New Year's in Times Square is endurance contest

New Year's in Times Square is endurance contest 

A New York City police officer uses a metal detector to search a person entering barricaded pens in Times Square on New Year's Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013, in New York.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Crowds jammed New York's Times Square on Tuesday to ring in 2014, braving bone-chilling cold and ultra-tight security for the chance to see Miley Cyrus, a final countdown from a U.S. Supreme Court justice and the drop of the shimmering crystal ball.

The sea of horn-tooting, hat-wearing humanity that filled the Crossroads of the World was part celebration, part endurance sport because post-9/11 security measures force spectators into pens at least 12 hours in advance, with no food, no warmth and no place to go to the bathroom.

"We've got adult diapers. We're wearing them right now," said 14-year-old Amber Woods, who came with friends from the New York City's suburbs to experience the event for the first time. They entered their corral at 10 a.m. For nourishment, they brought lollipops and popcorn. For the cold, they did a lot of jumping in place.

"Every time I say, it's the last. But then I come back," said Yasmina Merrir, a 42-year-old Washington, D.C., resident attending her fourth Times Square ball drop. In 2009, the cold was so bad, she got hypothermia. Her legs swelled up like balloons.

She was also fasting and not drinking anything to deal with the lack of restrooms. As for the cold, she recommends vigorous dancing for as long as you can stand on your feet.

"At a point," she said, "your brain is not working anymore."

New York's midnight celebration came as millions welcomed the new year in cities around the world, including jubilant events in London, where the fireworks came packed with edible confetti, and Dubai, which attempted to stage the world's largest fireworks display.

Brianna Becerril, a 21-year-old singer and songwriter from Chino, Calif., persuaded her grandparents to join her at Times Square. As evening fell, they huddled together for warmth under big, furry hats, dined on cold chicken nuggets and drank nothing so they wouldn't have to leave to find a toilet.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience!" Becerril said.

"Once in a lifetime for me, for sure. I mean, if I even survive. I can't wait to get out of here," said her smiling grandfather, Jerry Bender. But, he said, he was enjoying getting to know their neighbors in the pen, many of whom hailed from distant countries.

Even when she lived in Algeria in North Africa, Merrir said, she knew that Times Square was the place the world celebrated best on New Year's Eve.

"It's Times Square! It's the ball!" she said. "The fireworks may be better in Dubai, or in London, but this is extra special."

On the other side of the Atlantic, Britain welcomed 2014 with a mixture of futuristic fireworks and torch-lit tradition. For those in London, the event offered the opportunity to taste the fireworks.

The city's mayor - in conjunction with telecommunications company Vodafone - said this year's explosive display came packed with peach-flavored snow, edible banana confetti and orange-scented bubbles. The evening also included scratch-and-sniff programs, LED wristbands and fruit-flavored sweets.

In Dubai, a Persian Gulf city known for glitz, glamour and over-the-top achievements like the world's tallest skyscraper, officials sought to break another record by creating the largest fireworks show.

The Dubai skyline was a canvas for a dazzling 30-minute show. The display capped off with six minutes of fireworks that engulfed the city's man-made, palm-shaped island, with its fronds and trunk shimmering in thousands of lights.

Organizers had promised that the fireworks would form a flying falcon, a sunrise and the United Arab Emirates flag. It was not immediately clear if the promised designs or world record had been achieved.

The effort attempted to surpass the current world record held by another Gulf Arab state in just the first 60 seconds. Kuwait has held the record since last year, when it fired more than 77,000 fireworks in a display lasting more than an hour.

Guinness World Record officials were on hand to measure the scale of Dubai's event, which needed to be longer than five minutes to qualify.

More than 260 people were injured by firecracker blasts and celebratory gunfire in the Philippines, a nation marking the end of a year of tragic disasters, including a Nov. 8 typhoon that left more than 6,100 dead and nearly 1,800 missing.

"Many here are welcoming the new year after losing their mothers, fathers, siblings and children so you can imagine how it feels," said village chief Maria Rosario Bactol of Anibong community in Tacloban, the city worst hit by Typhoon Haiyan. "I tell them to face the reality, to move on and stand up, but I know it will never be easy."

Back in New York, outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who hobnobbed with celebrities during past Times Square celebrations, was sitting out this year's festivities to spend time with family and friends. Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio was to be sworn in at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday at his Brooklyn home.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a New York City native, will lead the final 60-second countdown and push the ceremonial button to drop the ball.

Son killed, father shot at home on Detroit's west side, search for suspects under way

By: Kimberly Craig

DETROIT (WXYZ) - When 56-year-old Howard Gardella Sr. answered his front door Monday around noon, he likely thought the men standing on his porch were customers, but the two apparent strangers were there to rob Gardella who sells "medical marijuana" with his son, Howard Gardella Jr.
Once the two men were inside Gardella's home on Northrop Street near Grand River, they shot at the father and the son.
A bullet only grazed the father in his neck, but Howard Gardella Jr. was fatally shot.
Relatives say Gardella Jr. lived in Redford with his 2-year-old son.
During their investigation, Detroit Police seized dozens of large marijuana plants from Gardella's garage and home.
Relatives tell 7 Action News that Gardella and his son worked together in the medical marijuana business that operated out of the father's home.
Loved ones say they were becoming increasingly concerned about the father and son's safety after someone recently asked the men if they had guns. They say more than just regular "medical marijuana patients" seemed to be stopping by the house.
Late Monday afternoon, Howard Gardella Sr. was released from the hospital. He returned to his home on Detroit's west side visibly upset, yelling that police had no right to seize his marijuana plants. He went on to say that the killers took his son's life so that they could steal about $400 in marijuana plants.
Detroit Police continue to search for the killers.

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Doctors give no prognosis for Michael Schumacher

Doctors give no prognosis for Michael Schumacher

Professor Jean-Francois Payen answers questions from journalists during a press conference at the Grenoble hospital, in the French Alps, where former seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is being treated after sustaining a head injury during a ski accident in Meribel, France, Monday, Dec. 30, 2013. Doctors treating Michael Schumacher refused Monday to predict the outcome for the former Formula One driver, saying they were taking his very critical head injury "hour by hour”. Chief anesthesiologist Jean-Francois Payen told reporters that the seven-time champion is still in a medically induced coma.

