'Positive thinking' after years of threats keeps South Koreans going

Ahn Young-Joon / AP

Crowds of people shop at Myeongdong, a main shopping street in Seoul, amid a tense situation over North Korea's threat of war, on Sunday.

By Jim Maceda, Correspondent, NBC News

SEOUL, South Korea ? As the war drums keep beating on the Korean Peninsula, one would expect to see anxiety on the streets of Seoul, where 10 million people live just 30 miles from 700,000 North Korean soldiers and well within range of thousands of heavily dug-in artillery pieces.?

Instead, people in South Korea's capital have been calmly going about their business. No boarding up of homes or work places. No distribution of emergency drugs or gas masks. Restaurants and hotels are full. The city is bustling.

Don?t these people know that hundreds ? or even thousands ? could die if the North launches a full-scale attack, as it has threatened to do?

?It?s postive thinking,? explained Kwak Keumjoo, a professor of psychology at the Seoul National University. ?If you keep thinking about fear and threats, life wouldn?t be worth it. So people here have a defense mechanism. They tell themselves, ?OK, it will be all right?, or ?Somebody will help us,? or ?I don?t believe it?s really going to happen.??

Keumjoo said it?s not as much a state of denial as a numbness, brought about by living under a constant threat, 60 years after the bloody Korean War ended, not with a peace treaty, but with an open-ended cease-fire.

Claiming they will soon be engaged in a war with South Korea, North Korean officials are advising foreigners to leave the region. Pyongyang is expected to carry out a show of force with a missile that will land in the ocean. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

To survive, Seoulites rarely talk about the North. They bury their worry in the deep recesses of their minds and put their faith in their own system.

?South Koreans have the view that justice and democracy will always win out,? said Keumjoo.

?We?re not worried about the war?
Yoo-Lim, In-Young and Na-Young are all sophomores at Seoul?s Ewha University. During a recent lunch break, none of them was gazing at the horizon, looking for a mushroom cloud.

?We read the papers, listen to the radio, go online,? said Yoo-lim. ?And we?re not worried about the war.?

Why is she so calm when the media has reached a fever pitch? ?Repetitive learning,? she replied. ?The north has done this over and over.?

But what about fire drills? Getting under desks? Bracing under bunkers?

?No, there?s nothing like that,? said Na-Young in between giggles. ?We?re just used to North Korean threats from time to time.?

That?s not to say Seoul lives in a fantasy world.

Jim Maceda / NBC News

An entrance to one of Seoul's many underground malls that also functions as a temporary shelter.

Shopping mall bunkers
Beneath its downtown streets, a maze of malls and passageways interconnect into one of the world?s largest underground shelters, big enough, officials say, to protect 2 million citizens from any potentially withering pounding by North Korea?s heavy conventional weapons ? but not a nuclear attack.

Ironically, the malls are converted underground bunkers left derelict after the Korean War. Today, many buildings here have basement parking lots that descend six or seven levels, and serve as temporary shelters as well.

On the 15^th of most months, sirens announce the beginning of a 15-minute civil drill, where drivers are supposed to pull their vehicles over to the curb and head for the closest shelter, clearing the streets.

But, with no real alert taking place now for some 60 years, Seoulites have understandably become complacent. Drivers stay in their vehicles; pedestrians stop and keep chatting.

?If there was an attack I wouldn?t know where to go,? Julie Yoo, a freelance journalist, admitted. ?

?The Korean men call their reserve units, government officials and bureaucrats have their specially designated shelters, but Korean women, like myself, have no option but to stay at home and watch TV for guidance.?

In fact, if there ever was a nuclear attack here, Seoul has only one bunker where you might survive that kind of attack ? under the Presidential Palace.

Jim Maceda / NBC News

One of Seoul's many underground malls which also functions as a temporary shelter.

?But I?m not worried,? said Yoo. ?It?ll never happen!?

?We have to study!?
In towns along the border, news reports speak of some preparations, like pamphlets distributed to locals, advising them of what signs to look for ? sudden thick clouds or large numbers of birds or fish mysteriously dying.

