Student taped during sex committed suicide

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New Jersey college student committed suicide by jumping from the George WashingtonBridge, his family said on Wednesday, after his roommate secretly filmed him in a sexual encounter with a man and broadcast it on the Internet.

"Tyler committed suicide last week by jumping from the George Washington Bridge," his family's lawyer, Paul Mainardi, said in a statement on their behalf.

Clementi, an 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman, went missing on Sept. 22 after leaving a post on his Facebook page saying "jumping off the gw bridge sorry."

Police said a body had been pulled from waters near the George Washington Bridge, which connects Manhattan and New Jersey on Wednesday, but had not been positively identified.

The president of Rutgers University, where Clementi was a student, issued a statement saying that Clementi was a victim of a residence hall incident that led to the arrest of two Rutgers students for invasion of privacy.

"Our university community feels the pain of his loss, and I know there is anger and outrage about these events," Rutgers President Richard McCormick said.

Two students, Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, both 18, are accused of secretly placing a camera in Clementi's dormitory room and transmitting the sexual encounter with another male on the Internet, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said.

Ravi has also been charged with two additional counts of invasion of privacy for trying to use the secret camera to view and transmit another encounter.

Ravi also allegedly posted messages on Twitter reading "Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into Molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay."

The Clementi family statement said, "The family and their representatives are cooperating fully with the ongoing criminal investigations of two Rutgers University students."

Both students face up to five years in prison if convicted.
Source:http://www.latimes.com

Obama takes a dip in Gulf waters

By JULIE PACE, Associated Press Writer 

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – President Barack Obama declared Gulf Coast beaches clean, safe and open for business Saturday as he brought his family to the Florida Panhandle and promised residents that the government wouldn't forget them once efforts to stop the leak are finished.
On a warm and muggy day, Obama pledged to "keep up our efforts until the environment is cleaned, polluters are held accountable, businesses and communities are made whole, and the people of the Gulf Coast are back on their feet."
Obama is in the region for a brief weekend trip with first lady Michelle Obama, daughter Sasha (her sister Malia is at summer camp) and the family dog, Bo. Their 27-hour stop in the Sunshine State is as much a family vacation as it is an attempt by the president to convince Americans that this region, so dependent on tourism revenue, is safe for travel — and that its surf is clean.
To reinforce that message, Obama and Sasha swam in the Gulf's waters on Saturday, according to White House spokesman Bill Burton. The highly anticipated dip was away from the media's view.

Reuters – U.S. President Barack Obama and his daughter Sasha swim at Alligator Point in Panama City Beach, Florida, …

Obama said his family planned to "enjoy the beach and the water — to let our fellow Americans know that they should come on down here."
The first family ventured to Lime's Bayside Bar & Grill, where they relaxed on an outdoor deck overlooking the water and ate a lunch of fish tacos, chicken tenders and burgers. After a quiet afternoon at their beachfront hotel, the Obamas headed into town for a family miniature golf outing.
Nine-year old Sasha stole the show, hitting a hole-in-one off the first tee, much to the delight of her father, an avid golfer.
"That's how you do it!" the president exclaimed, before shooting par with his two strokes on the first hole.
The White House scheduled the trip after facing criticism that the president wasn't heeding his own advice that Americans vacation in the Gulf. Obama has vacationed in North Carolina and Maine this year and is heading to Martha's Vineyard, off the Massachusetts coast, later in August. Mrs. Obama also traveled to Spain this month with Sasha.
Gulf Coast residents and local officials are hoping the president's stop here will jump-start the tourism industry, which has been reeling since the spill. Although only 16 of the 180 beaches in the western part of the Panhandle were affected by the spill, tourism officials say many potential visitors have stayed away, deterred by images of oil-slicked waters and tarball-strewn beaches in other parts of the region.
"It's the biggest single commercial you could imagine," Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said of the president's visit.
Crist was among the local officials and small business owners who joined Obama earlier in the day at a meeting to discuss the pace of recovery efforts.
Obama, who is on his fifth trip to the region since the spill began, said he knows Gulf Coast residents have been frustrated by the slow payment of claims from a $20 billion BP fund for those who have suffered damages as a result of the spill, and he pledged to rectify that.
"Any delay by BP or those managing the new funds are unacceptable, and I will keep pushing to get these claims expedited," the president said.
Alabama's attorney general on Thursday sued BP and others companies associated with the spill, seeking unspecified economic and punitive damages. At least 300 federal lawsuits have been filed in 12 states against BP and the other three main companies involved in the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drill rig.
The president's trip came as the government's point man on the Gulf spill said he wants additional testing before he orders BP to finish drilling a relief well that will allow the oil giant to plug the well for good.
Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen told reporters on Saturday that it could be late Monday or early Tuesday before officials know the results of those tests.
That means it would be Tuesday at the earliest before he gives his final order to proceed with the relief well, and next weekend at the earliest before the relief well intercepts the runaway well.
Source:http://news.yahoo.com

