Hurricane Sandy Speaks Don’t Forget Haiti, Cuba, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Jamaica

Hard to believe I was born only a week ago south of Jamaica. I grew very quickly over the hot Carribbean sea and last Wednesday swept into Jamaica west of Kingston with winds of 130 kph. Damage was extensive cutting power to half the country. One person died.
Last Thursday I was in Cuba, another poor country that can least afford to be damaged. Cuba is well organized to cope with powerful hurricanes. Just 35 deaths through 16 hurricanes and tropical storms since 2001.The US has fared far worse with fewer storms.
But I was a Category 2 when I arrived over Santiago, Cuba’s second largest city. Eleven people died, 3000 buildings destroyed, 30,000 lost their roofs. A billion dollars in damages. It will be a long recovery. The power is still out today.

Many more pixs from Cuba here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ipsnews/

In the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic more people died and thousands of homes were damaged.
Worst off was the most vulnerable of all: Haiti.
More than 50 people died in the southern Haiti including the area around Port-au-Prince. This where most of the 370,000 Haitians who are still living in flimsy shelters because the 2010 earthquake destroyed their homes. My flooding and high-winds destroyed many of those shelters as well their crops.
I hope you will help them. They have no resources to recover. Please remember no matter what comes in the next two days they will still be worse off. 

Sandy comes ashore with flooding, power outages

AP Photo: Bebeto Matthews. IMAGE: Lower Manhattan goes dark during hurricane Sandy

29 min ago By MSN News with wire reports

Massive flooding, high winds and widespread power outages hit the East Coast as Sandy moves inland.

NEW YORK — Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coastline with 80 mph winds Monday night and hurled an unprecedented 13-foot surge of seawater at New York City, flooding its tunnels, subway stations and the electrical system that powers Wall Street. At least 10 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm, which brought the presidential campaign to a halt a week before Election Day.
For New York City at least, Sandy was not the dayslong onslaught many had feared, and the wind and rain that sent water sloshing into Manhattan from three sides began dying down within hours.
Still, the power was out for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and an estimated 5.2 million people altogether across the East. And the full extent of the storm's damage across the region was unclear, and unlikely to be known until daybreak.

RAW VIDEO: Power out, flooding in New York

In addition, heavy rain and further flooding remain major threats over the next couple of days as the storm makes its way into Pennsylvania and up into New York State. Near midnight, the center of the storm was just outside Philadelphia, and its winds were down to 75 mph, just barely hurricane strength.
"It was nerve-racking for a while, before the storm hit. Everything was rattling," said Don Schweikert, who owns a bed-and-breakfast in Cape May, N.J., near where Sandy roared ashore. "I don't see anything wrong, but I won't see everything until morning."
As the storm closed in, it converged with a cold-weather system that turned it into a superstorm, a monstrous hybrid consisting not only of rain and high wind but snow in West Virginia and other mountainous areas inland.
It smacked the boarded-up big cities of the Northeast corridor — Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston — with stinging rain and gusts of more than 85 mph.
Just before Sandy reached land, forecasters stripped it of hurricane status, but the distinction was purely technical, based on its shape and internal temperature. It still packed hurricane-force wind, and forecasters were careful to say it was still dangerous to the tens of millions in its path.
Sandy made landfall at 8 p.m. near Atlantic City, which was already mostly under water and saw an old, 50-foot piece of its world-famous Boardwalk washed away earlier in the day.
Authorities reported a record surge 13 feet high at the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan, from the storm and high tide combined.

More Hurricane Sandy Coverage

Slideshow: Hurricane Sandy

President Obama on storm

Hurricane Sandy tracker

NYSE to shut down on Tuesday

More than 12,000 flights canceled

Two New Jersey nuclear reactors shut down

NYC Marathon expected to go on

How to stay connected during Hurricane Sandy

Snow plows out in West Virginia

Small businesses take hit from storm

Sandy unlikely to hurt US economy

Storm effect on sports world

Sandy blows the election off course

In an attempt to lessen damage from saltwater to the subway system and the electrical network beneath the city's financial district, New York City's main utility cut power to about 6,500 customers in lower Manhattan. But a far wider swath of the city was hit with blackouts caused by flooding and transformer explosions.
The city's transit agency said water surged into two major commuter tunnels, the Queens Midtown and the Brooklyn-Battery, and it cut power to some subway tunnels in lower Manhattan after water flowed into the stations and onto the tracks.
The subway system was shut down Sunday night, and the stock markets never opened Monday and are likely to be closed Tuesday as well.
The surge hit New York City hours after a construction crane atop a luxury high-rise collapsed in the wind and dangled precariously 74 floors above the street. Forecasters said the wind at the top the building may have been close to 95 mph.
As the storm drew near, airlines canceled more than 12,000 flights, disrupting the plans of travelers all over the world.
Storm damage was projected at $10 billion to $20 billion, meaning it could prove to be one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
Ten deaths were reported in New Jersey, New York, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Some of the victims were killed by falling trees. At least one death was blamed on the storm in Canada.
President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney canceled their campaign appearances at the very height of the race, with just over a week to go before Election Day. The president pledged the government's help and made a direct plea from the White House to those in the storm's path.
"When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate," he said. "Don't delay, don't pause, don't question the instructions that are being given, because this is a powerful storm."
Sandy, which killed 69 people in the Caribbean before making its way up the Atlantic, began to hook left at midday toward the New Jersey coast.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said people were stranded in Atlantic City, which sits on a barrier island. He accused the mayor of allowing them to stay there. With the hurricane roaring through, Christie warned it was no longer safe for rescuers, and advised people who didn't evacuate the coast to "hunker down" until morning.
"I hope, I pray, that there won't be any loss of life because of it," he said.
While the hurricane's 90 mph winds registered as only a Category 1 on a scale of five, it packed "astoundingly low" barometric pressure, giving it terrific energy to push water inland, said Kerry Emanuel, a professor of meteorology at MIT.
And the New York metropolitan area apparently got the worst of it, because it was on the dangerous northeastern wall of the storm.
"We are looking at the highest storm surges ever recorded" in the Northeast, said Jeff Masters, meteorology director for Weather Underground, a private forecasting service. "The energy of the storm surge is off the charts, basically."
Hours before landfall, there was graphic evidence of the storm's power.
Off North Carolina, a replica of the 18th-century sailing ship HMS Bounty that was built for the 1962 Marlon Brando movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" went down in the storm, and 14 crew members were rescued by helicopter from rubber lifeboats bobbing in 18-foot seas. Another crew member was found hours later but was unresponsive. The captain was missing.
At Cape May, water sloshed over the seawall, and it punched through dunes in other seaside communities.
"When I think about how much water is already in the streets, and how much more is going to come with high tide tonight, this is going to be devastating," said Bob McDevitt, president of the main Atlantic City casino workers union. "I think this is going to be a really bad situation tonight."
In Maryland, at least 100 feet of a fishing pier at the beach resort of Ocean City was destroyed.
At least half a million people along the East Coast had been ordered to evacuate, including 375,000 from low-lying parts of New York City.
Sheila Gladden left her home in Philadelphia's flood-prone Eastwick neighborhood, which took on 5½ feet of water during Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and headed for a hotel.
"I'm not going through this again," she said.
Those who stayed behind had few ways to get out.
Not only was the New York subway shut down, but the Holland Tunnel connecting New York to New Jersey was closed, as was a tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and several other spans were closed because of high winds.