GRENOBLE, France (AP) -- Doctors offered a grim assessment of Michael Schumacher's head injuries Monday, providing no prognosis for the Formula One driving great after his skiing accident in the French Alps.

Schumacher has been placed in a medically induced coma to relieve pressure on his brain, which suffered bruising and bleeding when the retired seven-time world champion fell and struck a rock Sunday while skiing during a family vacation.

"We cannot predict the future for Michael Schumacher," Dr. Jean-Francois Payen, the doctor in charge of Grenoble University Hospital's intensive care unit, said at a news conference.

"He is in a critical state in terms of cerebral resuscitation," said Payen, the chief anesthesiologist treating the 44-year-old German driver. "We are working hour by hour."

Schumacher's wife, Corinna, daughter Gina Maria and son Mick were at his bedside.

"The family is not doing very well, obviously. They are shocked," his manager, Sabine Kehm, told reporters.

Schumacher earned universal admiration for his uncommon driving talent, which led to a record 91 race wins. His single-minded dedication to victory sometimes meant he was denied the same affection during his career that he received Monday.

Schumacher "gave the image of someone indestructible, powerful," France's four-time F1 champion Alain Prost said on iTele TV channel. "It's a banal accident compared to what he's done in the past . It's just a dumb thing that ended badly."

Schumacher and his 14-year-old son were skiing Sunday morning in the French Alpine resort of Meribel, where the family has a chalet. He fell and hit the right side of his head on a rock.

By wearing a helmet, Schumacher had given himself a chance of survival, Payen said, though the protection was not enough to prevent serious injury.

Gerard Saillant, a trauma surgeon who operated on Schumacher when he broke his leg in a 1999 race crash, was at the hospital as a visitor. He told reporters that Schumacher's age and fitness should work in his favor.

Schumacher, who turns 45 on Friday, retired from the track for the second time only last year, after a three-season comeback.

Still, the hospital's neurology team, which is recognized as among the best in France, was cautious about Schumacher's prospects.

Doctors lowered his body temperature to between 34 and 35 degrees Celsius (93.2 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit) as part of the coma, which essentially rests the brain, slowing its metabolism to help reduce inflammation after an injury.

The hospital, in a city that is the gateway to the French Alps, sees a large number of skiing accidents every year.

Schumacher has been seriously hurt before. In addition to the broken leg in a crash at the 1999 British Grand Prix, he also suffered neck and spine injuries after a motorcycle accident in 2009 in Spain.

An expert skier, Schumacher fell in a section of trails that slice down through a vast and, in parts, very steep snowfield. Although challenging, the snowfield is not extreme skiing. The runs are broad and neatly tended, and the ungroomed area in between - where the resort said Schumacher was found - is free of trees.

"He was in the deep snow. But it was not an off-piste track," Kehm said, suggesting Schumacher had not taken undue risks. "They were skiing on pistes, but in the moment that it (the accident) happened, it was not on the piste."

Meribel resort officials said Schumacher was conscious when first responders arrived, although agitated and in shock.

After the fall, Payen said Monday, Schumacher was not in a "normal state of consciousness." He did not respond to questions, and his limbs appeared to move involuntarily, the doctor said.

He was airlifted to a local hospital and then later brought to Grenoble. Doctors said that stopover was typical and did not affect his condition.

The French prosecutor in Albertville has opened an investigation into the accident, according to the Mountain Gendarmerie in Bourg-Saint-Maurice. The goal is to determine the circumstances and cause of the accident.

Formula One drivers and fans rushed to wish Schumacher a quick recovery.

"Like millions of Germans, the chancellor and members of the government were extremely dismayed when they heard about Michael Schumacher's serious skiing accident," German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in Berlin.

Sebastian Vettel, the Formula One racer for whom Schumacher was a boyhood idol, told German news agency dpa: "I am shocked and hope that he will get better as soon as possible."

Ferrari, which Schumacher raced for, also expressed its concern. Company President Luca di Montezemolo and race team leader Stefano Domenicali were in contact with the family, the company said in a statement.

Former Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa, who himself recovered from life-threatening head injuries at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2009, wrote on Instagram: "I am praying for you my brother!! I hope you have a quick recovery!! God bless you, Michael."

British former F1 champion Jenson Button posted that "Michael more than anyone has the strength to pull through this."

Some fans gathered outside the hospital Monday.

Nuravil Raimbekov, a student from Kyrgyzstan who is studying in Grenoble, said Schumacher has been an inspiration to him.

"I'm worried, of course ... But I still hope, and I will pray for him," he said.

During his career, Schumacher set an array of Formula One records. After initial success with the Benetton team, winning his first two championships in 1994 and 1995, Schumacher moved to Ferrari.

There, he helped turn the storied Italian team into the sport's dominant force. After initially retiring in 2006, he made a comeback in 2010 and raced for three years with Mercedes.

 

Russia bombings kill 31, raise concern on Olympics

Russia bombings kill 31, raise concern on Olympics 

Women cry laying flowers outside the Volgograd main railway station in Volgograd, Russia, early Monday Dec. 30, 2013. Russian authorities ordered police to beef up security at train stations and other facilities across the country after a suicide bomber killed 14 people on a bus Monday in the southern city of Volgograd.It was the second deadly attack in two days on the city that lies just 400 miles (650 kilometers) from the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

MOSCOW (AP) -- Two suicide bombings in as many days have killed 31 people and raised concerns that Islamic militants have begun a terrorist campaign in Russia that could stretch into the Sochi Olympics in February. Russian and international Olympic officials insisted the site of the games, protected by layers of security, is completely safe.

The attacks in Volgograd, about 400 miles (650 kilometers) from Sochi, reflected the Kremlin's inability to uproot Islamist insurgents in the Caucasus who have vowed to derail the games, the pet project of President Vladimir Putin.

No one has claimed responsibility for Sunday's blast at the Volgograd railway station or Monday's bus explosion in the city, but they came only months after Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov threatened new attacks on civilian targets in Russia, including the Olympics.

In addition to the dead, the bombings wounded 104 people, according to Russia's Health Ministry. As of late Monday, 58 remained hospitalized, many in grave condition.

