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Sunday, October 20, 2013
Bomb kills 12 as war-related deaths near 500,000 in Iraq
Kirkuk (Iraq) (AFP) - A bomb ripped through a crowd of worshippers at a Sunni mosque in Iraq, killing 12 people as a study put the death toll in the war-torn country at nearly half a million since the US-led 2003 invasion.
Three children, a policeman and an army officer were among the dead from the blast in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, which also wounded 26 people, police and a doctor said.
The bomb exploded as worshippers left the mosque after marking the start of the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday.
Bodies, their clothes covered in blood, were placed in the back of a police pickup truck to be taken away, an AFP journalist reported.
Angry and grieving people railed against those behind the attack, shouting: "God take revenge on those who are evil!"
Worshipper Khalaf al-Obaidi said he narrowly avoided being caught the blast after he went to greet one of his brothers inside the mosque instead of leaving.
"You look and you see your friend or your brother or your relatives (on the ground). Even an infidel would not do this," he said. "God willing, there will be security and safety for this country and its poor people."
Hours after the fatal blast, a study by university researchers the US, Canada and Baghdad said that nearly half a million people have died from war-related causes in Iraq since the US-led invasion a decade ago.
That figure is far higher than the nearly 115,000 violent civilian deaths reported by the British-based group Iraq Body Count, which bases its tally on media reports, hospital and morgue records, and official and non-governmental accounts.
The new study, published in the US and conducted in cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Health, covers not only violent deaths but other avoidable deaths linked to the invasion, insurgencies and subsequent social breakdown.
It differs from some previous counts by spanning a longer period of time and by using randomised surveys of households across Iraq to project a nationwide death toll from 2003 to mid-2011.
Violence caused most of the deaths, but about a third were indirectly linked to the war, and these deaths have been left out of previous counts, said lead author Amy Hagopian, a public health researcher at the University of Washington.
Those included situations when a pregnant woman encountered difficult labour but could not leave the house due to fighting, or when a person drank contaminated water, or when a patient could not get treated at a hospital because staff was overwhelmed with war casualties.
"I think it is important that people understand the consequences of launching wars on public health, on how people live. This country is forever changed," Hagopian told AFP.
Eid al-Adha, which commemorates the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) to sacrifice his son at God's command, is the biggest Muslim holiday of the year.
In Iraq, as around the Islamic world, people mark the holiday by slaughtering an animal, normally a sheep, and giving the meat to the poor.
As with various other religious occasions in Iraq, observance differs between Sunnis and Shiites.
"We ask God to keep the ghost of sectarian strife... and civil war, on which those who sold their soul to the devil are insisting, away from our country," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in pre-recorded remarks broadcast on Tuesday.
Other attacks in Kirkuk, Nineveh and Baghdad provinces on Tuesday killed three people and wounded three more, officials said.
Almost nothing is safe from attack by militants in Iraq, and violence has reached a level not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict.
Secure targets such as prisons have been struck in recent months, along with cafés, markets, mosques, football fields, weddings and funerals.
Attacks on both Sunni and Shiite gatherings have raised fears of a relapse into the intense sectarian bloodshed that killed tens of thousands of people in 2006-2007.
Analysts say the Shiite-led government's failure to address the grievances of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority -- which complains of being excluded from government jobs and senior posts and of abuses by security forces -- has driven the surge in unrest.
Violence worsened sharply after security forces stormed a Sunni anti-government protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23, sparking clashes in which dozens died.
And while the authorities have made some concessions aimed at placating anti-government protesters and Sunnis in general, such as freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of Sunni anti-Al-Qaeda fighters, underlying issues remain unaddressed.
The government has enacted new security measures, stepped up executions and carried out wide-ranging operations against militants for more than two months, but has so far failed to curb the violence.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bomb-targeting-worshippers-kills-11-iraq-070823320.html
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Aretha: Side effects 'were rough,' glad to work
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — Aretha Franklin says "the side effects were rough" from her treatment for an undisclosed condition.
The 71-year-old singer sat at a piano Wednesday inside a Westin hotel in the Detroit suburb of Southfield. She sang Etta James' "At Last" and told reporters she's "glad to be back in it" — a reference to her music.
The Detroit News (http://bit.ly/18mUgFb ) reports she's starting on a new album with producers Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and Don Was.
Franklin says she and Edmonds were supposed to team up in July, but couldn't because of her medical treatments. She says it was music executive Clive Davis who suggested she collaborate with Was, known for his work with the Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt and Willie Nelson.
Franklin canceled several concerts earlier this year for health reasons.
___
Information from: The Detroit News, http://detnews.com/
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/aretha-side-effects-were-rough-glad-010326745.html
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Booker's campaign path bumpier than anticipated
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Cory Booker's path to Wednesday's U.S. Senate election has been bumpier than anticipated.
Even Republicans had expected Booker, a Democrat in a Democratic-leaning state, to cruise to victory by a wide margin over little-known Republican Steve Lonegan in the special election to replace former Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died in June.
While Booker holds a double-digit lead in most polls, the charismatic Newark mayor has faced sustained Republican criticism that has exposed vulnerabilities that could hamper him should he seek even higher office someday.
Lonegan has hammered Booker on Newark's economic troubles, tax increases, and violent crime. The GOP also has assailed him over a 2008 statement that a drug dealer he called a friend was actually an "archetype"; his G-rated Twitter exchanges with a Portland, Ore., stripper; his out-of-state fundraising trips; and a Washington Post interview where Booker, who talks about past girlfriends but prefers to keep his personal life private, said he "loves" when people on Twitter say that he is gay and asked, "so what does it matter if I am?"
After weeks of mostly ignoring Lonegan, the sustained assault has gotten Booker's attention.
He has aggressively hit back in the past several weeks, castigating Lonegan seemingly at every turn, using the brass-knuckled political skills he learned in the rough-and-tumble world of Newark politics.
"Sending him to Washington would be like pouring gasoline on a fire," Booker said, calling Lonegan a member of the "tea party fringe" that "hijacked" the government and caused a shutdown.
In a debate last week, Booker said the former mayor of Bogota, a small borough in Bergen County, "ran his city into a ditch" and asked for a state bailout. He painted Lonegan as an extremist, and said sending another Republican who supports the government shutdown to Washington would hurt the country.
Before deciding to return heavy fire, Booker had focused more on policy differences with Lonegan on issues like child poverty and criminal justice reforms, painting himself as a political uniter, while promoting Newark's growth. He told Lonegan to "bring on your wrecking ball" after the primary, but almost immediately shifted toward highlighting policy differences, fundraising and disregarding attacks. Booker largely avoided local media interviews, but held regular "run with Cory" events, where a group of supporters jogged a mile with the mayor.