McClam reported from New York. AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report from Washington. Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed in Raleigh, N.C.; David Porter in Pompton Lakes, N.J.; Wayne Parry in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.; and David Dishneau in Delaware also contributed.

US

A state-by-state look at the East Coast superstorm

AP Photo: Elise Amendola. IMAGE: Viewers react as waves crash against a seawall near homes in Scituate, Mass. Monday, Oct. 29, 2012.

2 hr ago

From the Carolinas to Maine, the Sandy superstorm will affect 50 million people.

Hurricane Sandy is churning off the East Coast and is expected to join up with two other weather systems to create a huge and problematic storm affecting 50 million people. Here's a snapshot of what is happening or expected, state by state.
CAROLINAS
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 15 members of a crew forced to abandon a tall ship off the North Carolina coast, but the captain is still missing. The HMS Bounty was originally built for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" starring Marlon Brando and has been featured in other films, including one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.
CONNECTICUT
The University of Connecticut is closing Tuesday, joining a hundreds of other schools and school systems across the state. The closure includes UConn's law school and the UConn Health Center, though the John Dempsey Hospital will remain open during the storm. Power outages: 117,400.
DELAWARE
Dover Air Force Base has relocated some aircraft in anticipation of the storm, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested that the base be used as a staging area for support and supplies. Some residents of low-lying areas of the base have been ordered to evacuate. Power outages: 1,800.
ILLINOIS
The powerful storm is expected to extend as far as Chicago, where the National Weather Service already has issued high wind warnings and a lakeshore flood warning for Tuesday and Wednesday. Water may pile up on the south shore of Lake Michigan, said Louis Uccellini, director of environmental prediction for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
KENTUCKY
Sandy is expected to bring snow to far southeastern Kentucky. A winter storm warning is in effect in Harlan, Letcher and Pike counties through Wednesday morning. Forecasters say snow could accumulate from 4 to 10 inches in high elevations and 1 to 3 inches in lower elevations.
MAINE
Virtually all Maine public schools opened Monday but some were closing early before the heaviest rain and wind from Hurricane Sandy. State officials say the biggest concern is wind, which is expected to cause widespread power outages. The state's utilities say they have crews poised to deal with expected power outages, including some from Canada. Power outages: 26,000.
MARYLAND
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says vehicular travel is banned on city roads beginning at 6 p.m. Monday. The restrictions to do not apply to uniformed personnel, hospital employees or other medical providers. Gov. Martin O'Malley earlier Monday closed the Bay Bridge.
MASSACHUSETTS
Voluntary evacuation recommendations have been issued in Scituate, Lynn, New Bedford and Plum Island. The recommendations are for just certain sections of the communities that could be affected by flooding as a result of Hurricane Sandy. A Red Cross spokeswoman said just a few people stayed at its shelters Sunday night, but she expects more people Monday night and into Tuesday. Power outages: 222,000.
MICHIGAN
Michigan utilities say high winds could cause power outages in the state and they're keeping an eye on the weather to respond to power problems. DTE Energy Co. said gusts of 50 mph Monday evening and Tuesday could affect some it its 2.1 million customers.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Gov. John Lynch has urged all drivers to be off the roads by 3 p.m. as Hurricane Sandy approaches. Lynch declared a state of emergency and directed that non-essential state workers be released from work Monday afternoon. He urged employers to consider releasing workers early. The governor has put 100 New Hampshire Guard soldiers on active duty. Power outages: 99,000.
NEW JERSEY
All roads into and out of Ocean City are closed due to flooding that has cut off the popular Jersey shore resort community. Hurricane Sandy already had flooded most of Atlantic City, sweeping away an old section of the city's famed boardwalk. Power outages: 434,000.
NEW YORK
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city's public schools will remain closed on Tuesday after being shut down Monday. Earlier, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and Holland Tunnel would close at 2 p.m. Monday. Airports in the metropolitan New York City area are open, but air carriers are not operating. Power outages: 451,967.
OHIO
Residents of low-lying areas and along Lake Erie were told to watch for flooding; utilities are anticipating high winds that could blow down trees and poles. Snow is forecast in some areas.
PENNSYLVANIA
Officials from the state transit agency and the Pennsylvania Turnpike have instituted speed restrictions over concerns about high winds and ordered certain vehicles, including empty trucks and motorcycles, off some highways. The National Weather Service says southeastern Pennsylvania could get winds reaching 75 mph and rainfall up to 10 inches. Power outages: 74,000.
RHODE ISLAND
Officials are concerned about wind driving water north up Narragansett Bay, which could create flooding in low-lying areas of the upper bay, including Providence, Warwick and Cranston. About 2,600 National Grid customers were without power, mostly in Barrington and other parts of Bristol County. Power outages: 80,000.
TENNESSEE
Snow is expected in higher elevations, where a freeze warning has been issued. High winds are expected in many areas.
VERMONT
Gov. Peter Shumlin declared a state of emergency to provide access to National Guard troops in a state still recovering from the devastating effects of the remnants of Hurricane Irene. Culverts and storm drainage basins in some spots have been cleared of debris. Power outages: 13,170.
VIRGINIA
A curfew is in place on Virginia's swamped Chincoteague Island. Officials say the entire 37-square-mile island is underwater, and there is no way off the island because a causeway to the mainland has been closed. The 3,500 islanders who decided to tough out Hurricane Sandy have been told to keep off the streets. Power outages: 9,500.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Taxis that originate in Washington are authorized to add an emergency flat rate of $15 per trip because of Hurricane Sandy, starting Monday. The price is supposed to expire at noon Tuesday, but can be extended if considered necessary. The capital area's transit system shut down rail service for the first time since 2003. Power outages: 2,300.
WEST VIRGINIA
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency Monday for West Virginia, where Sandy is expected to bring high winds and heavy rains and leave behind flooded towns and as much as 3 feet of snow on the state's highest ridge tops. Eastern parts of the state can expect to get up to 6 inches of rain. Fourteen counties are under blizzard warnings.
WISCONSIN:

