April, 2011 | PhatzNewsRoom.com News Room and Blog

Libyan leader’s son Saif al-Arab killed in NATO strike

April 30, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

416840e9003953d6acbd390ee835e643 Libyan leaders son Saif al Arab killed in NATO strike

(Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi survived a NATO airstrike on Saturday night that killed his youngest son Saif al-Arab and three of his grandchildren, a Libyan government spokesman said.

Mussa Ibrahim said Saif al-Arab was a civilian and a student who had studied in Germany. He was 29 years old.

Libyan officials took journalists to the house, which had been hit by at least three missiles. The roof had completely caved in in some areas, leaving strings of reinforcing steel hanging down among chunks of concrete.

A table football machine stood outside in the garden of the house, which was in a wealthy residential area of Tripoli.

(Reporting by Lin Noueihed; Editing by Matthew Jones)

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Syrian forces kill 62, U.S. tightens sanctions

April 30, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

90509075b92267df87245d6d44241d21 Syrian forces kill 62, U.S. tightens sanctions

(Reuters) – The United States imposed new sanctions on key Syrian government figures after security forces killed more than 60 people across Syria during demonstrations demanding the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.

A medical source told Reuters that soldiers in Deraa killed 19 people on Friday when they fired on thousands of protesters descending from nearby villages in a show of solidarity with the southern city where Syria’s uprising broke out six weeks ago.

Syrian human rights group Sawasiah said it had the names of a total of 62 people killed during protests in Deraa, Rustun, Latakia, Homs and the town of Qadam, near Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a similar death toll.

Friday’s bloodshed came after demonstrators across the country again defied heavy military deployments, mass arrests and a ruthless crackdown on the biggest popular challenge to 48 years of authoritarian Baath Party rule.

President Barack Obama imposed new sanctions against Syrian figures, including a brother of Assad in charge of troops in Deraa, the first reprisal for Syria’s violent crackdown.

Obama signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the intelligence agency, Assad’s cousin Atif Najib and his brother Maher, who commands the army division which stormed into Deraa on Monday. Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard was also targeted, accused of helping the Syrian crackdown.

“The sanctions that were announced today are intended to show the Syrian government that its behavior and actions are going to be held to account,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters.

Shortly after Obama’s move, European Union diplomats said they had reached preliminary agreement to impose an arms embargo on Syria and would “urgently consider further appropriate and targeted measures.” These, diplomats said, were understood to mean measures against individuals.

NATIONWIDE PROTESTS

Obama’s sanctions, which include asset freezes and bans on U.S. business dealings, build on U.S. measures against Syria in place since 2004, but they may have little impact since Assad’s inner circle are thought to hold few U.S. assets.

One official said the White House was “not ready” to call on Assad to step down because Obama and his aides “do not want to get out in front of the Syrian people.”

But thousands of Syrians took to the streets across the country after Friday prayers demanding his removal and pledging support for the residents of Deraa.

“The people want the overthrow of the regime!” demonstrators chanted in many protests, witnesses said.

More demonstrations flared in the central cities of Homs and Hama, Banias on the Mediterranean coast, Qamishly in eastern Syria and Harasta, a Damascus suburb.

Damascus saw the biggest protest in the capital so far, with a crowd swelling to 10,000 as it marched toward the main Ummayad Square before being dispersed by security forces firing tear gas, rights campaigners said.

Syrian rights group Sawasiah said this week at least 500 civilians had been killed since the unrest broke out six weeks ago. Authorities dispute that, saying 78 security forces and 70 civilians died in violence they blame on armed groups.

DERAA SHOOTING

State news agency SANA blamed “armed terrorist groups” for killing eight soldiers near Deraa. It said groups had opened fire on the homes of soldiers in two towns near Deraa and were repelled by guards. SANA said security forces detained 156 members of the group and confiscated 50 motorbikes.

But a witness in Deraa said Syrian forces fired live rounds at thousands of villagers who descended on the besieged city.

“They shot at people at the western gate of Deraa in the Yadoda area, almost three km (two miles) from the center of the city,” he said.

A rights campaigner in Deraa said on Friday makeshift morgues in the city contained the bodies of 85 people he said had been killed since the army stormed the city, close to Syria’s southern border with Jordan, on Monday.

Assad’s violent repression has brought growing condemnation from Western countries which for several years had sought to engage Damascus and loosen its close anti-Israel alliances with Iran and the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

The top United Nations human rights body condemned Syria for using deadly force against peaceful protesters and launched an investigation into killings and other alleged crimes.