BP chokes off the oil leak; now begins the wait

By COLLEEN LONG and HARRY R. WEBER

NEW ORLEANS – BP finally choked off the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday — 85 days and up to 184 million gallons after the crisis unfolded — then began a tense 48 hours of watching to see whether the capped-off well would hold or blow a new leak.
To the relief of millions of people along the Gulf Coast, the big, billowing brown cloud of crude at the bottom of the sea disappeared from the underwater video feed for the first time since the disaster began in April, as BP closed the last of three openings in the 75-ton cap lowered onto the well earlier this week.
"Finally!" said Renee Brown, a school guidance counselor visiting Pensacola Beach, Fla., from London, Ky. "Honestly, I'm surprised that they haven't been able to do something sooner, though."
But the company stopped far short of declaring victory over the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history and one of the nation's worst environmental disasters, a catastrophe that has killed wildlife and threatened the livelihoods of fishermen, restaurateurs, and oil industry workers from Texas to Florida.
Now begins a waiting period during which engineers will monitor pressure gauges and watch for signs of leaks elsewhere in the well. The biggest risk: Pressure from the oil gushing out of the ground could fracture the well and make the leak even worse, causing oil to spill from other spots on the sea floor.
Ultimately, the cap may have to be opened up, allowing oil to spill into the sea again.
"For the people living on the Gulf, I'm certainly not going to guess their emotions," BP vice president Kent Wells said. "I hope they're encouraged there's no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico. But we have to be careful. Depending on what the test shows us, we may need to open this well back up."
The news elicited joy mixed with skepticism from wary Gulf Coast residents following months of false starts, setbacks and failed attempts. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley's face lit up when he heard the oil flow had stopped.
"That's great. I think a lot of prayers were answered today," he said.
"I don't believe that. That's a lie. It's a (expletive) lie," said Stephon LaFrance, an oysterman in Louisiana's oil-stained Plaquemines Parish who has been out of work for weeks. "I don't believe they stopped that leak. BP's trying to make their self look good."
President Barack Obama called it a positive sign, but cautioned: "We're still in the testing phase."
The stoppage came 85 days, 16 hours and 25 minutes after the first report April 20 of an explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 workers. Somewhere between 94 million and 184 million gallons spilled into the Gulf, according to government estimates.
The skepticism comes after a string of failed attempts by BP to contain the leak, including the use of a giant concrete-and-steel box that became clogged with ice-like crystals; a colossal stopper and siphon tube that trapped very little oil; and an effort to jam the well by pumping in mud and shredded rubber.
Wells said the oil stopped flowing into the water at 2:25 p.m. CDT after engineers gradually dialed back the amount of crude escaping through the last of three vents in the cap, an 18-foot-high metal stack of pipes and valves.
On the video feed, the violently churning cloud of oil and gas coming out of a narrow tube thinned, and tapered off. Suddenly, there were a few puffs of oil, surrounded by cloudy dispersant BP was pumping on top. Then, there was nothing.
"I am very pleased that there's no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, I'm really excited there's no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico," Wells said.
The cap is designed to stop oil from flowing into the sea, either by bottling it up inside the well, or capturing it and piping it to ships on the surface. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the Obama administration's point man on the disaster, said if the cap holds, it will probably be used to pipe oil to the surface, with the option of employing it to shut the well completely if a hurricane threatens.
Even if it works, the cap is not a permanent fix, and not the end of the crisis by any means. BP is drilling two relief wells so it can pump mud and cement into the leaking well in hopes of plugging it permanently by mid-August. After that, the Gulf Coast faces a monumental cleanup and restoration that could take years.
BP stock, which has mainly tumbled since the spill began, closed nearly 8 percent higher on the New York Stock Exchange after the news.
Steve Shepard, Gulf Coast chairman of the Mississippi Chapter of the Sierra Club, said: "I think it's a little premature to say it's definitely over. They've gotten our hopes up so many times before that in my mind I don't think it's going to be over until Christmas."
Nine-year-old Lena Durden threw up her hands in jubilation when her mother told her the oil was stopped.
"God, that's wonderful," said Yvonne Durden, a Mobile-area native who now lives in Seattle and brought her daughter to the coast for a visit. "We came here so she could swim in the water and see it in case it's not here next time."
Randall Luthi, president of the Washington-based National Ocean Industries Association, a national trade group representing the offshore oil industry, said: "This is by far the best news we've heard in 86 days. You can bet that industry officials and their families are taking a big sigh here."
Source:http://news.yahoo.com