For most of the campaign, Lonegan has gotten little help from Republicans outside the state, save for endorsements from Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, both tea party favorites. The Senate Republican campaign arm hasn't sent any staffers into New Jersey — a standard practice in competitive races — and hasn't spent money on radio or television ads.
Booker had raised $11.2 million for his campaign through early October, compared to Lonegan's $1.4 million, according to campaign finance reports reviewed by the Newark Star-Ledger.
In an 11th hour push for Lonegan, tea party leaders have begun coordinating phone banks and a get-out-the-vote effort. The nation's largest tea party political action committee — the Tea Party Express — brought former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in to campaign for the GOP nominee last weekend.
Tea party supporters dream of another surprise upset like Republican Scott Brown's unexpected victory in Democratic-leaning Massachusetts in a 2010 special election to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Democrats in Washington mostly stayed out of the race until the final week. President Barack Obama released a video Monday urging voters to cast ballots for Booker and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz stumped with Booker on Sunday. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a longtime Booker supporter, spent $1 million on a television ad for Booker.
Booker campaign officials say they expected all along that the race would tighten, because no New Jersey Democrat running statewide has won with more than 60 percent of the vote in a generation. But they say they're confident that the double digit lead in the polls will be borne out on Election Day.
"We knew there would be a narrowing," Booker said in an interview with The Associated Press, "and so far the election has gone for us exactly according to plan."
Still, Republicans in Washington say they're pleased that Booker has had to work harder than anyone imagined. They're privately cheering the tea party's involvement.
And they suggest that Booker is making mistakes that could come back to haunt him as he eyes his political future. Some Democrats have mused about the possibility that Booker — a gifted public speaker who is young at age 44 — could make an attractive vice presidential candidate in 2016.
There's little doubt that Booker has national aspirations. He's spent a chunk of his mayoral tenure traveling the country, meeting with big Democratic donors and raising money in places like Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Hollywood star Matt Damon helped organize one Booker fundraiser in California.
Booker advisers suggest that the aggressive fundraising schedule has dual benefits, generating resources quickly for the special election, while giving Booker a head start for his next election. If he wins on Wednesday, he'll have to defend his seat next November.
Lonegan, however, says his campaign is "cresting."
"It's not a longshot," he told the AP. "We're going to win on Wednesday."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bookers-campaign-path-bumpier-anticipated-194246715--election.html
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Saturday, October 19, 2013
Camille Grammer Battles Endometrial Cancer with Hysterectomy
She’s one of the hottest ladies on reality television, and thankfully Camille Grammer is on the mend after battling endometrial cancer.
According to the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” babe’s spokesperson, she elected to have a radical hysterectomy after learning that she was in the early stages of the disease.
The rep told Us Weekly, “Camille underwent a radical hysterectomy. The surgery went very well and she is expected to make a complete recovery following a significant recuperation period.”
“She was at elevated risk due to genetic issues and has been diligent about regular check-ups and monitoring which explains the early detection and rapid treatment. Camille expresses gratitude to all the amazing health care professionals who have taken such loving and nurturing care of her. She urges all women to be aware of genetic factors relating to women's cancers and get regular check-ups."
Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/camille-grammer/camille-grammer-battles-endometrial-cancer-hysterectomy-942293
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Panasonic’s New Mirrorless Camera Is Smaller Than Many Point-and-Shoots
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Banks Ease Purse Strings On Luxury Home Loans
For the first time in decades, interest rates for jumbo home loans are lower than rates for a typical mortgage. And because of that, the luxury market is the fastest growing sector of home loans. In Phoenix, sales of homes that cost more than $500,000 are up 64 percent.
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Apple decks out venue for iPad event next week
The company is decorating the windows of San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center to match the design on press invites sent out for an event on October 22.
Here's a sight that's become familiar for Apple events of late: colors.
Apple is decorating the windows of the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco ahead of a special media event it has planned for next Tuesday. The design, revealed in images sent to blog site MacRumors, is a deluge of autumn leaves amidst a single Apple logo. It matches the pattern on invitations the company sent out to media outlets this week.
The October 22 event is expected to bring a variety of announcements, including new models of the iPad and iPad Mini, updates on Macs, and a price and release date for OS X Mavericks.
The facade of Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters was similarly as bright last month when the company invited press and guests in to announce its two new iPhones, the 5S and the 5C -- the latter of which comes in a slew of colors.
Be sure to catch CNET's coverage of next week's event.
CNET's live coverage of Apple's October 22 event
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Cormier: Forcing Nelson to Trim Beard Part Strategy
Heading into his UFC 166 scrap with fellow heavyweight contender Roy Nelson, Daniel Cormier has relayed he plans on petitioning Texas officials to have the vet clean up his massive beard. Of course, Cormier has said he doesn’t want to have Nelson’s soggy facial hair in his face all night, but it’s also well known that there’s bit of history between the two going into the fight.
In a recent interview with MMA Fighting.com, Cormier was asked about his plans regarding Nelson’s beard, and “DC” acknowledged that part of it’s to get “Big Country” off his game.
“(He’s been) kinda messing with me up top and in my head and everything, so there’s something there with that beard. He only had it for a reason. He likes having it, so why not make him shave it, and take that comfort zone away from him?”
“It’s kind of tactical,” Cormier said before adding, ”And also I thought those guys (who were forced to shave at UFC 165) in Canada looked nice, man. Everybody is nice and clean, and like professional athletes.”
At the end of the day, Nelson will need to worry about what Cormier’s bringing, rather than whether his beard is nicely groomed or not. It’s a pivotal bout for both, as Cormier is a huge favourite and Nelson needs a win following his one sided loss to Stipe Miocic.
UFC 166 will be hosted by Houston’s Toyota Center and will feature Velasquez-dos Santos III in the main event.
Stay tuned to MMA Frenzy.com for all your UFC news and coverage.
Front-Page Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
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The Medal of Honor winner who had his nomination vanish
At a stately White House ceremony on Tuesday, President Barack Obama will extol former Army Capt. William Swenson's courage and award him the country's highest military decoration.
But beyond the pageantry is a convoluted tale not told in the official Army narrative detailing Swenson’s heroics when he and his troops were ambushed in Afghanistan more than four years ago.
Even as Swenson receives his Medal of Honor, a Pentagon investigation is unfolding into why the former Army officer’s award nomination once vanished. It has been alleged that military brass may have derailed the approval process because Swenson pointed blame at superiors in the aftermath of the costly battle.