Suicide bombings have rocked Russia for years, but the insurgents seeking to create an Islamic state have largely confined their attacks to the North Caucasus region in recent years. The blasts in Volgograd signaled that militants want to show their reach outside their native region.

Matthew Clements, an analyst at Jane's, said Caucasus militants could be targeting major transportation hubs like Volgograd to embarrass the Kremlin and discourage attendance at the Feb. 7-23 Olympics.

"The attack demonstrates the militants' capability to strike at soft targets such as transport infrastructure outside of their usual area of operations in the North Caucasus," he said in a note. "Although the very strict security measures which will be in place at the Sochi Games will make it difficult to undertake a successful attack against the main Olympic venues, public transport infrastructure in Sochi and the surrounding Krasnodar territory will face an elevated risk of attack."

Some experts say the perpetrators could also have been targeting Russia's pride by hitting the city formerly called Stalingrad, which is known for the historic battle that turned the tide against Nazi Germany.

"Volgograd, a symbol of Russia's suffering and victory in World War II, has been singled out by the terrorist leaders precisely because of its status in people's minds," Dmitry Trenin, the head of the Carnegie Endowment's Moscow office, said in a commentary on the organization's website.

A city of 1 million northeast of Sochi, Volgograd is a hub with railway lines running in five directions across the country and numerous bus routes connecting it to the volatile Caucasus provinces.

Security checks on buses have remained largely symbolic and easily avoidable, making them the transport of choice for terrorists in the region. And tighter railway security isn't always enough to prevent casualties. In Sunday's attack, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive in front of the train station's metal detectors, killing 17 people, including the attacker.

Security at Russia's railway stations and airports has been tightened after a male suicide bomber hit Moscow's Domodedovo Airport in January 2011, killing 37 people and injuring more than 180. Two bombings on the Moscow subway in March 2010 by female suicide bombers killed 40 people and wounded more than 120.

Umarov, who had claimed responsibility for the 2010 and 2011 bombings, ordered a halt to attacks on civilian targets during the mass demonstrations against Putin in the winter of 2011-12. He reversed that order in July, urging his men to "do their utmost to derail" the Sochi Olympics, which he described as "satanic dances on the bones of our ancestors."

Aware of the threat, the Sochi organizers have introduced some of the most extensive identity checks and sweeping security measures ever seen at an international sports event.

Anyone wanting to attend the games will have to buy a ticket online from the organizers and obtain a "spectator pass" for access. Doing so will require providing passport details that allow authorities to screen all visitors.

The security zone created around Sochi stretches approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) along the Black Sea coast and up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) inland. Russian forces including special troops will patrol the forested mountains flanking the resort and use drones to keep a constant watch over Olympic facilities. Speedboats will patrol the coast and sophisticated sonar will be used to detect submarines.

Cars from outside the Olympic zone will be banned beginning a month before the Winter Games, and Sochi residents are already facing widespread identity checks.

The White House said the U.S. would welcome "closer cooperation" with Russia on security preparations for the safety of athletes, spectators and other participants at the Olympics following the two attacks.

"The U.S. government has offered our full support to the Russian government in security preparations for the Sochi Olympic Games," White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.

Some observers have warned that terrorists may simply choose softer targets in the vicinity of Sochi to sow panic.

"Even if they succeed in protecting Sochi, there could be a series of major attacks near Sochi," Anatoly Yermolin, a veteran KGB officer, told Ekho Moskvy radio.

Alexei Filatov, another veteran of the Russian security forces, also predicted that terrorists will try to step up their attacks before the Olympics.

"The terrorist activities will increase as the Sochi Olympics get closer, and they will get increasingly close to the area," Filatov wrote on his blog. "For those who order terror attacks, it serves as an opportunity to deal a blow to Russia on global stage."

Some Russian commentators also have suggested that terrorists could have planted sleeper agents in Sochi long before security was tightened. Others indicated that terror groups could have rigged some Olympic facilities with explosives during construction. Russian officials have denied that could happen, citing stringent security controls at Olympic construction sites.

Russian Olympic Committee chief Alexander Zhukov insisted Monday that there was no need to take any extra steps to secure Sochi in the wake of the Volgograd bombings because "everything necessary already has been done."

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach offered his condolences Monday in a letter to Putin and expressed full confidence that Russia would deliver "safe and secure games in Sochi."

At the United Nations, the Security Council condemned the attacks as "heinous and cowardly acts," and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke to Putin by telephone, offering his condolences and stressing the importance of international cooperation to fight terrorism, according to the U.N. press office.

Russian authorities ordered police to increase security at train stations and other transportation facilities across the country. The heightened security comes as Russians are preparing to celebrate the New Year, the nation's main holiday.

In St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, the local governor canceled a New Year's fireworks show.

Vladimir Markin, the spokesman for Russia's main investigative agency, the Investigative Committee, said Monday's explosion involved a bomb similar to the one used Sunday, indicating that the two attacks were linked.

Markin said a suicide attacker was responsible for Monday's bus explosion that killed at least 14 people. It was not clear if authorities counted the bomber in their death toll.

In October, a suicide bombing on a bus in Volgograd killed six people.

 

How to get tickets for Eagles vs. Saints playoff game

  

PHILADELPHIA - December 30, 2013 (WPVI) -- So you want to go to the Eagles vs. Saints NFC Wild Card playoff game on Saturday night, right?

Well, right now it might be easier to grab some Eagles fan gear, but securing tickets is not completely out of the question.

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The Eagles Pro Shop in South Philadelphia, 8,000 square feet of all things Eagles, was busy Monday in the wake of the win over Dallas.

Consumers like winners, but they are diplomatically careful when asked if this is part of a bandwagon effect.
"We have our loyal fans, but you definitely notice that even our loyal fans hold off buying their purchases, buying the gear. So I'm not going to call anybody a bandwagon fan, they're cheering for us now and that's all that counts," Annie Bobbe of the Eagles Pro Shop said.
So what about tickets to be inside Lincoln Financial Field this Saturday night?
Tuesday at noon, several thousand single game tickets will be released by the team, only by web at Ticketmaster.com or by phone 1-800-745-3000. Do not go to the ticket office at the Linc as they are not selling them.
Tickets are also available through the secondary market, at Stub Hub or through brokers like ABC tickets in Cherry Hill.
Demand seems stronger this year than the last playoff game 3 years ago. Perhaps it's because of the Eagles' Cinderella story.
"They were supposed to be a 6-10 team and they're a 10-6 team. Then you have the whole Nick Foles factor, which I think he's been better than expected. And they beat their archrival Dallas," Tom Quinn of ABC Tickets said.
Good luck ticket hunting and go Eagles!