A U.S. official said Friday’s sanctions were meant to show that no member of the Syrian leadership was immune from being held accountable. “Bashar is very much on our radar and if this continues could be soon to follow,” the official said.

(Writing by Dominic Evans; Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy in Beirut, Mark Hosenball and Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Justyna Pawlak in Brussels; Editing by Jon Hemming and Robert Birsel)

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Libya’s Gaddafi calls for negotiation with NATO

April 30, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

eba00d9dc33ae66e4d1b7d2176e34a50 Libyas Gaddafi calls for negotiation with NATO

(Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar al- Gaddafi said Saturday he was ready for a ceasefire and negotiations provided NATO “stop its planes,” but he refused to give up power as rebels and Western powers demand.

Weeks of Western air strikes have failed to dislodge the Libyan leader, but have instead imposed a stalemate on a war Gaddafi looked to have been winning with government forces held at bay in the east and around the besieged city of Misrata, while fighting for control of the western mountains.

But with neither side apparently able to gain the upper hand, Gaddafi struck a conciliatory tone in an 80-minute televised address to the nation in the early hours of Saturday.

“(Libya) is ready until now to enter a ceasefire,” said Gaddafi, speaking from behind a desk and aided by reams of paper covered in what appeared to be hand-written notes.

“We were the first to welcome a ceasefire and we were the first to accept a ceasefire … but the Crusader NATO attack has not stopped,” he said. “The gate to peace is open.”

Gaddafi denied mass attacks on civilians and challenged NATO to find him 1,000 people who had been killed in the conflict.

“We did not attack them or cross the sea … why are they attacking us?” asked Gaddafi, referring to European countries involved in the air strikes. “Let us negotiate with you, the countries that attack us. Let us negotiate.”

But as he spoke, NATO warplanes hit three targets close to the television building in Tripoli in what state media said was an attempt to kill Gaddafi who has ruled Libya for 41 years.

The air strikes left a large crater outside the attorney general’s office but did not damage the building and hit two other government offices housed in colonial-era buildings. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

“I’M NOT LEAVING”

Previous ceasefire offers have been rebuffed by NATO as Libyan government forces continued to fight on, something which looked as though it would be repeated as Gaddafi indicated he wanted both sides to stop fighting at once, saying “a ceasefire cannot be from one side.”

More importantly though, the Libyan leader refused to leave the country or step down, the central demand of the rebels, the United States, and also of France and Britain which are leading the NATO air campaign.

“I’m not leaving my country,” Gaddafi said. “No one can force me to leave my country and no one can tell me not to fight for my country.”

Gaddafi’s forces showed no sign of giving up the fight either, claiming to have captured the port of the city of Misrata Friday, the last major rebel outpost in western Libya, but NATO said it saw no evidence of that.

Libya’s government has threatened to attack any ships approaching Misrata, potentially depriving insurgents of a lifeline to the country’s eastern insurgent heartland.

NATO said Gaddafi forces had laid mines on the approach to the harbor, under siege for weeks, and forced a temporary halt in humanitarian shipments.

“NATO forces are now actively engaged in countering the mine threat to ensure the flow of aid continues,” the alliance said.

Further west, the war spilled into Tunisia when Gaddafi’s forces overran a rebel enclave at the frontier. The Libyan army shelled the Tunisian border town of Dehiba, damaging buildings and wounding at least one person, witnesses said. They said Libyan soldiers drove into the town in a truck chasing rebels.

BORDER CLASHES

Tunisian Deputy Foreign Minister Radhouane Nouicer, speaking on Al Jazeera television, said casualties, including a young girl, were inflicted when the conflict spilled over on Friday.

“We summoned the Libyan envoy and gave him a strong protest because we won’t tolerate any repetition of such violations. Tunisian soil is a red line,” he said.

The Libyan government said rebels had briefly pushed its forces into Tunisia and that it was coordinating with Tunisia to avoid a disaster in the border area.

“We are respecting the sovereignty of the Tunisian country and state,” spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said.

A Reuters cameraman who crossed into Libya from Dehiba saw the bodies of three Gaddafi soldiers on the ground. It was not clear if they had been shot by rebels or by Tunisian forces.

Tunisian border guards had shut down the border, he said. They were laying barbed wire and fortifying their positions.