Utah man hopes for 11th hour execution reprieve

By JENNIFER DOBNER (AP)

SALT LAKE CITY — Midnight in the firing squad chamber approaches for Ronnie Lee Gardner — a self-described "nasty little bugger" — whose childhood of neglect, drug-addiction and ever escalating crime led to double murder by age 24 and a quarter-century waiting for his own execution.

Barring the success of any final appeals, that moment will arrive shortly after 12:01 a.m. Friday. Petitions are pending before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver and the U.S. Supreme Court.

If executed, Gardner will become the first person put to death by firing squad in the United States in 14 years.

FILE - In this Thursday, June 10, 2010 picture, Ronnie Lee Gardner raises his restrained hand as he is sworn in before speaking at his commutation hearing at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. Next to him is his attorney Andrew Parnes. 

Although he has spoken emotionally in recent days of his desire to start a program to help troubled youth, Gardner acknowledged to a parole board of his own tortured trajectory: "It would have been a miracle if I didn't end up here."

Gardner, 49, was sentenced to death for a 1985 capital murder conviction stemming from the fatal courthouse shooting of attorney Michael Burdell during an escape attempt. Gardner was at the court because he faced a murder charge in the shooting death of bartender Melvyn Otterstrom.

One pyschology professor testified before the parole board that Gardner was almost a perfect model for understanding "extreme or violent behavior."

He first came to the attention of authorities at age 2 as he was found walking alone on a street clad only in a diaper. At age 6 he became addicted to sniffing gasoline and glue. Harder drugs — LSD and heroin — followed by age 10. By then Gardner was tagging along with his stepfather as a lookout on robberies, according to court documents.

At 11, Gardner was sent to live in a state mental hospital. He had no diagnosed mental illness, but child welfare officials thought he was better off there than at home. He was released about 18 months later. A trouble-maker, he had difficulty at school and often looked for a fight and "ran away from every institution they put me in." In court transcripts Gardner says he only completed his education through the fourth grade.

There were stints in the state industrial school and a stay in a foster home, where he was sexually abused. He had his first child, a girl, at about 16. A boy followed a few years later.

Violent, easily angered and out of control, he killed for the first time — Otterstrom — at age 23. About six months later, at 24, he shot Burdell in the face as the attorney hid behind a door in the chaotic courthouse.

"I had a very explosive temper," Gardner said last week. "Even my mom said it was like I had two personalities."

Decades later, Gardner now says he is calmer, wiser and remorseful. He claims his desire is now to help young people avoid making the kind of mistakes that landed him on death row. He and his brother would like to run a 160-acre organic farm and residential program for at-risk youth.

"There's no better example in this state of what not to do," Gardner told the board.

But some doubt that Gardner is, or could ever be, reformed.

Tami Stewart's father, George "Nick" Kirk, was a bailiff at the courthouse the day of Gardner's botched escape. Shot and wounded in the lower abdomen, Kirk suffered chronic health problems the rest of his life and became frustrated by the lack of justice Gardner's years of appeals afforded him, Stewart said.