“It’s crazy,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who pushed for the investigation. “The last thing you should have is a politicized Medal of Honor process.”
Being candid about the battle put Swenson’s nomination in the cross hairs, Hunter said.
“He came out and was honest about what happened,” Hunter told Yahoo News. “He was critical as an officer in the Army should be. You’re not supposed to be a robot; you’re supposed to voice your opinions, especially when things go tactically wrong.”
2009 Battle of Ganjgal
Swenson, a Seattle native on his second tour in eastern Afghanistan, was an embedded adviser mentoring members of the Afghan National Security Forces. On the morning of Sept. 8, 2009, he and other U.S. trainers were leading a team of Afghan soldiers and police on foot for a peacekeeping mission into the rural community of Ganjgal when they were surprised by 60 well-armed Taliban insurgents.
A fierce firefight ensued, but the coalition task force was outgunned and quickly surrounded. The battle ultimately claimed the lives of Americans and 10 of their Afghan counterparts. Seventeen others were wounded. The Army says the bloodshed would have been worse if not for Swenson’s gallantry.
“In seven hours of continuous fighting, Swenson braved intense enemy fire, and willfully put his life in danger against the enemy’s main effort, multiple times in service of his fallen and wounded comrades, his unit, his country, and his endangered Afghan partners,” according to a written Army account.
Swenson calls for air support after the ambush. (Jonathan Landay)
But during the battle, Swenson also repeatedly radioed superiors at a nearby base to request air and artillery support to rescue pinned-down troops. Subsequent investigations determined that three Army officers rejected many of Swenson’s pleas and failed to notify higher commands that troops were under fire.
Swenson didn’t hold back when interviewed by military investigators. According to stories by McClatchy Newspapers and the Military Times, he blasted the U.S. commanders in Afghanistan for their rules of engagement, charging that they put political reasons of trying to minimize civilian casualties ahead of U.S. concerns.
According to documents reviewed by the Military Times, Swenson asked why he was “being second-guessed by [higher-ups] or somebody that's sitting in an air-conditioned” tactical operations center. “Why [the] hell am I even out there in the first place?” he said. “Let’s sit back and play Nintendo.”
“I’m not a politician. I’m just the guy on the ground asking for that ammunition to be dropped because it is going to save lives,” he said, according to a transcript obtained by McClatchy Newspapers.
According to reports, two Army officers were given written reprimands for their “negligent” leadership, which contributed “directly to the loss of life which ensued.”
Swenson, now 34, left the Army in February 2011 and is back living in Seattle. “My forced early retirement,” he recently told the Washington Post. But Swenson hasn’t spoken publicly about the battle of Ganjgal or the delay with his Medal of Honor nomination. He did not return a message from Yahoo News.
The Lost Nomination
Shortly after Ganjgal, Swenson and Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer were both nominated for their valiant acts during the battle. Suspicion grew when Obama awarded Meyer the Medal of Honor on Sept. 15, 2011, but there was no mention of Swenson’s nomination, which Rep. Hunter says was nowhere to be found for 19 months.
![](http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/bnuzWReCEP29NGx26BFGZg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTQwMA--/http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/news/2013-10-14/a32b8115-5f03-4488-bfff-1a877a53e5c9_armytimescover.jpg "The "Army Times" in 2012 when Swenson had not received his honor.")
The "Army Times" in 2012 when Swenson had not received his honor.
Even Meyer spoke out. According to the Military Times, Meyer wrote the senior officer on the White House National Security Council and described Swenson as “the centerpiece for command and control in a raging firefight that never died down."
The Army says approving a nomination packet – which includes dozens of supporting documents that must be vetted by top commanders, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretary of defense before submission to the president for a final decision – can take up to three years.
“In Swenson's case, an official investigation determined his packet was lost as a result of high turnover within the organization recommending the award,” Army spokesperson Tatjana Christian told Yahoo News by email last week. “The nomination packet was subsequently re-created and forwarded for review. The Army is reviewing ways to ensure this type of injustice does not happen again.”
[SLIDESHOW: Photos of Capt. Swenson in Afghanistan]
But stories by McClatchy Newspapers’ Jonathan Landay cast doubt on the Army’s explanation that the Swenson nomination was merely misplaced.
McClatchy, which obtained memos from the Army’s internal probe, reported that investigators discovered there was an attempt to reduce Swenson’s original nomination to a lesser award before it vanished. That would have been in violation of Army and Defense Department regulations, since only the president has the authority to downgrade a Medal of Honor nomination.
Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, who commanded U.S. troops in Afghanistan in the summer of 2010, told a McClatchy reporter in August 2012 that he had “no recollection of seeing” Swenson’s packet. But the Army found Petraeus signed Swenson’s Medal of Honor packet on July 28, 2010, McClatchy reported. Yahoo News emailed Petraeus, who did not answer questions about the alleged discrepancy.
Army investigators also discovered that Swenson’s original nomination was one of two Medal of Honor packets received at U.S. command headquarters in Afghanistan on May 19, 2010. The separate packet (unrelated to Ganjgal) was logged and tracked concurrently with Swenson’s, but didn’t disappear.
The Army’s now-closed internal investigation “did not reveal any suspected criminal activity,” McClatchy reported.
Still Seeking Answers
“A Medal of Honor packet doesn’t get lost unless somebody wants it to get lost,” war historian Doug Sterner told Yahoo News.
Sterner, a longtime curator of a military valor awards database, said the Swenson Medal of Honor wouldn’t have happened without the McClatchy reporting, and pressure from Rep. Hunter’s office.
Swenson with Army widow Charlene Westbrook and war reporter Jonathan Landay in April 2013. (Westbrook photo)
“It’s one that could have gotten tragically swept under the carpet of our broken awards system,” Sterner said.
An inspector general’s office that handles cases involving top military and civilian defense officials is now investigating the alleged mishandling of the Swenson nomination. The Department of Defense did not reply to messages from Yahoo News seeking comment.
Hunter, a Marine officer before entering politics, wants the inspector general investigation to go beyond Swenson’s case. Like Sterner, he believes the process has become bureaucratic, and that too few awards have been issued during the global war on terror.
“I shouldn’t have to write letters,” said Hunter, who has never met Swenson. “The IG shouldn’t have to investigate. This process should be aboveboard and transparent. It shouldn’t take four years. That’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Swenson will be the 13th service member awarded the Medal of Honor from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the first Army officer to earn the medal since the end of the Vietnam War.
On hand to witness the occasion will be the family of Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook, Swenson’s close friend and battle buddy.