(Copyright ©2013 WPVI-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Egyptian rapper speaks for women's rights

Egyptian rapper speaks for women's rights

In this Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013 photo, Egyptian rapper Myam Mahmoud poses for a portrait in downtown Cairo. Mahmoud, an 18-year-old Egyptian, rapped her way to the semi-finals of the Middle East’s hit TV show “Arabs Got Talent.” While she didn’t win the program, Mahmoud did succeed in throwing a spotlight on something more than just herself. On a very public stage, her songs pulled back the curtain on the slew of challenges that women across the Arab world are fighting to overcome. “I wanted to tell girls in Egypt and everywhere else that they are not alone, we all have the same problems, but we cannot stay silent, we have to speak up,” Mahmoud told The Associated Press during an interview at her home.

CAIRO (AP) -- As soon as the beat started, the young woman bobbed her head to the rhythm, raised her hands to get the crowd clapping and then unleashed a flood of rap lyrics that tackled some of the biggest social challenges women face in the Arab world.

With the Middle East's hit TV show "Arabs Got Talent" as her stage, 18-year-old Myam Mahmoud rapped about sexual harassment, second-class treatment of women, and societal expectations of how a young religious woman should behave.

The Egyptian teenager didn't win the program - she crashed out in the semifinals - but she did succeed in throwing the spotlight on something bigger than herself.

"I wanted to tell girls in Egypt and everywhere else that they are not alone, we all have the same problems, but we cannot stay silent, we have to speak up," Mahmoud, who wears an Islamic headscarf but not a full-face veil, told The Associated Press.

In Egypt, a country where politics have grabbed most of the headlines for the past three years, little space has been dedicated to addressing social problems. So Mahmoud, who is a first-year student of politics and economics at the October 6 University in a western Cairo suburb, decided to draw attention to women's rights through rap.

"Everybody speaks about politics, but nobody tackles the topics that relate to me the most," Mahmoud said.

She said she gets the ideas for her songs from the surrounding community, and that sometimes girls send her their problems to write about and give them a voice.

"Many girls want to say what I rap about, but they cannot for many reasons," she said. "I speak for them."

One of the biggest problems for woman in Egypt is sexual harassment. A U.N. report released in April said the issue had reached "unprecedented levels," with 99.3 percent of women in the country reporting that they have been subjected to sexual harassment.

"There is no single female in Egypt that has not been harassed, regardless of her looks," Mahmoud said. "As soon as a girl is born in Egypt, she is repressed with many pressures."

Part of the problem, in Mahmoud's eyes, is that women don't speak out against harassment.

"I wish we would not be silent about our problems," she said. "We have to snatch our freedoms, nobody will just offer them."

Her lyrics take the issue head on.

"Some of us see the answer is to cover up, and if the girl is hidden she will not be assaulted," she raps in one song. "My body is only mine."

Initiatives to counter the problem have increased in the past year in Egypt, where volunteer groups have started protecting women at street protests. On the other side of the debate are conservative religious clerics who blame women, saying they invite harassment and sexual abuse by mixing with men.

The issue is, in part at least, linked to the broader expectations that many men in religiously conservative Egypt have about women and their roles in society. Mahmoud, with her quiet self-confidence and animated performances in a genre that has gained more acceptance among younger Egyptians in recent years, has challenged those expectations.

She said she received a flood of messages after her performance on TV accusing her of misrepresenting Islam with her look - read veil - and attitude. But she dismissed the criticism, saying "religion has never been a constraint - we put the curbs on."

"The veil was never a problem for me because it is my personal choice," she said. "If I'm going to add anything new to my life it has to go with my initial choices."

 

Boy Scouts open ranks to gay youth on Jan. 1

Boy Scouts open ranks to gay youth on Jan. 1 

The Boy Scouts of America will accept openly gay youths starting on New Year's Day, a historic change that has prompted the BSA to ponder a host of potential complications - ranging from policies on tentmates and showers to whether Scouts can march in gay pride parades.

Yet despite their be-prepared approach, BSA leaders are rooting for the change to be a non-event, comparable to another New Year's Day in 2000 when widespread fears of digital-clock chaos to start the new millennium proved unfounded.

"My hope is there will be the same effect this Jan. 1 as the Y2K scare," said Brad Haddock, a BSA national executive board member who chairs the policy implementation committee. "It's business as usual, nothing happens and we move forward."

Some churches are dropping their sponsorship of Scout units because of the new policy and some families are switching to a new conservative alternative called Trail Life USA. But massive defections haven't materialized and most major sponsors, including the Roman Catholic and Mormon churches, are maintaining ties.

"There hasn't been a whole lot of fallout," said Haddock, a lawyer from Wichita, Kan. "If a church said they wouldn't work with us, we'd have a church right down the street say, `We'll take the troop.'"

The new policy was approved in May, with support from 60 percent of the 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council. The vote followed bitter nationwide debate, and was accompanied by an announcement that the BSA would continue to exclude openly gay adults from leadership positions.

Under the new membership policy, youths can no longer be barred from the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts or coed Venturers program solely on the basis of sexual orientation. However, gay Scouts will face some limitations.

"Any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting," says one BSA document. "No member may use Scouting to promote or advance any social or political position or agenda, including on the matter of sexual orientation."

Trying to anticipate potential friction, the BSA has distributed extensive explanations and question-and-answer documents related to the policy.

Some examples:

-Could a Scout march in uniform in a gay-pride parade? No, says the BSA. "Each youth member is free as an individual to express his or her thoughts or take action on political or social issues but must not use Scouting's official uniforms and insignia when doing so."

-How publicly active could a gay Scout be, in terms of gay-rights advocacy? The BSA's reply: "While a youth member may acknowledge his or her sexual preference, that acknowledgment may not reach the level of distraction, which may include advocacy, promotion, or the distribution of information of a sexual nature."

