Reuters WaMu is largest U.S. bank failure

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON - Washington Mutual Inc was closed by the U.S. government in by far the largest failure of a U.S. bank, and its banking assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co for $1.9 billion.

Thursday's seizure and sale is the latest historic step in U.S. government attempts to clean up a banking industry littered with toxic mortgage debt. Negotiations over a $700 billion bailout of the entire financial system stalled in Washington on Thursday.

Washington Mutual, the largest U.S. savings and loan, has been one of the lenders hardest hit by the nation's housing bust and credit crisis, and had already suffered from soaring mortgage losses.

Washington Mutual was shut by the federal Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp was named receiver. This followed $16.7 billion of deposit outflows at the Seattle-based thrift since Sept 15, the OTS said.

"With insufficient liquidity to meet its obligations, WaMu was in an unsafe and unsound condition to transact business," the OTS said.



Customers should expect business as usual on Friday, and all depositors are fully protected, the FDIC said.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said the bailout happened on Thursday night because of media leaks, and to calm customers. Usually, the FDIC takes control of failed institutions on Friday nights, giving it the weekend to go through the books and enable them to reopen smoothly the following Monday.

Washington Mutual has about $307 billion of assets and $188 billion of deposits, regulators said. The largest previous U.S. banking failure was Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust, which had $40 billion of assets when it collapsed in 1984.

JPMorgan said the transaction means it will now have 5,410 branches in 23 U.S. states from coast to coast, as well as the largest U.S. credit card business.

It vaults JPMorgan past Bank of America Corp to become the nation's second-largest bank, with $2.04 trillion of assets, just behind Citigroup Inc. Bank of America will go to No. 1 once it completes its planned purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co.



The bailout also fulfills JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon's long-held goal of becoming a retail bank force in the western United States. It comes four months after JPMorgan acquired the failing investment bank Bear Stearns Cos at a fire-sale price through a government-financed transaction.

On a conference call, Dimon said the "risk here obviously is the asset values."

He added: "That's what created this opportunity."

JPMorgan expects to incur $1.5 billion of pre-tax costs, but realize an equal amount of annual savings, mostly by the end of 2010. It expects the transaction to add to earnings immediately, and increase earnings 70 cents per share by 2011.

It also plans to sell $8 billion of stock, and take a $31 billion write-down for the loans it bought, representing estimated future credit losses.

The FDIC said the acquisition does not cover claims of Washington Mutual equity, senior debt and subordinated debt holders. It also said the transaction will not affect its roughly $45.2 billion deposit insurance fund.

"Jamie Dimon is clearly feeling that he has an opportunity to grab market share, and get it at fire-sale prices," said Matt McCormick, a portfolio manager at Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel in Cincinnati. "He's becoming an acquisition machine."

BAILOUT UNCERTAINTY

The transaction came as Washington wrangles over the fate of a $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry, which has been battered by mortgage defaults and tight credit conditions, and evaporating investor confidence.

"It removes an uncertainty from the market," said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital in Sydney. "The problem is that markets are in a jittery stage. Washington Mutual provides another reminder how tenuous things are."

Washington Mutual's collapse is the latest of a series of takeovers and outright failures that have transformed the American financial landscape and wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars of shareholder wealth.

These include the disappearance of Bear, government takeovers of mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the insurer American International Group Inc, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, and Bank of America's purchase of Merrill.

JPMorgan, based in New York, ended June with $1.78 trillion of assets, $722.9 billion of deposits and 3,157 branches. Washington Mutual then had 2,239 branches and 43,198 employees. It is unclear how many people will lose their jobs.

Shares of Washington Mutual plunged $1.24 to 45 cents in after-hours trading after news of a JPMorgan transaction surfaced. JPMorgan shares rose $1.04 to $44.50 after hours, but before the stock offering was announced.

119-YEAR HISTORY

The transaction ends exactly 119 years of independence for Washington Mutual, whose predecessor was incorporated on September 25, 1889, "to offer its stockholders a safe and profitable vehicle for investing and lending," according to the thrift's website. This helped Seattle residents rebuild after a fire torched the city's downtown.

It also follows more than a week of sale talks in which Washington Mutual attracted interest from several suitors.

These included Banco Santander SA, Citigroup Inc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Wells Fargo & Co, as well as private equity firms Blackstone Group LP and Carlyle Group, people familiar with the situation said.

Less than three weeks ago, Washington Mutual ousted Chief Executive Kerry Killinger, who drove the thrift's growth as well as its expansion in subprime and other risky mortgages. It replaced him with Alan Fishman, the former chief executive of Brooklyn, New York's Independence Community Bank Corp.

WaMu's board was surprised at the seizure, and had been working on alternatives, people familiar with the matter said.

More than half of Washington Mutual's roughly $227 billion book of real estate loans was in home equity loans, and in adjustable-rate mortgages and subprime mortgages that are now considered risky.

