Amanda Knox Acquitted
The 24-year-old Seattle native sobbed as the verdict was being read out and had to be escorted out of the courtroom in Perugia in central Italy. She is expected to be released imminently and to fly back to the United States.
Showing posts with label headlines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label headlines. Show all posts
Amanda Knox Acquitted
The 24-year-old Seattle native sobbed as the verdict was being read out and had to be escorted out of the courtroom in Perugia in central Italy. She is expected to be released imminently and to fly back to the United States.
Egypt Votes Freely for First Time in Half-Century
Egypt Votes Freely for First Time in Half-Century
Young people traded mobile-phone pictures of ink-stained fingers that showed they voted.
Others called relatives to boast of casting the first vote of their lives. In the well-off Cairo neighborhood of Maadi, a man hoisted his elderly, infirm father on his shoulder and carried him to a polling station.
"My vote today will make a difference. It's as simple as that," said first-time voter Hossam Bishay, 48.
Tiger Woods dating again
Tiger Woods dating again
The big least Top conference fails
The big least Top conference fails
The Big East is going down. Hard.
Everyone was talking about the league all season long and its power in numbers, but now the conference has just two teams left standing following Notre Dame’s loss to Florida State on Sunday night.
And even that number is a bit deceiving — both UConn and Marquette, the two Big East teams still playing, defeated other Big East teams in the third round over the weekend (Connecticut defeated Cincinnati on Saturday night and Marquette knocked off Syracuse on Sunday). So before the third round began, the worst the Big East could do was send two to the Sweet 16. Indeed, it did its worst.
There were a record 11 teams from the conference in the tournament, but nine have been knocked out in the first week of play. On the flip side, for all the criticism that the ACC took this season, no conference has more teams left standing: Duke, North Carolina and the Seminoles all moved on.
Steve Sabol diagnosed with a brain tumor
Steve Sabol diagnosed with a brain tumor
Steve Sabol, president of Mount Laurel-based NFL Films, will undergo radiation and chemotherapy treatment after doctors discovered a tumor on the left side of his brain.
NFL.com cited an NFL Films statement Friday about the 68-year-old Sabol, a Moorestown resident who was hospitalized March 5 in Kansas City, Mo., after suffering a seizure.
"[Sabol] will begin treatments soon," the company's statement said. "Steve is in good spirits and is deeply appreciative of everyone's good wishes."
Sabol has worked with NFL Films since 1964, when it was based in Center City. His father, Ed, was elected on the day before the Super Bowl last month to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Source: Philly
Woman Grandson Found Under Rubble in Japan
Woman Grandson Found Under Rubble in Japan
Jin Abe, 16, was seen calling out for help from the roof of the collapsed home in the hard-hit city of Ishinomaki, according to the Miyagi Prefectural Police. Like other homes in northeastern Japan, they had lost electricity and telephone service in the March 11 earthquake.
He led them inside to his 80-year-old grandmother, Sumi Abe. Both were conscious but weak, and had survived on the food they had in their refrigerator, said Shizuo Kawamura of the Ishinomaki police department.
The woman could not get out of the house because she has trouble walking, and the teenager, who was suffering from a low body temperature, had been unable until Sunday to pull himself from the wreckage, Kawamura told The Associated Press by telephone.
They were found by local police who realized they couldn't get the woman out of the collapsed house and had to call other rescuers, he said.
National broadcaster NHK showed video of the stunned but coherent woman being placed on a stretcher. She was able to give her name and told rescuers she had been in the house since it collapsed in the quake.
The police said they were trying to learn if there had been other relatives living in the house and their whereabouts.
NHK showed them being taken by helicopter to a hospital.
Kawamura said that while the rescue was a reason for joy, the police had "too many other victims to find to take the time to celebrate."
The rare good news punctuated the traumatic hunt for bodies and missing people.
"This morning my next door neighbor came crying to me that she still can't find her husband. All I could tell her was, 'We'll do our best, so just hold on a little longer,'" fire brigade officer Takao Sato in the disaster zone said.
About 257,000 households in the north still have no electricity and at least 1 million lack running water. Food, water, medicine and fuel are short in some parts, and low temperatures during Japan's winter are not helping.
Race to avert disaster
Meanwhile, Japan made some progress in its race to avert disaster at a nuclear power plant leaking radiation after an earthquake and tsunami that are estimated to have killed more than 15,000 people in one prefecture alone.
