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The fourth massive snowstorm neared Washington, D.C., Tuesday night, forcing the home of the most powerful man on Earth to have a little humility. The forecast calls for another foot of snow—after 30 inches this weekend—and gale-force winds. Trees and power lines will likely bite the dust, and salt is running short in the city. Federal offices and schools will be closed for a third day in a row for the first time since 1996, and Washingtonians are starting to feel sullen, bombarded, and winter-weary, The Washington Post reports. Some are still trapped in their homes, and will likely have to stay there after another blanket of snow. "There is no city or county government that is geared up to move all of this snow,” Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley lamented, pleading for patience. "It feels like it's been a week, but it's only been, like, three or four days," said one local, who was forced to flee to a hotel and then friends’ homes with his family after his own home lost power and the temperature dropped to the 40s inside.
President Obama surprised the White House press corps on Tuesday by dropping by. He had tough words for the Senate, where several of his appointments have been stalled due to GOP holds. “In our meeting I asked the congressional leadership to put a stop to these holds in which nominees for a critical job are denied a vote for months," Obama said. "If the Senate does not act, and I made this very clear. I will consider making several recess appointments during the upcoming recess because we can't afford to let politics stand in the way of a well-functioning government." A recess appointment is when the president fills a position while the Senate is in recess; the nominee can then serve until he is approved by the Senate by the end of the next session of Congress.
The U.S. has offered to provide Iran with medical isotopes to treat cancer patients in desperate need, which had been Tehran's rationale for enriching uranium. The offer, made with other countries and to be presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency, is an attempt to call Iran's bluff. The U.S. believes Iran's motives are not to aid sick people but to build up its nuclear-weapons capabilities. A state department spokesperson said the plan would be the "safest and cheapest" way for Iran to acquire the medical isotopes and could "build confidence" with western nations, which are pushing for sanctions against Iran for its nuclear activity. Iran maintains its nuke program is peaceful.
Pakistan has offered to help mediate with the Taliban as the U.S. seeks to wind down the Afghan war and leave the country. Pakistan has been reluctant to engage the Taliban, which uses territory in its tribal areas to attack U.S. and allied forces, and for the most part, the U.S. has only encouraged Pakistan to attack the insurgent group. The offer could be a mixed blessing. It was made by Pakistan’s army chief at a meeting last month at NATO headquarters; he said he interpreted President Obama’s lack of focus on the war during his State of the Union address as a sign that the U.S. is looking to leave Afghanistan quickly. The Pakistani military and intelligence agencies have long held ties to Jalaluddin and Siraj Haqqani, who lead a Taliban network that also works with al Qaeda. Pakistan would be looking for a way to influence Afghanistan with a friendly government that would limit the presence of India there.
It didn't seem possible, but this week may actually get worse for Toyota, as federal officials announced plans to investigate complaints of faulty steering on 2009 and 2010 Toyota Corollas. The company has so far recalled 8.5 million cars, including, most recently, 2010 Priuses. After receiving around 80 complaints about the Corolla models, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has made plans to determine whether the problem requires a full-scale investigation, but tout the current inquiry as standard procedure for any complaint.
For days, rumors have been swirling that New York Governor David Paterson will resign thanks to an impending—and supposedly devastating—newspaper article that has yet to materialize. But on Tuesday, Paterson flatly denied he’d be leaving the governor’s mansion: "The only way I'm not going to be governor next year is at the ballot box and the only way that I'll be leaving office before is in a box." (He acknowledged that exit could be via ballot box.) "The more frustrated I get, the more I know I am going to be running," Paterson said, and he's expected to announce his re-election campaign February 20. The governor added that he felt he was the victim of an intentional smear campaign.
Googled unveiled a new social networking feature called Buzz on Tuesday; all Gmail users will be automatically signed up to share information with the 40 people they email the most. Buzz is designed to avoid the "noise" of other social networking sites, and will essentially add a news feed to Gmail that shows the information, photos, and videos that friends have posted. Features include a custom photo viewer, the option for information to be marked as private or public, the option for users to automatically follow people they correspond with and drop those they don't want to see, and updates posted in a user's inbox.
House Minority Leader John Boehner and Whip Eric Cantor may be threatening to pull out of President Obama’s health-care summit, but apparently it’s a bluff: Greg Sargent says that, after talking to senior Republican aides and advisers, “the chatter in GOP circles is that it’s unlikely that Republicans will pull out of the health-care summit.” Republicans are sticking it out because they’re worried that pulling out will make their stubbornness, and not the health-care bill they hate, the story. One strategist says Boehner and Cantor threatened to withdraw in the hope that the White House will alter conditions somewhat in their favor.