With waves expected to reach as high as 33 feet Tuesday on Lake Michigan, the Port of Milwaukee is taking steps to protect its docks and boats. The superstorm bearing down on the East Coast Is expected to create dangerous conditions on the Great Lakes. The National Weather Service issued gale and storm warnings for the lakes through Wednesday.

US

Right-Wing Billionaires Behind Mitt Romney (They're trying to buy a presidency - and they expect a big payoff on their investment)

Mitt Romney addresses members of the press on his campaign's private plane enroute to Washington, DC.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

By TIM DICKINSON

May 24, 2012 9:55 AM ET

Presidential politics has always been a rich man's game. But now, thanks to the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United that upended decades of limits on campaign donations, financing a presidential race is the exclusive domain of the kind of megadonor whose portfolios make Mitt Romney look middle-class. "I have lots of money, and can give it legally now," Texas billionaire and top GOP moneyman Harold Simmons recently bragged to The Wall Street Journal. "Just never to Democrats."

In past elections, big donors like Simmons gave millions for advocacy groups like Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. By law, such groups were only allowed to run issue ads – but instead they directly targeted John Kerry, drawing big fines from the Federal Elections Commission. Now, with the blessing of the Supreme Court, the wealthy can legally hand out unlimited sums to groups that openly campaign for a candidate, knowing that their "dark money" donations will be kept entirely secret. The billionaire Koch brothers, for instance, have reportedly pledged $60 million to defeat President Obama this year – but their off-the-book contributions don't appear in any FEC filings.

Even more money from megadonors is flowing into newly created Super PACs, which, unlike advocacy groups, can spend every cent they raise on direct attacks on an opponent. Under the new rules, the richest men in America are plying candidates with donations far beyond what Congress intended. "They can still give the maximum $2,500 directly to the campaign – and then turn around and give $25 million to the Super PAC," says Trevor Potter, general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center. A single patron can now prop up an entire candidacy, as casino magnate Sheldon Adelson did with a $20 million donation to the Super PAC backing Newt Gingrich.

The undisputed master of Super PAC money is Mitt Romney. In the primary season alone, Romney's rich friends invested $52 million in his Super PAC, Restore Our Future – a number that's expected to more than double in the coming months. This unprecedented infusion of money from America's monied elites underscores the radical transformation of the Republican Party, which has made defending the interests of 0.0001 percent the basis of its entire platform. "Money buys power," the Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman observed recently, "and the increasing wealth of a tiny minority has effectively bought the allegiance of one of our two major political parties." In short, the political polarization and gridlock in Washington are a direct result of the GOP's capitulation to Big Money.

That capitulation is evident in Romney's campaign. Most of the megadonors backing his candidacy are elderly billionaires: Their median age is 66, and their median wealth is $1 billion. Each is looking for a payoff that will benefit his business interests, and they will all profit from Romney's pledge to eliminate inheritance taxes, extend the Bush tax cuts for the superwealthy – and then slash the top tax rate by another 20 percent. Romney has firmly joined the ranks of the economic nutcases who spout the lie of trickle-down economics. "Support from billionaires has always been the main thing keeping those charlatans and cranks in business," Krugman noted. "And now the same people effectively own a whole political party."

Here are the 16 donors who have given at least $1 million each to elect Romney – and what they expect in return for their investment:

William Koch

Lawrence Lucier/FilmMagic

THE COKE DEALER: William Koch

Position The "other" Koch brother, Bill sold his stake in Koch Industries to brothers David and Charles in the 1980s. He now runs Oxbow Carbon, a global dealer in petroleum coke, a cement-manufacturing fuel that's high in climate-warming carbon dioxide.
Age 72
Fortune $4 billion (Forbes 400 rank: 81)
Past Donations Koch and his wife gave $70,000 to House Speaker John Boehner last year. Boehner "looks out for business interests," a Koch deputy explained.
Current Donations Gave $2 million to Romney's Super PAC, including $250,000 in his own name, $750,000 through Oxbow Carbon and another $1 million through a subsidiary. A sister company of Oxbow operates a Colorado mine that sells coal to the federal government – meaning that its campaign contribution is subsidized, in part, by taxpayers.
What He Wants To pollute for free. Koch's fortune is tied up in some of the nation's dirtiest industries. He blasts the EPA, which has been trying to crack down on carbon pollution, as "hyper­aggressive."
How He Lives His wine collection, which includes 40,000 bottles, is worth $12 million. Owns a mansion in Palm Beach, a vacation villa in Cape Cod, four properties near Aspen worth $47.5 million, and a cattle ranch in Colorado decorated with an Old West ghost town that he bought for $3 million and moved to his land. Purchased the only known photograph of Billy the Kid.