The transaction wipes out a $1.35 billion investment by David Bonderman's private equity firm TPG Inc, the lead investor in a $7 billion capital raising by the thrift in April.

A TPG spokesman said the firm is "dissatisfied with the loss," but that the investment "represented a very small portion of our assets."

DIMON POUNCES

The deal is the latest ambitious move by Dimon.

Once a golden child at Citigroup before his mentor Sanford "Sandy" Weill engineered his ouster in 1998, Dimon has carved for himself something of a role as a Wall Street savior.

Dimon joined JPMorgan in 2004 after selling his Bank One Corp to the bank for $56.9 billion, and became chief executive at the end of 2005.

Some historians see parallels between him and the legendary financier John Pierpont Morgan, who ran J.P. Morgan & Co and was credited with intervening to end a banking panic in 1907.

JPMorgan has suffered less than many rivals from the credit crisis, but has been hurt. It said on Thursday it has already taken $3 billion to $3.5 billion of write-downs this quarter on mortgages and leveraged loans.

Washington Mutual has a major presence in California and Florida, two of the states hardest hit by the housing crisis. It also has a big presence in the New York City area. The thrift lost $6.3 billion in the nine months ended June 30.



"It is surprising that it has hung on for as long as it has," said Nancy Bush, an analyst at NAB Research LLC.

Found at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080926/ts_nm/us_washingtonmutual_jpmorgan_news

Astronomers spot a 'bizarre' strobe light star

A "most bizarre" strobe light star reported by European astronomers likely belongs to a long-sought family of compact "neutron" stars.

It initially showed up as a gamma-ray burst, leading astronomers to think it was the death of a star in the far-off universe. But after that first gamma-ray pulse, there was a three-day period of activity during which this odd celestial object emitted 40 visible-light flashes before disappearing again. Eleven days later, there was a brief near-infrared flaring episode recorded by ESO's Very Large Telescope. Then the weird object went visibly "silent" again.

"We are dealing with an object that has been hibernating for decades before entering a brief period of activity," said Alberto J. Castro-Tirado, lead author of a paper in this week's issue of Nature.

Astronomers now think this celestial enigma is a 'magnetar' located in our own Milky Way galaxy, about 15,000 light-years away in the area around the constellation of Vulpecula, the Fox. Magnetars are a type of young neutron stars. They boast a magnetic field that's a billion billion times stronger than Earth's.

To put that in perspective for those of us with the financial crisis willies: “A magnetar would wipe the information from all credit cards on Earth from a distance halfway to the Moon,” explains Antonio de Ugarte Postigo, the study's co-author.

Because magnetars can be celestially silent for decades at a time, they're hard to pin unless we're looking at the right place at the right time. Postigo says there's likely a large population of them in the Milky Way even though we've only identified about 12.

The magnetar, known as SWIFT J195509+261406, is a candidate for what scientists have been looking for: A magnetar moving towards a pleasant retirement as its magnetic fields decay.

Photo: The twisting of magnetic field lines in magnetars give rise to 'starquakes', which will eventually lead to an intense soft gamma-ray burst. In the case of the SWIFT source, the optical flares that reached the Earth were probably due to ions ripped out from the surface of the magnetar and gyrating around the field lines.
Found at: http://blogs.usatoday.com/sciencefair/2008/09/astronomers-spo.html

Atlanta gas crunch: 'We've got no gas here'

Mohammed Hussain got 3,000 gallons of gas delivered to his Chevron station in suburban Atlanta on Saturday. By Sunday morning, all of the gas, priced at $4.39 per gallon for regular unleaded, was gone.

"We're dry. We've got no gas here," Hussain, the station's manager, said Monday morning.

He said he has "no idea" when the next shipment will come, even though he's been in constant contact with the local terminal.

"It could be days," he said. "Obviously, we're disappointed. We're being patient. That's all we can do."

Across metro Atlanta, drivers in one of the nation's largest commuter cities are running into the same thing: a lack of gas and no clear idea when the situation will get better. State and industry officials say they're working as fast as they can and are urging people not to panic.

Christina Wedge, a resident of the Atlanta suburb Decatur, said her tank was on empty Sunday. When she went to fill up, she passed six stations closed down before finally finding one with gas for nearly $5 a gallon. She got just enough to continue looking for a cheaper price.

About a mile away, she found a station with long lines for gas around $4.29.

"I waited 30 minutes to get gas," she said. "It does concern me. I'm actually frustrated that the prices are so high."

Michael Lanfreschi, an iReporter from the suburb of Alpharetta, shared a similar story. He said he left work around noon to fill up his tank "when I started noticing all of the gas stations were empty."

"There was no gas to be found, then panic set in as I approached a gas station with a 40-car line," he said. "This is causing complete chaos. Why is this happening, and what actions are being taken to prevent this from happening again, and why did it happen in the first place?"