Libyan refugees fleeing the fighting in the Western Mountains were reaching the crossing but unable to get through.

Reuters photographers in Dehiba, a short distance from the border, saw several abandoned pick-up trucks which Gaddafi loyalists had driven. One had a multiple rocket launcher on the back. Another, which had overturned and lay upside down in the sand, was fitted with a heavy caliber machine gun.

Rebels seized the Dehiba post a week ago. It controls the only road link which their comrades in the Western Mountains have with the outside world, making them rely otherwise on rough tracks for supplies of food, fuel and medicine.

“Right here at this point I’m looking at the new flag flying up there at the border. The rebels have got control of it, the freedom fighters. We’re just in the process of opening it up,” rebel Akram el Muradi said by telephone.

After nightfall, Gaddafi’s forces resumed their bombardment of the post in an apparent attempt to return and the government said it had regained control over the Libyan side of the border.

(Additional reporting by Tarek Amara and Abdelaziz Boumzar in Dehiba, Michael Georgy in Benghazi, Matthew Tostevin in Tunis; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Rescue efforts transition to recovery in hard-hit Alabama

April 30, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

dc342aaa592435403413236284b4384f Rescue efforts transition to recovery in hard hit Alabama

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

* Alabama town “looks like a war zone”
* Alabama death toll rises to at least 238
* President Barack Obama: “I’ve never seen devastation like this”
* He promises “to do everything we can” to aid rebuilding

Read more about this story from CNN affiliates WBMA-TV and WIAT-TV.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama (CNN) — Hopes of finding trapped survivors dwindled Friday evening in Alabama, the epicenter of storms that obliterated neighborhoods and towns and claimed scores of lives across the South.

Gov. Robert Bentley, speaking in Birmingham, said the long road to recovery will now begin.

“We’ve gotten past the rescue stage,” Bentley said. “We have begun the recovery stage.”

Earlier Friday, President Barack Obama toured rubble-strewn neighborhoods in Tuscaloosa, declaring the devastation brought by a series of powerful storms and tornadoes was beyond anything he had ever seen.

The storms killed at least 326 people in six states and left entire neighborhoods in ruins. Obama promised expedited federal aid to states affected by the tornadoes.

“We’re going to do everything we can to help these communities rebuild,” he said.

Wednesday’s outbreak of severe weather brought what the National Weather Service categorized as a rare EF-5 tornado to one Mississippi town.

And according to the weather service, it’s possible another twister was on the ground for 200 miles from Mississippi through Alabama.

The extent of the devastation became evident by Friday, when the death count in Marion County in northwest Alabama rose from three to 21, according to the state Emergency Management Agency. It said 20 people were missing.

See hi-res photos of the devastation

Marion County Sheriff Kevin Williams put the number even higher — 29 people dead in the city of Hackleburg and six in Hamilton. The Hackleburg fatalities included 16 on the scene and 13 who died at several hospitals, he told CNN.

“It’s pretty much wiped out,” Williams said of the town. “It looks like a war zone.”

The possible tornadoes destroyed a Wrangler clothing plant, a pharmacy, doctor’s office and three schools, officials said.

Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Virginia and Louisiana

Alabama suffered the greatest of loss of life, with fatalities in 19 counties confirmed by the state Emergency Management Agency. The agency reported Friday evening that the state’s death toll had risen to at least 238.

In Tuscaloosa, Obama’s motorcade passed street after street of homes reduced to splinters, crushed and flipped cars, and widespread debris on the way to his first stop to visit with families affected by the storms that pounded the region Wednesday and Thursday.

“I’ve gotta say I’ve never seen devastation like this,” Obama told reporters.

Tuscaloosa city officials reported 45 deaths as of Friday afternoon, but later revised that to 39 because of a counting error. That change was not immediately reflected in the state’s total.

People’s lives have just been turned upside down

Nearly 450 people were unaccounted for Friday afternoon in the city, although they were not necessarily missing.

The president’s visit took place as emergency responders in Alabama and five other states continued to assess the damage wreaked by one of the worst outbreaks of violent weather in the southeastern United States in decades, experts said. The storms leveled neighborhoods, rendered major roads impassable and left nearly 800,000 customers still without power Friday evening.

CNN iReporter Stephen Bozek, a broadcast news major at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, snapped a photo of a U.S. flag affixed to an overturned vehicle.

“The neighborhood is torn to pieces and the flag flying represented the unity (of) this town,” Bozek wrote.