Harold Simmons

REUTERS /FLOR CORDERO /LANDOV

THE WASTE BARON: Harold Simmons

Position Traffics in toxic chemicals and hazardous waste as head of Contran; owns one of the world's largest producers of titanium. A former corporate raider nicknamed "Ice Man," he pioneered the leveraged-buyout tactics that decimated American industry.
Age 81
Fortune $9.8 billion (Forbes rank: 33)
Past Donations Spent $3 million to Swift-boat John Kerry in 2004, and another $2.8 million in 2008 on "issue ads" linking Obama to Sixties radical Bill Ayers. "If we had run more ads," he lamented, "we could have killed Obama."
Current Donations Before backing Romney with $800,000, Simmons made $1 million bets on Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. His total giving of $16.7 million makes him the GOP's second-largest investor after Adelson. Most of the cash went to American Crossroads, the Super PAC founded by Karl Rove that has close ties to the Romney campaign.
What He Wants Plans to store radioactive waste from 36 states in an underground dump in Texas; has been sued repeatedly by the Justice Department for failing to clean up contaminated Superfund sites. Calls Obama "the most dangerous American alive, because he would eliminate free enterprise in this country."
How He Lives Doles out $100 bills to panhandlers. Jets between his coastal estate in California, his Arkansas ranch stocked with 35 bears and 100 elk, and his $4 million mansion on a private lake in Dallas, surrounded by 17,000 tulips.

Rollingstone politics news

Former US scoutmaster admits he molested boys

AP Photo: Chuck Burton. IMAGE: Tom Menghi

1 day ago By MICHAEL BIESECKER

Thomas Menghi's file is just one among 14,500 pages of "perversion files" compiled by the Boy Scouts of America between 1959 to 1985 and made public last week by court order MONROE, N.C. — Former scoutmaster Thomas J. Menghi Jr. says he was usually drunk when he molested numerous Boy Scouts during the early 1970s.  He was in his late 20s, living in a Fayetteville motel and working as Tupperware deliveryman. He invited boys from Troop 786 as young as 11 years old to ride with him along his route, requesting that they spend the night in his room so they could get an early start.  "Yes, I abused kids," Menghi, now 69, said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. "But just how many and other details I can't remember. It was a long time ago and I was in a fog."  Menghi's file is just one among 14,500 pages of "perversion files" compiled by the Boy Scouts of America between 1959 to 1985 and made public last week by court order. 

His file details the way local Scout officials investigated the allegations and removed him from the organization, but failed to report crimes to law enforcement. In Menghi's case, even some parents were not told that their children could have been victims.  The AP tracked down the former scoutmaster in Monroe, a bedroom community near Charlotte where he lives on a quiet street around the corner from an elementary school. Had he ever been convicted and placed on the state's sex offender registry, a 2006 law would bar him from living within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare.  The house Menghi shares with his adult son was decked out for Halloween with fake tombstones, a big white ghost and a black-clad witch. The front door was covered with bloody handprints and a warning: "Keep Out!" The former scoutmaster said he was a Boy Scout growing up and wanted to give back to the organization. He was 25 years old and single when he decided to volunteer. As he spent more time alone with the boys, his "dark side" took over.  "What I did was wrong," Menghi said, sitting in a rocking chair on his front porch. "I'm not making any excuses. But I was a heavy drinker and did pot every once in a while."  His file shows local scout officials were contacted in early 1974 by the father of two brothers, ages 11 and 12. They had been overhead by an older sister talking about what happened in Menghi's motel room. Other parents also reported that their sons had been molested.

After interviewing the parents and some of the scouts, Kia Kim District Scout Executive George F. Hardwick Sr. drafted a memo stating that he believed there was evidence Menghi had abused as many as 10 boys. He and other officials met with Menghi the next day to confront him with the abuse claims and barred him from scouting.  "The biggest thing was to get the guy out of scouting and away from our boys," said George Heib, 86, a retired U.S. Army officer who was at the meeting. "Putting the boys through all the trauma of having to go to court and trial and all the stuff like that, I didn't think it was worth it. Of course, the publicity wouldn't be good for scouting, either."  The local scouting officials wrote to national headquarters seeking guidance on whether to encourage the parents of the abused boys to file a criminal complaint. Paul I. Ernst, the BSA executive then in charge of the organization's secret files, directed them not to.
"Normally, we do not suggest that any legal action be instituted by parents," Ernst wrote. "If they desire to do this on their own they certainly should bring about any action they feel necessary. Certainly in this case, there is every indication that legal action is justified."  A woman who answered the phone at a listing for Ernst, who now lives in Texas, directed questions to BSA and hung up.