Three hundred engineers have been battling inside the danger zone to salvage the six-reactor Fukushima plant in the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl 25 years ago.
"I think the situation is improving step by step," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama told a news conference.
But rising cases of contaminated vegetables, dust and water have raised new fears and the government said it will decide by Monday on whether to restrict consumption and shipments of food from the quake zone.
Food beyond Japan's borders was also reportedly tainted. Radiation was detected on fava beans imported from Japan to Taiwan, Taiwanese officials said in what appears to be the first case of contamination in Japanese imports.
Taiwan's Cabinet-level Atomic Energy Council Radiation Monitoring Center said in a statement that a small amount of iodine and cesium had been found on a batch of Japanese fava beans imported to the island on Friday. The center said 11 becquerels of iodine and 1 becquerel of cesium were detected.
Higher death toll
Police said they believed more than 15,000 people had been killed by the double disaster in Miyagi prefecture, one of four that took the brunt of the tsunami damage. In total, more than 20,000 are dead or missing, police said.
The unprecedented crisis will cost the world's third largest economy as much as $248 billion and require Japan's biggest reconstruction push since post-World War Two.
It has also set back nuclear power plans the world over.
Encouragingly for Japanese transfixed on work at the Fukushima complex, the most critical reactor — No. 3, which contains highly toxic plutonium — stabilized after fire trucks doused it for hours with hundreds of tones of water.
"We believe the water is having a cooling effect," an official of plant operator Tokyo ElectricPower Co (TEPCO) said.
Work also advanced on bringing power back to water pumps used to cool overheating nuclear fuel, and temperatures at spent fuel pools in reactors No. 5 and 6 were returning to normal.
Technicians attached a power cable to Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 6 reactors, hoping to restore electricity later in the day prior to an attempt to switch the pumps on.
They aim to reach No. 4 on Monday or Tuesday.
Drastic measures
If successful, that could be a turning point in a crisis rated as bad as America's 1979 Three Mile Island accident.
If not, drastic measures may be required such as burying the plant in sand and concrete, as happened at Chernobyl in 1986, though experts warn that could take many months and the fuel had to be cooled first.
On the negative side, evidence has begun emerging of radiation leaks from the plant, including into food and water.
Though public fear of radiation runs deep, and anxiety has spread as far as the Pacific-facing side of the United States, Japanese officials say levels so far are not alarming.
Traces exceeding national safety standards were, though, found in milk from a farm about 18 miles from the plant and spinach grown in neighboring Ibaraki prefecture.
The government ordered additional tests and depending on the results may ban sales and shipments of food products from areas in the vicinity of the plant.
The discovery of contaminated food since the March 11 disaster is likely to heighten scrutiny of Japanese food exports, especially in Asia, their biggest market.
Tiny levels of radioactive iodine have also been found in tap water in Tokyo, about 150 milesto south. Many tourists and expatriates have already left and residents are generally staying indoors.
Harmless levels of iodine and cesium were also found in northern Ibaraki and in dust and particles in the greater Tokyo area, the government said on Sunday.
The fresh reports did not appear to have much effect on people in the metropolis, one of the world's biggest cities with a population of about 13 million.
"I think we need to monitor it, but I am not going to stop eating vegetables today," said Andy Ross, an American buying vegetables at a store in Tokyo.
But Physicians for Social Responsibility, a U.S. non-profit advocacy group, called for a halt to new nuclear reactors in the United States.
"There is no safe level of radiation exposure," said Jeff Patterson, a former president of the group.
Source: Msnbc
Helen Thomas is Playboy's April Interview
Helen Thomas is Playboy's April Interview
The 90-year-old veteran reporter sat down with Playboy Contributing Editor David Hochman for her first in-depth interview following her contentious remarks. Not only did she share her thoughts on Israel and Palestine, she also discussed her sentiments towards Jews, her supposed retirement, President Obama, Congress's anti-Arab agenda and her obituary. Following are selected quotes from the interview:
On the aftermath of her May 27 remarks about Israel: "I went into self-imposed house arrest for two weeks…Every columnist and commentator jumped on me immediately as anti-Semitic. Nobody asked me to explain myself. Nobody said, 'What did you really mean?'"