Westbrook was shot several times at Ganjgal. He was bleeding on the battlefield until Swenson charged through enemy fire to render him first aid. Helmet cameras worn by incoming pilots captured video of Swenson helping Westbrook aboard a medevac helicopter and stopping to kiss his friend’s forehead before returning to the battle. Sgt. Westbrook made it to Walter Reed military hospital in Maryland, where he died 29 days later.
“I thank him for that time that I got to spend with my husband,” his widow, Charlene Westbrook, said. “I thank Will for that.”
Westbrook said her husband would have been proud of Swenson’s Medal of Honor, but not the process it took to finally get invited to the White House.
“I sincerely don’t believe that the Department of the Army lost, misplaced, or whatever they want to call it,” she said. “They didn’t want it to come out or what? That’s what happened. That’s the truth. They ignored their calls.”
Capt. Swenson with an Afghan task force soldier near the Pakistani border. (Army photo)Source: http://news.yahoo.com/questions-surround-medal-of-honor-recipient-william-swensons-delayed-recognition-115930795.html
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Parker, Dawkins Put On Show In Duke Scrimmage
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman phenom Jabari Parker went coast-to-coast with rebounds, Rodney Hood slashed to the rim and Andre Dawkins knocked down 3-pointers.
During Duke's first public intrasquad scrimmage of the preseason, the up-tempo team barely resembled last year's group.
The scrimmage was the centerpiece of Duke's "Countdown to Craziness" celebration Friday — an annual night of frivolity before coach Mike Krzyzewski's team gets back to the serious business of preparing for the season.
Krzyzewski told the crowd during the scrimmage that "we're trying to change the style of play" and that "we're going to play a lot faster."
Parker had 16 points in one 15-minute scrimmage, then eight points, eight rebounds and a highlight-reel dunk in another one.
The first 10 points of the first game were scored by players who didn't see a minute of court time at Duke last season.
That includes two redshirts: Hood, who transferred from Mississippi State, and Dawkins, who sat out while continuing to deal with his sister's death when he was a freshman in 2009.
Dawkins received one of the louder ovations — along with Parker — during the one-at-a-time player introductions, and screamed "I'm back, baby" to the crowd.
Then, the first time he touched the ball, he buried a 3 over Rasheed Sulaimon on the right wing, prompting the Cameron Crazies to chant "'Dre all day."
"It was cool to get that kind of reaction from the crowd — a crowd I haven't been around for a year," Dawkins said, adding that his 3 "felt pretty good. Wish I had hit a couple more."
While the Blue Devils have been practicing for three weeks, this was the first chance for fans to get a look at the highly regarded freshman class — Parker, Semi Ojeleye and Matt Jones — in game situations
Parker and Dawkins led the Blue team during the first scrimmage while Hood and Ojeleye were on White. Dawkins hit two free throws with 0.9 seconds left in Blue's 36-34 win.
Then they switched up the teams, with four probable starters — Parker, Hood, Quinn Cook and Amile Jefferson — plus Dawkins and Ojeleye on White. Parker had the move of the night, a reverse, one-handed slam that even had Krzyzewski hiding a smile in White's 33-30 win.
"I fantasized about this in Chicago, like it was true, when I was hurt, and then after the season, I just anticipated being a Duke Blue Devil," Parker said. "It's a very big blessing."
Then, of his monster dunk, he said: "You just want to get the crowd involved and not boast too much, but just have fun."
Krzyzewski has said this team will revolve around Parker and Hood, and that's a noteworthy change for a program that almost always is as good — or as bad — as its seniors.
Gone are three from last year — Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry — who all found spots in the NBA. They were the cornerstones of a team that finished 30-6 and reached the Midwest regional final before losing to eventual national champion — and future fellow ACC member — Louisville.
These Blue Devils enter the season as one of the favorites to make it at least one step further — to their 12th Final Four under Krzyzewski.
But there's plenty of time to worry about that.
For now, the focus was on having some fun before the games start counting.
As they do every year, the players entered the arena to the song of their choosing. Most opted for current R&B selections, but big man Marshall Plumlee went with "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" — and performed a full Temptations-style dance.
___
Follow Joedy McCreary on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joedyap
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Friday, October 18, 2013
Satellite sees extra-tropical Typhoon Wipha affecting Alaska
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 18-Oct-2013
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Contact: Rob Gutro
robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Powerful Typhoon Wipha never made landfall in the northwestern Pacific but affected several land areas there as seen by NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. By Oct. 18, extra-tropical storm Wipha moved into the Bering Sea and was bringing rains, warmer temperatures and gusty winds to Alaska.
NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured an infrared image of ex-typhoon Wipha's clouds over Alaska on Oct. 18 at 1200 UTC/8 a.m. EDT. Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Fairbanks, AK highlighted Wipha's effects on Alaska from Oct. 18 through Oct. 20: Southeast to northeast winds will increase to 25 to 35 knots across all the west coast marine zones during the evening on Oct. 19 as the low center approaches southwest Alaska. Ample moisture will also spread into western Alaska with up to 1 inch of rain likely. On Oct. 18 and 19, rainfall amounts could be higher. Forecasters noted that the Alaska Range will continue to block much of the eastern half of the state from Wipha's effects.
Typhoon Wipha was born of the twenty-fifth tropical depression in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It developed far south of the Japanese Island of Iwo To, tracked northwest, then curved northeast passing and almost paralleling the coast of the big island of Japan while its center never made landfall.
On Oct. 13 at 2113 UTC/5:13 p.m. EDT, NASA and the Japan Space Agency's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite flew over Wipha and measured rainfall rates. Heaviest rains were occurring to the north and northeast of the center of circulation, falling at a rate of greater than 1 inch per hour.
By Oct. 14 at 0300 UTC, Wipha's maximum sustained winds reached an impressive 110 knots/126.6 mph/203.7 kph. At that time Wipha was centered near 22.2 north and 135.3 east, about 370 nautical miles west-southwest of Iwo To, Japan. Wipha was moving to the north-northwest at 13 knots/14.9 mph/24.0 kph and generating extremely rough seas up to 41 feet high.
Wipha's center is expected to graze Tokyo on Oct. 16 while remaining at sea and moving parallel to the Japanese east coast and swing into the northern Pacific.
On Oct. 13, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted "animated multispectral satellite imagery depicts a large system with tight spiral banding wrapping into a low level circulation center with an eye that has contracted and become more ragged over the past six hours."
Wipha's final warning was issued on Oct. 15 by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Wipha's maximum sustained winds were near 65 knots/74.8 mph/120.4 kph. At 2100 UTC/5:00 p.m. EDT Wipha's center was near 34.3 north and 140.4 east, about 161 nautical miles south-southwest of Yokosuka, Japan. It was moving northeastward at 30 knots/34.5 mph/55.5 kph at that time.