A frequently-asked-questions document anticipates that some objections might surface from parents - or Scouts themselves - in cases where a unit includes an openly gay boy.

Regarding shower and toilet facilities, the BSA says it is encouraging units to provide greater individual privacy, including moving away from the tradition of group showers.

"The adult leaders have the discretion to arrange private showering times and locations," the BSA says.

Sleeping arrangements also are addressed, with specific decisions left to unit leaders.

"If a Scout or parent of a Scout makes a request to not tent with another Scout, their wishes should be honored," says the BSA.

Haddock says "isolated pockets" of problems are likely to surface, but overall he expects adult leaders will have the skills to defuse potential conflicts.

There are about 1 million adult leaders and 2.6 million youth members in Scouting in the U.S. Of the roughly 110,000 Scout units, 70 percent are sponsored by religious organizations, including several conservative denominations that had long supported the BSA's exclusion of gay youth and gay adults.

Among the major sponsors, the Southern Baptist Convention made clear its disappointment with the new youth policy, but left the decision on whether to cut ties up to local churches. An SBC spokesman, Sing Oldham, said it was not known how many churches have done so.

The biggest sponsor of Scout units - the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - commended the BSA for a "thoughtful, good-faith effort" to address a challenging issue, and said it would stay engaged in Scouting.

John Gailey of the Utah National Parks Council, the nation's largest council, said its youth membership had increased from 74,148 in December 2012 to 75,863 this month.

Like the Mormons, the Roman Catholic Church has generally accepted the new policy. Many parishes will continue to sponsor Scout units, though a few have considered cutting ties.

The National Catholic Committee on Scouting posted a question-and-answer document on its website, delving into the intersection of Scouting policy and Catholic teaching.

"The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that individuals who disclose a same-sex attraction are to be treated with the same dignity due all human beings ... and also teaches that engaging in sexual activity outside of marriage is always immoral," says the Q-and-A, concluding that the new BSA policy does not contradict Catholic teaching.

The ultimate decision on whether parishes would maintain or cut ties with the BSA was left to individual bishops. Several expressed cautious support for continuing in Scouting.

"As the new policy currently stands, I see no reason to prohibit our parishes from sponsoring Boy Scout troops," said Rev. Kevin Rhoades, bishop of Indiana's Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese. "At the same time, it is critical that we be vigilant on how this new policy is interpreted and implemented."

One likely target of such scrutiny will be former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, scheduled to take over in the spring as the BSA's next president. As leader of the Pentagon, Gates helped change the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy banning openly gay soldiers, and gay-rights groups hope he will try to end the BSA's ban on gay adult leaders.

The new youth policy was approved during a BSA meeting in May in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, near the Scouts' national headquarters in Irving, Texas.

Texas has a long heritage of Scouting, with tens of thousands of youth members and many families claiming generations of Eagle Scouts. Among them is Gov. Rick Perry, who achieved Scouting's highest rank growing up in the small town of Paint Creek.

The membership debate was closely followed by local Scouts on both sides; some carried signs and held rallies outside the meeting place. But in subsequent months, the debate has quieted.

Bill Helfand, scoutmaster of Troop 55 in Houston, said membership in his troop has remained steady at about 225 boys.

"We never considered sexual orientation, and I don't think many troops really did," Helfand said. "I don't know whether we had Scouts who are homosexual. I don't inquire ... It's not a matter of concern."

Helfand said the membership debate, while closely covered in the media, did not extend into his meetings with leaders and parents, besides occasional discussion of the policy at camp-outs. He says he hasn't talked to any Scout about his sexual orientation and doesn't intend to.

"I know that this is something that people felt was a momentous turning point for Scouting," Helfand said. "Everybody I know has made Scouting available to every boy who wants it, and that's what we continue to do."

However, some Texas parents and leaders have decided to switch to Trail Life USA, an alternative which declares itself "a Christian adventure, character, and leadership program for young men." Among them is Ron Orr, a business consultant from the Fort Worth area who is signing up local units for the group.

So far, he said he has 25 groups "pre-chartered" for a Jan. 1 launch date in the territory covered by the BSA's Circle Ten and Longhorn councils. That's modest compared to the 39,000 Scouts served by the Circle Ten council alone.

Orr is part of a family with four generations of Eagle Scouts. His older son recently earned his Eagle rank and his younger son was on the verge of doing likewise. But Orr said he could not stand by after the policy change.

"As Christians, from a scriptural basis, we love all folks, but the scripture is very clear that being homosexual is a sin," Orr said. "We've got to be able to hold a strong line and set a consistent example for our young men."

Orr said his decision to cut ties with the BSA rested in part on the Scout Oath, which includes the admonition to remain "morally straight."

Scott Scarborough of Lubbock, Texas, is helping Orr recruit Trail Life members in the Texas Panhandle, a mostly rural, conservative region. Scarborough said he offered to let his 14-year-old son stay in Boy Scouts and achieve his Eagle rank, but the boy elected to join him in Trail Life.

Orr and Scarborough said they didn't consider themselves rivals to the Boy Scouts, though they've chosen a different path.

"Our tradition comes out of Boy Scouts," Scarborough said. "We'll never not honor that heritage."

Police search for suspect in West Philadelphia shooting

  Action News

PHILADELPHIA - December 28, 2013 (WPVI) -- Police are investigating a shooting that left a man in critical condition West Philadelphia early Saturday morning.

Police say a 48-year old man was shot several times during a robbery attempt at 60th and Vine Streets just before 2:00 a.m.
Police say the victim was approached by a man who took his keys and cash before shooting him multiple times.

He was rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he is listed in critical condition.
Authorities are still searching for the suspect.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia Police.

(Copyright ©2013 WPVI-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Unemployment benefits being cut off to 1.3 million

  By BRADLEY KLAPPER

WASHINGTON -- More than 1 million Americans are bracing for a harrowing, post-Christmas jolt as extended federal unemployment benefits come to a sudden halt this weekend, with potentially significant implications for the recovering U.S. economy. A tense political battle likely looms when Congress reconvenes in the new, midterm election year.