On the situation in Palestine: "Everybody knows my feelings that the Palestinians have been shortchanged in every way. Sure, the Israelis have a right to exist – but where they were born, not to come and take someone else's home. I've had it up to here with the violations against the Palestinians…[The Palestinians] are incarcerated and living in an open prison. I say to the Israelis, 'Get out of people's homes!' It's unacceptable to have soldiers knocking on a door at three in the morning and saying, 'This is my home.' And forcing people out of homes they've lived in for centuries? What is this? How can anybody accept it? I mean, Jewish-only roads? [She later corrected herself to say Israeli-only roads.] Would anyone tolerate something like that in America? White-only roads?"
On Palestinian violence against the Israelis: "Of course I don't condone any violence against anyone. But who wouldn't fight for their country? What would any American do if their land was being taken? Remember Pearl Harbor. The Palestinian violence is to protect what little remains of Palestine. The suicide bombers act out of despair and desperation. Three generations of Palestinians have been forced out of their homes – by Israelis – and into refugee camps."
On American support of Israel: "We keep giving Israel everything. Our government bribes the Israelis by saying, 'Please come to the [negotiating] table and we'll give you this and we'll give you that'…Why do you have to bribe people to do the right thing? I don't want my government bribing anybody. I want them demanding. Stop all this aid to Israel when they're killing people!...Why do they send my American tax dollars to perpetuate it?"
On Jews: "I think they're wonderful people. They had to have the most depth. They were leaders in civil rights. They've always had the heart for others but not for Arabs, for some reason. I'm not anti-Jewish; I'm anti-Zionist."
On Jewish persecution and victimization: "The slaughter of Jews stopped with World War II…They were liberated since then. And yet they carry on the victimization. American people do not know that the Israeli lobbyists have intimidated them into believing every Jew is a persecuted victim forever – while they are victimizing Palestinians…Why do they inflict the same pain on people who did nothing to them?"
On memorializing the Holocaust: "There's nothing wrong with remembering it, but why do we have to constantly remember? We're not at fault. I mean, if they're going to put a Holocaust museum in every city in Germany, that's fine with me. But we didn't do this to the Jews. Why do we have to keep paying the price and why do they keep oppressing the Palestinians? Do the Jews ever look at themselves? Why are they always right? Because they have been oppressed throughout history, I know. And they have this persecution. That's true, but they shouldn't use that to dominate."
On the Jews' influence and power: "[The Jews are] using their power, and they have power in every direction…Power over the White House, power over Congress…Everybody is in the pocket of the Israeli lobbies, which are funded by wealthy supporters, including those from Hollywood. Same thing with the financial markets. There's total control…It isn't the two percent. It's real power when you own the White House, when you own these other places in terms of your political persuasion. Of course they have power. [To the interviewer] You don't deny that. You're Jewish, aren't you?"
On Congress's anti-Arab sentiments: "I want you to look at the Congress that just came in. Do you think [New York Democratic senator Charles] Schumer and Lehtinen – whatever her name is – in Florida [Republican representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a strong supporter of Israel] are going to be pro-Arab? No. But they're going to be very influential. Eric Cantor, the majority leader of the Republicans, do you think he's going to be for the Arabs? Hell no! I'm telling you, you cannot get 330 votes in Congress for anything that's pro-Arab. Nothing."
On the uprisings and demonstrations sweeping through the Arab world: "I love the new revolutionary spirit in the Middle East and North Africa. The power of the people is removing ruthless dictators in Tunisia and Egypt – and that's only the beginning. There is no stopping this free new movement. The Arab world is waking up to the possibilities of democratic life and freedom for its people, and I am happy to see this happening in my lifetime."
On what her obituary will say: "[Eyes suddenly fill with tears] Oh, I know what they're going to say: 'anti-Semite'…They don't give a damn about the truth. They have to have it their way, and they'll be writing my obituary…I don't care what they write about me…Because of what happened recently, people are going to remember me a certain way. The truth is, I don't hate anybody. I care deeply about people. I care for the poor, the sick, the lame, the harmed, those who've been treated unjustly."
On whether or not she has lost her mind: "I resent that question! I thoroughly resent it. Why are you interviewing me if I'm crazy? It wouldn't be worth it to you, would it?...You should apologize."
On her supposed retirement: "I'm not retired! I was fired. In fact, I'll die with my boots on. I'm still writing and I'll continue to write and ask hard questions. I will never bow out of journalism."