Animated infrared satellite imagery showed the system continued to accelerate northward and had become more disorganized and elongated, especially along the northern edge.
Then a tropical storm, Wipha continued moving northeastward ahead of a trough of low pressure where it began transitioning into an extra-tropical storm over cooler waters. Wipha crossed the Pacific Ocean and moved into the Bering Sea where it began lashing Alaska on Oct. 17 and 18 with strong winds, unseasonably warm temperatures and heavy rainfall.
On Oct. 18, the National Weather Service noted that ex-typhoon Wipha moved into the Southern Bering Sea and will slowly fill as it arcs northeast to Nunivak Island on Saturday, Oct. 19 and then drift northwest and dissipate south of Saint Lawrence Island on Sunday, Oct. 20.
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Text credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 18-Oct-2013
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Contact: Rob Gutro
robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Powerful Typhoon Wipha never made landfall in the northwestern Pacific but affected several land areas there as seen by NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. By Oct. 18, extra-tropical storm Wipha moved into the Bering Sea and was bringing rains, warmer temperatures and gusty winds to Alaska.
NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured an infrared image of ex-typhoon Wipha's clouds over Alaska on Oct. 18 at 1200 UTC/8 a.m. EDT. Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Fairbanks, AK highlighted Wipha's effects on Alaska from Oct. 18 through Oct. 20: Southeast to northeast winds will increase to 25 to 35 knots across all the west coast marine zones during the evening on Oct. 19 as the low center approaches southwest Alaska. Ample moisture will also spread into western Alaska with up to 1 inch of rain likely. On Oct. 18 and 19, rainfall amounts could be higher. Forecasters noted that the Alaska Range will continue to block much of the eastern half of the state from Wipha's effects.
Typhoon Wipha was born of the twenty-fifth tropical depression in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It developed far south of the Japanese Island of Iwo To, tracked northwest, then curved northeast passing and almost paralleling the coast of the big island of Japan while its center never made landfall.
On Oct. 13 at 2113 UTC/5:13 p.m. EDT, NASA and the Japan Space Agency's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite flew over Wipha and measured rainfall rates. Heaviest rains were occurring to the north and northeast of the center of circulation, falling at a rate of greater than 1 inch per hour.
By Oct. 14 at 0300 UTC, Wipha's maximum sustained winds reached an impressive 110 knots/126.6 mph/203.7 kph. At that time Wipha was centered near 22.2 north and 135.3 east, about 370 nautical miles west-southwest of Iwo To, Japan. Wipha was moving to the north-northwest at 13 knots/14.9 mph/24.0 kph and generating extremely rough seas up to 41 feet high.
Wipha's center is expected to graze Tokyo on Oct. 16 while remaining at sea and moving parallel to the Japanese east coast and swing into the northern Pacific.
On Oct. 13, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted "animated multispectral satellite imagery depicts a large system with tight spiral banding wrapping into a low level circulation center with an eye that has contracted and become more ragged over the past six hours."
Wipha's final warning was issued on Oct. 15 by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Wipha's maximum sustained winds were near 65 knots/74.8 mph/120.4 kph. At 2100 UTC/5:00 p.m. EDT Wipha's center was near 34.3 north and 140.4 east, about 161 nautical miles south-southwest of Yokosuka, Japan. It was moving northeastward at 30 knots/34.5 mph/55.5 kph at that time.
Animated infrared satellite imagery showed the system continued to accelerate northward and had become more disorganized and elongated, especially along the northern edge.
Then a tropical storm, Wipha continued moving northeastward ahead of a trough of low pressure where it began transitioning into an extra-tropical storm over cooler waters. Wipha crossed the Pacific Ocean and moved into the Bering Sea where it began lashing Alaska on Oct. 17 and 18 with strong winds, unseasonably warm temperatures and heavy rainfall.
On Oct. 18, the National Weather Service noted that ex-typhoon Wipha moved into the Southern Bering Sea and will slowly fill as it arcs northeast to Nunivak Island on Saturday, Oct. 19 and then drift northwest and dissipate south of Saint Lawrence Island on Sunday, Oct. 20.
###
Text credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/nsfc-sse101813.php
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Booker wins N.J. Senate race, but what does it mean for his future?
Cory Booker won his bid for New Jersey’s U.S. Senate seat Wednesday, defeating Republican Steve Lonegan in a whirlwind special election race that gave the ambitious Newark mayor an official entry to the national political stage.
Booker, a rising star in the Democratic Party, had been the heavy favorite to replace the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died in June. He’s expected to be sworn into the Senate as early as Thursday—giving Democrats an extra vote in what has been a tumultuous political period in Washington.
But it’s still unknown what kind of lawmaker Booker will be in the nation’s capital—or what damage, if any, his Senate campaign did to his stratospheric rise within the Democratic Party.
As mayor of Newark, Booker has been a larger-than-life political presence, a man as famous for rushing into a burning building to save a neighbor as he is for his savvy embrace of Twitter to communicate directly with his constituents.But the Senate is a different, stuffier place—where lawmakers deal more with each other than with the people they serve.
It’s unclear what kind of impact Booker’s celebrity might play in his profile in the Senate. On one hand, he could chart a path as the Democratic alternative to visible Republican stars like Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas or Rand Paul of Kentucky. Or he could follow in the footsteps of former Sen. Hillary Clinton, who pointedly worked with Republicans as she sought to build up her own legislative profile in advance of her 2008 presidential run.
Booker, who has made no secret of his desire for higher office, has suggested he’s willing to work with Republicans—pointing to his friendly relationship with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Yet Booker’s time in the Senate could also serve to repair the damage done to his political reputation by his Senate bid. While it was never seriously suggested that Booker would lose the race, the Newark mayor struggled to pull away from the little-known Lonegan, a tea party candidate whose support of abortion and the federal government shutdown put him at odds with the majority of New Jersey voters.
Booker’s path to victory was largely complicated by his own missteps--including odd scandals involving his Twitter messages to a vegan stripper and revelations that he’d profited off being one of the most famous young mayors in the country.
Many Democrats were frustrated that Booker did not campaign more aggressively—as he spent days at a time off the trail and largely ignored Lonegan until the final days when polls suddenly showed him within 10 points of the mayor.
On Wednesday, Politico reported Booker had spent less than $1 million on television ads—a surprisingly low number for a candidate who had outraised his Republican opponent by nearly $10 million.
Perhaps Booker was saving his cash for the longer race. His win in Wednesday’s special election allows him to serve out the rest of Lautenberg’s term—which runs until November 2014.