Nudging Congress along, a vacationing President Barack Obama called two senators proposing an extension to offer his support. From Hawaii, Obama pledged Friday to push Congress to move quickly next year to address the "urgent economic priority," the White House said.
For families dependent on cash assistance, the end of the federal government's "emergency unemployment compensation" will mean some difficult belt-tightening as enrollees lose their average monthly stipend of $1,166.
Jobless rates could drop, but analysts say the economy may suffer with less money for consumers to spend on everything from clothes to cars. Having let the "emergency" program expire as part of a budget deal, it's unclear if Congress has the appetite to start it anew.
An estimated 1.3 million people will be cut off when the federally funded unemployment payments end Saturday.
Some 214,000 Californians will lose their payments, a figure expected to rise to more than a half-million by June, the Labor Department said. In the last 12 months, Californians received $4.5 billion in federal jobless benefits, much if plowed back into the local economy.
More than 127,000 New Yorkers also will be cut off this weekend. In New Jersey, 11th among states in population, 90,000 people will immediately lose out.
Started under President George W. Bush, the benefits were designed as a cushion for the millions of U.S. citizens who lost their jobs in a recession and failed to find new ones while receiving state jobless benefits, which in most states expire after six months. Another 1.9 million people across the country are expected to exhaust their state benefits before the end of June.
But Obama has no quick fix. He hailed this month's two-year budget agreement as a breakthrough of bipartisan cooperation while his administration works with Democratic allies in the House and Senate to revive an extension of jobless benefits for those unemployed more than six months.
The Obama administration says those payments have kept 11.4 million people out of poverty and benefited almost 17 million children. The cost of them since 2008 has totaled $225 billion.
At the depth of the recession, laid off workers could qualify for up to 99 weeks of benefits, including the initial 26 weeks provided by states. The most recent extension allowed a total of up to 73 weeks, depending on the state.
Restoring up to 47 extra weeks of benefits through 2014 would cost $19 billion, according to the Congressional Budget office.
House Democrats led by Reps. Sander Levin of Michigan and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland sought to include an extension through March by offsetting the costs with potential farm bill savings. They were rebuffed.
Senate Democrats and some Republicans plan another push in 2014. Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., have introduced a bill offering a similar three-month extension, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has promised to bring it up. But as with much in Congress, an extension is no sure thing.
In phone calls on Friday, Obama told Reed and Heller he was glad they were working together to address the problem. "It defies economic sense, precedent and our values," Obama economic adviser Gene Sperling said in a statement.
House Speaker John Boehner spoke with Obama about an extension earlier this month. Boehner and said his caucus would consider the possibility "as long as it's paid for and as long as there are other efforts that will help get our economy moving once again." He said White House has yet to introduce a plan that meets his standards.
For other Republicans, the bar is higher. Many of them look at signs of economic growth and an unemployment rate now down to 7 percent and expected to drop further as evidence the additional weeks of benefits are no longer necessary.
The effect of jobless benefits on the unemployment rates has been fiercely debated for decades. To qualify, people have to be seeking work. Tea partiers such as Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky argue that the payments aggravate rather than relieve unemployment.
The benefits allow some jobseekers to hold out for higher wages. Without the benefits, they might accept lower-paying jobs, reducing the unemployment rate. Others may be looking for work only to keep the benefits flowing and will drop out of the job market entirely once the checks stop. In theory, that also would push the unemployment rate lower.
The flip side is that the benefits - in addition to alleviating suffering - get spent on consumer goods, stimulating the economy and creating jobs.
Extended unemployment insurance "is really a lifeline to help pay the bills, put food on the table, and put gas in the tank so people can look for work," argued Maurice Emsellem, policy co-director at the left-leaning National Employment Law Project.
Michael Feroli, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase, said ending the extended benefits will lower the unemployment rate by half a percentage point as the long-term unemployed leave the labor force. While that statistical change may look good on the surface, Feroli cautioned the drop could be accompanied by a similar decrease in consumer spending. That would also hurt clothing retailers, car dealers and other Main Street businesses.
Extending the program, on the other hand, would boost GDP growth by some 0.2 percent and increase full-time employment by 200,000 next year, the Congressional Budget Office estimated, but at the price of increasing the government's debt.
Advocates of extended benefits say communities hardest hit by the recession will feel the sudden loss of cash in circulation the most.
They cite a set of their own troublesome figures: three jobseekers still competing for each opening; some 4 million people in the ranks of long-term unemployed; unemployment lasting on average 37 weeks, two months longer than most states provide insurance. ___

(Copyright ©2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

A&E reverses decision on 'Duck Dynasty' patriarch

A&E reverses decision on 'Duck Dynasty' patriarch

This undated image released by A&E shows brothers Silas "Uncle Si" Robertson, left, and Phil Robertson from the popular series "Duck Dynasty." Phil Robertson was suspended for disparaging comments he made to GQ magazine about gay people but was reinstated by the network on Friday, Dec. 27. In a statement Friday, A&E said it decided to bring Robertson back to the reality series after discussions with the Robertson family and "numerous advocacy groups."

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The A&E channel said it's reversing its decision to drop "Duck Dynasty" patriarch Phil Robertson from the show for his remarks about gays.

In a statement Friday, A&E said it decided to bring Robertson back after discussions with the Robertson family and "numerous advocacy groups."

The channel had put Robertson on what it called "hiatus" following his comments in a magazine article about how the Bible informs his view of gays.

His comments were slammed by groups including GLAAD, the gay media watch organization. But A&E's decision drew a backlash from those who said they supported Robertson's comments and others who defended him on the basis of freedom of speech.

 

Florida mother gives birth to 14 pound baby boy

DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - A family in Florida received a big gift this Christmas: a new baby boy weighing in at more than 14 pounds!
Nicia McNelley went in for her scheduled C-section last Friday and gave birth to Isaiah Johnson, who topped the scale at a whopping 14 pounds, 7.6 ounces.
"I couldn't believe it. I mean, I have two other kids, but not as big as this guy," said McNelley.
Isaiah's father already has big plans for his son. He hopes Isaiah will play for Florida State when he grows up.
But are there plans for another sibling for Isaiah?
“No, I got my tubes tied, and I'm glad I did because if I were to decide to have more children after this, there's no telling how big they would be after him,” McNelley said.
Both mom and baby are healthy and doing well.

