Against Obama, even a jailbird gets some votes

By LAWRENCE MESSINA, Associated Press

5/9/2012

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Just how unpopular is President Barack Obama in some parts of the country? Enough that a man in prison in Texas got 4 out of 10 votes in West Virginia's Democratic presidential primary.

The inmate, Keith Judd, is serving time at the Beaumont Federal Correctional Institution in Texas for making threats at the University of New Mexico in 1999. Obama received 59 percent of the vote to Judd's 41 percent.

For some West Virginia Democrats, simply running against Obama is enough to get Judd votes.

"I voted against Obama," said Ronnie Brown, a 43-year-old electrician from Cross Lanes who called himself a conservative Democrat. "I don't like him. He didn't carry the state before and I'm not going to let him carry it again."

Republican Party's

Republican Party's Latino outreach off to a stumbling start

By Paul WestTribune Washington Bureau

 May 9, 2012

WASHINGTON _ A top staffer for the Republican National Committee got the party's election-year outreach to Latino voters off to a disastrous public start Monday when she told a roomful of reporters that likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, a hard-liner on immigration, was still formulating his position on the issue.

"As a candidate, to my understanding, that he's still deciding what his position on immigration is," said Bettina Inclan, who became the RNC's director of Hispanic Outreach in January. "I can't talk about something that I don't know what the position is."

Inclan, a former executive director of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly who worked

Two arrested in case of missing Tennessee family

Emily Le CozReuters

 May 8, 2012

TUPELO, Mississippi (Reuters) - The mother and wife of the prime suspect in the kidnapping of a Tennessee family have been also been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, officials said on Tuesday.

Two members of the Tennessee family - the mother and one daughter - have been found dead and two other daughters were missing and presumed held by Adam Mayes, who remained at large and was considered by theFederal Bureau of Investigation to be armed and dangerous.

Adam Mayes' wife, Teresa Mayes, and mother, Mary Mayes, were jailed at Hardeman County

Found Gun parts

Gun parts found in boy's stuffed animals at Rhode Island airport

By Jim Barnett, CNN

 Wed May 9, 2012

Washington (CNN) -- A man traveling with his 4-year-old son claims he didn't know that the three stuffed animals his little boy put on a conveyor belt at T. F. Green International Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, contained parts that could be assembled into a loaded handgun, the Transportation Security

Millions of Europeans

Posen: Millions of Europeans face long slog

By Kim Clark @Money May 9, 2012

(MONEY Magazine) -- These are migraine-inducing times for anyone trying to set aside a little money for the future. If you're investing, you worry that Europe's game of debt-default chicken will wreck your portfolio. Yet you also can't get a decent yield if you try to keep your money completely safe.

All of which makes Adam S. Posen a very interesting man to talk to right now. He's an American economist -- his résumé includes a Harvard Ph.D. and a book on Japan's slump -- but since 2009 he has served at the Bank of England, where he is a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, which sets Britain's interest rates and money supply. That committee's next meeting is slated for Thursday.

Posen's post at the Bank of England has given him a close-up view of the crisis in Europe (although

Double agent ...

Double agent hands al-Qaida its 3rd failed bombing

By ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press

5/9/2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past three years, al-Qaida bomb makers in Yemen have developed three fiendishly clever devices in hopes of attacking airplanes in the skies above the United States.

First, there was the underwear bomb that fizzled over Detroit on Christmas 2009. Next, terrorists hid bombs inside printer cartridges and got them on board cargo planes in 2010, only to watch authorities find and defuse them in the nick of time.

Then last month, officials say, al-Qaida completed a sophisticated new, nonmetallic underwear bomb — and unwittingly handed it over to the CIA.

Julia Orayen

Julia Orayen, former Playboy Playmate, steals the show at Mexican debate

By Claudine Zap | The Upshot  5/8/2012

The buzziest moment during the first debate among Mexico's four candidates for president this Sunday happened before anyone had said a word.

At the debate's start, a curvy model wearing a form-fitting white dress with a revealing cutout showing off her generous cleavage, presented a box for candidates to draw papers that would determine who would go first.

Yahoo CEO ...

Yahoo CEO apologizes for bogus college degree

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | Associated Pres

5/8/2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson is sorry for allowing an inaccuracy about his education to appear in his official bio, but not remorseful enough to heed calls for him to resign.

Thompson apologized for the uproar caused by the misinformation in a memo sent Monday to the troubled Internet company's employees. Yahoo Inc. provided a copy of the memo to The Associated Press.