There's no statute of limitations on prosecuting child sexual abuse in North Carolina. William West, the district attorney for the county that includes Fayetteville, said in a statement that his office and the sheriff's department would review Menghi's case.  Now 83 and still active in scouting, Hardwick said Thursday he never contacted some of the parents and never considered going to the police himself.  "As the district executive, I followed the procedure I was supposed to follow," said Hardwick, a retired U.S. Army officer. "I handled it according to my instructions. Today, there's no question the guy would be put in handcuffs. But that wasn't the way it was done in those days. Nobody even wanted to talk about it."  The current leadership of the Boy Scouts of America, which has hired a public relations firm to handle media questions on abuse, declined to comment on Menghi's case.  Menghi said the only reason he stopped molesting boys was because he got caught.  "That's when it really hit me. I knew I needed to quit and get help. Then I blacked it out," he said.  He said he recognized the emotional and physical pain he caused and would like to apologize to his victims. He said that might not be enough now that his secret file can be read by anyone with an Internet connection.  "I don't know what I'm going to do now," he said. "I just don't want to wake up in jail."
___
Biesecker reported from Raleigh. Associated Press News Researcher Julie Reed in Charlotte contributed to this report.

Sandy regains Hurricane status; 'Frankenstorm' looms

Reuters Photo. IMAGE: Lighthouse Point Park

27 min ago By MSN News with wire reports

Hurricane Sandy was downgraded temporarily to tropical storm status early Saturday morning, but quickly regained strength, and forecasters warn that "widespread impacts" are still expected on the East Coast next week.  Tropical cyclone Sandy revved back up to hurricane strength on Saturday as it churned toward the U.S. northeast coast where it threatens to become one of the worst storms in decades.  The late-season storm has been dubbed "Frankenstorm" by some weather watchers because it will combine elements of a tropical cyclone and a winter storm and is forecast to reach the U.S. coast close to Halloween.  Forecast models show it will have all the ingredients to morph into a so-called "super storm."  Governors in states along the U.S. East Coast declared emergencies on Friday, with officials urging residents to stock up on food, water and batteries.  The U.S. Navy ordered all ships in the Norfolk, Va., area, including a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, out to sea to ride out the approaching storm.  "We're expecting a large, large storm," said Louis Uccellini, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Center for Environmental Prediction. "The circulation of this storm as it approaches the coast could cover about the eastern third of the United States."  Sandy battered the Bahamas southeast of Florida on Friday after causing widespread destruction in eastern Cuba a day earlier. The storm was expected to crawl northward on Saturday and Sunday and then turn toward the U.S. coast.

Sandy's powerful winds and rains were blamed for 41 deaths in several Caribbean countries, including 11 in Cuba. Most were killed by falling trees and building collapses.  On its current projected track, Sandy could make U.S. landfall on Monday night or Tuesday somewhere between North Carolina and southern New England, forecasters said.  The storm has the potential to cause widespread power outages and to unleash flooding and even dump snow as far inland as Ohio. It also threatens to disrupt air travel along the U.S. East Coast.  At 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT), Sandy was about 335 miles southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and packing top sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center.  It had earlier dropped just below hurricane strength but little overall change on strength was expected ahead of its anticipated U.S. landfall early next week, the Miami-based Hurricane Center said.  The storm picked up a little forward speed overnight but was still moving slowly over the Atlantic at 10 mph.


PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
The massive storm has continued to grow in size with tropical force winds extending 450 miles from its center, government forecasters said.  Coming in the final weeks before the U.S. presidential election on November 6, the storm was presenting a challenge to the campaigns of U.S. President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.  Romney canceled a rally scheduled for Sunday evening in Virginia Beach, Virginia, while Obama's re-election campaign announced that Vice President Joe Biden had also canceled a Saturday trip to that city.  Ahead of the election, millions of Americans are taking advantage of early voting arrangements to cast their ballots. State officials said they had put in place contingency plans in case Sandy caused extended power outages or other problems that could disrupt voting.  In New York City, officials were considering shutting down the country's largest mass transit system because they were worried the storm's impact could cause flooding or high winds that might endanger subways and buses.  Much of Florida's northeast coast was under a tropical storm warning and storm warnings and watches extended up the coast through most of South Carolina and North Carolina.  Along North Carolina's Outer Banks, which jut out into the Atlantic, vacationers in large camper trailers and motor homes streamed off the barrier islands.  Many forecasters are warning that Sandy could be more destructive than last year's Hurricane Irene, which caused billions of dollars in damage across the U.S. Northeast.  When Sandy becomes a hybrid weather monster some call "Frankenstorm" it will smack the East Coast harder and wider than last year's damaging Hurricane Irene, forecasters said Friday.  The brunt of the weather mayhem will be concentrated where the storm comes ashore early Tuesday, but there will be hundreds of miles of steady, strong and damaging winds and rain for the entire Eastern region for several days, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The hurricane has killed at least 40 people in the Caribbean.

Reuters Photo. IMAGE: St. Augustine Beach in Florida.

As of Friday morning, federal forecasters were looking closer at the Delaware shore as the spot it will turn inland and merge with a wintry storm front. But there is a lot of room for error in the forecast and the storm could turn into shore closer to New York and New Jersey and bring the worst weather there.  Wherever Sandy comes ashore will get 10 inches of rain and extreme storm surges, Louis Uccellini, NOAA's environmental prediction director, said in a Friday news conference. Other areas not directly on Sandy's entry path will still get 4 to 8 inches of rain, maybe more, he said. Up to 2 feet of snow should fall on West Virginia, with lighter snow in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania, regardless of where Sandy first hits.  A wide swath of the East, measuring several hundreds of miles, will get persistent gale-force winds in the 50 mph area, with some areas closer to storm landfall getting closer to 70 mph, said James Franklin, forecast chief for the National Hurricane Center.  "It's going to be a long-lasting event, two to three days of impact for a lot of people," Franklin said. "Wind damage, widespread power outages, heavy rainfall, inland flooding and somebody is going to get a significant surge event."  That storm surge will only be magnified by the full moon this weekend to make it a "dangerous period," Uccellini said.  Last year's Hurricane Irene was a minimal hurricane that caused widespread damage as it moved north along the coast after making landfall in North Carolina. With catastrophic inland flooding in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Vermont, federal officials say Irene caused $15.8 billion in damage.  Sandy is "looking like a very serious storm that could be historic," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground. "Mother Nature is not saying, 'Trick or treat.' It's just going to give tricks."  Government forecasters said there is a 90 percent chance — up from 60 percent two days earlier — that the East will get pounded.  Utilities are lining up out-of-state work crews and canceling employees' days off to deal with expected power outages. From county disaster chiefs to the federal government, emergency officials are warning the public to be prepared. And President Barack Obama was briefed aboard Air Force One.  Boat owners were yanking their vessels out of the water Friday at the Southside Marina in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., about 60 miles south of New York City.  "We're taking them out as fast as we can," said marina employee Jim Martin.  Atlantic City's casinos made contingency plans in case they have to close, as they did for three days last year when Tropical Storm Irene approached.  Eastern states that saw outages that lasted for days after last year's freak Halloween snowstorm and Hurricane Irene are already pressuring power companies to be more ready this time.  Asked if he expected utilities to be more prepared, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick responded: "They'd better be."  Jersey Central Power & Light, which was criticized for its response to Irene, notified employees to be ready for extended shifts. In Pennsylvania, PPL Corp. spokesman Michael Wood said, "We're in a much better place this year."