In Mississippi, where 34 were confirmed dead, Gov. Haley Barbour told reporters that some people remain unaccounted for and rescuers could still find bodies in the rubble or in the waters surrounding Smithville, where 14 of the state’s known death’s occurred.

He said the city was a scene of “utter obliteration.”

On Friday, the National Weather Service said the tornado that struck Smithville on Wednesday was an EF-5 storm with peak winds of 205 mph. The last such tornado recorded in the United States struck May 25, 2008, in Parkersburg, Iowa.

The scene at Tuscaloosa’s ‘Ground Zero’

The tornado, the Weather Service said, destroyed 18 homes, a post office, a police station and a water treatment system. In addition to the 14 deaths, it caused 40 injuries, the weather service said.

Obama issued a federal disaster declaration for seven Mississippi counties.

The storms also left 34 people dead in Tennessee, 15 in Georgia, five in Virginia and one in Arkansas.

In Alabama, emergency management officials said Friday that 35 teams have been deployed to Tuscaloosa and six other counties hit hardest by the storms to assist in recovery efforts.

Royal couple leave by helicopter from Buckingham Palace

April 30, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

901dd14443ca82e2a0d32267f979f762 Royal couple leave by helicopter from Buckingham Palace

Millions of people across the UK have marked the royal wedding with street parties, picnics and other festivities.

St Andrews, the Fife town where Prince William and Kate Middleton met, hosted a breakfast for 1,500 people and Downing Street held an outdoor party.

The Westminster Abbey service was shown on big screens in squares, pubs and churches, including in the bride’s home village of Bucklebury, Berkshire.

There were 21 arrests at an unofficial party in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Park.

Strathclyde police said most of the arrests were for disorderly behaviour and drunkenness. One police officer was hurt.
Fancy dress

In all, there were more than 5,500 applications for street closures to hold events.

A wedding breakfast was held in the hamlet of Chapel Row where the Middletons live, and Bucklebury Farm Park staged a day of celebrations culminating in a proms-style fanfare.

Later, about 100 charity workers and local children were invited to the party in Downing Street, where they celebrated with Prime Minister David Cameron and his family.

“Start Quote

Kate looks stunning and her wedding dress is fabulous. What’s not to like about today?”

End Quote Elaine Lowe, Manchester

* Thousands at Welsh royal parties
* Scots turn out for royal wedding
* Northern Ireland celebrates
* ‘Special day’ for Kate’s village
* Street parties: your pictures

In Southampton’s Guildhall Square several thousand people turned out for a party laid on by the city council and were encouraged to dress in red, white and blue.

They included Michaela Coutakis, 45, who said: “We came today because it’s an important national occasion.

“We’re not royalists but it’s bringing the country together and it’s quite exciting really. We will remember this when we’re old and grey and we can say we came down to the square to watch Kate and William get married.”

Hundreds of revellers held a fancy dress party on the restored £39m Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

In Cornwall, which has strong ties with the Prince of Wales, there were 30 applications for road closures so festivities could be held.

And in Tetbury, Gloucestershire – the closest town to Highgrove House, Charles’s family home – people enjoyed picnics. Gloucester Cathedral showed the wedding on a giant screen, and parties took place in the city and in nearby Cheltenham.

A mass picnic also took place along the High Street of Alcester, in Warwickshire and street parties were held in Lavenham and Foxearth in Suffolk and Wells-next-to-the-Sea in Norfolk.

In Eastbourne, East Sussex, hundreds turned up around a huge screen in Princes Park.

Razia Iqbal reports on the street parties held across the UK

In Leeds, where Kate Middleton’s father Michael was born, celebrations took place across the city, and York also opted for a fancy dress event.

A number of street took place in Sheffield, with the focus in the city centre at Devonshire Green.

People in Hull are also joining the celebrations, with six street-party applications approved in the city, contrary to reports a few weeks ago saying no-one had applied.

The Marple Bridge Association in Cheshire, which has been planning its town centre party since Christmas, sold 800 tickets.

Almost 250 street parties were being held across Wales, with Cardiff leading the way with more than 50.

On Anglesey, where William and Kate will live, about 2,000 people watched the ceremony on a giant TV screen at the island’s agricultural showground. And a beach party took place in the evening.

In Londonderry, royal fans dressed in full wedding attire for breakfasts in community centres. Events also took place in Belfast, Newtownards, and Templepatrick.