Stewart said she's not happy about the idea of Gardner's death, but she believes it will bring her family some closure.

"I think at that moment, he will feel that fear that his victims felt," she said.

Newspaper accounts of Burdell's funeral in Salt Lake City from 25 years ago, note that his friends and family had prayed for Gardner, asking that he might be transformed.

On Tuesday, Burdell's father, Joseph Burdell, Jr., said Gardner's desire to help troubled kids is proof that some tranformation has come. He said he has no need for any apologies.

"I understand that he wants to apologize. I think it would be difficult for him," he said by phone from his Cary, N.C., home. "Twenty-five years is a long time, he's not the same man."

At his commutation hearing, Gardner shed a tear after telling the board his attempts to apologize to the Otterstroms and Kirks had been unsucessful. He said he hoped for forgiveness.

"If someone hates me for 20 years, it's going to affect them," Gardner said. "I know killing me is going to hurt them just as bad. It's something you have to live with every day. You can't get away from it. I've been on the other side of the gun. I know."

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

US warns of World Cup terrorism in South Africa

The US government has issued a travel alert warning its citizens that South Africa faces a heightened risk of terrorism during the World Cup.

It says that large-scale public events present an attractive target.

"There is a heightened risk that extremist groups will conduct terrorist acts within South Africa in the near future," the US state department said.

The warning came as US President Barack Obama wished the the American World Cup football team good luck.
"I just want to say how incredibly proud we are of the team," said Mr Obama, who was joined by former President Bill Clinton to give the players a presidential send-off at the White House in Washington.

"Everybody's going to be rooting for you," he said.

"And although sometimes we don't remember it here in the United States, this is going to be the biggest world stage there is."

Although sometimes we don't remember it here in the United States, this is going to be the biggest world stage there is

 US President Barack Obama
In a statement, the state department said it had no information on any specific, credible threat during the tournament, but noted that such threats have been reported in the media.

South Africa has mobilised thousands of specially trained police to deal with fans' safety.

Some 350,000 people are expected to visit South Africa for the World Cup, which is being held in Africa for the first time and starts on 11 June.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk

Jury acquits man in killing of rapper

LOS ANGELES – A jury acquitted a man Friday of killing up-and-coming Atlanta rapper Dolla during a shooting last year at a crowded, upscale Los Angeles mall.
Jurors rejected prosecutors' contentions that the killing of Dolla, whose real name was Roderick Anthony Burton II, was a callous act of apparent revenge.

AP – FILE - In this Tuesday, May 4, 2010 picture, Aubrey Louis Berry waits in a Los Angeles courtroom

Burton and his accused shooter, Aubrey Louis Berry, had been involved in a fight at an Atlanta club less than two weeks before the shooting last May.
Berry's attorney had contended the shooting was an act of self-defense, emphasizing that Burton — a protege of hip-hop artist Akon — glorified a violent gangster lifestyle in his rap lyrics and online videos.
Berry, who has remained jailed since the May 18, 2009, shooting, hugged his attorney but was otherwise unemotional after the verdict.
Burton's mother, Dayna Robinson, sobbed.
"Oh please, somebody help me," Robinson said, as she and other family members filed out of the courtroom.
Deputy District Attorney Bobby Grace painted Berry as a killer who methodically aimed at Burton during the shooting, then ordered a valet to retrieve his rented sport utility vehicle while still clutching his gun.
In his closing arguments Monday, Grace claimed Berry had no remorse.
"Defendant Berry murdered Roderick Burton in cold blood, then tried to escape to Atlanta," Grace said.
Berry brought the gun to a business lunch at the mall. The men spotted each other at a restaurant and exchanged words in the valet area. It was then, Grace said, that Berry pulled his weapon and used it "as an instrument of death in a symphony of violence."
Grace said Berry drove around Burton as he was dying and began to plot his escape.
Defense Attorney Howard Price, however, painted a very different picture of Berry, who was soft-spoken last week as he testified about a series of incidents that led up to the shooting.
The college-educated Berry said he worked in commercial marketing, in the music industry, and "never killed anything" growing up. Price portrayed Burton, conversely, as someone who proclaimed a violent streak, bragging in his lyrics about carrying guns, singing "You be running when I shoot, I be shooting where you running" in one tune.
Price said Berry opened fire because Burton threatened to kill him and he feared he had a gun. The 24-year-old Atlanta resident was fearful because he believed the rapper had gang ties.
The jury on Friday found Berry not guilty of first degree murder and all other charges, including assault with a firearm.
Grace looked dazed after the verdict was read.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed," he told reporters.
When asked about Burton's gangster image, Grace said he hoped that wasn't the tipping point for the jurors.
"I would hate to think that the jurors' decision was based solely on lyrics," he said. "It appears they believed what the defendant had to say."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com