On why she became a journalist: "I got into it because I am very nosy, very curious, and because I thought it was a great profession. It's an education every day to be in journalism, and it's given me a great life."
On the changing nature of journalism: "Everyone with a laptop thinks they're a journalist and everyone with a camera thinks they're a news photographer. Where are the standards? How can we get back to the ethics and standards of journalism? There's no editing, no oversight. It's just thrown to the wind. I'm afraid of what's happening."
On WikiLeaks: "I think it's great. It's important to reveal what's going on behind the scenes. We wouldn't have known half this stuff without this information, and it's going to change everything as far as diplomacy."
On Obama's conservatism: "People are unhappy. The trouble is, swinging to the right is always dangerous. We end up losing so much in the rush to conservatism. But even Obama has fallen down that hole. He's pushing a conservative agenda…Look at Guantanamo. With a stroke of a pen, the day after Obama took the oath he should have said, 'We're getting the hell out of here.' Same thing with Iraq and Afghanistan. There's no reason for us to be in war…I thought Obama would be for peace, but he's not."
On her belief that Hillary Clinton and President Obama would be liberal: "I thought, naively perhaps, that [Hillary Clinton] and Obama would bring change, that they would be different. I assumed wrongly that they would be liberal because he's black and she's a woman. It's maddening."
On George W. Bush's handling of the war in Iraq: "George Sr. had been head of the CIA and chairman of the Republican National Committee. He knew politics and he knew foreign policy, but he didn't give any of that to his son. Dubya was a hip-shooter. If you look at the Downing Street Memo from 2002, you see the chief of British intelligence had come here just before George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq. It concludes that the president simply was determined to go to war and that he wanted to fix the facts to do it. But there were no facts. We just went to war for no reason."
On the hanging of Saddam Hussein: "I think it was wrong to hang Saddam Hussein. He should have been put before an international court for war crimes and everything else. But for us to just bypass the law and have him hanged was wrong. Not that the press called the president on it. The press rallied around the flag on that one."
On Dick Cheney: "Now, there was a vice president. [laughs] The idea that he could have been president. I think Cheney is diabolical."
On George Stephanopoulos: "He started closing the door to the press secretary's office his first week on the job. 'Journalists keep out!'…He didn't treat [journalists] civilly. But then immediately after he's out of the White House, he wants to go into our profession. It's like he couldn't stand being out of the limelight. I mean, why should George Stephanopoulos have been a great journalist? Well, he's not, in my book."
Source: Pr-usa
Jaime Pressly Worried About Image
Jaime Pressly Worried About Image
Pressly’s attorney, Rich Hutton, told PEOPLE Magazine that the starlet believes the arrest was “unjustified,” and fears that the charge will have a negative affect on her image, as it “does not represent who she is.” Hutton has said that Pressly remains in good spirits despite the charges and her pending divorce.
She is scheduled to appear in court in early May.
Source: Dbtechno
Charlie Sheen may bank $7M from live tour
Charlie Sheen may bank $7M from live tour
The troubled actor - who recently announced plans to expand his "Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not An Option" tour to 21 dates around the U.S. - will reportedly cash in on the tell-all live shows.
According to gossip website TMZ, the former "Two and a Half Men" star - who is currently residing alongside his two live-in "goddesses," porn star Bree Olsen and part-time model Natalie Kenly - will pocket millions from the tour, as well as paid after-party appearances and merchandising revenue.
Charlie's show will mostly be performed from memory in a style akin to "Muhammed Ali in his prime," with his "goddesses" also potentially set to make an appearance.
Joey Scott, the 45-year-old actor's co-producer, told E! Online: "It will be like Muhammed Ali in his prime. He will do most of it from memory, he's that talented."
The star - who recently filed a $100 million lawsuit against "Two and Half Men" co-creator Chuck Lorre and Warner Brothers Television claiming he was unfairly sacked from the sitcom following his public meltdown - recently admitted he was losing his mind.
This came after Charlie's estranged wife Brooke Mueller was given custody of the former couple's two-year-old twins Bob and Max.
He said: "I'm really starting to lose my mind. Brooke can't keep them from me. I won't let her - I'll do anything to get them back.
"I'm really trying to contain myself right now. My lawyer wants to come over to my house and take the bullets out of my gun."
Source: Azcentral
Joe Jonas gushes about Ashley Greene just before break-up
Joe Jonas gushes about Ashley Greene just before break-up
Jonas, who also denied rumours he is gay, told Details magazine that his relationship with Greene 'feels good' - although by the time the mag hit the shelves the couple had confirmed their split.