Hyde Park event Thousands of people turned out in Hyde Park where the ceremony was shown on big screens

In London, big screens were erected in Hyde Park where a crowd of thousands cheered as William and Kate exchanged their vows and there were similar scenes in Trafalgar Square.

Across the capital, there were more than 800 street parties, the Local Government Association said.

Elaine Lowe, 22, was among the revellers to turn up in Manchester city centre where the wedding was shown on a big screen.

“The rain has held off, the sun is out, and we are all having a great day,” she said.

“Kate looks stunning and her wedding dress is fabulous. What’s not to like about today?”

In Scotland, visitors at royal residence Balmoral Castle watched the ceremony on six big screens.

Hundreds brought picnics and drank champagne as they sat on the lawn outside. The royal couple have enjoyed several breaks at Prince of Wales’ home on the estate.

Meanwhile, the breakfast event in St Andrews was televised worldwide.

Elsewhere in the town, John Montgomery, 44, from the Tayport area, said: “St Andrews feels responsible for all of this.
Foxearth, Suffolk Street parties like this one in Foxearth, Suffolk, were held in towns and villages across the UK

“The atmosphere’s fantastic here. It’s amazing really for a small Scottish town to have two billion people around the world watching it.”

There were 16 street parties held in Edinburgh, including one in Broughton Street for 250 guests.

Republican demonstrations were held in city’s Royal Mile, and a large unofficial party in Glasgow was criticised by the local council.

“Not The Royal Wedding Party” events were held in Bristol and Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire and campaign group Republic hosted a similarly-themed street party in central London.

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Health Watch: Height, not just weight, adds to blood clot risk

April 30, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

ricci Health Watch: Height, not just weight, adds to blood clot risk

(Phatforums Blog/ USA Today) – You’re more likely to get blood clots if you’re tall, heavy and male a new study reports.

While being obese is already linked with a higher risk of forming potentially deadly clots in the legs and lungs —called venous thromboembolism (VTE) — a large study in this week’s Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology reports that taller people, especially those who are obese, are at risk, too.

“In tall people the blood must be pumped a longer distance by the calf-muscle pump, which may cause reduced flow in the legs and thereby raise the risk of clotting,” says senior author Sigrid Braekkan, a researcher in the Hematological Research Group at the University of Troms? in Norway, in a statement.

The researchers analyzed height and obesity measurements in 26,714 Norwegian men and women between the ages of 25 and 97, collected over a 12 year period as part of a long-term health survey. During that time, 461 VTEs occurred.

The findings:

In men, compared with short (5 feet, 7.7 inches or less) and normal-weight men, the risk of blood clots (both deep vein and lung embolism types) was five times higher in obese, tall men, 2.6 times higher in normal-weight, tall men (5 feet, 11.7 inches or taller), and two times higher in obese, short men.

In women, compared with short (5 feet, 2.6 inches or less) normal-weight women, the risk of clots was 2.8 times higher in obese, tall women, 1.8 times higher in obese, short women, and not increased in normal-weight, tall women (more than 5 feet, 6 inches).

This is one of the first studies to look at the combination of weight and height in relation to VTEs, says Darren Schneider, Chief of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, in New York. “The study is strong due to the sheer number of patients and length of follow up time,” says Schneider.

More than 275,000 people in the USA are hospitalized yearly with deep vein clots or pulmonary embolisms, says the American Heart Association. The total number of yearly VTE cases is estimated to exceed 900,000, Schneider says.

More belly fat can increase a person’s risk for leg and lung clots because it places more pressure on the deep vein system in the abdominal area, slowing circulation, says Schneider.

Other factors that can increase risk include inflammation (which occurs after surgery, for example), cancer, pregnancy, and long periods of inactivity.

However, the condition is very preventable, says cardiologist Riyaz Bashir, director of Vascular and Endovascular Medicine at Temple University Hospital, in Philadelphia.

“It is critically important that public awareness about this deadly disorder be increased,” says Bashir. He says the best strategy with VTEs is to prevent them in the first place by identifying high-risk patients and treating them prophylactically with medications and compression devices, including compression stockings, which are “highly underutilized.”

“Weight loss and avoiding immobility can help, too,” says Schneider.