Boy thrown off Upper West Side building by dad laid to rest

  Eyewitness News

 

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Heartbroken friends and family gathered in Manhattan Thursday morning to bid a final farewell to a 3-year-old boy who was thrown to his death off an Upper West Side high-rise by his father.

Funeral services were held for Kirill Kanarikov at the Russian Orthodox Church on East 93rd Street. The procession then traveled to Nyack, where the boy was laid to rest.
Officials believe a bitter custody battle drove Kirill's father, 35-year-old Dmitriy Kanarikov, to toss the boy from the top of the 52nd-story apartment building before jumping to his own death.
Kirill's mother, Svetlana Kanarikov, said in a statement that she had been nervous about her son's visits with his father, and she initially wanted them to be supervised. But she relented after a December 5 court appearance.
"The father never did anything violent against the child before," Kanarikov said of the two previous visits in a statement issued Monday night through a lawyer. "Both times, Kirill was happy after seeing his dad. Skype calls were also going well."
He had picked up Kirill at 10 a.m. Sunday at a Manhattan police precinct - a neutral site negotiated in advance by the parents - to spend time with him for the first time unsupervised.
The couple had been married four years and separated in August, and Svetlana Kanarikov said she had taken action after a domestic violence incident. Their split was acrimonious. She left their Brooklyn apartment and moved in with her family in Fair Lawn, N.J., enrolling her son in school. In addition to Kirill, Dmitriy Kanarikov had wanted their house and other property, too, Svetlana Kanarikov said.
"He said he would take the child away and I will 'shoot myself from grief,'" she said. "This was his sick way to take Kirill away from me."
Officers responding to an emergency call reporting two jumpers from the building near Columbus Circle and Lincoln Center found Kanarikov and the boy on the lower rooftops of two separate nearby buildings.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene, and Kirill was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. A witness said the boy was wearing Christmas pajamas.
"Kirill was a very sweet, wonderful child, who was loved very much," his mother said. "He will forever live on in my heart."
(The Associated Press contributed to this report)
___

(Copyright ©2013 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest News Pa. Court Reverses Monsignor William Lynn’s Conviction

Pa. Court Reverses Monsignor William Lynn’s Convict

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – In a major ruling in the local priest abuse case, an appeals court has dismissed the criminal case against a high-ranking church official in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It says he was wrongly convicted for his handling of abuse complaints.

Monsignor William Lynn has been behind bars since June of 2012, serving three to six years in prison at Waymart, in northeastern Pennsylvania.

“The superior court has ordered him to be released forthwith,” his defense lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom said.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Singing in the cold: Bruno preps for Super Bowl

Singing in the cold: Bruno preps for Super Bowl

FILE - In this Nov. 7, 2012 file photo, Bruno Mars performs during the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York. Mars will perform at this year's Super Bowl.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Everyone is in Bruno Mars' ear about one thing when it comes to performing the Super Bowl halftime show: How will you deal with the freezing cold?

"Everyone's putting the fear in god in me like there's going to be a blizzard," Mars said in a phone interview this month from Los Angeles, asking about the weather conditions in the New York-New Jersey area for his "research."

"I'm going to wear a beekeeper suit, I don't know," he answered about how he will keep warm when he performs Feb. 2. "I'm not going to know until I get there ... I'm not trying to hype myself up too much.

"I know it's going to be cold and I just got to face it."

The 28-year-old pop crooner will hit the stage for the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The singer, whose hits range from "Grenade" to "Locked Out of Heaven," typically performs with a full band where he sings, dances and strums the guitar onstage. Mars' performance follows Beyonce's electrifying set earlier this year, where she danced tightly and sang powerfully, with the help of background dancers and Destiny's Child at the big game in New Orleans.

Lee Anne Callahan-Longo, the general manager of Beyonce's production house Parkwood Entertainment, said performing in cold weather creates many challenges.

"It makes it harder to sing. It certainly makes it harder on a woman for choosing wardrobe. It can be really cold out there," she said. "But I think once you get on stage and your adrenaline gets pumping, it doesn't matter. They get in the zone. Most artists get in the zone once they start their performance. And if you're professional, you do what you need to do."

Katy Perry echoed Callahan-Longo's thoughts.

"The weather affects your vocal cords and if you're playing guitar you can't wear mittens, you know, and your fingers are hitting these strings that are cold as well," she said. "I've been in some situations where it just like dries out your voice - the cold does. It's not where you shine your best, but you do what you have to do."

Much like his epic performance on "Saturday Night Live" that became the following week's water cooler topic as well as a ratings success, Mars understands that his Super Bowl stint is massively high profile, and could boost the pop star - who has two platinum albums, a plethora of radio hits and sold out international tours - to new heights. The singer debuted on the music scene in 2010, costarring on B.o.B's "Nothin on You" and Travie McCoy's "Billionaire" - multi-platinum hits Mars sang on, co-wrote and co-produced. He went on to release his debut single, "Just the Way You Are," months after, topping the charts on his own and earning his first Grammy Award. Mars' debut, "Doo-Wops & Hooligans," launched back-to-back hits and reached near double platinum status, and last year's "Unorthodox Jukebox" mirrored its success and is nominated for four Grammy Awards - including song and record of the year - to air a week before the Super Bowl.

"When we got that phone call, again, what do you say? `Nah.' What do you say? `Absolutely. Let's rock,'" he said excitedly. "It was something exciting for me and my (band). It wasn't too long ago when we were performing in clubs and bars and pubs, and even when I put (my first) album out, (we were) opening acts for a bunch of different artists, living in a van and traveling around and kind of putting in the work and time. It might seem fast to the outsider looking in, but you know, it's just another thing we can celebrate and I feel like as a group we all achieved it together.

"You know, performing on TV and stuff, whatever the NFL saw they dug it and that's why we got the call."

Mars won't be the only one performing in the cold to round-out the NFL season: The Foo Fighters and Zac Brown Band will perform on a cruise ship docked at Pier 88 in Manhattan on the Hudson River a day before the big game. The Roots, Imagine Dragons, Run DMC and Fall Out Boy will also take the stage on the ship as part of the Super Bowl festivities.