One Of America's Most Wanted captured

By Trang Do



Huntsville police have captured one of America's Most Wanted.

Officers arrested  22-year-old Gilberto Angel Vargas, a dangerous member of a notorious Chicago street gang called the "Spanish Cobras," at the Kroger off Oakwood Avenue.

According to police, Vargas shot an innocent man to death in June of 2009 for no reason other than that he wrongly targeted the man as a rival gang member.

Gilberto Angel Vargas

Police officers got a tip that Vargas was in the area and they found him at a house in Huntsville. Officers allowed Vargas to leave the residence and pulled him over at the grocery store.

Vargas tried to run from police, but officers used a stun gun and pepper spray to stop Vargas.  He continued to resist arrest and gave two officers minor injuries.

"He's real dangerous, as you can see, he didn't mind fighting law enforcement. He was wanted for murder. He didn't have anything to lose. He was a member of a gang that is known to be very violent, and he's just one of those violent criminals. He wouldn't be on America's Most Wanted if he wasn't," said Sgt. Mark Roberts with the Huntsville Police Department.

Two women were with Vargas when he was arrested.  Officers believe that Vargas was moving the women to California in a U-HAUL.

We're told officers at the scene found a hand gun, a loaded shot gun, and rifle in the vehicle. The U.S. Marshals are going to take the fugitive.

Source: http://www.waff.com

Obama's African aunt granted asylum grants

By MEGHAN BARR, Associated Press Writer

A U.S. immigration court has granted asylum to President Barack Obama's African aunt, allowing her to stay in the country and setting her on the road to citizenship after years of legal wrangling, her attorneys announced Monday.
The decision was made by a judge in U.S. Immigration Court in Boston and mailed out Friday. It comes three months after Kenya native Zeituni Onyango, the half-sister of Obama's late father, testified at a closed hearing in Boston.
People who seek asylum must show that they face persecution in their homeland on the basis of religion, race, nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group.
The basis for Onyango's asylum request was never made public, but her lawyer Margaret Wong said last year that Onyango first applied for asylum "due to violence in Kenya." The East African nation is fractured by cycles of electoral violence every five years.
Medical issues also could have played a role. In a November interview with The Associated Press, Onyango said she was disabled and was learning to walk again after being paralyzed from Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder. At her hearing in Boston earlier this year, she arrived in a wheelchair and two doctors testified in support of her case.
Her lawyers would not comment on Onyango's medical troubles.
"She doesn't want people to feel sorry for her," said Scott Bratton, another of her attorneys.
Onyango's efforts to win asylum have lasted more than a decade, Wong said.

AP – FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 file photo, President Obama's aunt, Zeituni Onyango