Evidence of the gas pedal problem that caused Toyota cars to accelerate suddenly, leading sometimes to deadly high-speed crashes, first emerged six years ago. The automaker knew that the problem, long blamed on the pedals getting stuck on heavy floor mats, was due to a plastic part in the pedal mechanism, The Wall Street Journal reports. Toyota’s secretive culture limited its communications with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which started looking into acceleration complaints in 2004. The regulator regrettably focused only on incidents involving short bursts of acceleration, which slowed detection of the problem. Over the next two years, Toyota pushed back against the complaints, arguing operator error was to blame. A survey in 2007 of 1,986 car owners found 59 complaints of unexpected acceleration, and the floor mats got the blame. Then, in 2008, the European division of the car maker found that the gas pedal had a faulty plastic part—the same part used in models sold in the U.S. Toyota still didn't alert regulators to the problem. By the time Toyota went to the NHTSA last month, the regulator was “steamed.” Toyota didn’t have enough parts to do repairs on all the affected cars, and often NHTSA gives car makers extra time on a recall to get extra parts. Not this time. Toyota had to stop selling.
Tom Cruise will star in the fourth installment of Mission: Impossible, according to Paramount Pictures, and will also produce the film with J.J. Abrams and Abrams' production company. No director has been named yet, but the film is scheduled to be released Memorial Day weekend of 2011. The sequel will finally backed in part by Skydance Productions, which recently made Taylor Lautner the highest-paid teen actor of his generation. The Mission: Impossible franchise has already grossed $1.4 billion globally.
It's not much better than "my dog ate my homework," but somehow Lil Wayne was able to postpone his sentencing due to a toothache. The rapper appeared in court Tuesday and convinced prosecutors to agree that the he would receive better care from his own dentist than the ones at Rikers Island. He will be underdoing dental surgery in Miami on Friday and recovering for a week thereafter. Lil Wayne could spend up to a year in jail for gun charges. The judge rescheduled his sentencing for March 2.
Heavy wind and rain blew in suddenly Monday afternoon, setting off a series of avalanches in Afghanistan that entombed hundreds of cars and killed as many as 64 people. The interior minister, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, said that nearly a mile of highway remained buried Tuesday and that authorities had already recovered 24 bodies. Officials feared that up to 40 more people were trapped underneath rubble and perhaps dead. Atmar said rescuers had already moved out 128 injured people. Rescue efforts were suspended at nightfall, but will resume Wednesday morning. Many police and rescue workers had been on the job for 24 hours and needed to be replaced by fresh workers.
After 10 Americans were arrested for trying to take children out of Haiti last month, fear of kidnapping accusations has largely stopped private medical evacuations of critically injured Haitian children to the United States. Before the arrests, the largest pediatric field hospital in the country was sending 15 injured children to the U.S. via private flights each day. But since the arrests, the hospital has been able to evacuate only three children on private flights to American hospitals, according Elizabeth Greig, the field hospital's chief administrative officer. At least 10 other children have died or become worse while waiting to be airlifted out of the country, she said. Dozens of children are in critical need of care, and there has been no shortage of American hospitals or pilots willing to take them. "They're all at risk of dying," Dr. Shayan Vyas, an American pediatrician changing an IV at the pediatric field hospital, told The New York Times. "And none of these children should still be here in Haiti."
So much for a principled opposition: More than a dozen Republican lawmakers sent private letters to federal government agencies seeking stimulus money for pork projects even as they publicly criticized the stimulus. Missouri Senator Kip Bond, for example, sought more than $50 million for two projects in his state. "I strongly opposed the stimulus, but the only thing that could make it worse would be if none of it returned to the taxpayers of Missouri," Bond said. Other guilty members include Representative Joe “You Lie” Wilson, Senator Robert Bennett of Utah, and Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander.
The East Coast and mid-Atlantic are gearing up for round two of the "Snowpocalypse": New York City public schools will be closed on Wednesday due to a prediction of up to a foot of snow and the House has also postponed all votes for this week since the D.C. area expects up to 20 more inches. Winter-storm warnings have been issued for mid-Atlantic states, and the snow is expected to work its way up the East Coast and hit New York City sometime around midnight on Tuesday night.
How do those married-for-decades couples beat the odds? The Wall Street Journal talked to several couples who’ve spent their lives together, among them rock star Ozzy Osbourne and his wife/manager Sharon, former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalyn, and professional gambler Doyle Brunson and wife Louise. The Carters say it’s important to keep separate work lives. Sharon Osbourne said it helped to be stubborn, sticking it out during the tough times—for the Osbournes, that was drug addiction. The Brunsons agree; they were tied up and robbed at gunpoint. Jackie and Ken Egan have relied on laughter over their four decades of wedded bliss. "You need to learn to find the humor in each other's annoying habits. It helps you keep the affection," says Ms. Egan, 69.
The death of Daniel Kerrigan, the father of former Olympic figure skater Nancy, was ruled a homicide on Tuesday. Kerrigan died from a heart-rhythm problem after a fight with his son Mark. That could mean new charges against Mark, who has already pleaded not guilty to assault and battery on a person over 60. Mark is currently undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.
