odinga said he would challenge the outcome in court and asked supporters to avoid violence.
Kenyatta, Kenya's richest man and son of its founding president, faces trial on charges of playing a leading role in the wave of tribal killings that followed the disputed 2007 presidential election. His win on Saturday avoided what could have been a divisive a run-off penciled in for April.
With Kenyatta, 51, in the top job, Kenya will become the second African country after Sudan to have a sitting president who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court.
The United States and other Western powers, big donors to the east African country, said before the vote that a Kenyatta win would complicate diplomatic ties with a nation viewed as a vital ally in a regional battle against militant Islam.
In his acceptance speech, Kenyatta said he and his team would cooperate with international institutions and that he expected the world to respect Kenya's sovereignty.
"We recognize and accept our international obligations and we will continue to cooperate with all nations and international institutions - in line with those obligations."
After saying Kenyatta secured 50.07 percent of the vote, edging over the 50 percent needed to avoid a second round, the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Issack Hassan, announced: "I therefore declare Uhuru Kenyatta the duly elected president of the Republic of Kenya."
Shortly afterwards, Hassan handed a certificate of the results to Kenyatta, who had arrived after the declaration. Kenyatta thanked him and went to a nearby university campus in the capital Nairobi where he delivered his acceptance speech.
Many in the election center cheered, although celebrations started in the early hours of Saturday after provisional results indicated Kenyatta's victory. Supporters thronged the streets of Nairobi and his tribal strongholds, lighting fluorescent flares, waving tree branches and chanting "Uhuru, Uhuru".
Violence flared briefly in Odinga's heartlands where police fired teargas at supporters of the defeated candidate who were throwing stones. "No Raila, no peace!" they chanted at the scene near the western city of Kisumu, which was shattered by violence after the 2007 election.
Last time the bloodshed started immediately after the election results, and analysts predicted that Kenya was likely to escape fighting this time around.
CHALLENGE
Odinga, 68, said he would have conceded if the vote was fair, adding that there was "rampant illegality" in the electoral process and that "democracy was on trial in Kenya" and he would challenge it in court.
"Any violence now could destroy this nation forever, but it would not serve anyone's interests," he said.
Odinga, who secured 43.3 percent of the vote, had also questioned the election process before the balloting and during the count his party officials had called for tallying to stop.
The election commission, plagued by technical problems that slowed the count, took five days to announce the result. It dismissed accusations of irregularities.
International observers broadly said the vote and count had been transparent so far and the electoral commission, which replaced a discredited body, said it delivered a credible vote.
Kenyatta, now the deputy prime minister, climbed above 50 percent by just 8,400 of the more than 12.3 million votes cast.
Both sides relied heavily on their ethnic groups in a nation where tribal loyalties mostly trump ideology at the ballot box. Kenyatta is a Kikuyu, the biggest of Kenya's many tribes, while Odinga is a Luo. Both had running mates from other tribes.
John Githongo, a former senior government official-turned-whistleblower, urged the rival coalitions, Odinga's CORD and Kenyatta's Jubilee, to ensure calm. "Jubilee and CORD, what you and your supporters say now determines continued peace and stability in Kenya. We are watching you!" he said on Twitter.
How Western capitals deal with Kenya under Kenyatta and his government will depend on whether he and his running mate William Ruto, who is also indicted, work with the tribunal.
Kenyatta says he is innocent of the charges, which allege that he directed a militia accused of murder and rape during the violence after the last election.
Western capitals were swift on Saturday to applaud Kenya's peaceful vote but avoided mentioning Kenyatta, whose election they had said would complicate relations because of the charges of crimes against humanity he faces.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said America had longstanding ties with Kenya, and "will continue to be a strong friend and ally of the Kenyan people". He congratulated the people of the east African country for holding a peaceful vote.
CALL FOR COOPERATION
Both Kenyatta and Ruto deny the charges and have said they will work to clear their names. Kenyatta had to fend off jibes during the campaign by Odinga that he would have to run government by Skype from The Hague.
"Until now, Kenyatta has been cooperating with the court and we do hope this will continue," said Fadi El-Abdallah, spokesman for the Hague-based court. "This is part of Kenya respecting its legal obligations under international law."