But only 30 miles away, In-Young has anything but war signals on her mind.

?No one is saying ?Oh there?s gonna be a war, we?re all gonna die!,?? she blurted out. ?No, all our friends care about are exams coming up in two weeks ? we have to study!?

Jim Maceda is an NBC News foreign correspondent based in London, currently on assignment in Seoul, South Korea.

Related links:

Google + Hangout with Richard Engel on North Korea tensions

North Korea warns foreigners to leave South

Full North Korea coverage from NBC News

Who is North Korea's secretive leader? Here is what we know

North Korea's overseas apologists dismiss 'propaganda'

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Apple Cider Vinegar Recipes-Salad Dressing, Drink, Soup

Anyone who's ever had a passing interest in health food knows that apple cider vinegar has long been touted for its myriad health benefits. Even if you discount these claims, this stuff may have a real impact on your complexion, digestion, and blood sugar (editor's note: Have a little before lunch and you can kiss that afternoon slump good-bye).

The only problem is, um, to take the stuff, you have to taste the stuff. Unless you have a very particular palate, the strong, pungent flavor of apple cider vinegar might give you kid-taking-medicine face. Here's the good news ? you can stop crying. We have three ways to get your ACV which are more than not-gross, they're legitimately delicious. Check out these recipes and enjoy.

Source: http://www.refinery29.com/apple-cider-vinegar

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Why Would Farrah Abraham Make a Sex Tape?

The words "teen mom" and "sex tape" should never appear in the same sentence, but Farrah Abraham has forced our hand. The former star of MTV's Teen Mom has reportedly filmed an erotic encounter with adult film star (and Lindsay Lohan's Canyons costar) James Deen.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/why-would-teen-mom-farrah-abraham-make-sex-tape-james-deen/1-a-532790?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Awhy-would-teen-mom-farrah-abraham-make-sex-tape-james-deen-532790

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U.S. tries to cool Korean standoff

South Korean army soldiers patrol along a barbed-wire fence near the border village of the Panmunjom, in Paju,??
Warships might not sail, more missile tests might be postponed, potentially provocative photos of bombers will stay under wraps: After a muscular, even aggressive early response to North Korea?s nuclear saber-rattling, the United States has shifted into a more cautious mode, eager to avoid giving Pyongyang any excuse for further escalation, officials say.

The White House, the Pentagon and the State Department ?are looking very carefully? at American words and pending actions ?to make sure that they can?t be misread, or that the likelihood of them being misread is low? as well as ?to not give the North Koreans fodder for escalation, excuses to take action,? according to an administration official familiar with the U.S. strategy.

?There?s not a formal review going on,? and ?we are not going to withhold or postpone any step that we consider necessary for the safety of the American people,? the official, who requested anonymity, emphasized to Yahoo News on Monday.

?But those things that could be not necessary? We?re giving those a closer look,? the official said. That means assessing ?our ship deployments, missile tests? to make sure they don?t unnecessarily raise the temperature in the already heated standoff.

The most obvious sign of this new approach out of Washington was Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel?s decision late last week to postpone the test launch of an InterContinental Ballistic Missile that had been scheduled for Tuesday.

"We recognized that an ICBM test at this time might be misconstrued by some as suggesting that we were intending to exacerbate the current crisis with North Korea," a defense official said Monday on condition of anonymity. "We wanted to avoid that misperception or manipulation."

The administration's early response had several goals. The United States aimed to reassure South Korea and Japan about the strength of the U.S. commitment to their security, in part to ensure that South Korea did not do anything rash. There also was the need to deter North Korea and impress upon its young new supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, the seriousness of the situation. And it aimed to avoid turmoil on global markets while making it clear to China that its client state and neighbor had overreached.

So Obama ordered warships to the waters off the Korean peninsula, highlighted the beefed-up missile defense plans and, in an unprecedented move, disclosed that B-2 and B-52 bombers took part in a regular U.S.-South Korean military exercise, dropping dummy munitions. The Pentagon released photographs of those warplanes, sending a "Hey, we can bomb the crap out of you" message to the North, the first official said.