'I think what works about it is she really puts my feelings first. She understands my busy schedule,' he told Details. 'She'll fly out to my shows — she's been to places in South America that I can't even pronounce.'
He even revealed he has a great relationship with Greene's father: 'Her dad can drink me to shame. He's awesome.'
Jonas raised the gay rumours himself, by joking when asked who would break up with him that it would be 'some guy'.
However, he stressed: “There's nothing wrong with being gay. But I'm not.”
Source: Monstersandcritics
Coulters Radiation Comments
Coulters Radiation Comments
Political pundit Ann Coulter claimed radiation is "good for you". Coulter is not the first to cause a stir since the tragedy in Japan. A Fox host said the earthquake may be "a message from God" and this comedian was fired for his jokes about the disaster.
Source: Specials
U.S. Radiation Risk
U.S. Radiation Risk
Radiation threats to the US
Radiation threats to the US
With reports that a radiation plume from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant could reach Southern California, worried citizens have been hoarding certain pills , wondering if it's OK to go outside and otherwise fretting over an invisible, and somewhat unpredictable, threat.
Possible levels of radiation
Possible levels of radiation
Q: How much radiation do scientists think will arrive here?
Answer
Details: No one knows yet -- but probably not a whole lot. It's unclear what's happening at the Japanese power plant -- and whatever radiation escapes has to travel thousands of miles to reach U.S. shores. Over that distance, it will be greatly diluted, if it gets here at all.
In fact, the winds have been shifting, often pointing back westward to Japan rather than to the U.S., California officials said in a news conference Thursday. "We are not in Japan," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of public health for Los Angeles County. "We are not within 10 miles of the reactor."
How much risk?
How much risk?
Q: How much risk will any radiation that does reach here pose?
Answer
Details: Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an independent agency that regulates U.S. commercial nuclear power plants, said the basic science involved suggested that "there can't be any risk or harm to anyone here in the United States, or Hawaii, or any of the other (U.S.) territories."
Dr. Kei Iwamoto, of the faculty of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Oncology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said he believed the amount of radiation from Japan that a person in California might be exposed to will be very low -- perhaps around one microsievert.
Chernobyl & radiation
Chernobyl & radiation
Q: Did radiation reach here from Chernobyl?
Answer
Details: "The radiation from the accident was negligible from a health standpoint. I know of no evidence that that accident caused any increase in cancer in this country," Iwamoto said.
Children & radiation
Children & radiation
Q: What about kids? Are they more sensitive to radiation?
Answer
Details: "Kids are more vulnerable to radiation for a couple of reasons," said Dr. William Hendee, a radiation physicist with the Medical College of Wisconsin. "Their organs and tissues are growing and developing. Growing and developing cells are more susceptible to radiation. Kids also have a longer life span."
Q: So should they be kept away from school?
Answer: No. Radiation levels are not likely to get very high. There is no reason to keep children out of school.
Iodine tablets vs. iodized salt
Iodine tablets vs. iodized salt
Q: Should people take iodine tablets or eat iodized salt? It can't hurt, can it?
Answer
Details: The tablets can be risky for some people -- especially pregnant women. There is no reason to take iodine tablets at this point, said California officials.
Do masks help?
Do masks help?
Q: Would wearing a mask help?
Answer
Details: "Masks would reduce a bit of the inhalation, but the amount of radioactive fallout is going to be so tiny," Hendee said. "For someone who is concerned or worried, if they felt better wearing a mask, they should wear a mask. I don't think it will reduce their risk, because the risk is already so low."
Authorities' contingency plans
Authorities' contingency plans
Q: What contingency plans do local and national health authorities have?
Answer
Details: Although national health authorities defer to state governments, they will issue recommendations based on the severity of radiation levels, said Robert Taylor, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Possible recommendations include evacuating areas within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant; warning people to take shelter and close all doors and windows; and advising residents to consume potassium iodide tablets. "There's no need for U.S. citizens to take any protective measures at this time," he added.
Safety & radiation
Safety & radiation
Q: What can people do to be safer?