AP Photo: Joe Epstein. IMAGE: The Highlands Fire Department removes the rescue boat from the Atlantic Highlands Marina in Atlantic Highlands, N.J.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday said the city was striking a tone of calm preparedness.
"What we are doing is we are taking the kind of precautions you should expect us to do, and I don't think anyone should panic," Bloomberg said. The city has opened an emergency situation room and activated its coastal storm plan.  Sandy was expected to deal only a glancing blow to North Carolina's Outer Banks, where Lori Hilby said she planned to ride out this storm at home, unlike past storms such as Irene. Hilby, the manager at Tommy's Natural Foods Market and Wine Emporium in Duck, N.C., said the shop would remain open throughout the storm. She said she sold a fair amount of beer and wine to people who planned to ride out the storm on the barrier island.  "I'll never evacuate again," Hilby said. She said most of the power lines there are underground, so the power often stays on even during powerful storms.  "Whenever I evacuate, I always end up somewhere and they lose power and my house is fine. So I'm always wishing I was home instead of at somebody else's house with no power."  There are still plenty of stores open in Duck, and Halloween decorations and displays were still on houses despite the rain that started to roll in Friday. Few homes were boarded up.  Some have compared the tempest to the so-called Perfect Storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but that one hit a less populated area. Nor is this one like last year's Halloween storm, which was merely an early snowfall.  "The Perfect Storm only did $200 million of damage and I'm thinking a billion" this time, Masters said. "Yeah, it will be worse."
___
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

300 potential abuse victims in BBC scandal

AP Photo, Lewis Whyld. IMAGE: Jimmy Savile, for decades a fixture in British television, in a photograph from March 25, 2008.

7 hr ago By David Stringer

Scotland Yard says more will likely come forward. The controversy surrounding the behavior of Sir Jimmy Savile widened with a defense from New York Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. of the paper's incoming CEO--the BBC's former top executive.

LONDON — The scale of the child sex abuse scandal engulfing the BBC expanded on Thursday as authorities announced that 300 potential victims had come forward with accusations against Sir Jimmy Savile, one of the broadcaster's most popular children's entertainers, alleging that others might have acted with him.
The scandal swirling around one of Britain's most respected news organizations also prompted a spirited defense from New York Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. of the paper's incoming CEO, the former top executive of the BBC.
In a letter to staff, Sulzberger said he was satisfied that Mark Thompson, who was the BBC's director general until last month, had no role in the decision to scrap an investigative segment about the abuse allegations against the late Jimmy Savile.
The well-known children's TV and radio host is accused of using his fame to coerce teens into having sex with him in his car, his camper and even in dressing rooms on BBC premises.
Police Commander Peter Spindler, head of the Scotland Yard inquiry into the scandal, said Thursday that 300 potential victims had come forward so far and even more were expected to contact authorities. He said all but two of the cases involved girls and that detectives had interviewed 130 people.
The police commander acknowledged he had been stunned by the volume of abuse allegations reported to his team of 30 officers in the three weeks since accusations about Savile's activities first came to public attention.
"It is quite staggering, the number of women ... and this is primarily women; we have only got two men in the system so far," Spindler said.
Spindler said Savile, who died last October at age 84, was "undoubtedly" one of the worst sex offenders in recent British history.
Since the allegations aired on British television this month, London police have received three times the usual number of calls about allegations of past sexual abuse. "I have no doubt that we are in a watershed moment for child abuse investigations," Spindler said.
Previously feted for his charity work at hospitals and homes for children, Savile is alleged to have deliberately supported such causes to target troubled youths whose credibility would be questioned if they reported the alleged sexual abuse.
Spindler said that although the majority of cases related to Savile alone, some involved the entertainer and other, unidentified suspects. In addition, some potential victims who reported abuse by Savile also told police about separate allegations against unidentified men that did not involve the BBC host.
He confirmed that police could seek to prosecute any suspects who are still living but said no one has been arrested or questioned so far.
Spindler also revealed that a retired London police officer had contacted Scotland Yard to report that he investigated Savile in the 1980s after a young woman accused him of assaulting her inside his trailer while it was parked on BBC premises. The ex-officer said there hadn't been sufficient evidence to prosecute Savile at the time, Spindler said.
Police have also discovered that a woman contacted Scotland Yard in 2003 to allege that Savile had touched her inappropriately in the 1970s but did not seek to press charges. In addition, authorities acknowledged that Savile was questioned in 2007 over an allegation tied to a school in Surrey but prosecutors declined to bring charges.
The Savile scandal has rocked the BBC and prompted disbelief that the TV host's crimes could have gone unnoticed or unreported by colleagues or managers.
Thompson, the incoming New York Times CEO, who was BBC director-general from 2004 until last month, is among those facing questions from lawmakers. Thompson has insisted he never met Savile, was unaware of rumors about his behavior and had little knowledge of the expose that was canceled late last year just as other BBC divisions were planning tributes to the late entertainer.
In his letter to Times staff, Sulzberger said Thompson had thoroughly explained his handling of the issue.
"Mark has provided a detailed account of that matter, and I am satisfied that he played no role in the cancellation of the segment," Sulzberger wrote.
"Our opinion was then and remains now that he possesses high ethical standards and is the ideal person to lead our company," the letter said.
For almost 20 years, Savile made children's dreams come true on a popular TV show, "Jim'll Fix It." He was also the original host of the music program "Top of the Pops," which ran from 1964 to 2006, featuring performances by everyone from The Rolling Stones to the Sex Pistols.
Savile championed a host of good causes, frequently running marathons to raise money. He helped to collect millions for the creation of a national spinal injuries center at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in southern England and bequeathed money for a heart unit at Leeds infirmary called the Savile Institute.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to charity and entertainment and received a papal knighthood from the Vatican. Prince Charles was among those who paid tribute when Savile died last year.