According to AAA, Atlanta's drivers are in for sticker shock when they do find a station with gasoline. The average price in metro Atlanta, as of Monday, for a gallon of regular unleaded was $4.02, nearly 30 cents higher than the national average of $3.74.

The gas supply has taken a major hit as refineries in the Houston area try to get back up to full capacity in the wake of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, state and industry officials say. The Colonial Pipeline, which typically delivers 100 million gallons of gasoline, aviation fuel and other petroleum products throughout the southeastern United States, is not running at full capacity.

"Since the hurricanes both hit, we have been tapping the reserves of the stockpiles of the fuels that were made before the hurricanes hit, and we've been delivering those," said Steve Baker, a spokesman for the pipeline.

"That's caused us to operate at a reduced rate, less than we're capable of. So that's been part of the problem that we've faced, and we're trying to overcome."

Further complicating matters is that metro Atlanta has more stringent environmental requirements than other areas, meaning gas from other cities can't be brought in because it doesn't meet the city's smog requirements. The state is working with the state energy agency and the Environmental Protection Agency about getting a temporary waiver of that rule, said Bert Brantley, a spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue's office.

"I don't want anyone to think that's a panacea," he said.

But he added, "Anything that would help us get another truckload or two ... is going to help the situation."

Brantley said the state has already lifted some regulations allowing for drivers to work more hours to get fuel from the main terminal to stations and for heavier trucks to be allowed to carry larger loads than normal. The state is asking people who don't need to fill up their tanks to wait until later before doing so.

"There's somewhat of a shortage right now, but it certainly could get a lot worse if people were to panic and react in a way that would cause a run and drain what supply there is out there now," Brantley said. "That's why we're encouraging Georgians to conserve as much as possible."

The state would not offer a timeframe on when the situation might return to normal. Brantley, however, said the situation with Houston's refineries is getting better every day.

Jim Tudor, the president of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores, which represents about 2,600 stores, praised the state for lifting some of the restrictions to allow for quicker delivery of fuel.

"We are working as fast as possible to try to get as many stations refilled," he said. "Having said that, we're still in catch-up mode."

That brings little relief to consumers.

iReporter Dustin Gatlin said he waited 45 minutes Sunday at an Atlanta QuikTrip before it shut down. He then waited for well over an hour at a different station.

"Yesterday, we were in line for about two hours and they actually had people [who worked for the gas station] out there directing traffic because there were people jumping in line, and they actually had to get people out there to watch," he said.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/09/22/atlanta.gas.crunch/?iref=mpstoryview

Happy 113th birthday for world's oldest man

TOKYO - The world's oldest man celebrated his 113th birthday on Thursday, telling reporters at his home in southern Japan about his joyful life and healthy appetite.

"I'm happy," said Tomoji Tanabe as the local mayor presented him with flowers and a giant tea cup glazed with his name and date of birth. "I'm well. I eat a lot," he added.

Tanabe, recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest living male last year, eats mostly vegetables and believes the key to longevity is not drinking alcohol.



The former civil servant lives with his son, drinks milk every day and has no major illnesses, although he now writes in his diary only once or twice a month. He used to write on a daily basis.

"His favorite food is fried shrimp, but we've heard that he's cut back on oily food," said an official at his hometown of Miyakonojo, about 900 km (560 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

"He's said he wants to live for another 10 years, that he doesn't want to die." The Japanese are among the world's longest-lived people, with the number of those aged 100 or older at a record 36,276, a government report last week showed.

Japanese women have topped the world's longevity ranks for 23 years, while men rank third after Iceland and Hong Kong.

Source:

David Duchovny in Rehab for Sex Addiction

David Duchovny has entered a rehabilitation facility for sex addiction. In a statement released Thursday by his lawyer, Stanton Stein, the actor said he did so voluntarily, adding: "I ask for respect and privacy for my wife and children as we deal with this situation as a family."

The actor's publicist, Flo Grace, confirmed the rehab report, which first appeared on People.com.

She and Stein both declined to elaborate further.

Duchovny, 48, plays a sex-obsessed character on the Showtime series "Californication," which earned Emmy nominations for casting and cinematography. The show's second season begins Sept. 28. Showtime had no comment Thursday.

The actor appeared in the film "The X Files: I Want to Believe" earlier this summer. He has been married to actress Tea Leoni since 1997. They have two children.

Source: http://www.11alive.com/life/story.aspx?storyid=120443&catid=37

NATURAL BORN KILLERS IN YOUR BACKYARD???

A couple threatened with possible exposure for pimping out a runaway teen are accused of trying to hide the crime by choking the young girl to death, according to a Las Vegas police report.

Gabriel Wayne Yates, 31, and Anne Marie Osburn, 21, then knocked the teen's teeth out, sliced off her tattoos, placed the maimed body in a hockey bag and dumped the victim in a shallow desert grave, police said in the report.