But the American response seemed to change late last week. In the rhetorical battle, American officials have stuck more closely to a familiar refrain: Rather than respond in detail to every North Korean action, every angry message from Pyongyang, they have emphasized that the Stalinist regime is only isolating itself more and hurting its people. That joint U.S.-South Korea exercise is still underway, but you don't hear quite so much about it.

?It?s been conscious,? the first official said. ?The lowering of the profile of the military, going from showing pictures of stealth bombers to canceling this missile test, it?s all part of an overall attempt to stay lower key.?

The White House has denied escalating the crisis. And the official emphasized that Washington only aimed "to show our rock-solid commitment to our allies in the region."

But "it's been clear that the North Koreans have decided that they have an interest in going tit-for-tat with us, raising the temperature," the official said. "We have no desire to see this escalate any further."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/u-working-escalate-north-korean-standoff-094001335--politics.html

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Temperature suddenly plunges 55 degrees in Colorado: 'It's just brutal'

A big storm is moving across the US ? on one side of the system it's snowy and windy with temperatures below average. Meanwhile, warm air in parts of the Midwest leaves the region bracing for tornadoes. The East Coast, however, experienced record-highs. Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Seidel reports from Aurora, Colo.

By Erin McClam and John Newland, NBC News

The storm that dumped snow across parts of the Rockies and northern Plains on Tuesday was expected to bring more severe weather on Wednesday.

Storm chasers move into Colorado just ahead of wild spring weather as others are fleeing. KUSA's Kevin Torres reports.

The central and southern Plains areas were at risk for severe weather, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.

Swaths of land from New Mexico to Wisconsin were under winter storm warnings,while parts of Utah were under blizzard warnings.

According to the National Weather Service, Oklahoma City and Wichita Falls, Texas, were at risk for tornadoes and possible hailstorms Tuesday night and into Wednesday.

Earlier Tuesday, blizzard warnings were in effect in Colorado, where the temperature plunged more than 50 degrees in less than 24 hours and the wind chill approached zero. Wyoming got more than a foot of snow.

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The culprit is a deep dip in the jet stream that swung west and pulled arctic air far into the country. As it collides with warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, strong storms and tornadoes are possible in the Great Plains and Texas.

?It?s just brutal to be outside,? said Eric Fisher, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel.

Full coverage from Weather.com

In Denver, the temperature plummeted from 71 degrees at 2 p.m. Monday to 16 degrees at 7 a.m. Tuesday, with a wind chill of 1. More than 250 flights were canceled into and out of Denver on Tuesday alone.

In Wyoming, authorities closed two stretches of interstate more than 100 miles long ? I-25 between Cheyenne and Douglas and I-80 between Laramie and Rawlins. More than a foot of snow fell by midmorning in the city of Lander, and one town near the Nebraska state line reported 2-foot snow drifts.

Snow was also falling at midday Tuesday in Colorado, Utah, the Dakotas and Minnesota.

Brennan Linsley / AP

A man crosses the street during a winter storm that brought snow and a fast plunge in temperature overnight to downtown Denver on Tuesday.

The calendar may say spring, but April is the second-snowiest month of the year in Denver. The city has averaged 9 inches in April since 1882, second only to the 11.5 inches it gets in an average March, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather pattern threatened to bring damaging wind, large hail and perhaps tornadoes to parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa, and weaker storms later in the day in the Ohio Valley.

?We?re looking at the gamut today for severe weather,? Weather Channel meteorologist Kevin Roth said.

As the system moves east, severe storms are possible Wednesday across a boomerang-shaped swath of the country from the Texas Gulf Coast north through Indiana and into western Pennsylvania.

Severe storms could move into Georgia, West Virginia and the Carolinas on Thursday.