REUTERS POLL: Obama Is Going To Trounce Mitt Romney In A Landslide

Brett LoGiurato|Oct. 23, 2012, 3:55 PM|

With two weeks to go before Election Day, a new Reuters/Ipsos forecast released today predicts an Electoral College landslide for President Barack Obama over Republican rival Mitt Romney.
Obama leads Romney by a point in the Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll, 47-46. But results from Ipsos' tracking in key swing states leads to a projection of a much bigger Electoral College victory. The Ipsos projection has Obama winning the big three swing states of Florida, Ohio and Virginia.
Ipsos' final Electoral College score: 332-206. Here's what the firm's projected map looks like:

270towin.com

Despite Ipsos' projections, Romney currently leads Obama by nearly 2 points in the Real Clear Politics average of polling in Florida. He also leads by 0.2 in Colorado, and Virginia is dead even.

Feds investigate phony letters warning Florida voters they're not eligible to vote

By Michael Isikoff,  NBC News

The FBI and U.S. Postal Service agents are investigating bogus official-looking letters sent to voters in at least 28 Florida counties questioning their citizenship and their eligibility to vote, NBC News has learned.
David Couvertier, a spokesman for the FBI in Tampa, said his office opened up an investigation into the possible attempt at voter intimidation on Wednesday after receiving reports that eligible voters throughout the state have received the letters.
"We're taking it as a serious situation," he said. "We're looking at everything from civil rights violations to election fraud -- to everything in between."

---

Chris Cate, a spokesman for the Florida Secretary of State's Office, told NBC News, "We believe these letters appear to meet the standard of voter intimidation." Between 50 and 100 such letters have been reported to state officials so far, "and those are only the ones we know about. We're encouraging people to come forward."

 The fake letters, which first started showing up last Friday, have been sent under the names of real Florida county election supervisors -- with some correct contact information -- informing the voters that the supervisors have received "information" about their citizenship status, "bringing into doubt your eligibility as a registered voter."  The letters also say the voter must fill out a Voter Eligibility Form in the next 15 days -- and failure to do so will result "in the removal of your name from the voter registration rolls and you will no longer be eligible to vote."

"A non-registered voter who casts a vote in the state of Florida may be subject to arrest, imprisonment, and/or other criminal sanctions," the letters state.  Some of the letters have been received by "longtime, staunch voters who have been exercising their right to vote" for years, Couvertier said. While those people are likely to vote anyway, "Our concern is someone who might not be secure and then questions whether they should vote."  It's not clear who sent the letters, which were machine postmarked in Seattle. Couvertier said the FBI in Tampa is working with its Seattle office to track down the perpetrator.  Cate said a "significant majority have gone to Republican voters, but not exclusively. We've got Democrats who received the letters, we've got independents. We're telling everybody to be on the lookout."

Michael Isikoff is NBC News national investigative correspondent.

Let Vinny Gambini explain Mitt to you...

Drug overdose may have killed woman who won $1 million in lottery but kept getting welfare

AP Photo / Courtesy Michigan Lottery via Detroit News

In this photo provided by the Michigan Lottery, Amanda Clayton holds her $1 million lottery check.

By NBC News staff and wire services

ECORSE, Mich. -- A drug overdose may have killed Amanda Clayton, a Detroit-area woman who won a $1 million lottery prize but kept collecting welfare benefits, police said Saturday.

Ecorse police Sgt. Cornelius Herring said Clayton, 25, of Lincoln Park was found dead about 9 a.m. Saturday at a home, The Associated Press said. Ecorse is southwest of Detroit.
Clayton won the $1 million prize in September.

In April, prosecutors accused Clayton of collecting $5,475 in food and medical benefits from August 2011 through March that she would not have received had she reported the lottery winnings and income from a job she held from June through October 2011. In June, she pleaded no contest to fraud and was sentenced to nine months' probation in July.

Her attorney has said Clayton repaid about $5,500, the AP reported.  "It's simply common sense that million-dollar lottery winners forfeit their right to public assistance," Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a statement. 

Veterans angle for a overdue shout out during tonight's debate

By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

A leading veterans group, seeking to muscle any mention of military issues into the first presidential debate, published an online voter guide Tuesday listing five criteria on which service members past and present can judge the two candidates and ultimately cast their votes.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a nonpartisan and nonprofit group with more than 200,000 members, released "Vote Smart For Vets" on its website with hopes that its five stated benchmarks — along with some mathematical prodding — will prompt Republican candidate Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama to tangle on topics that include the military suicide epidemic or the high veteran unemployment rate.