Police said they found the body of 17-year-old Nichole Elizabeth Yegge on Saturday afternoon after surreptitiously following Yates to the site. The report said the victim was involved in a love triangle with the suspects.


Homicide Sgt. Russell Shoemaker said the slaying victim's body was found by police Saturday night about 8 p.m. He said it was clear from the condition of the body that Yates and Osburn were trying to cover up their crime.

"Their intent, as far as we know based on the type of damage to her body, was to prevent her from being identified if found," Shoemaker said.

Yates and Osburn are accused of committing the slaying July 23, Shoemaker said.

Yates and Osburn, the parents of a newborn, were arrested Sunday at the Texas Station casino on charges of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree murder.



The pair are being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center. They are scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning. Both Yates and Osburn denied Review-Journal requests for interviews Monday night.

Yegge was in the Clark County foster care system, but at the end of May was formally listed as a runaway, according to Christine Skorupski, a spokeswoman for the county's Department of Family Services. It's unclear how long Yegge was in foster care.
Police dispatchers received an early morning tip Wednesday from an acquaintance of Osburn's who lives in Huntsville, Ala.

"Her friends Gabriel Yates and 'Anne' were involved in the murder of a 17-year-old prostitute named 'Nikki,' whom Yates had been pimping out on Craig's List," the report says, outlining the woman's tip.

The acquaintance said the killing occurred three days prior to her call and was the result of a love triangle.

A craigslist.com ad for erotic services in Las Vegas included a contact number that is the same as the cell phone number police said Yegge was using. A photo in one of the ads with Yegge's number included a picture of Yates and the victim, police said.

Shoemaker said the victim is a suspected prostitute.

"We do believe there was a relationship between the three of them," he said, declining to describe the relationship further.

Police tracked down Yates and Osburn at their Koval Lane apartment the day the call was received. Detectives explained they were following up on a missing persons report. The two said that Yegge, who would have turned 18 this Friday, did not live in the apartment, but had recently visited.

Armed with a search warrant, detectives scoured the apartment and Yates' vehicle, a black BMW with the vanity plate "GO2GUY." Police found Yegge's property inside the home.

Using surveillance equipment, detectives began tracking the two on Friday.

"Yates was heard to say he worked in a slaughter house as a teenager skinning animals, blood did not bother him and he knew how to get rid of a body," the report says.

On Saturday, detectives followed Yates to a vacant desert area east of the Snow Mountain Golf Course just north of the turnoff to Kyle Canyon. Yates remained in his vehicle at the site, then drove away. Detectives searched the area and discovered Yegge's buried body.

Detectives conducting the surveillance also heard Osburn say Yates hit Yegge.

According to the report, "Nikki began to cry, told them she was leaving and was going to tell the police Osburn and Yates were pimping out an under-age girl. Nikki started for the door and Gabriel hit her again, knocking her to the floor. Anne then choked Nikki to death."

During interviews with homicide detectives after the arrests, Osburn declined to speak. Yates, however, did.

"Yates made the statement that the police had the body and had the right man," the report says.

Clark County School District spokesman Michael Rodriguez said Yegge was listed as a junior at Arbor View High School during the 2007-08 school year.


A neighbor who lives in the same apartment complex as Osburn and Yates believes she is one of the last people to see the 17-year-old alive. The neighbor did not want to be identified for fear of retribution.

The neighbor said the last time she saw Yegge was on July 21. The girl was sleeping inside Yates' BMW in the apartment parking lot. The neighbor knocked on the window after noticing the car's engine was running and asked the girl whether she was OK. Yegge cracked the window and told the neighbor she was fine.

"She did not look happy at all," the neighbor said of Yegge.

The neighbor said Yates came over the next morning to say thank you for the concern shown to Yegge.

"He just said the girl was working for him," the neighbor said. "He didn't use the word pimping, but close enough."

The neighbor said Yates worked for an escort service but didn't try to contact police. The neighbor did not know whether Yegge was a minor or a runaway.

The neighbor speculated that Yates is the mastermind behind Yegge's slaying. She said Yates also had a lot of control over Osburn, to the point where it was almost as if Osburn was brainwashed.

"She was in love with him," the neighbor said of Osburn. "Anything he told her to do she would listen. She was a good dog to him."

Airlines warn customers of infected ticket invoices

Attachment in bogus e-mails contains same Trojan horse that stole 1.6M records from Monster.com last year

Several airlines, including Delta and Northwest, have warned customers that bogus e-mails posing as ticket invoices contain malware and urged them to immediately delete the messages.

A researcher at McAfee confirmed the campaign in a post to the company's blog.

The e-mails, which purport to be from an airline, thank the recipient for using a new "Buy flight ticket Online" service on the airline's site, provide a login username and password, and say the person's credit card has been charged an amount usually in the $400 range. An attachment claims to be the invoice for the ticket and credit card charge.