First Lady Michelle Obama introduced a national task force to tackle childhood obesity Tuesday. The task force will have 90 days to create a plan that helps the federal government coordinate with nonprofit groups and the private sector. The efforts will focus on making nutrition labels easier to read and putting calorie counts—especially of sodas—on the front of labels to encourage healthy choices. School lunches will also face scrutiny; many kids eat more than half their daily calories at school, and more than 30 million of those kids are enrolled in the National School Lunch Program. The Obama administration wants to allocate $10 billion over the next decade to improving the quality of school breakfasts and lunches by adding more fresh produce and low-fat dairy, and cutting fat and salt. Health experts will educate parents about healthy body mass indexes, and doctors will be able to write official prescriptions for healthy living if a child gains too much weight. More exercise will also be encouraged.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans want Congress to pass comprehensive health-care reform, stalled since Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts was elected last month, ending Democrats' 60-vote supermajority. Although Brown's election has been interpreted as a rebuke to Democrats' sweeping health-care legislation, nearly 60 percent of Americans blame Republicans for not doing enough to compromise with President Obama, while 40 percent blame Obama for not forging compromise with the GOP, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. Among independents, half say the president is too unbending, 56 percent say Republicans are, and 28 percent say both sides are being too stubborn.
One hundred ninety seven people, including a former ally of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, were charged with murder on Tuesday for the massacre of 57 people last year. Andal Ampatuan Sr., the former governor of Maguindanao, was among the charged, as were other senior clan members, local government officials, policemen, and thugs. "All the conspirators are answerable as co-principals regardless of the extent or degree of their participation," prosecutors said in a statement. However, only 11 people are in custody, with most on the run since the November 23 killings.
Swimsuit season is here early: Sports Illustrated unveiled the cover to its latest swimsuit issue, featuring tennis star Andy Roddick’s wife, Brooklyn Decker. The couple, which married in April, reportedly met after Roddick spotted the model in the magazine’s 2007 issue. After appearing on David Letterman to announce the new cover, Decker gushed via Twitter, “THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! I Wish I could respond to every single one of you but thank you so much for your AMAZINGLY sweet tweets!”
Deadheads rejoice! The meticulous archive for the Grateful Dead will open up at the University of California Santa Cruz this spring. Sure, the collection should be a boon to musicologists and historians, but could the ‘60s rock band also teach management scholars about how to run a business? Joshua Greene writes in this month’s Atlantic magazine that “the band pioneered ideas and practices that were subsequently embraced by corporate America.” The group established practices that prized loyalty to their brand. They gave away live recordings, while becoming some insanely profitable. “Revolutionaries get vilified, and then, once they get older, they just become cute,” one Dead scholar told The Atlantic. “Think of Oscar Wilde. Once they’re not dangerous anymore, it’s OK to discuss them in serious ways.”
Iran has officially begun to enrich its nuclear fuel and is working toward weapons grade strength in spite of continued efforts by Western countries to limit the nation’s nuclear capabilities. The move flies in the face of an attempted deal with the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor and curtail Iran’s nuclear supply, and the French foreign minister equated the nation’s actions to blackmail in a statement. Iranian facilities lack the technology necessary to use the fuel for medical purposes, further raising suspicions that President Ahmadinejad has plans to build weapons. In response, Western nations on the U.N. Security Council are working to convince Russia and China to support sanctions against Iran.
After a slow response and more than a little public embarrassment, Toyota is recalling 437,000 Priuses and other hybrids in hopes of fixing faulty brakes, which are believed to have contributed to four crashes and two minor injuries. “I don’t see Toyota as an infallible company that never makes mistakes,” said the company’s president. “We will face up to the facts and correct the problem, putting customer’s safety and convenience first.” Including this latest announcement, which addresses recent customer complaints, Toyota has now recalled 8.5 million vehicles worldwide for similar problems. “If the company had paid more attention to consumers’ viewpoint, it could have realized there was a safety problem,” said the chief of the recall department at Japan’s Transport Ministry.
It turns out that the world’s tallest building may also be the world’s faultiest–just one month after is opening, a half-mile high Dubai skyscraper has closed to the public indefinitely with little explanation other than electrical problems and “unexpected high traffic.” The Burj Kahlifa, which cost $1.5 billion to build, has attracted swarms of tourists to its observation deck since opening and one would-be visitor described it as “a metaphor for Dubai.” Some sources say that the building will reopen to the public on Valentine’s Day but official statements have been vague and have yet to rule out the possibility of foul play.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran will deliver a “punch” that will stun the Western world during this week’s anniversary of the Islamic revolution. "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei told a gathering of air-force employees, reports AFP. These comments come on the heels of Iran’s announcement that it will begin to produce enriched uranium despite worldwide protest and threats of sanctions. Opposition protesters are expected to take to the streets in demonstrations and marches on the February 11 anniversary. "The clerics should know that since imprisonment, beatings, and other confrontational methods are done in the name of Islam and the Islamic regime, it is hurting Islam and we all should try to stop," said opposition leader Hossein Mousavi on his Web site.