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers will perform at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Super Bowl Eve, and a day before, Robin Thicke and Kendrick Lamar will headline ESPN's party on Pier 36. Mary J. Blige, John Legend, and Marc Anthony will also sing at Cipriani's for an event by Men's Fitness and Shape magazines, and Patti LaBelle and Donnie McClurkin will perform at Madison Square Garden for the annual Super Bowl Gospel Celebration.

Mars, who was named Billboard's top artist of the year, said while the crazy weather conditions somewhat frightens him, he'll pull through.

"You know what, it's awesome. ... even if I have to build a chimney onstage, perform around a fire, I'll do it," he said.

And his peers have his back, including Kelly Rowland, who was part of Beyonce's Super Bowl performance along with Michelle Williams.

"He is going to be great. Trust me. Bruno Mars will find a way to stay warm. He's so hot," Rowland said in an interview. "He's going to be just fine."

What about Beyonce?

"No, you got her number," a laughing Mars said of getting advice from the diva. "Just from what I know - we played a Houston rodeo, which is a stadium, so it is a different beast and there's a different way to attack it."

 

Bye bye, bile? Websites try to nix nasty comments

Bye bye, bile? Websites try to nix nasty comments 

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 photo illustration, hands type on a computer keyboard in Los Angeles. Companies including Google and the Huffington Post are trying everything from deploying moderators to forcing people to use their real names in order to restore civil discourse on online comment threads.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Mix blatant bigotry with poor spelling. Add a dash of ALL CAPS. Top it off with a violent threat. And there you have it: A recipe for the worst of online comments, scourge of the Internet.

Blame anonymity, blame politicians, blame human nature. But a growing number of websites are reining in the Wild West of online commentary. Companies including Google and the Huffington Post are trying everything from deploying moderators to forcing people to use their real names in order to restore civil discourse. Some sites, such as Popular Science, are banning comments altogether.

The efforts put sites in a delicate position. User comments add a lively, fresh feel to videos, stories and music. And, of course, the longer visitors stay to read the posts, and the more they come back, the more a site can charge for advertising.

What websites don't want is the kind of off-putting nastiness that spewed forth under a recent CNN.com article about the Affordable Care Act.

"If it were up to me, you progressive libs destroying this country would be hanging from the gallows for treason. People are awakening though. If I were you, I'd be very afraid," wrote someone using the name "JBlaze."

YouTube, which is owned by Google, has long been home to some of the Internet's most juvenile and grammatically incorrect comments. The site caused a stir last month when it began requiring people to log into Google Plus to write a comment. Besides herding users to Google's unified network, the company says the move is designed to raise the level of discourse in the conversations that play out under YouTube videos.

One such video, a Cheerios commercial featuring an interracial family, met with such a barrage of racist responses on YouTube in May that General Mills shut down comments on it altogether.

"Starting this week, when you're watching a video on YouTube, you'll see comments sorted by people you care about first," wrote YouTube product manager Nundu Janakiram and principal engineer Yonatan Zunger in a blog post announcing the changes. "If you post videos on your channel, you also have more tools to moderate welcome and unwelcome conversations. This way, YouTube comments will become conversations that matter to you."

Anonymity has always been a major appeal of online life. Two decades ago, The New Yorker magazine ran a cartoon with a dog sitting in front of a computer, one paw on the keyboard. The caption read: "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." At its best, anonymity allows people to speak freely without repercussions. It allows whistle blowers and protesters to espouse unpopular opinions. At its worst, it allows people to spout off without repercussions. It gives trolls and bullies license to pick arguments, threaten and abuse.

But anonymity has been eroding in recent years. On the Internet, many people may know not only your name, but also your latest musings, the songs you've listened to, your job history, who your friends are and even the brand of soap you prefer.

"It's not so much that our offline lives are going online, it's that our offline and online lives are more integrated," says Mark Lashley, a professor of communications at La Salle University in Philadelphia. 

Facebook, which requires people to use their real names, played a big part in the seismic shift.

"The way the Web was developed, it was unique in that the avatar and the handle were always these things people used to go by. It did develop into a Wild West situation," he says, adding that it's no surprise that Google and other companies are going this route. "As more people go online and we put more of our lives online, we should be held accountable for things we say."

Nearly three-quarters of teens and young adults think people are more likely to use discriminatory language online or in text messages than in face to face conversations, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and MTV. The poll didn't distinguish between anonymous comments and those with real identities attached.

The Huffington Post is also clamping down on vicious comments. In addition to employing 40 human moderators who sift through readers' posts for racism, homophobia, hate speech and the like, the AOL-owned news site is also chipping away at anonymous commenting. Previously, anyone could respond to an article posted on the site by creating an account, without tying it to an email address. This fall, HuffPo began requiring people to verify their identity by connecting their accounts to an email address, but that didn't appear to be enough and the site now also asks commenters to log in using a verified Facebook account.

"We are reaching a place where the Internet is growing up," says Jimmy Soni, managing editor of HuffPo. 

"These changes represent a maturing (online) environment."

Soni says the changes have already made a difference in the quality of the comments. The lack of total anonymity, while not a failsafe method, offers people a "gut check moment," he says. There have been "significantly fewer things that we would not be able to share with our mothers," in the HuffPo comments section since the change, Soni says.

Newspapers are also turning toward regulated comments. Of the largest 137 U.S. newspapers - those with daily circulation above 50,000 - nearly 49 percent ban anonymous commenting, according to Arthur Santana, assistant communications professor at the University of Houston. Nearly 42 percent allow anonymity, while 9 percent do not have comments at all.

Curbing anonymity doesn't always help. Plenty of people are fine attaching their names and Facebook profiles to poorly spelled outbursts that live on long after their fury has passed.

In some cases, sites have gone further. Popular Science, the 141-year-old science and technology magazine, stopped allowing comments of any kind on its news articles in September.

While highlighting responses to articles about climate change and abortion, Popular Science online editor Suzanne LaBarre announced the change and explained in a blog post that comments can be "bad for science."

Because "comments sections tend to be a grotesque reflection of the media culture surrounding them, the cynical work of undermining bedrock scientific doctrine is now being done beneath our own stories," wrote LaBarre.

We can't wait to see the response to this story.