However, the .zip file format attachment is a Trojan horse that steals information, including keystrokes, from the infected Windows PC and transmits that data to a server hosted in Russia, according to McAfee's threat researcher Craig Schmugar. McAfee has pegged the malware as "Spy-Agent.bw," but other security firms have given it different names. Symantec, for example, has labeled the same Trojan as "Infostealer.Monstres."

Infostealer.Monstres first made a name for itself almost a year ago, when it was used to rip off more than 1.6 million customer records from Monster Worldwide, the company that operates the popular Monster.com recruiting Web site.

"Customers should be aware that these e-mails are not coming from the airline," said Northwest Airlines' vice president of e-commerce, Al Lenza, in a statement last week. "NWA itineraries are specific and contain information that a customer will recognize. If the format does not look familiar to you, and you have not recently purchased a ticket, do not open the attachment. Delete the e-mail right away."

Other airlines that issued warnings include Delta Airlines of Atlanta, Sun Country Airlines of Mendota Heights, Minn., and Midwest Airlines of Milwaukee. "Be assured that Sun Country did not send this email, and charged nothing to your credit card," an alert posted to the Sun Country site read. "We have reported these emails to Yahoo, Hotmail, and the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team."

Earlier last week, McAfee raised the alarm about a similar spam run of e-mails harboring the same Trojan. That campaign, however, sent messages posing as invoices from package delivery company United Parcel Service of America (UPS).

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/29/Airlines_warn_customers_of_infected_ticket_invoices-Computerworld_1.html?source=NLC-TB&cgd=2008-07-29

Jalapenos The Latest Culprit In Salmonella Search

Talk of the Nation, July 22, 2008

On Monday government inspectors had a big break in their search for the elusive cause of a nationwide salmonella outbreak. They discovered a strain of bacteria on a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper in a distribution facility in south Texas.

David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods for the Food and Drug Administration, describes what goes into a food safety investigation, and why this recent outbreak of salmonella has been so difficult to figure out.




Your Health
How Salmonella Investigation Shifted To Jalapeno
by Allison Aubrey

When officials at the Food and Drug Administration announced they had found salmonella on a Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper, it meant investigators finally had a solid lead on a trail that seemed to have grown cold.

State health officials in New Mexico first picked up on multiple people getting sick from the same subtype of salmonella — called salmonella Saintpaul — back in April. They reported the cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

There, officials analyzing information coming in through an electronic surveillance system began to see that, in pockets around the country, many more states were seeing an unusual increase in cases of salmonella Saintpaul.

As soon as they knew they had an outbreak on their hands, investigators began interviewing sick people, asking them in detail what they had eaten before getting sick. In many cases, people reported eating tomatoes — and the sick people were eating them at much higher rates than their healthy neighbors, who officials also interviewed.

Now, three months later, with the first conclusive match of salmonella Saintpaul coming from a jalapeno pepper, not a tomato, the FDA's lead point person on the investigation, Dr. David Acheson, says it doesn't mean his agency got it wrong.

"The original part of the outbreak, the first scientific indications, showed a very clear association with tomatoes — and there is nothing to indicate that that association was incorrect or inappropriate," Acheson says.

Last week, when the FDA lifted its consumer warnings on eating tomatoes, Acheson explained that none of the farms harvesting tomatoes during the early part of the outbreak were still shipping their product and that all of the tomatoes in markets now had come from areas that were not implicated.

At this point in the investigation, Acheson explained that officials had learned more from a few clusters of people who had been exposed to salmonella at the same time and same place, presumably at a restaurant. They found that these people reported eating fresh jalapeno peppers.

When the FDA dispatched its team of investigators to various points along the distribution chain where the fresh peppers had passed, they knew they needed a direct match.

To make that definitive link, they had to find salmonella Saintpaul on a pepper, which is what happened Monday. Now that consumers have been warned to avoid eating fresh jalapenos, the job of the investigators continues.

One contaminated pepper doesn't solve the whole case. The goal is to continue following the production chain from the distribution center in Texas where the pepper was tested back to the farm in Mexico where it was grown.

"Because it enables us to ultimately, hopefully, pinpoint the source of the contamination which has caused the outbreak," Acheson says.

Since the outbreak began, a total of 1,251 people have gotten sick, and officials at the CDC say they do not believe the outbreak has ended.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92781517&ft=1&f=1007

The Former 'Pregnant Man' Debuts His Baby

It's been three weeks since his blue-eyed baby debuted in this world, but Thomas Beatie – better known around the world as the Pregnant Man – can already say this about his daughter's personality: "She's easygoing and mellow and intelligent."

On June 29 at 8:55 p.m., Beatie, 34, a former female beauty pageant contestant, made cultural history as perhaps the first legally transgender male to give birth, bringing into the world a 9 lbs., 5 oz. baby girl named Susan Juliette.