If Booker wants to serve a full six-year Senate term, he’ll have to file to run again—a race that officially kicks off Thursday.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/booker-new-jersey-senate-race-win-024859656.html
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Tiny sea creatures are heading for extinction, and could take local fisheries with them
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 18-Oct-2013
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Contact: Mandi O'Garretty
mandi.ogarretty@deakin.edu.au
61-352-272-776
Deakin University
A species of one of the world's tiniest creatures, ocean plankton, is heading for extinction as it struggles to adapt to changes in sea temperature. And it may take local fisheries with it.
Research led by Deakin University (Warrnambool, Australia) and Swansea University (UK) has found that a species of cold water plankton in the North Atlantic, that is a vital food source for fish such as cod and hake, is in decline as the oceans warm. This will put pressure on the fisheries that rely on abundant supplies of these fish.
"There is overwhelming evidence that the oceans are warming and it will be the response of animals and plants to this warming that will shape how the oceans look in future years and the nature of global fisheries," explained Deakin's professor of marine science, Graeme Hays.
"We know that warm water species are expanding their ranges as warming occurs, and vice versa. What is not known is whether species are able to adapt to new temperatures. Will, for example, cold water species gradually adapt so they can withstand warming seas and not continually contract their ranges. From the results of our study, it is looking like the answer is no."
Answering the question of adaptation is not easy as it requires long-term observations spanning multiple generations. For this study, the research team examined a 50-year time series from the North Atlantic on the distribution and abundance of two very common but contrasting species of ocean plankton, Calanus helgolandicus that lives in warmer water and Calanus finmarchicus that lives in cold water. These crustaceans are vital food for fish and underpin many commercial fisheries in the North Atlantic region.
The researchers were surprised to find that the cold water C. finmarchicus has continued to contract its range over 50 years of warming.
"In other words, even over 50 generations (each plankton lives for one year or less) there is no evidence of adaptation to the warmer water," Professor Hays said.
"The consequences of this study are profound. It suggests that cold water plankton will continue to become scarcer as their ranges contract to the poles, and ultimately disappear. So certainly for these animals, thermal adaptation appears unlikely to limit the impact of climate change.
"C. finmarchicus is a key food source for fish such as cod and hake. So continued declines in abundance will have a negative impact on the long-term viability of cold water fisheries in the North Sea and other areas in the southern part of their range. At the same time the continued increase in abundance of the warm water plankton, C. helgolandicus, will likely play a role in the emergence of new fisheries for warm water species."
Professor Hays said that the impact of ocean warming was not confined to the North Atlantic region.
"Ocean warming is occurring globally and so these findings are likely to apply to other areas around the world including southern hemisphere locations such as Australia, South Africa and South America that support important fisheries dependant on plankton," Professor Hays said.
"Plankton recorders deployed in the southern hemisphere, for example as part of the Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder Project (a joint project of CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research and the Australian Antarctic Division), will continue to document these changes."
###
The results of the study will be published in the journal Global Change Biology.
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 18-Oct-2013
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Contact: Mandi O'Garretty
mandi.ogarretty@deakin.edu.au
61-352-272-776
Deakin University
A species of one of the world's tiniest creatures, ocean plankton, is heading for extinction as it struggles to adapt to changes in sea temperature. And it may take local fisheries with it.
Research led by Deakin University (Warrnambool, Australia) and Swansea University (UK) has found that a species of cold water plankton in the North Atlantic, that is a vital food source for fish such as cod and hake, is in decline as the oceans warm. This will put pressure on the fisheries that rely on abundant supplies of these fish.
"There is overwhelming evidence that the oceans are warming and it will be the response of animals and plants to this warming that will shape how the oceans look in future years and the nature of global fisheries," explained Deakin's professor of marine science, Graeme Hays.
"We know that warm water species are expanding their ranges as warming occurs, and vice versa. What is not known is whether species are able to adapt to new temperatures. Will, for example, cold water species gradually adapt so they can withstand warming seas and not continually contract their ranges. From the results of our study, it is looking like the answer is no."
Answering the question of adaptation is not easy as it requires long-term observations spanning multiple generations. For this study, the research team examined a 50-year time series from the North Atlantic on the distribution and abundance of two very common but contrasting species of ocean plankton, Calanus helgolandicus that lives in warmer water and Calanus finmarchicus that lives in cold water. These crustaceans are vital food for fish and underpin many commercial fisheries in the North Atlantic region.
The researchers were surprised to find that the cold water C. finmarchicus has continued to contract its range over 50 years of warming.
"In other words, even over 50 generations (each plankton lives for one year or less) there is no evidence of adaptation to the warmer water," Professor Hays said.
"The consequences of this study are profound. It suggests that cold water plankton will continue to become scarcer as their ranges contract to the poles, and ultimately disappear. So certainly for these animals, thermal adaptation appears unlikely to limit the impact of climate change.
"C. finmarchicus is a key food source for fish such as cod and hake. So continued declines in abundance will have a negative impact on the long-term viability of cold water fisheries in the North Sea and other areas in the southern part of their range. At the same time the continued increase in abundance of the warm water plankton, C. helgolandicus, will likely play a role in the emergence of new fisheries for warm water species."
Professor Hays said that the impact of ocean warming was not confined to the North Atlantic region.
"Ocean warming is occurring globally and so these findings are likely to apply to other areas around the world including southern hemisphere locations such as Australia, South Africa and South America that support important fisheries dependant on plankton," Professor Hays said.
"Plankton recorders deployed in the southern hemisphere, for example as part of the Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder Project (a joint project of CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research and the Australian Antarctic Division), will continue to document these changes."
###
The results of the study will be published in the journal Global Change Biology.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/du-tsc101713.php
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Deadly Calif. boardwalk crash was 'horrendous accident,' not 'intentional act,' defense lawyer says
A 35-year-old man is in custody after a car drove onto the crowded Venice Beach boardwalk over the weekend, killing one woman who was on her honeymoon and injuring a dozen. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
By Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News
The man accused of plowing his car through the Venice Beach boardwalk, deliberately running people over and killing an Italian newlywed, did not mean to hurt anyone, his public defender said Tuesday, adding that the crash was a "horrendous accident."
Nathan Louis Campbell, 38, has pleaded not guilty to murder, assault with a deadly murder and 17 counts of felony hit-and-run related to the August incident.
"This had nothing to do with him committing an intentional act," public defender Philip Dube told Reuters following a Los Angeles court hearing, adding that he believed the vehicle may have had mechanical problems.