NBC News' Becky Bratu and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Tue Apr 9, 2013 4:59 AM EDT

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Ancient whales surprise scientists

9 April 2013 Last updated at 16:00 By Michelle Warwicker BBC Nature

Ancient DNA shows that bowhead whales bucked the trend to survive the last Ice Age, say scientists.

The demise of cold-adapted land mammals such as mammoths has been linked to rising temperatures around 11,000 years ago.

But researchers were surprised to find a contrasting population boom for whales living off the coast of Britain.

Their study is also the first to discover that the ocean giants lived in the southern North Sea.

Dr Andy Foote from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, based at the University of Copenhagen co-authored the paper published in the journal Nature Communications.

"Based on all previous studies using ancient DNA to estimate the population size... it seems the trend was for cold-adapted species either [to] go extinct or decline in numbers at the end of the Ice Age as the temperature increased," said Dr Foote.

But while the fate of now-extinct land-based Ice Age animals is well documented, little has been known about how marine animals were affected by the rapid temperature warming.

Bowhead whales today are found in Arctic seas and rely on sea ice where they feed on tiny crustaceans.

The research team wanted to find out how the whales fared during the rapid climate change of the Pleistocene-Holocene epoch transition when the essential sea ice retreated from their North Sea habitat.

Scientists analysed ancient DNA of partly-fossilised whale remains found in waters between Britain and Holland and around Denmark and Sweden.

They were able to use the data to create a habitat prediction model and build a picture of the whales' past movements and probability of survival.

On the move

The study showed that bowhead whales shifted their range, moving northwards to more suitable Arctic waters.

"The retreat of the ice in that particular case actually opened up very large areas where you all of a sudden had these ideal habitat conditions for these Arctic species," said Dr Kristin Kaschner, research affiliate at the University of Freiburg, Germany.

Explaining why these marine animals may have thrived at the end of the last Ice Age while many land mammals populations declined, she added: "Most marine mammals are used to migrating very long distances anyway... I think that's one of the things that worked in [the whales'] favour, that they were able to track their habitat."

"And then that combined with the fact that the retreat of ice actually opened up habitat was really favourable for them."

According to the model, the area of suitable habitat for bowhead whales tripled during the transitional period and the species saw a significant population increase at the same time.

The results show that Ice Age bowhead whales can be genetically identified as belonging to the same population found in the Arctic today, with lineages surviving from the late Pleistocene through to the current Holocene period.

Bowhead whales are thought to be the longest-living mammal in the world, with some individuals possibly even reaching up to 200 years of age.

But the north-eastern Atlantic bowhead whale population is now under threat from intense whaling, according to the researchers.

Their study also suggests that climate change today could present an "additional threat" to the whales. The team estimates that the Arctic animals' "core suitable habitat" could almost be halved by the end of the century, potentially influencing future populations.

Join BBC Nature on Facebook and Twitter @BBCNature.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/22027533

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Developmental delays in children following prolonged seizures

Apr. 4, 2013 ? Researchers from the UK determined that developmental delays are present in children within six weeks following convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) -- a seizure lasting longer than thirty minutes. The study appearing today in Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), suggests that neurodevelopmental impairments continue to be present one year after CSE.

CSE is one of the most common neurological emergencies in children. These prolonged seizures can occur with or without fevers (febrile). Studies show that CSE occurs more frequently during the first three years of life -- a time of critical growth and development in children. Prior research investigating CSE has focused mainly on simple febrile seizures and was conducted years after the event occurred.

"Our study is the first to examine cognitive, language, and motor function in children within six weeks of CSE, with follow-up at one year to determine their developmental track," said lead author, Dr. Marina Martinos with the Developmental Cognitive Neurosciences Unit at UCL Institute of Child Health in London. "Understanding how CSE impacts early childhood development and whether this type of seizure has long-term adverse affects is an important addition to medical evidence."

For the present study, researchers recruited 54 children between one and forty-two months of age who had at least one CSE event. CSE episodes were classified as prolonged febrile seizures (PFS) or nonfebrile CSE. All pediatric participants underwent neuropsychological assessments and imaging scans within six weeks of the CSE event and at one year. Developmental skills were measured in children who had seizures and compared to children without seizures with normal development.