Answer
Details: Until more is known about the threat that radiation from the nuclear plant might pose in California and beyond, your best bet is to get yourself prepared -- for any expected emergency. Assemble your earthquake kit. Install gas shut-off valves, if your house doesn't already have them. "Rather than going out and buying potassium iodide, I would encourage everyone to go out and buy three to five days of food and water, so that when we have our earthquake, you can be self-sufficient," said Howard Backer, interim director of the California Department of Public Health.
Most of all, address the health threats that you can control. According to the federal government, almost 1.5 million Americans die each year of heart disease or tobacco-related diseases. The best bang for your buck might be throwing away cigarettes, exercising and improving your diet.
Source: Specials
Charlie Sheen's ex Brooke Mueller leaves sober house
Charlie Sheen's ex Brooke Mueller leaves sober house
Charlie Sheen's ex-wife Brooke Mueller took some time out from her sober living facility to attend Kathy Hilton's birthday lunch today.
The 32-year-old was accompanied by her adventurous twin sons Bob and Max, two, who wore matching Burberry shorts and brown chinos.
The family are close friends of the Hiltons, with Brooke starring in a new reality show with Kathy's daughter Paris.
Paris, wearing a short blue skirt and black top, posed with Brooke outside the restaurant.
Brooke is currently undergoing voluntary treatement at a sober living facility, but is not an inpatient.
Earlier this week it was her boys' turn to celebrate as they turned two.
One person not invited, however, was their father Charlie Sheen.
After a fraught two weeks, in which police removed the twins from Sheen's home, Brooke and Sheen, 45, have now agreed a custody deal.
'For the benefit of the children, the terms of their agreement will not be disclosed. They ask the public for privacy on this matter.'
While the details of the deal are private, it is thought Mueller will have physical custody of the children, as initially agreed following her separation from Sheen last year.
As part of the new agreement both she and Sheen will undergo regular drug testing.
Source: Dailymail
This mother thought her son had a fighting chance
This mother thought her son had a fighting chance
Holding her newborn son Tom for the first time, Tracy Godwin marvelled at his eyelashes, and counted every precious finger and toe.
After the drama of his arrival at just 22 weeks, she knew she had a little fighter in her arms.
But at a mere one pound, and battling to breathe, he would need all the help he could get. That help never came.
Forty-six minutes later, and despite her desperate pleas to midwives for assistance, Miss Godwin’s son died as she held him.
She has since been told that the hospital has a policy not to resuscitate babies born earlier than 24 weeks into pregnancy.
Yesterday Miss Godwin, who visits her little boy’s grave every day, told how she is haunted by fears she and her partner didn’t do enough to help their baby when the medics around her refused.
‘They put him in my arms and he cried and was wriggling around. I could feel him breathing and see his eyelashes and fingers and toes,’ she said.
‘But I kept thinking, “Where’s the incubator?” We were begging the midwives to do something to help him but no one was saying anything. He was not stillborn, he was trying to live.
‘If they had tried for an hour and said they couldn’t do anything more for him or he was severely brain damaged, that would have been different, but he wasn’t given a chance.’
All went well until March 4 when she developed stomach pain and went to Southend Hospital in Essex. There, she was distraught to be told she was already in labour.
Put into a private room, she spent the next day in bed and was told by a doctor it might be possible to use a cervical stitch to prolong the pregnancy.
‘Because of the drug I wasn’t myself and I keep thinking if I hadn’t taken it and withstood the pain, maybe I would have had more fight in me to demand a doctor,’ she said.
‘We never saw one. It was a disgrace. I just kept crying and crying.
‘My partner was shouting at the midwives to help us but they just left us with Tom. We felt so alone, no one was helping us. I don’t know when, but I was suddenly aware Tom had gone.’
His tiny body was blessed by a priest and the couple went home later that day.
It was only four weeks later when they called a meeting with a consultant that Miss Godwin was given the news that resuscitating her baby was against hospital policy.
‘I just couldn’t believe it,’ she said. ‘I had all these questions about what had happened and why, and was just told: “I don’t know, it’s our policy.”
‘When you are pregnant you do not check what your hospital’s policy is on premature babies. To think he could have had a chance if he was born in a different hospital is just heartbreaking. You just assume the doctors will do everything they can to help you live.’
Miss Godwin said the tragedy led to the couple breaking up some months afterwards.
‘The grief tore us apart,’ she said. ‘We blamed each other for not doing more to put pressure on them to help him. I’m still grieving so much, I visit Tom’s grave every day.’