Bay County Sheriff's Office
This undated booking photo released by the Bay County Sheriff's Office showing Nathan Louis Campbell, 38, from a 2008 arrest in Panama City, Fla.
"This was a horrendous accident," Dube said. "The question is whether or not this was his fault."
Handcuffed and dressed in a yellow and blue prison uniform, Campbell sat expressionless Tuesday as his attorney asked a judge for more time to interview witnesses and allow an expert to look over a vehicle inspection report on the 2008 Dodge Avenger in question.
The judge assigned to the case, James Dabney, refused those motions, and set a preliminary hearing for mid-November.
Prosecutors allege Campbell tore through the crowded boardwalk in the his dark blue 2008 Dodge Avenger on Aug. 3, injuring 16 people and killing Alice Gruppioni, a 32-year-old Italian woman who was in California on her honeymoon.
Witnesses at the time described a chaotic, bloody scene in which people screamed and dved to get out of the Dodge's deadly path at the key Los Angeles tourist attraction.
The car knocked also over two mannequins, an ATM and at least three vendors, including a fortune teller.
Video footage showed the car slamming into a throng of people. It then appeared to back up and barrel into a nearby crowd.
Related: Honeymooner 'destroyed' after hit-and-run kills wife
Authorities said Campbell abandoned the car and turned himself at a police station in neighboring Santa Monica shortly after the rampage on Saturday. Witnesses told the Los Angeles Times that the car was speeding as fast as 60 mph as it sped down the boardwalk.
Dube, the public defender, said Tuesday that his client was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash, which occurred in an area known for its array of street vendors, souvenir stands, eateries and, of course, tourists.
He also reiterated earlier comments made in the wake of the crash that Campbell was mentally competent, adding that this was "not a mental health issue."
And Dube rebutted the notion that the Dodge Avenger had been in perfect working order Aug. 3.
"That's simply not true," he said. "Sure, at the time of testing, but there were mechanical issues with that car. There's much more to this story."
Public records show that Campbell had resided in Georgia, Florida and Colorado, and was implicated in a series of petty crimes in recent years.
NBC Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Times reported that Campbell pleaded guilty to public drunkenness in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2002, and reckless driving with alcohol in Panama City Beach, Fla., in April 2008.
The Times, citing Colorado authorities, reported that Campbell was picked up by security guards at a Virgin Megastore in February 2009 after he stuffed a pair of headphones down his pants and tried to exit. He spent five days in jail, the authorities said.
The paper also reported that Campbell was arrested in July 2009 on suspicion of trespassing at a mall after he purchased a movie ticket and refused to leave the theater. He had been warned twice not to go to the theater, Colorado prosecutors told the Times.
Sources told the Times that Campbell had a history of drug and alcohol addiction, had been sober for some time but then had relapsed.
An autopsy on Gruppioni found that she had died from blunt-force trauma to the head and neck. She was the daughter of a prominent Italian businessman who was once president of a top-tier Italian soccer club.
“There’s no words to describe our situation, our love,” her husband of two weeks, Christian Casadei, told NBC Los Angeles in a tearful interview. Casadei was also struck by the car and sustained minor injuries.
All 16 of the other crash victims were treated at local hospitals and released.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/3280ef03/sc/3/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C10A0C150C20A980A5230Edeadly0Ecalif0Eboardwalk0Ecrash0Ewas0Ehorrendous0Eaccident0Enot0Eintentional0Eact0Edefense0Elawyer0Esays0Dlite/story01.htm
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Kim Kardashian's Ass -- Caught in a Giant Coverup
Kim K.'s Ass
Caught in a Giant
Coverup
TMZ TV
Kim Kardashian's ass serves many purposes -- the latest being her butt-flashing Instagram post ... which may have been strategically deployed to distract us from her family's slew of huge problems.It's sneaky, but we're not complaining! Don't judge ... y'know you're not either.
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Thursday, October 17, 2013
Grilosodes Ep. 5: Style Sessions and Dry Slopes
Posted by: Evan Litsios / added: 10.17.2013 / Back to What Up
This episode of Grilosodes follows Marco Grilc to Nicolas Muller's Style Session in Zurich, where he sends some areals alongside Eero Ettala and a bunch of dirt bikers. After the contest he shreds Austria for a minute, but when conditions go sour he flies up to England to check out what it's like to snowboard on plastic instead of snow.
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Kendall Jenner In Nothing But a Shrub
You don’t just lurch into adult content at eighteen, you need to ease into barely legal sales. If anyone knows the fine line of teenaged girl exploitation it’s Kris Jenner. She’s taken a few pages out of the book of Brooke Shield’s mom who rocketed her daughter to stardom by finding open-minded photographers to shoot her without her clothes on during her developmental years. I wish it were ten years from now already so we could see Kendall Jenner’s prison interview on Oprah insisting she doesn’t blame her mother for her current troubles. Also, so we can share the treasure trove of nude photos we will invariably have of her without being arrested.
Photo Credit: Kendall Jenner/Instagram
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Hands-on with the Lenovo Miix2 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet
Yesterday, we welcomed into the world the Miix2, Lenovo's fresh entrant into the eight-inch Windows 8.1 tablet market. So when we spotted this newborn slate at a recent Pepcom event in San Francisco, we decided to take it for a spin. Our initial impressions veer positive. We admired the colorful ...Category: penn state football New Girl usc football Hasnat Khan pippa middleton
Everybody Hates Jenny McCarthy On The View
Jenny McCarthy has been one of the four horsewomen of the daytime TV apocalypse on The View for just a little over a month, but she’s already facing the ax, according to Radar, because people simply can’t stand listening to her talk. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, because Jenny has become one of the most annoying celebrities on the planet in recent years, from her beliefs that vaccines cause autism to just about everything else about her.
It also doesn’t help that daytime TV has become such a thankless wasteland of impatience either. Just ask Kris Jenner, who proved that you can suck and cradle Satan’s balls all you want, but if you don’t kiss the tip and deliver the ratings, you’ll be canceled faster than your teenage daughters can expose an ass cheek on Instagram.
Photo Credit: Getty
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The Fiscal Fight's Winners And Losers
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell arrives at the Capitol on Wednesday. The Kentucky Republican helped forge a late-hour deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to sidestep financial chaos.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell arrives at the Capitol on Wednesday. The Kentucky Republican helped forge a late-hour deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to sidestep financial chaos.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The White House is insisting, publicly at least, that nobody emerged victorious from the government shutdown/debt crisis debacle.
"There are no winners here," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday after Senate leaders announced they had a deal to end the budget impasse.
"And nobody's who's sent here to Washington by the American people can call themselves a winner," Carney said, "if the American people have paid a price for what's happened."