Kenyans hope the vote, which passed off with only pockets of unrest on voting day, will restore their nation's reputation as one of Africa's most stable democracies after killings last time left more than 1,200 dead.
Many Kenyans have said they are determined to avoid a repeat of the post-2007 chaos, which paralyzed the economy.
Church leaders in Kisumu sought to defuse tension this time and some Odinga supporters said it was time to move on. "I urge our candidate to forget the presidency and let the will of God prevail," cloth vendor Diana Ndonga said.
Many shops stayed closed as a precaution in the port city of Mombasa, another Odinga stronghold, but streets were calm.
"We are heading for a bleak future where the economy goes down and international relations sour because of the ICC case," said Athumani Yeya, 45, a teacher in the city.
Some said Odinga's call for non-violence had calmed nerves.
"Now that we have heard Raila's voice, we will maintain peace and give courts time to do their work. I urge people of this area to remain calm and continue with their normal lives," said Robert Ouko, 24, a transporter.
Others were hopeful that Kenyatta could bring change.
"We are celebrating. Even with the ICC case in Holland, the people of Kenya still have faith in him," said Thomas Gitau, 25, a barefoot car washer on a main Mombasa street. "We hope he can fix infrastructure and security so we have more jobs."
Odinga's camp had said even before the result that they were considering a court challenge. In 2007, he said the courts could not be trusted to handle the case. Kenyatta's camp had also complained about counting delays and other aspects of the vote.
But many Kenyans said this race was more transparent. Turnout reached 86 percent of the 14.3 million eligible voters.

Lion kills intern at California animal sanctuary



A female volunteer was killed by a lion at a private wild animal park in Central California.
Cat Haven founder Dale Anderson was crying as he read a one-sentence statement about the fatal mauling at the exotic animal zoo he has operated since 1993.
The 26-year-old intern was attacked and killed yesterday when she entered the lion's enclosure, Mr Anderson said, but he refused to answer questions or provide more details.
He said Project Survival would investigate to see if the woman and another worker who was on-site followed the group's protocols.
"We take every precaution to ensure the safety of our staff, animals and guests," he said in a written statement
Sheriff's deputies responding to an emergency call from Cat Haven, in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Fresno, found the woman severely injured and still lying inside the enclosure with the lion nearby, Fresno County sheriff's lieutenant Bob Miller said.
Another park worker had unsuccessfully tried luring the lion away and into a separate pen.
Deputies shot and killed the animal so they could reach the wounded woman, who died at the scene, Mr Miller said.
Investigators were trying to determine why the woman was inside the enclosure and what might have provoked the attack.
The zoo is normally closed on Wednesdays, and only one other worker was there when the mauling happened.
The male African lion, a 4-year-old male named Couscous, had been raised at Cat Haven since it was a cub, said Tanya Osegueda, a spokeswoman for Project Survival, the non-profit organisation that operates the animal park.
Cat Haven is a 100-acre site close to Kings Canyon National Park, and since it opened in 1993, it has housed numerous big cats, including tigers and leopards.
It is permitted to house exotic animals by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and is regulated as a zoo by the US Department of Agriculture.
Results of the last 13 inspections by the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service show no violations dating back to March 2010. The most recent inspection was February 4, USDA records show.
Nicole Paquette, vice president of the Human Society of the United States, voiced concerns.
"She should have never been in the enclosure with him," Paquette said of the victim.
"These are big cats that are extremely dangerous, and they placed a volunteer in the actual cage with a wild animal. That should have never happened."
Officials at another big cat sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida, said last year that at least 21 people, including five children, have been killed and 246 mauled by exotic cats in the US since 1990. Over that period, 254 cats escaped and 143 were killed.
Tatiana, a tiger at the San Francisco Zoo, was killed by police after jumping out of its enclosure and fatally mauling a 17-year-old boy and injuring two other people in 2007.
Cat Haven has housed Bengal tigers, Siberian lynx, caracals, jaguars and leopards of various types as well as bobcats native to the area.
Mr Anderson described the private zoo several years ago as one of a handful of sites across the US that has all of the big cat species in one place.
Its website says it promotes conservation and preservation of wild cats in their native habitats and offers visitors tours and educational programmes.
Source:independent.co.uk
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