"She was ecstatic," Wong said at a news conference in Cleveland on Monday, describing Onyango's reaction to the news. "She was very, very happy."
Wong said the White House was not informed of the ruling. Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro said Monday that the White House had no involvement in the case at any point in the process.
Onyango didn't immediately respond to telephone messages left by The Associated Press and didn't answer her door in Boston. Two police cars were stationed outside her apartment building trying to keep reporters away.
"She really does give people hope," Wong said. "Because if someone like her who was in the spotlight, in the limelight — and it was all negative — could make it in our land of the law, I think other people could, too."
Onyango will now apply for a work permit, which would provide some documentation that she is permitted to stay in the country and allow her to travel again, Wong said. A year from now, she will be eligible to apply for a green card, which is given to people who are granted legal permanent residency in the U.S., Wong said. Five years after receving her green card, she can apply to become a U.S. citizen.
"There are hundreds and thousands of people like her who really need help to stay here," Wong said. "When they first come to this country, they don't know what they are doing."
The media's portrayal of Onyango in recent years has not been entirely fair, Wong said.
"She may not be photogenic, but she's very much a smart, thoughtful, regal woman," Wong said.
Onyango initially came to the U.S. in 2000 just for a visit, Wong said. Her first request for political asylum in 2002 was rejected, and she was ordered deported in 2004. But she didn't leave the country and continued to live in public housing in Boston.
Onyango's status as an illegal immigrant was revealed just days before Obama was elected in November 2008. Obama said he did not know his aunt was living here illegally and believes laws covering the situation should be followed. To escape the media attention, Onyango came to Cleveland for a couple of months in 2008, where she has many friends in the city's Kenyan community, Wong said. At that time, a family member in Cleveland contacted Wong.
A judge later agreed to suspend her deportation order and reopen her asylum case.
Wong has said that Obama wasn't involved in the Boston hearing. The White House also said it was not helping Onyango with legal fees.
In his memoir, "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance," Obama affectionately referred to Onyango as "Auntie Zeituni" and described meeting her during his 1988 trip to Kenya.
Onyango helped care for the president's half brothers and sister while living with Barack Obama Sr. in Kenya.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com

Killer of 2 California girls gets life in prison

Parents of two teenage girls who were raped and murdered by a sex offender took turns at the podium of a California courtroom giving loving descriptions about their daughters.
Their audience Friday included John Albert Gardner III, who was minutes away from being sentenced to life in prison for the crimes.
"Chelsea was everything this man was not," said Brent King, the father of one of the victims. "She was as good as this man is evil."

John Albert Gardner III listens during his sentencing, Friday, May 14, 2010 in San Diego. Gardener,

Gardner, 31, breathed heavily and cried at times during the emotional statements, delivered by family members just before Superior Court Judge David Danielsen pronounced the sentence.
Gardner received two life terms without possibility of parole for murdering Chelsea King, 17, and Amber Dubois, 14, and a third life term with a 25-year minimum for the attempted rape of Candice Moncayo, a jogger who escaped by smashing him in the nose with an elbow.
Dubois devoured books, adored animals and stood in pouring rain because she loved nature, said her mother, Carrie McGonigle.
Amber's backpack was filled with Valentine's Day cards for friends on the day she was abducted while walking to school in suburban Escondido in February 2009, McGonigle said. The Future Farmers of America member was also carrying a check to buy a lamb, she said.
Brent King said it was especially bittersweet to receive acceptance letters recently from all 11 colleges to which Chelsea had applied before her death in February.
He said he loved changing his daughter's diapers and, years later, talking with her about global issues, competition, life's pressures and her dreams. They marveled at the beauty of plants and animals and joked about God's sense of humor in creating the platypus, he said.
Gardner, who reached a plea deal last month that spared him the death penalty, cried during a video of Amber's life. He showed a flash of anger when Moncayo, asked about his smashed nose, veering from her prepared remarks.
Moncayo said she came to ask "to remove this man from our world, to make us a little safer by locking him up permanently and to finally free us from the nightmare he created."
Gardner raised his head when Kelly King, Chelsea's mother, demanded that she look at him. He refused when she asked him a second time.
"Why am I not surprised?" she said.
Gardner's crimes have sparked a far-reaching review of how California deals with sex predators, a campaign that advocates hope to take to Washington, D.C., and to state legislatures.
Chelsea's parents are leading a campaign for "Chelsea's Law" to allow life sentences for some convicted child molesters in California and lifetime electronic monitoring of others. The bill, which cleared its first legislative committee last month, would also ban sex offenders from parks.
The Kings on Friday also blamed Gardner's mother, Catherine Osborn, for failing to stop her son, who served five years of a six-year prison sentence for molesting a 13-year-old neighbor in 2000.
Brent King, turning to address her in her front-row seat, said she would always bear "our pain on your soul."
"She knew what you were capable of and did nothing," Kelly King said. "She lacked the humanity and human decency to do the right thing ... Your mother will always be intertwined with your horrific crime because she did nothing."
Osborn dabbed her face with tissue as McGonigle described her devastating loss. McGonigle said she often obsessed about her daughter's final moments.
"Was she scared? Was she calling my name? No one can appreciate the horror that is my life until they can appreciate the joy that was my Amber," she said.
Calls to stiffen penalties for child sex offenders began almost the moment Gardner was arrested Feb. 28, three days after he attacked Chelsea on an afternoon run in San Diego, strangled her, and buried her in a shallow, lakeside grave.
Gardner faced a maximum of nearly 11 years in prison for molesting his neighbor in 2000, but prosecutors called for six years. A court-appointed psychiatrist urged the maximum sentence allowed by law. He said in court documents that Gardner was a "continued danger to underage girls" and "an extremely poor candidate" for treatment.
Maurice Dubois, Amber's father, read from psychiatrist Matthew Carroll's report during his statement in court Friday.
He likened his daughter's killer to a mountain lion whose instincts are to stalk and attack. If the zookeeper frees the lion from captivity, he asked, who is responsible for the killings that come after?
"It's obvious the legal system failed us with all of the missed opportunities that ultimately allowed this monster to stalk our streets and harm our loved ones," he said.
The case has also put California's parole system under the microscope, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered a state board to review the system.
Gardner lived little more than a football field's length from a San Diego preschool for at least 16 months while on parole from 2005 to 2008. That violated a condition of parole that prohibited him from living within a half-mile of a school.
A corrections department official let him stay until his lease expired in 2006 but no one noticed he was still living there until a year later. The parole board could have sent him back to prison but kept him on parole, where he had six other less serious potential violations.
The discovery of Chelsea's semen-stained clothing during a massive search quickly led authorities to Gardner. Days later, he led investigators to Amber's remains in a remote, mountainous area north of San Diego.
The investigation into Amber's disappearance had gone nowhere since she disappeared in early 2009.
Gardner led authorities to Amber's remains on condition that the information not be used in court. Investigators were unable to independently link him to the crime, and his guilty plea to that murder was a big reason why the death penalty was dropped.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com