Miss Godwin, who lives in Southend-on-Sea, is still waiting for an inquest, which can take place only when the hospital submits a report on the incident.
Earlier this month, leading NHS official Dr Daphne Austin said resuscitating babies born under 23 weeks would ‘do more harm than good’ and that the £10million annual cost yielded ‘very marginal benefit’.
Miss Godwin said: ‘We spend a fortune on things like drug addiction. You can’t say £10million is too much when a baby’s life could be saved.’
Sarah Ballard-Smith, director of nursing at Southend Hospital, said: ‘I am very sorry and sad to hear of Miss Godwin’s experience. It is essential to inform the prospective parents regarding the expectation for infant survival. I can only apologise if this was not the case with Miss Godwin.’
Source: Dailymail
Kim Kardashian Has Jiggly Thighs and Cellulite She Admits
Kim Kardashian Has Jiggly Thighs and Cellulite She Admits
Reality star Kim Kardashian has admitted that she still has jiggly thighs and cellulite - despite an intensive exercise regime.
In a new interview, the reality star reveals she usually manages to exercise seven days a week - but says she still has hang-ups about her enviable figure.
And Kim, who was pictured dining out in West Hollywood last night with RnB star Ciara, admits that her weakness is her love of food.
'Of course I struggle with insecure moments,' she tells U.S. fitness magazine, Self. 'I wish I didn't. But I love to eat! Especially sweets.'
'And I'll say it. I think my thighs are jiggly and I have cellulite. Now let's move on!
'Because when I put the time in at the gym, I'm confident. You have to feel good to look good.'
'On days when I need extra motivation, I just think: 'Bikini, bikini, bikini!'' she says.
Whether or not she's motivated Kardashian says she makes it to the gym seven days a week when she is in Los Angeles.
Last year she admitted that she put on weight while she was filming in New York. But she says that her life is different when she is on the West Coast.
She says: 'When I'm in LA I exercise every day, I'm in the best shape of my life.
'Of course, I'm a perfectionist, so there's always room for improvement.
'I lift weights with my trainer, Gunnar Peterson, in the morning three days a week.
'After working out, I see a difference in my butt and thighs and my clothes fit a little differently, too.
'I'm also really proud of how toned my arms are.'
These days Kardashian says she celebrates her best assets.
She tells Self readers: 'Find the one part of your body that you love and accentuate it. 'For example, because I have a small waist, a big butt and thin legs, belts work for me.
'You have to know what looks best on your body.
'Growing up I saw only skinny models and didn't relate. Salma Hayek and Jennifer Lopez prove you can be curvy and proud!'
'Rumours don't bother me anymore,' the Kourtney and Kim Take New York star says.
'I've read that I've had my lips done.
'I've always had big lips. Look at my baby pictures. It's ridiculous.
'Or they'll show one picture of me today and one tomorrow and say I've had my nose done in between.
'When? Didn't you see me yesterday?
'And how many times have I 'had my butt done'? People's logic is so weird.
'I don't know why they bother! You can't worry about all the gossip.'
Source: Dailymail
Messenger spacecraft poised for insertion into Mercury orbit
Messenger spacecraft poised for insertion into Mercury orbit
Reporting from Baltimore
Fifteen years of planning and 6 1/2 years of maneuvering in space will all come down to one moment Thursday as mission managers try to slip NASA's Messenger spacecraft into orbit around Mercury.
The braking operation, playing out 96 million miles from Earth, will have to slow the desk-size planetary probe by 1,929 mph and ease it into a polar orbit around the planet closest to the sun.
Failure will leave Messenger's managers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab with a fuel tank less than 10% full and limited options for recovery. And that would put the primary goal of the $446-million mission at risk.
But success will open the door to at least a year of scientific discovery, yielding close-up, high-definition images, maps and data from a planet that until now has been observed only from Earth or during high-speed flybys. The earlier visits were made by Mariner 10 in 1974 and 1975 and by Messenger in 2008 and 2009.
"The flybys have been wonderful, but they're really dress rehearsals to what this mission was designed to do," said Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, the mission's principal investigator.
"Mercury has been comparatively unexplored considering its proximity in our solar system," he said. "It's also a special place by virtue of being the planet closest to the sun."
Orbital insertion begins at 2 p.m. Pacific time Thursday, when NASA will turn its Deep Space Network radio antennas on Messenger to help track the spacecraft and monitor its progress.