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Book Review: “Got Milf – The Modern Mom’s Guide To Feeling Fabulous

April 30, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

e9c1e11b3b21a9a2afd9a2d315363239 Book Review: Got Milf The Modern Moms Guide To Feeling Fabulous

(Phatforums Blog/ Marie Claire) – Terminology gets guys in trouble. We make up horrible terms like “butterface”: She has a great body but her face is not good

One night at a dinner table at a wedding, I got into an argument with a female guest about terminology I was using. She was asking about my dating escapades and I kept calling females “girls”. After a while, she took offense:

“We are not girls, we are women.”

I said: “No, I call most females girls. Women are different than girls.”

She asked me to explain my terminology for females. I responded:

“Girls are girls until they have a baby. Then they become women.”

She asked: “And what do they become after they are moms?”

I said: “Well eventually they become ladies.”

She was not satisfied with this explanation, but I really wasn’t trying to be insulting. I felt bad about this conversation for a long time until I read Sarah Maizes’ Got MILF – The Modern Mom’s Guide To Feeling Fabulous, Looking Great, and Rocking a Minivan.

Got MILF is an empowering book for moms, told from Maizes’ point of view. The hilarious read is sparked by an episode in which a younger man calls Maizes a “MILF”.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, MILF stands for “Mother I’d Like to F*ck”. It’s a commonly accepted term considering my friend’s favorite porn site is called MILFhunter.com.

It was refreshing to see Maizes take a derogatory term, turn it on its head, and take it in a positive direction. Maizes’ stance is: “Damn right I’m a beautiful, strong, sophisticated, attractive mom.”

Through my own eyes, I noticed the same type of perception with my older sister. All my life, she was intimidating and powerful, but not in a womanly way. When she had her first baby I said to myself: “Whoa, my older sister suddenly seems like a woman.”

Seeing what she has to deal with on a daily basis as she raisses two daughters not only inspires me, but also reminds me of my own weaknesses and how unprepared I am to handle such a challenge.

Maizes’ point of view is important for women like my sister, who also went through a period of post-partum depression. She felt unnattractive and lost. I recommended Got MILF to my sister because it was positive, empowering and funny for moms.

My favorite part of the book is Maizes’ comparison of MILFs versus Cougars (the term for single older women who hunt for younger men). It’s a great discussion on inner beauty versus beauty on the surface.

With Mother’s Day around the corner, I think “Got MILF” would be a perfect gift. The book not only turns a pig-headed male term into a positive, but its pages empower moms and women while making the reader laugh.
What are your thoughts on “Got MILF”? Do you agree that it’s good that Maizes turned the term around, or are you upset that she wrote a book around such a term?

Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/richravens

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2 L.A. Traffic Officers Moonlighting in Porn, NBC Says

April 30, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

1d9a20ad39384c22a78ec7b5c4e16d45 2 L.A. Traffic Officers Moonlighting in Porn, NBC Says

LOS ANGELES — City officials won’t disclose the names of the two traffic enforcement officers who have been moonlighting in porn while on the job, but their identities may come to surface after NBC4 LA airs an expose tonight at 11 p.m.

Joel Grover, the NBC investigative reporter who is breaking the story, says that the Los Angeles Department of Transportation has opened an investigation into the behavior of two uniformed, on-duty officers who appear in a porn video.

In the video, Grover says, men in the film perform a range of sex acts with a performer. In one scene, the actress jumps into the arms of one City of Los Angeles traffic officer, who spanks her and then fondles her breasts.

A second traffic officer takes a few spankings from the performer, then allows her to get into his official City of Los Angeles car, where she performs in front of the officer.

City parking enforcement employees who originally gave NBC4 LA a copy of the movie said that the city’s parking enforcement chief has seen it and knows the identities of the officers.

Grover says one of the officers who had a prominent role in the video declined to comment to NBC4.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the officer said when asked about his participation.

The veteran officer jumped into his city car, and sped off, Grover says.

At post time, XBIZ hasn’t learned which studios were involved in the porn shoots.

XBIZ calls to Amir Sedadi, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, went unreturned at post time.

But Sedadi told the Los Angeles Times that the employees allegedly involved were placed on administrative leave pending completion of the inquiry.

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Appeals court restores NFL lockout, grants temporary stay

April 30, 2011 By Admin

eda204b6438fd5059b25119f5c1677cc Appeals court restores NFL lockout, grants temporary stay

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — The on-again, off-again NFL lockout is on again.

Hours after NFL players reported to work for the first time in nearly two months, the league announced late Friday that the lockout would resume immediately, thanks to an appeals court ruling in the league’s favor.

“Looks like we’re unemployed again,” tweeted Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards, scheduled to become a free agent.