"She's so precious, I just can't stop staring at her," Thomas tells PEOPLE in his first interview since he and wife Nancy returned with their bundle from Bend, Oregon's St. Charles Medical Center. "Just holding her is the best feeling in the world."

Susan – named after Thomas's mother and conceived through artificial insemination with donor sperm – arrived after 40 hours of labor, with Nancy at Thomas's side acting as his coach.

"When Susan finally came out, it was like in slow motion," says Thomas. "I was full of wonder." Echoes Nancy: "There were tears of joy."

Both father and daughter came through the birth in perfect health. "I weigh two pounds less than I did before I got pregnant," adds Thomas. "And I don't have a single stretch mark!"

At home, the couple is adjusting to their new nightly schedule: Nancy breastfeeding (by induced lactation, a process using hormones and physical stimulation with a breast pump) and Thomas keeping company while watching TV.

Crows Thomas, "Susan is a miracle! And we're finally the family we've been dreaming of."

Source: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20214360,00.html

Bush signs new rules on government wiretapping

WASHINGTON - President Bush signed a bill Thursday that overhauls rules about government eavesdropping and grants immunity to telecommunications companies that helped the U.S. spy on Americans in suspected terrorism cases.

He called it "landmark legislation that is vital to the security of our people."

Bush signed the measure in a Rose Garden ceremony a day after the Senate sent it to him, following nearly a year of debate in the Democratic-led Congress over surveillance rules and the warrantless wiretapping program Bush initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It was a battle that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks and Democrats' fears of being portrayed as weak when it comes to protecting the country.

Its passage was a major victory for Bush, an unpopular lame-duck president who nevertheless has been able to prevail over Congress on most issues of national security and intelligence disputes.

Bush said the 9/11 attack "changed our country forever" and taught the intelligence community that it must know who America's enemies are talking to and what they are saying.

"In the aftermath of 9/11," Bush said, "few would have imagined that we would be standing here seven years later without another attack on American soil. The fact that the terrorists have failed to strike our shores again does not mean that our enemies have given up."

Even before Bush signed the legislation, the American Civil Liberties Union said it would challenge the new law in court.

The president said the bill gives the government anti-terror tools it needs without compromising Americans' civil liberties.

Bush was joined at the ceremony by Vice President Dick Cheney, Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and more than a dozen members of Congress.

The ACLU's lawsuit was filed on behalf of several civil rights groups. It wants a federal judge in New York to rule that the law is an unconstitutional violation of free speech and the right against unlawful search and seizure. It also asks that the judge permanently block intelligence officials from conducting surveillance under the law.

"The new law gives the government the power to conduct dragnet surveillance that has no connection to terrorism or criminal activity of any kind," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, in a conference call to reporters.

"A law like this is fundamentally inconsistent with the Constitution and with the most basic democratic values," he said.

Roger Atwood, communications director for the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights organization for the region, said the new law will impede the group's work.

"The mere suspicion that information provided to us, to our staff, will be accessed by the U.S. government can seriously affect WOLA's credibility and our effectiveness in Latin America in moving our work forward," Atwood said in the conference call.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_go_pr_wh/terrorist_surveillance

5 reasons to hold off on the iPhone 3G

Yes, I'm one of those guys who wait in line the day a shiny new gadget goes on sale, and the iPhone 3G is one of the shiniest gadgets of all. But while I'll be out there waiting in the wee hours of July 11 (it's my job, after all), the rest of you should think twice before losing sleep on launch day. Here's why.

1. Shortages are unlikely
Remember last year, when we all got in line early for the iPhone because we were afraid it would sell out? Well, that didn't quite happen. Yes, individual AT&T stores sold out quickly, but many Apple stores had plenty of iPhones in stock in the days and weeks after the big day. (Indeed, there weren’t any serious iPhone 1.0 shortages until just recently.) Also, word of hundreds of massive overseas shipments bound for Apple (which began arriving as early as March) leads me to believe that there's a healthy supply of iPhone 3Gs on hand. So if you're worrying about a Wii-like shortage of the iPhone 3G, well ... I wouldn't.

2. Chaos on Day One
Unlike last year, customers won't be able to activate their new iPhones over iTunes—instead, clerks will have to activate them in the store, contracts will have to be signed on the spot, and new AT&T subscribers will have to undergo credit checks. It could take a good 10-15 minutes per customer—and that's if things go smoothly. It'll be a new process for everyone—especially for Apple Store employees, who aren't accustomed to processing cell phone contracts—so I'm anticipating (dreading, actually) a train wreck next Friday. Even if you're dying to lay hands on the iPhone 3G, you might want to wait a week or so until they get the kinks worked out.