At 5:42 p.m., the craft will be turned to firing position, and 30 minutes later its largest rocket engine will begin a 15-minute burn — twice as long as any since Messenger's launch.
If all goes well, Messenger will move into a lopsided elliptical orbit that will take it as close as 120 miles from Mercury's surface and as far away as 9,300 miles.
Engineers and scientists at APL's mission control center in Laurel, Md., will receive tracking data in real time, and hope to hear from Messenger by 6:30 p.m.
The first images from the spacecraft are not expected for another two weeks, after engineers have checked out and turned on all seven of Messenger's cameras and other instruments.
Since Messenger was launched in 2004, it has flown a dozen orbits around the sun, gradually tightening its path, resulting in a flyby of Earth once and of Venus twice en route to Mercury.
Once in Mercury's orbit, Messenger will take high-resolution images of the planet's surface in visible, ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths. It will conduct detailed laser ranging studies, study Mercury's gravitational field, magnetic field and the charged-particle space environment the planet is moving through.
Source: Latimes
Wi-Fi-only Motorola Xoom tablet to reach stores March 27, cost $599
Wi-Fi-only Motorola Xoom tablet to reach stores March 27, cost $599
Motorola announced the Xoom Wi-Fi on Wednesday morning and said the iPad competitor would be sold at Amazon.com, Best Buy, Costco, RadioShack, Sam's Club, Staples and Wal-Mart stores.
The Xoom was first released on Feb. 24 in a Wi-Fi and 3G version through Best Buy and Verizon stores, selling for either $799.99 for the device free of contract, or for $599.99 with a two-year data plan.
The Wi-Fi-only model of the Xoom will sell for $599.99.
Both the Wi-Fi and 3G model and the Wi-Fi-only unit feature 32 GB of memory, a 10.1-inch touch screen, a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and run on Google's Android Honeycomb operating system. Honeycomb is the first version of Android designed for tablet use.
As of now, Motorola has announced no other memory options or price changes for the Xoom Wi-Fi or the Xoom with Wi-Fi and 3G.
The Xoom is considered by many to be Android's best shot at competing with the Apple iPad, which sold more than 15 million units last year and resulted in a sellout this weekend at many retailers with the release of the iPad 2.
The iPad lineup starts at $499 for a Wi-Fi-only, 16 GB model. A Wi-Fi-only 32 GB iPad sells for 599.99 -- the same price as the Xoom Wi-Fi.
So far, the Xoom is the only tablet running Honeycomb, though many manufacturers such as Samsung, LG and HTC are promising to release tablets in the coming months that will also run the tablet-tailored version of Android.
Source: Latimesblogs
Bachelorette Chosen
Bachelorette Chosen
Cough.
I realize we had a few lucky spins with Trista and Ryan and…..and…..OK, that’s all I got.
I find reality TV dating amount the most desperate and pathetic shows on television. If I am going to watch a group of men throw themselves at women or vice versa, I would rather Rock of Love or Flavor of Love come back. Those shows were based on the premise of pure cheesiness and ratings and didn’t try to hide behind 6-8 weeks of actually falling in love.
Ashley was one of the final 3 ….finalists….on The Bachelor. If you care, the show starts on May 23rd.
Source: Momdot
Vanessa Hudgens Photo Scandal
Vanessa Hudgens Photo Scandal
"This was a photo which was taken privately. It is a personal matter and it is unfortunate that this has become public," her rep told TMZ.
Vanessa has been dating her costar Zac Efron, but skeptics have said that the romance is nothing more than a publicity stunt. I wonder if it was Zac who took the photos in the first place. Maybe this starlet should check with Nick and Vanessa for some advice. They've been down that road and back.
Source: Gossip
Eva Longoria Talks Divorce
Eva Longoria Talks Divorce
The "Desperate Housewives" star says talking about the breakup from the San Antonio Spurs player makes her "want to cry" but she's trying to make the transition "as gracefully as possible" and "without any drama."
Longoria turned 36 on Tuesday. She filed for divorce from Parker last November, citing irreconcilable differences. The two were married in July 2007.
She's now having to "find new patterns" in life because she's used to spending her free time watching Parker play.
Longoria also credits the women in her life with getting her through difficult times. She says she "collects people" in her life, particularly "amazing, smart, interesting women."
The April issue of Allure magazine goes on sale nationwide March 22.
Source: Ktar