Well, yes and no.
As the curtain comes down on the latest, but certainly not the last, partisan convulsion, there's no question that the shutdown and debt crisis will affect the political calculus in Washington.
Here's our list of winners and losers. Let us know if you have suggestions of your own.
Winners
Kentucky's Senators
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the state's wily senior senator, and his junior GOP colleague, Sen. Rand Paul, both emerged from their party's awful interlude with reputations intact, if not enhanced. McConnell employed his sharp political instincts, and once again forged a late-hour deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to sidestep financial chaos. And Paul astutely tended to his 2016 presidential ambitions by largely steering clear of the doomed defund-Obamacare-or-else strategy embraced by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
GOP Sen. Ted Cruz
The Texas senator held a fake filibuster, persuaded like-minded House members to jump off the shutdown/debt crisis ledge, harvested Tea Party cash and gathered names for fundraising lists. Wednesday's Pew Research Center poll results show his popularity among Tea Party Republicans soaring — and he's solidified his role as the undisputed face of the Obamacare resistance and the voice of a motivated and aggravated slice of the party's base.
GOP Speaker John Boehner
In allowing his more conservative members to drive a losing battle, the Ohio Republican has enhanced his standing with that faction and solidified his hold on the GOP conference. Boehner on Tuesday looked every inch the blundering loser; by Wednesday, his speakership remained secure, and he was basking in the praise of some of the hardliners who have been making his life so difficult.
GOP Rep. Tom Graves
Graves, a conservative from north Georgia, emerged from national obscurity to win notice as a leader of the defund Obamacare movement in the House. He leveraged the crisis to go from "Representative Who?" status — he was first elected in a 2010 special election — to a seat at television talk show tables and a reputation as a leading Tea Party voice.
GOP Rep. Devin Nunes
The California Republican won national attention for his now-famous characterization of fellow party members willing to shut down government over Obamacare as "lemmings with suicide vests." After that memorable description, Nunes became a go-to Republican for the media because of his willingness to criticize his party's positions while remaining loyal to leadership.
Obamacare
How could we list the Affordable Care Act as a winner, when its rollout has been beset by such enormous problems? It's simple: think of all the "president's health care launch is an unmitigated fiasco" stories that weren't written, or received minor play, because the program start coincided with the government shutdown. Thus the administration has had cover while it hustles to fix the worst of the problems.
Senate Women
GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona was among those who gave props to his female colleagues for their role in leading a bipartisan group of 14 senators (it included six women) to help provide Reid and McConnell a framework for their deal to end the government shutdown. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine won particular notice. "Leadership, I must fully admit," McCain said, "was provided primarily by women in the Senate."
Wall Street, Eventually
A late Wednesday headline on CNN said it all: "Debt Ceiling Deal Sends Stocks Soaring."
Senate Chaplain Barry Black
In Senate floor prayers during the crisis, the 64-year-old former Navy chaplain drew national attention — and inspired a Saturday Night Live skit — with his ardent pleas for reason and faith. "Save us from the madness," he prayed one day, "and deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable."
Robert Costa
No one covered the crisis with more consistency and insight than the National Review's Washington editor, Robert Costa. He used his must-read Twitter feed to break news, and provided deep, dispassionate insight into Republican strategy for his conservative publication. Costa, 28, was one of five conservative journalists who Obama invited to the White House for a private briefing.
Losers
(In addition to the American people, federal and government contract employees, tourists and those with businesses reliant on the visitors to the nation's national parks.)
GOP Sen. Ted Cruz
Yes, the Texas senator was both a winner and a loser. He's been excoriated by members of his own party over his approach, and Wednesday's Pew Research Center poll results show his popularity dropping among those not aligned with the GOP Tea Party wing. While he's established himself as a Tea Party force, Cruz lost the immediate battle, and may have fatally damaged his general election brand.
GOP Speaker John Boehner
Bad boy political columnist Roger Simon in a widely read piece this weak took aim at Cruz and Boehner for allowing, if not orchestrating, the shutdown and leading the nation to the brink of financial calamity. Boehner, he wrote, "does not bend to the will of his Kamikaze Caucus because he is an evil man. He does so because he is a weak man. To borrow a line from Theodore Roosevelt, I could carve a better man out of a banana." In allowing his more conservative members to drive a losing battle, Boehner looked weak, blundering and barely in control of his conference. And in the end, he opened the door to a deal that will likely require a majority of Democrats to get passed.
House GOP Hardliners
It took the Wall Street Journal to lay it out succinctly: "They picked a goal they couldn't achieve in trying to defund ObamaCare from one House of Congress," it editorialized Wednesday, "and then they picked a means they couldn't sustain politically by pursuing a long government shutdown and threatening to blow through the debt limit."
The Tea Party Brand
Pew Research Center poll results released Wednesday showed that unfavorable views of the Tea Party have nearly doubled since 2010. Negative opinions have accelerated in recent months, particularly among moderate and liberal Republicans, and now nearly half of the American public has an unfavorable view of the Tea Party.
Immigration Overhaul
Remember that? President Obama says he does, and this week told Univision's Los Angeles affiliate that he's going to push for House Speaker John Boehner to take up the Senate-approved immigration overhaul bill. But here's how one conservative House Republican framed the upcoming debate on Wednesday: "If the president is going to show the same kind of good faith efforts that he has shown in the last couple of weeks, I think it would be crazy for the House Republican leadership to enter into negotiations with him on immigration," said Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho. "He has tried to destroy the Republican Party and I think that anything that we do right now with this president on immigration will be with that same goal in mind, which is to destroy the Republican Party and not to get good policies."
Ken Cuccinelli
Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, was in a pretty close race with Democrat Terry McAuliffe before the Oct. 1 shutdown and impending debt crisis. But polls show that support for the social conservative has eroded in the past two weeks, driven in part by antipathy of many of the huge swath of federal workers living in the purple state Obama won twice.
Vice President Joe Biden
The garrulous vice president was a key player in brokering a bipartisan deal to avoid the nation's last almost-default two years ago. This time, he's been nowhere to be seen - except during a shopping trip Tuesday to the local Brooks Brothers. The White House insists he in the loop, and attended meetings with members of Congress. But it's been reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats weren't so crazy about former Sen. Biden's last deal, and preferred to go it alone.
Michelle Obama's Garden
The nation's most famous vegetable plot has gone to seed, literally, during the shutdown. With no groundskeepers or gardeners working to keep up the garden and White House grounds, vegetables on the 1,500-square-foot plot are rotting, weeds are taking over, and critters are having a ball, reports the blog Obama Foodorama.
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