"Our goal is to obviously make progress on these issues but also just to get the candidates talking about them," said Paul Rieckhoff, chief executive officer and founder of IAVA. "We get a lot of pandering. We get a lot of pleasantries. We get a lot of ceremony. But let’s get down to specifics.

We’re trying to force just a conversation of any kind (about veterans) when economic issues are front and center," added Rieckhoff, who served as a first lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader in Iraq during 2003 and 2004.  The five-point checklist drafted by the IAVA for veterans and vet-friendly voters "to evaluate your candidates' platforms" is placed in this order:  

Ensuring Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have the tools they need to succeed in the civilian work force;  Ensuring every veteran has the right to the education benefits they have earned; 

 Improving mental health programs in the military and VA to prevent further suicides among troops and veterans;  

Modernizing the claims process at the VA so that veterans have access to the benefits and resources they have earned;  

Improving VA healthcare facilities and claims processes for female veterans.

How have Romney and Obama fared — in the eyes of veterans — in their attention to or work on those five points?

"The reality is that neither one has been judged on them yet because these issues really haven’t been a focal point in the campaign," Rieckhoff said. "You’re not hearing about plans to lower veteran unemployment."

Partly due to the lagging U.S. economy, joblessness has dogged thousands of men and women who have returned after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. During 2011, the veteran unemployment rate was more than 12 percent — far above the national median. In August of this year, that number was 10.9 percent — still higher than the rest of the American work force.

"We view this as not just a social issue but an opportunity for investment. If you invest in these men and women coming home it’s going to produce a tremendous return," Rieckhoff said. "This is might be the one thing Romney and Obama could agree about on the stage. But we’ve got to force the questions.
"Just one question about veterans during the debate makes everybody remember that we’re out there," he added.  If either campaign needs more convincing that winning the military and veterans vote could tip the election, IAVA is armed with the sorts of stats that make pollsters drool.

More than 2.4 million veterans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Three battleground states are packed with veterans: 60,000-plus in Ohio, and more than 150,000 in both Virginia and Florida. The organization also reports that 90 percent of new veterans are registered to vote, and many remain undecided.  In fact, according to a membership survey IAVA conducted last year, more than 40 the group's participants don't identify themselves as Republicans or Democrats.

"If you look at the broader military and veterans population, that’s an incredibly influential voting bloc. And not only are they strong in numbers and not only are they registered to vote in a high percentage, they’re also very influential," Rieckhoff said. "They have an opportunity to be force multipliers — not only influencing their families but influencing their communities.

"They're also incredibly nonpartisan," he added. "They’re patriotic and pragmatic and they just want to see people who can get things done. They are much more dedicated to their country than they are their party. They are a political jump ball."

PBS CEO Paula Kerger: Mitt Romney's Debate Attack Was 'Stunning'

 (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post | By Jack Mirkinson Posted: 10/04/2012 11:26 am EDT Updated: 10/04/2012 5:26 pm EDT

The CEO of PBS fired back at Mitt Romney Thursday, saying that it was "stunning" that the Republican candidate had singled her network out in Wednesday's debate.
Romney had one of his most memorable moments when he vowed to cut the federal subsidy to public broadcasting.  "I'm sorry Jim, I'm gonna stop the subsidy to PBS," he told moderator Jim Lehrer, who has worked for PBS since the 1970s. "I like PBS, I love Big Bird, I actually like you too, but I'm going to stop borrowing money from China to pay for things we don't need."

PBS chief Paula Kerger spoke to CNN's Carol Costello on Thursday, and didn't mince words in her response to Romney.  "With the enormous problems facing our country, the fact that we are the focus is just unbelievable to me," she said. Later, she called it a "stunning moment."
Noting that the debate touched on education, she called PBS "America's biggest classroom," adding, "This is not about the budget. It has to be about politics."

Kerger also fact-checked Romney -- who she has tussled with before -- pointing out that PBS doesn't get any direct money from the government.  "In fact, the money that comes from the government into the Corporation for Public Broadcasting goes to our member stations," she said.

Curiously, Kerger declined to praise or defend Lehrer, who has been tarred and feathered for his moderating.  "It was a very complicated debate structure," she said.  PBS also issued a blistering statement after the debate:

We are very disappointed that PBS became a political target in the Presidential debate last night. Governor Romney does not understand the value the American people place on public broadcasting and the outstanding return on investment the system delivers to our nation. We think it is important to set the record straight and let the facts speak for themselves. The federal investment in public broadcasting equals about one one-hundredth of one percent of the federal budget. Elimination of funding would have virtually no impact on the nation’s debt. Yet the loss to the American public would be devastating.A national survey by the bipartisan research firms of Hart Research and American Viewpoint in 2011 found that over two-thirds of American voters (69%) oppose proposals to eliminate government funding of public broadcasting, with Americans across the political spectrum against such a cut.
As a stated supporter of education, Governor Romney should be a champion of public broadcasting, yet he is willing to wipe out services that reach the vast majority of Americans, including underserved audiences, such as children who cannot attend preschool and citizens living in rural areas.

For more than 40 years, Big Bird has embodied the public broadcasting mission – harnessing the power of media for the good of every citizen, regardless of where they live or their ability to pay. Our system serves as a universally accessible resource for education, history, science, arts and civil discourse.
[...]
Earlier in 2012, a Harris Interactive poll confirmed that Americans consider PBS the most trusted public institution and the second most valuable use of public funds, behind only national defense, for the 9th consecutive year.
A key thing to remember is that public television and radio stations are locally owned and community focused and they are experts in working efficiently to make limited resources produce results. In fact, for every $1.00 of federal funding invested, they raise an additional $6.00 on their own – a highly effective public-private partnership.
Numerous studies -- including one requested by Congress earlier this year -- have stated categorically that while the federal investment in public broadcasting is relatively modest, the absence of this critical seed money would cripple the system and bring its services to an end.

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