The memo didn't offer any explanation why Thompson's bio has periodically listed a bachelor's degree in computer science that he never received. The exaggeration was most recently repeated in documents that 

warmed the Earth

Dinosaur gases 'warmed the Earth'

By Ella DaviesReporter, BBC Nature5/8/2012

Giant dinosaurs could have warmed the planet with their flatulence, say researchers.

British scientists have calculated the methane output of sauropods, including the species known as Brontosaurus.

By scaling up the digestive wind of cows, they estimate that the population of dinosaurs - as a whole - produced 520 million tonnes of gas annually.

They suggest the gas could have been a key factor in the warm climate 150 million years ago.

David Wilkinson from Liverpool John Moore's University, and colleagues from the University of London and the University of Glasgow published their results in the journal Current Biology.

Sauropods, such as Apatosaurus louise(formerly known as Brontosaurus), were super-sized land animals that grazed on vegetation during the Mesozoic Era.

obesity epidemic may be slowing

No end to obesity’s rise, forecast shows

By LAURAN NEERGAARD - The Associated Press

 Tuesday, May 8, 201

WASHINGTON – The obesity epidemic may be slowing, but don’t take in those pants yet.

Today, just over a third of U.S. adults are obese. By 2030, 42 percent will be, says a forecast released Monday.

That’s not nearly as many as experts had predicted before the once-rapid rises in obesity rates began leveling off. But the new forecast suggests even small continuing increases will add up.

“We still have a very serious problem,” said obesity specialist Dr. William Dietz of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Worse, the already obese are getting fatter. Severe obesity will double by 2030, when 11 percent of

 Spurs finish sweep of Jazz

Ginobili steps up in ousting Jazz

ASSOCIATED PRESS 

  MAY 08, 2012

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich shrugged when asked about Manu Ginobili’s mini-shooting slump.

“I don’t even think about it. He’s Manu,’’ he said.

True to form, the Spurs’ invaluable sixth man led the charge off the bench when San Antonio needed it most.

He hit consecutive 3-pointers after the Utah Jazz had pulled to 61-58 late in the third quarter in Game 4 of the first-round Western Conference series.

And after the Jazz rallied from 21 points down to get within 4 in the final minute, Ginobili turned a steal by Tony Parker into a layup that sealed an 87-81 victory in Salt Lake City and series sweep.

US, India call for Pakistani terror crackdown

US, India call for Pakistani terror crackdown

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press 5/8/2012

NEW DELHI (AP) — The United States and India on Tuesday called for Pakistan to do more to stop terrorism and pledged to keep up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.

However, the two countries remained divided over the future of India's large oil imports from Iran, which the U.S. wants to see drastically reduced to put pressure on Tehran to negotiate over its nuclear program.

"We don't believe Iran would be back at the negotiating table unless there had been the unrelenting pressure of international sanctions. And this pressure must stay on if we want to see progress toward a peaceful resolution," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a press conference in the Indian capital.

About 9 percent of India's oil imports come from Iran, and though it has reduced those imports recently, it could still face U.S. sanctions next month if Washington determines it has not done enough under a law

Dancing With the Stars Recap

Dancing With the Stars Recap: William Levy Foxtrots to the Top

May 8th, 2012 6:13 AM by Free Britney

"You bring these performances to life," Carrie Ann Inaba said. "There was care in technique and flare in the movement," added Len Goodman.

In a close second were Fegan and Chelsie Hightower, who barely survived last week. Their foxtrot earned 29 points and had Bruno Tonioli gushing.

"The sweetest of sweethearts," he called them.

After earning a perfect score last week, Maria Menounos and Derek Hough earned 28 points for what Bruno called an "amazing" Viennese waltz.

HSBC cost cuts

HSBC profit up on strong investment bank, cost cuts

Tue May 8, 2012

May 8 (Reuters) - HSBC , Europe's biggest bank, beat expectations with an underlying profit of almost $7 billion in the first quarter thanks to a strong rebound in investment banking income and a fall in U.S. bad debts.

The bank said on Tuesday it had made good progress on all areas of strategy, including cost savings, and had shed 14,000 jobs since last year as part of Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver's plan to boost profitability.

With $100 Million...