Obama On spill response (President describes finger-pointing at hearing as a 'ridiculous spectacle')

President Barack Obama on Friday angrily decried the "ridiculous spectacle" of oil industry officials pointing fingers of blame for the catastrophic spill in the Gulf of Mexico and said the accident could bring devastation to the region and its economy.

The president also pledged to end a "cozy relationship" between the oil industry and federal regulators that he said had existed for years and into his own administration.

On Tuesday, executives of the three companies involved in the disaster — BP, Transocean and Halliburton — testified before senators and were quick to lay blame elsewhere.
In their opening statements, the executives said it was too early to draw conclusions but then explained what they thought went wrong and who was responsible.

As Obama spoke in the White House Rose Garden, undersea robots in the Gulf tried to thread a small tube into the jagged pipe that is spewing oil into the water. The blown-out well has pumped out more than 4 million    gallons of crude.

BP engineers were trying to move the 6-inch tube into the leaking 21-inch pipe, known as a riser. The smaller tube was to be surrounded by a stopper to keep oil from leaking into the sea. BP said it hoped to know by Friday evening if the tube succeeded in taking the oil to a tanker at the surface.

Obama said he shared the "anger and frustration" felt by many Americans, and he acknowledged differing estimates over how much oil was leaking.

"We know there's a level of uncertainty," Obama said. He said the administration's response has "always been geared toward the possibility of a catastrophic event."

Trying to stop the flow
Since the April 20 drilling rig explosion set off the catastrophic spill, BP PLC has tried several ideas to plug the leak that is spewing at least 210,000 gallons of oil into the Gulf a day. The size of the undulating spill was about 3,650 square miles, said Hans Graber, director of the University of Miami's Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing.

In the fateful hours before the Deepwater Horizon exploded about 50 miles off the Louisiana shore, a safety test was supposedly performed to detect if explosive gas was leaking from the mile-deep well.

While some data were being transmitted to shore for safekeeping right up until the blast, officials from Transocean, the rig owner, told Congress that the last seven hours of its information are missing and that all written logs were lost in the explosion. Earlier tests that suggested explosive gas was leaking were preserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com