The move capped a chaotic, topsy-turvy week that began with U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson lifting the 45-day lockout on Monday. She denied the NFL’s appeal on Wednesday and the league took halting steps toward getting back to football just after sunrise Friday.

Then the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis granted the NFL’s request for a temporary stay of Nelson’s injunction order. The appeals court is expected to rule next week on the NFL’s request for a more permanent stay that would last through its appeal of the injunction, a process expected to take 6-8 weeks.

McCANN: Court-ordered stay of lockout not necessarily permanent

The NFL didn’t have to wait that long to resume the lockout, and the announcement came right after the third round of the NFL draft had ended.

Teams “have been told that the prior lockout rules are reinstated effective immediately,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press.

This all came on the very day players were allowed to return to their teams’ facilities for the first time since March. Players wore big smiles as they met with coaches, worked out and got a peek at their playbooks, a welcome return to normalcy in an offseason that has been anything but that.

“Nobody’s happy about any of this,” Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson said. “But it is what it is. The lockout is back into effect.”

The appellate ruling came in a venue considered more conservative and favorable to businesses than the federal courts in Minnesota, where the collective bargaining system was established in the early 1990s and judges have generally favored players over the NFL.

The NFL’s victory, its first in this bruising court fight, was a narrow one. The 2-1 decision from a panel of the 8th Circuit was issued by Judges Steven Colloton, Kermit Bye and Duane Benton. It included a lengthy dissent from Bye, who suggested temporary stays should be issued only in emergencies.

“The NFL has not persuaded me this is the type of emergency situation which justifies the grant of a temporary stay,” Bye wrote.

Bye said the league hadn’t shown proof it would suffer irreparable harm without a lockout in place and had asked for the stay so it wouldn’t be forced to run its $9 billion business without a collective bargaining agreement in place.

“The NFL claimed such operations would be ‘a complex process that requires time to coordinate,”‘ Bye wrote. “This contention is severely undermined by the fact that the NFL had, within a day of the district court’s order denying a stay, already planned post-injunction operations which would allow the players to have access to club and workout facilities, receive playbooks, meet with coaches and so forth.

“Because I expect our court will be resolving the actual request for a stay in short order, I see little practical need for granting an emergency temporary stay in this non-emergency situation.”

Jim Quinn, the lead attorney for the players, downplayed Friday’s order and was heartened by the dissent.

“Routine grant of stay and totally expected,” he said. “The only surprise is that Judge Bye is so strongly against giving them even a tiny stay because the league obviously can’t show it is necessary.”

Still, players were discouraged by the extreme ups and downs of the day. They went from exchanging high-fives with teammates and expressing relief and optimism in the morning to lamenting the league’s sudden reversal as midnight approached.

Confused, disappointed and frustrated, the players started to lash out as the night wore on.

“Its unfortunate 2 c the Lockout back on,” tweeted Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald. “2 all NFL fans, please know the players are w/ u & we both are being deprived of enjoying this game.”

Raiders quarterback Bruce Gradkowski vented on Twitter: “Gosh I just wanna get back to work and play! I feel bad for our fans having to put up with this.”

Agent Peter Schaffer said he has advised his clients to abide by the court’s ruling.

“You can’t have convenient justice. Whether you agree or disagree with the judges’ decision, it must be followed,” Schaffer said. “Whatever the ruling of the day is, it must be followed. So I have told my players to stay away from the facilities.”

Many first-round draft choices who arrived at their new teams scrambled to get things done in what turned out to be a tight window of time.

“I’m trying to get as much ball talk in as possible and get a feel for what’s going on,” Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder said. “It is tough, especially with the uncertainty. We have no idea what’s going to happen, and I’m praying I’ll be back here in two weeks for mini-camp or whenever we’re allowed.”

By Friday evening, Ponder was on his way home, and the Vikings were on the clock in the second round of the draft when the appeals court decision came down. All Vikings vice president of player personnel Rick Spielman could do was shrug.

“There’s nothing you can do about it because you have no control over it, so just do what you do,” he said. “Right now we can draft players, and that’s what we’re focused on doing. That’s all you can do.”

Bengals quarterback Jordan Palmer said: “It’s crazy and it’s really, really making it difficult to plan. It’s just really hectic. Everybody I’ve talked to is very thrown off by the situation.”

Agent Joe Linta, whose clients include Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, lobbied for the NFL to go forward with free agency despite the decision.