George Soros and Other Rich Guys to Infuse Democrats With $100 Million for Grass-Roots Efforts

• By Brett Smiley

• 5/8/2012

• 

  Billionaire investor George Soros will be supplying $2 million to independent Democratic groups focused on grass-roots election efforts as part of a greater donorinitiative to enhance outreach and voter registration operations. Soros will divide his donation equally between America Votes, a group that provides coordination andcampaign support to progressive organizations; and American Bridge 21st Century, a super-PAC that focuses on communications and election-oriented research. Soros's contribution will be part of a nearly $100 million boost from other major liberal donors to like-minded causes and efforts. According to a New York Times report, Soros and others are pledging funds to grass-roots-type groups in part because they don't believe they can match the massive Republican super-PAC-funded negative television ad bombs, but also as a symbolic rejection of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which gave birth to super-PACs that may spend on

2-1 win

Phoenix moves on with 2-1 win over Nashville

5/8/2012

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Phoenix Coyotes had been waiting so long for a new owner that they barely blinked when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced a tentative deal was in place.

They had become immune to the ownership saga and, besides, had more pressing business in front of them: a spot in the Western Conference finals.

Capping a momentous day, the Coyotes celebrated news of a new owner with a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Monday night to reach the conference finals for the first time in 33 years as an NHL franchise.

"The organization, obviously there's been some adversity a lot of teams don't have to go through," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "It's very rewarding to know that our players have to put that on the backburner and just move forward and try to do whatever they can to help us win."

The day started off with news the Coyotes and their fans had been anticipating for three years.

'Avengers'

'Avengers' Smashes Box-Office Records: Experts Weigh In

'We are really in uncharted territory now with an opening like this,' one box-office expert tells MTV News.

By Fallon Prinzivall 5/7/2012

It's safe to say that everyone expected Marvel's "The Avengers" to smash the box office when it opened in U.S. theaters this weekend, but no one could foresee just how many records it would break.
According to Deadline Hollywood, the Joss Whedon-directed film grossed more than $207 million domestically this weekend, blasting away the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" record of $169 million. The film now also holds the #1 spot for highest Saturday gross of all time with a whopping $69.7 million made in a single day.

"We are really in uncharted territory now with an opening like this," Phil Contrino of BoxOffice.com told MTV News.

With "Avengers" exceeding fan and critic expectations, is the film poised to break any other records? Box Office Guru editor Gitesh Pandyapredicts some hefty numbers. "It also broke the speed record for hitting $200 million, doing it in a mere three days, beating a trio of past hits that did it in five days," he said. "And I project it will become the fastest film in history to

Big Bank CEOs Haggle

Big Bank CEOs Haggle, Bicker Against New Regulations

By Aaron Task | Daily Ticker 5/7/2012

The health of the financial system was one of the big items on the agenda at the Milken Institute Global Conference in LA last week.

In the accompanying video, I discuss the state of the banking industry - and bank regulations - with two renowned experts: Chicago Booth professor and former IMF chief economist Raghuram Rajan and James Barth, a senior fellow at Milken and co-author of Guardians of Finance.

Higher Education Is a Bubble..

Higher Education Is a Bubble, Bill Bennett Says: U.S. Govt. Should Stop Subsidizing Student Loans

By Morgan Korn | Daily Ticker 5/7/2012

The $1 trillion student loan crisis will be a top priority for President Obama and senior administration officials this week. The president will discuss ways to prevent undergraduate subsidized loans from doubling July 1 with student government leaders from across the country on Monday. Vice President Biden meets with students and higher education representatives about the skyrocketing costs of college later in the week and several high-ranking members of the Cabinet including Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis are expected to weigh in on the issue at various events planned by the administration.

Crude oil prices

Crude oil prices continue to fall on U.S., Europe news

By Pablo Gorondi, Associated Press

Oil prices continued a three-day slide, falling below $98 a barrel Monday as a slowdown in U.S. hiring and election results in Europe dimmed expectations of stronger economic growth.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for June delivery was down 75 cents to $97.74 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, the contract fell to a low of $95.34 before bouncing back. On Friday, it plunged $4.05 to settle at $98.49.

In London, Brent crude was down 20 cents at $112.98 per barrel on the ICE Futures

Talladega win

Brad Keselowski gets push, Talladega win

By Jim Utter / McClatchy Newspapers
Monday, May 7, 2012

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Even in racing, sometimes help comes from strange and unexpected places.

While a frantic last two laps unfolded in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, Keselowski found an unlikely partner in Kyle Busch and together the duo soared past Matt Kenseth and into the lead with one lap remaining.

The race wasn’t over yet.

Busch, who got snookered while leading on the last lap of Saturday’s Nationwide race, planned to make up for it against Keselowski, but Keselowski kept just enough distance between the two to prevent the much-lauded "slingshot" move.

So, Keselowski not only earned his second Sprint Cup Series victory of the season but ended a remarkable streak. In the previous four Cup races at Talladega, the driver who led starting the final lap failed to win the race.

There was plenty of praise all-around for 28-year-old native of Rochester Hills, Mich., after the race.