How can Wall Street regain Main Street’s trust? Elizabeth Warren, the TARP watchdog and Harvard law school professor, suggests one way in The Wall Street Journal: Wall Street should support the creation of an agency to protect consumers from products like credit cards and the bad mortgages it used to peddle. Warren—with the backing of President Obama—supports a single agency that could write and enforce rules. Banks, however, oppose the move, saying it will raise costs that they’ll just pass on to consumers. Warren writes: “It's a bad calculation because shareholders suffer enormously from the long-term cost of the boom-and-bust cycles that accompany a poorly regulated market. J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon recently explained this brave new world, saying that crises should be expected 'every five to seven years.' He is wrong.”
As the commander of Canada’s largest Air Force base, Colonel Russell Williams once regularly met with dignarities; now, he has been charged with the murder of two women and the sexual assault of two others. The 23-year veteran is believed to have killed Jessica Lloyd, 27, whose body was found earlier Monday, and Marie Comeau, 38, who was found dead in November. According to his Defense Department biography, Williams is married.
A bit of encouraging—and shocking—news out of a Haiti: a 28-year-old man was pulled from the wreckage of a Port-au-Prince market on Monday, four weeks after the devastating earthquake hit. The man has been admitted to a hospital and claimed that someone brought him water while he was trapped in the Croix Bossal market where he had worked selling rice. “I thought he was dead, but God kept him from dying,” his mother told reporters.
After decades of flying high, could Hugh Hefner find his wings clipped by an angry Playboy shareholder? In a class action lawsuit, the shareholder alleges that Hef has continued his enviable lifestyle while the company falls apart and that he’s sabotaged two potential deals to sell the magazine in the past six months. The lawsuit cites a note from an investment company that analyzed Playboy’s business model and said, “If you were Hugh Hefner, 81, would you give up the parade of busty blondes, the fancy mansion and the reality TV show for a payout?" The lawsuit continues, “"Hefner has continued to live the good life and make sure everyone knows it.” A share of Playboy stock—worth $36 in 1999—now sells for about $3, almost half the newsstand price of an issue of the magazine.
If Obama doesn’t scrap the existing health-care reform bills, leading House Republicans have said they won't participate in the president's upcoming, televised health-care summit. In a letter to Rahm Emanuel, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner and Minority Whip Eric Cantor expressed frustration at reports that Obama intends to put the Democratic bills on the table for discussion at the Feb. 25 summit. "If the starting point for this meeting is the job-killing bills the American people have already soundly rejected, Republicans would rightly be reluctant to participate," Boehner and Cantor wrote. "'Bipartisanship' is not writing proposals of your own behind closed doors, then unveiling them and demanding Republican support." White House press secretary Robert Gibbs responded by saying that Obama has sought Republican input since early last year, and the president remains interested in hearing ideas that the GOP believe will advance the cause of health-care reform. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Obama is "absolutely not" scrapping the bills.
Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama has released his controversial blanket hold on more than 70 presidential nominations. Shelby's maneuver, targeted at all appointments awaiting confirmation on the Senate floor, irked Democrats since it effectively limited confirmation votes to a handful per month. It also represented a low point in a partisan standoff in the Senate that has forced Democrats to find 60 votes to avoid a filibuster on almost every piece of legislation. "The purpose of placing numerous holds was to get the White House's attention on two issues that are critical to our national security—the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker acquisition and the FBI's Terrorist Device Analytical Center," Shelby's office said in a lengthy written statement. "With that accomplished, Senator Shelby has decided to release his holds on all but a few nominees directly related to the Air Force tanker acquisition until the new Request for Proposal is issued." The White House said that it had agreed to none of Shelby's demands and that the senator released the holds on his own accord.
When Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey prodded the Federal Reserve last summer to approve an acquisition to save First BankAmericano he left out a key detail: the company’s chairman and vice chairman were two of his campaign’s biggest donors. Menendez’s request to approve the sale of the bank to JJR Bank Holding Co. shortly before its failure at the end of July was unusually specific (an aide later called it a mistake) and former federal bank regulator William Black called the senator’s actions “grotesquely inappropriate,” The Wall Street Journal reports. Menendez, who is a member of the Senate Banking Committee and currently oversees the Democrats’ Senate re-election campaigns, defended the letter, saying, “If any New Jersey Constituent comes to me seeking assistance with a legitimate federal matter, not only is it important to help, I was elected to help. Telling them ‘no’ would be abdicating my responsibility.”