“The owners will create a huge injustice to their own GMs and personnel departments if they don’t allow the signing of undrafted free agents,” he said. “They may not care about the players, but they should at least help their own scouts, coaches and personnel people who have worked so hard in the scouting process. This is by far the biggest issue of the next 48 hours.”

Attorneys for the players had argued against a stay of Nelson’s order, suggesting that the public and the players, with their short careers, are at far more risk when the business is stalled.

“Professional football is part of the fabric of American life,” the attorneys wrote. “Because the uncontroverted record of evidence shows that the 2011 season could be canceled or significantly curtailed without an injunction in place, a stay may deprive the public of professional football altogether.”

Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland said teams had no choice by to “go with the flow.”:

“We’ll just go with what the league is telling us,” he said. “It was good to see the players today, great to see some of those guys, and wish it would have lasted a little longer.”

The lockout has hurt teams such as the Browns, preventing new coach Pat Shurmur and his staff from talking with players for the first time. He met with a handful on Friday before the bad news.

“Because we were allowed to talk and communicate with our players,” he said, “we felt like it was a good few hours.”

Appeals court restores NFL lockout, grants temporary stay is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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Bubba Watson leads Zurich Classic

April 30, 2011 By Admin

1f7cb5c02be423d733cac47cb0704cda Bubba Watson leads Zurich Classic

AVONDALE, La. (AP) — Bubba Watson’s mother knew best.

Only playing the Zurich Classic of New Orleans because his mother, Molly, talked him into it because she wanted to watch him play, Watson shot a 4-under 68 in shifting wind conditions Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Josh Teater after the second round at TPC Louisiana.

“Mom knew I was going to play pretty good the first two rounds,” said Watson, playing a four-hour drive from his hometown of Bagdad, Fla. “We’ve got two more to go, but she’s right so far.”

Watson, the Torrey Pines winner in late January, had a 10-under 134 total on the Pete Dye-designed course – a layout that he doesn’t think fits his game.

“For me, it’s daunting,” Watson said. “There were a lot of tough tee shots for me. A lot of times the water’s on the left for me being left-handed. “It’s hard to overcome, but somehow I’m overcoming it right now.”

The long-hitting Watson eagled the par-5 11th – his second hole of the round – for the second time, holing a 20-footer to get to 8 under. He added a 4-foot birdie putt on 13 and a 13-footer on 14, but bogeyed the 18th when he hit his third shot over the green from a bunker. He also birdied the seventh with a 3-footer.

“You’re not sure what the wind’s doing on some holes,” said Watson, who has failed to win the three previous times he has had the 36-hole lead. “So, you’re always watching and trying to see what’s going on to figure out how to play the holes.”

Teater shot a 66, dropping two strokes with a double bogey on the par-5 18th. His approach shot with a 6-iron from 177 yards sailed right and bounced into the water guarding the green. His fifth shot ran 22 feet past the hole and he two-putted for the double bogey.

“It was kind of on an upslope,” Teater said about his third shot. “And I don’t know if my club just got stuck, but I was trying to hit it left of the flag and middle of the green, and it shot out right on me.”

John Rollins was 8 under after a 69.

“I played good for two days,” Rollins said. “I’ve hit the ball well and given myself a lot of opportunities. So, I’ve got to be very pleased with where I am and we’ll see how the week works out.”

Dean Wilson matched the course record with a 64 to join John Senden (67), Jason Dufner (69), Matt Jones (71) and Webb Simpson (69) at 7 under. Simpson counted Hornets star guard Chris Paul among his gallery.

Wilson missed a chance to break the course record on the par-3 ninth, his closing hole, when his tee shot landed short and right of the green.

“These courses of Pete Dye are so demanding,” Wilson said. “So, when you have 20 mph wind, it’s really difficult. He doesn’t give you any bailouts.”

Steve Stricker (68), David Mathis (68) and Tommy Gainey (71) were 6 under.

Luke Donald topped a group at 5 under after a 71. He lost a playoff last week at Hilton Head, missing a chance to jump from No. 3 to No. 1 in the world.

Vijay Singh made the cut by a stroke, following a 74 with a 68 to get to 2 under.

David Duval, Rory Sabbatini, Hilton Head winner Brandt Snedeker, Justin Rose and John Daly missed the cut. Duval opened with a 67, but doubled-bogeyed the second hole on way to a front-nine 42 and 79.

Bubba Watson leads Zurich Classic is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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