3. 32GB iPhone 3G on the horizon
I was keenly disappointed when Steve Jobs didn't unveil a 32GB iPhone last month—indeed, all we got were 8GB and 16GB versions, and I'd personally like an iPhone that I could cram with as much music and video as I can stand. Here's the thing, though—a 32GB iPhone 3G is probably coming within the next six months, if not sooner (well, that's my guess). If I wasn't buying the 16GB iPhone 3G for Yahoo! Tech, I'd probably sit tight and wait for the 32GB version to arrive.

4. Best new iPhone features are coming to the original iPhone
Yes, the iPhone 3G will be getting GPS and, of course, 3G—but for now, you can't download music tracks over AT&T's 3G network or access AT&T's streaming video service. For me, the most exciting thing about the new iPhone is the upcoming App Store, which will be stocked with scores of 3D games, chat clients, productivity apps, RSS readers, you name it—and the App Store will be available July 11 as a free upgrade to the old iPhone. That'll keep you busy till the 32GB iPhone comes out.

5. The HTC Touch Diamond
I've seen the future of cell phones, folks, and it's called the HTC Touch Diamond. With its gorgeous VGA screen, beautiful touch-screen interface, and compact, light-weight shell, the Diamond is the first phone to make me green-eyed with envy since … well, since the original iPhone. The Diamond is set to arrive in the U.S. in September, and spy shots of a Sprint-branded Touch Diamond are already circulating on the Web. You might want to give the Diamond a serious look before committing to a new two-year iPhone contract.

Source: http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/24397

iPhone 3G on sale 8 a.m. July 11; no-contract iPhone on tap

Looks like we'll have to get up bright and early to buy the new iPhone. Also, AT&T says a "no-commitment" iPhone is "coming soon."

First things first: The new iPhone 3G will go on sale at 8 a.m. next Friday at AT&T retail stores and Apple stores. So if you're planning on lining up, you'd better be ready well before sunrise.

Also, AT&T has finally clarified pricing for current AT&T subscribers who want the iPhone 3G.

In a nutshell, if you're "upgrade eligible" (log into your AT&T account to see if you are), you'll be able to buy the new iPhone for the discounted price of $199 for the 8GB version or $299 for the 16GB model. (AT&T is somewhat vague about the eligibility criteria, although your credit history and the time remaining on your contract are factors.) You'll also have to pay an $18 "upgrade fee."

If you're not eligible for the discount, you'll have to fork over extra for an "early upgrade"-$399 for the 8GB iPhone 3G or $499 for the 16GB model. Ouch.

AT&T also says that a "no-commitment" (read: no contract) iPhone 3G will be available soon, at $599 for the 8GB version and or $699 for the 16GB handset. Pricey, but hey-no two-year contract.

Unfortunately, AT&T won't offer the new iPhone on a prepaid basis, at least not at launch.

Some other items: You will have to get your new iPhone activated at the store, and that means a credit check. So bring a photo ID and your Social Security number (especially if you're not yet an AT&T customer). If you want to cut down on the wait, you can go to an AT&T store now and take care of the credit check early.

There have been some rumors that current iPhone users could simply register the IMEI number of their new iPhone with AT&T clerks-meaning they could finish activating their phones at home. It's a nice idea, but so far, there's no indication from AT&T that such a plan exists.

As for the newly detailed rate plans, there aren't any surprises. Each plan comes bundled with unlimited data; $70 a month gets you 450 minutes and 5,000 night/weekend minutes, while a 900-minute plan with unlimited nights/weekends goes for $90. A 1,350-minute plan will cost $110 per month. Family plans are available, and business data plans will cost $45 a month (versus $30 per month for standard data in the bundled plans). Text messages are extra, too. Individuals pay $5 for 200 texts per month, $15 for 1,500 a month, or $20 for unlimited texting. For family plans, you'll pay $30 a month for unlimited messaging.

AT&T also has a checklist of required documentation, fees, and rate plans. Download the PDF here.

Guess that $199 price Steve Jobs announced for the iPhone 3G should have come with a massive asterisk, huh?

Source: http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/23890

No extension: Windows XP D-Day arrives Monday, June 30

After delays, delays, and rumors of more delays, the era of Windows XP has finally reached its final hours. Microsoft has made it official: Monday, June 30 will be the last day Microsoft sells XP to the masses. In fact, some companies have already stopped offering XP as an option on new machines as they prep for the switchover.

Earlier rumors that Microsoft might extend the sales date have proven untrue, as Microsoft has reiterated that, indeed, June 30 will be the final sales date cut-off for the product. That's it. It's a Vista world now.

Loopholes will remain for some PC makers for some months to come, namely those who are building ultra-low-cost computers that aren't powerful enough for Vista. (Though some machines in this class, like HP's Mini-Note, actually come with Vista anyway.) For at least the rest of the year, downgrades remain an option for many PC purchasers too, though you'll have to jump through some hoops, and possibly pay extra, in order to get XP.

As I've written several times (and reassured many of you in email responses), XP fans needn't panic about the loss of XP. Even if you don't have a copy on hand, the product will be available through many channels for years to come (and likely forever), through both retail outlets and the aftermarket. As I type this, nearly 1,000 copies of XP are on sale on eBay, where they usually sell for less than $100.

