US News

Whale Watch: Hedgies Dump Apple

CNBC - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 5:40pm
Big investors are reporting their quarterly holdings, offering a glimpse into what some of the big fish were buying and selling during the first quarter.
Categories: US News

House panel approves farm bill

POLITICO - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 5:28pm
A dairy provision strongly opposed by John Boehner prevails in a close vote.


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W.H. Benghazi papers point to CIA

POLITICO - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 5:22pm
The 100 pages reveal the evolution of the administration's talking points on the incident.


Categories: US News

Holder-Gohmert spat inspires tweets

POLITICO - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 5:13pm
The two get into a heated exchange at a House Judiciary Committee hearing.


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Cisco Jumps On Surprise Earnings Beat

CNBC - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 5:11pm
Cisco reported earnings and revenue that beat market expectations. Shares gained after-hours.
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Apple targeted over offshore funds

POLITICO - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 5:01pm
CEO Tim Cook will attend a Senate hearing next week investigating the firm's tax practices.


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O.J. Simpson Testifies in New Trial

The New York Times - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 4:48pm
O. J. Simpson testified in Las Vegas on Thursday, trying to overturn the kidnapping and robbery conviction that sent him to prison.    

Categories: US News

Telescope now space junk?

POLITICO - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 4:43pm
"I wouldn't call Kepler down-and-out just yet," says NASA sciences chief John Grunsfeld.


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House GOP to quit immigration talks?

POLITICO - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 4:41pm
Rep. John Carter and Rep. Raul Labrador say it is time to wrap things up already.


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Jay Carney's 'moment of truth'

POLITICO - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 4:36pm
His relationship with the press corps underwent a sea change this week.


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IRS defends top official

POLITICO - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 4:33pm
A report implies he learned of the program in 2011.


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Holmes prosecutors: Laws are clear, constitutional

FOX News - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 4:29pm

Prosecutors in the Colorado theater shootings say laws on insanity and the death penalty are constitutional and don't need any of the explanations requested by the defense.

Attorneys for the state filed their response Wednesday to motions by James Holmes' lawyers saying the laws are vague. The defense also argues the laws violate Holmes' rights by possibly barring him from calling witnesses to testify about his mental health during the trial's penalty phase.

Holmes is charged with killing 12 at a movie theater in July. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

A judge entered a standard not guilty plea on Holmes' behalf. He wants to change that to not guilty by reason of insanity.

The judge must approve the change after ruling on defense objections to the laws.

Categories: US News

Buffett's Berkshire Eliminates Two Stakes

CNBC - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 4:24pm
Buffett's company sells two small stock stakes.
Categories: US News

Convicted Philadelphia abortion doctor sentenced to life in prison without parole

FOX News - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 4:10pm

DEVELOPING -- A Philadelphia abortion doctor was sentenced Wednesday to a third life term for killing an aborted baby that he described as so big it could "walk to the bus."

Dr. Kermit Gosnell was convicted this week of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies born alive, then stabbed with scissors. He was given two life sentences Tuesday in a deal with prosecutors that spared him a potential death sentence, and the third sentence was handed down Wednesday.

Gosnell was also sentenced to 2 1/2 to five years in prison for the 2009 overdose death of a patient. The sentences are consecutive, meaning Gosnell, 72, will spend the rest of his life in prison.

The case has made Gosnell a flashpoint in the nation's bitter debate over legalized abortion.

Prosecutors argued that Gosnell savagely killed late-term babies born alive by severing their spines, and taught several staff members the technique. Nine former clinic workers were convicted in the case, and four others pleaded guilty to murder.

Despite the notoriety of the case, Gosnell has seemed oddly serene in court during the two-month trial, and apparently sees himself as a medical pioneer and tireless advocate for inner-city patients.

"I wanted to be an effective, positive force in the minority community," Gosnell told The Philadelphia Daily News in a 2010 interview, when he predicted he would be "vindicated" of the allegations in a harrowing grand jury report. He chose not to address the judge during Wednesday's sentencing.

But prosecutors said he grew increasingly reckless as he accumulated millions of dollars from his rogue clinic, which was described as a "pill mill" for addicts by day and an "abortion mill" by night.

The jury spent 10 days deliberating before finding that Gosnell had killed babies or had them killed. And the jury found him complicit in the death of the 41-year-old patient, a Virginia woman who was repeatedly sedated by his untrained medical assistants.

Gosnell was also convicted of hundreds of abortion law violations for performing illegal, third-term abortions or failing to counsel women and teens. Gosnell was acquitted in the deaths of four other infants.

Prosecutors have declined to comment on the verdict, citing a gag order that was expected to be lifted Wednesday when Gosnell's sentence is finalized.

Prosecutors had planned to seek the death penalty because Gosnell killed more than one person and his victims were especially vulnerable given their age. But Gosnell's own advanced age had made it unlikely he would ever be executed before his appeals ran out.

Gosnell's lawyer, Jack McMahon, said his client accepts the verdict and isn't sorry he went to trial. He said Gosnell gave up a somewhat better deal early on but wanted to air the issues in court and is satisfied that he did so.

"He wanted this case aired out in a courtroom and it got aired out in a courtroom in a fair way. And now he's accepting what will happen. He's an intelligent guy," said McMahon, who said Gosnell would now plead to federal drug charges that are still pending.

The sentencing deal, reached after hours of terse negotiations Tuesday, spares Gosnell's family the task of pleading for his life in court, McMahon said. Gosnell has six children, the youngest of them a teenager born to his third wife, who has also pleaded guilty in the case.

"He's a proud man. To bring his young family into court was something he did not want to do," McMahon said.

A 2011 grand jury investigation into Gosnell's alleged prescription drug trafficking led to the gruesome findings about his abortion clinic. During an FBI raid, authorities found 47 aborted fetuses stored in clinic freezers, jars of tiny severed feet, bloodstained furniture and dirty medical instruments, along with cats roaming the premises.

Prosecution experts said the Delaware teen carrying Baby A, whose death Gosnell was sentenced in Wednesday, was nearly 30 weeks pregnant when Gosnell aborted her fetus. A second baby was said to be alive for about 20 minutes before a clinic worker snipped the neck. A third was born in a toilet and was moving before another clinic employee severed the spinal cord, according to testimony.

A fourth baby let out a whimper before Gosnell cut the neck, prosecutors alleged. Gosnell was acquitted in that baby's death, the only one of the four in which no one testified to seeing the baby killed.

McMahon has argued that none of the fetuses was born alive and that any movements were posthumous twitching or spasms.

Categories: US News

Horses as Farm Equipment

The New York Times - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 4:00pm
Once a mainstay of farming, horses are back, as clean and organic as the crops they plow.    
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NRCC chief vows to fix polling flaws

POLITICO - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 3:46pm
Greg Walden says the committee has already taken steps to shore up the operation for the midterms.


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Watt's grandson in hearing spotlight

POLITICO - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 3:45pm
The youngster steals the show during a House Judiciary Committee hearing with Eric Holder.


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Press weighs in on AP records

POLITICO - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 3:27pm
A letter addressed to the deputy attorney general expresses "deep concern" over the seizure.


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Detroit Dominates in Car Quality: Survey

CNBC - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 3:23pm
After lagging their rivals, Detroit automakers have started to improve in quality and reliability, NBC News reports.
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Senior citizens face charges

CNN - Wed, 05/15/2013 - 3:22pm
Residents of a New Jersey senior citizen building have been accused of prostitution and drug-related crimes.
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