In other news, Microsoft has recently pledged to keep supporting XP, including the release of security updates, all the way through 2014. So XP users needn't fret that you'll suddenly be victimized by hackers due to unpatched security flaws. Updates should work exactly as you're used to them currently through the Windows Update system.

Source: http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/96295

3 Ada County residents charged with sexually exploiting teen girl, advertising her on Craigslist

Three Treasure Valley residents accused of taking sexually exploitative pictures of a 15-year-old girl and then using popular Web site Craigslist to advertise her for prostitution are all being held in jail Thursday morning.

Douglas A. Winberry, 50, of Meridian; Colby R. Watson, 36; and Lindsey J. McKeehan, 23, of Boise, are all charged with lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16, sexual exploitation of a child, possession of sexually exploitative material, and inducing a person under the age of 18 into prostitution.

Watson and McKeehan are in the Ada County Jail. Winberry is being held in the Benton County Jail, near Prosser, Wash., where Meridian police say he fled to to avoid arrest after he discovered detectives were searching his home in the 2000 block of Cool Creek Avenue earlier this week.

Watson and McKeehan were arrested Wednesday at the Ada County Courthouse.

Colby R. Watson

Lindsey Jo McKeehan

Meridian police began investigating the case June 19 after getting a tip that Winberry had pictures of a girl, under the age of 16, in various sexual poses on a CD at his Cool Creek Avenue home. Police searched Winberry’s home and found evidence that he was engaging in sexual acts with the girl and that he advertised her for prostitution on Craigslist.

Detectives also found evidence that the girl previously had been used in the same way by McKeehan and Watson — that the couple had taken pictures and video of the girl engaged in sexual acts with both of them and advertised her for prostitution on Craigslist, a free classified advertising Web site.

When detectives searched their home in the 11000 block of West Raul Street, near Columbia and Cloverdale roads in south Boise, they found more evidence. An arrest warrant was issued Tuesday for Winberry, and officers arrested McKeehand and Watson as they developed probable cause in the case, police officials said.

Meridian Police Lt. Bob Stowe said detectives found evidence that McKeehan, Watson and Winberry all knew each other but did not disclose the nature of the relationship or whether they met through Craigslist.

Stowe also said detectives were still investigating how the adults knew the girl. There is no allegation that the girl was forced to have sexual contact with the three adults.

While there was definite evidence of advertising for prostitution in the case, Stowe said detectives were still working on whether any prostitution took place or where it may have happened. Stowe said there is evidence that at least some the exploitative images and videos found were recorded at the two homes.

Winberry was arrested in the Prosser area Tuesday night on the Meridian arrest warrant. Stowe said detectives figured out that was where he likely went and contacted Prosser police Tuesday once the warrant was issued. Winberry was arrested without incident and is being held in the Benton County Jail on a $1 million warrant.

McKeehan and Watson are being held in the Ada County Jail, each on a $750,000 bond, and will make their initial court appearance later Thursday.

The maximum possible penalty for lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16 is life in prison.

Source: http://www.idahostatesman.com/235/story/425859.html

World of web names now wide open

Internet regulators voted to loosen restrictions on internet names, a move that could allow thousands of variations of suffixes beyond the basic .com or .ca.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) overwhelmingly approved the new guidelines on Thursday in Paris after weeklong meetings.

The guidelines represent one of the biggest changes to the internet in its 25-year history.

New names won't begin appearing for several months and ICANN won't be deciding on specific ones. The organization must decide how much the new domain names will cost. The names are expected to cost over $100,000 apiece to help ICANN cover up to $20 million in costs.

The new guidelines could allow for domain names that have been requested, and denied by ICANN, for years, such as .xxx for adult websites and .post for postal service websites.

Companies with well-known names like eBay, Apple or Google could also end up requesting domain names if the new rules are approved, snatching up names like .ebay, .mac and .goog.

"What this really looks at is opening up that domain-name real estate so that people can have choice. They could place [their address] in dot com, or they could make choices based on what's on the market," ICANN vice-president Paul Levins told CBC News.
Previous rules stringent

Currently, top-level domain names are limited to a few suffixes, such as .com (commerce), .org (organization) or country names, like .ca (Canada), .fr (France) or .uk (United Kingdom).

Organizations have fought hard to get around the restrictions. Television companies, for example, have been paying the Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu to use its rights to the .tv address.

Under the new rules, ICANN would allow any string of letters to be used in a domain name. The group is still considering a proposal that would permit addresses entirely in non-English languages for the first time.

There would be an arbitration process for people with objections to proposed names.

Arbitrators could also crack down on "cyber-squatters" — people who buy up domain names associated with well-known company brands so they can sell them back to the companies at high prices.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/06/26/internet-domain.html