Half of the pediatric participants had PFS and the other half had nonfebrile CSE, with assessments carried out at a mean of 38 days following CSE. Findings indicate that CSE is linked to developmental impairments within six weeks of the event, and that the impairments persisted at the one-year follow-up. Children with nonfebrile PFS had worse developmental outcomes than those with PFS, and children in the PFS group had poorer developmental skills than those in the control group. The authors found that seizure characteristics (e.g. duration) were not a significant predictor of developmental performance.

Dr. Martinos concludes, "We found developmental impairments in children following CSE, including those with PFS who normally do not display neurologic issues prior to the seizure. The fact that neurodevelopmental impairments are still present at one year after the episode suggests that the CSE event is not having just a transient effect on developmental abilities. The CSE may have a longer lasting impact on future development through a more permanent reorganization of functional brain networks -- a reorganization that may have already taken place when we first assess these children."

Alternatively, the authors comment, these data suggest that the neurodevelopmental impairments observed predate the seizure even in those with no neurological priors. The authors propose that further studies that include neurocognitive techniques are necessary to enhance understanding of the long-term impact of CSE on child development.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wiley.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Marina M. Martinos, Michael Yoong, Shekhar Patil, Wui K. Chong, Rodica Mardari, Richard F. M. Chin, Brian G. R. Neville, Michelle de Haan, Rod C. Scott. Early developmental outcomes in children following convulsive status epilepticus: A longitudinal study. Epilepsia, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/epi.12136

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/child_development/~3/Rd1pRlP_F2I/130408085048.htm

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New link between heart disease and red meat: New understanding of cardiovascular health benefits of vegan, vegetarian diets

Apr. 7, 2013 ? A compound abundant in red meat and added as a supplement to popular energy drinks has been found to promote atherosclerosis -- or the hardening or clogging of the arteries -- according to Cleveland Clinic research published online this week in the journal Nature Medicine.

The study shows that bacteria living in the human digestive tract metabolize the compound carnitine, turning it into trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a metabolite the researchers previously linked in a 2011 study to the promotion of atherosclerosis in humans. Further, the research finds that a diet high in carnitine promotes the growth of the bacteria that metabolize carnitine, compounding the problem by producing even more of the artery-clogging TMAO.

The research team was led by Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D., Vice Chair of Translational Research for the Lerner Research Institute and section head of Preventive Cardiology & Rehabilitation in the Miller Family Heart and Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic, and Robert Koeth, a medical student at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

The study tested the carnitine and TMAO levels of omnivores, vegans and vegetarians, and examined the clinical data of 2,595 patients undergoing elective cardiac evaluations. They also examined the cardiac effects of a carnitine-enhanced diet in normal mice compared to mice with suppressed levels of gut microbes, and discovered that TMAO alters cholesterol metabolism at multiple levels, explaining how it enhances atherosclerosis.

The researchers found that increased carnitine levels in patients predicted increased risks for cardiovascular disease and major cardiac events like heart attack, stroke and death, but only in subjects with concurrently high TMAO levels. Additionally, they found specific gut microbe types in subjects associated with both plasma TMAO levels and dietary patterns, and that baseline TMAO levels were significantly lower among vegans and vegetarians than omnivores. Remarkably, vegans and vegetarians, even after consuming a large amount of carnitine, did not produce significant levels of the microbe product TMAO, whereas omnivores consuming the same amount of carnitine did.

"The bacteria living in our digestive tracts are dictated by our long-term dietary patterns," Hazen said. "A diet high in carnitine actually shifts our gut microbe composition to those that like carnitine, making meat eaters even more susceptible to forming TMAO and its artery-clogging effects. Meanwhile, vegans and vegetarians have a significantly reduced capacity to synthesize TMAO from carnitine, which may explain the cardiovascular health benefits of these diets."

Prior research has shown that a diet with frequent red meat consumption is associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk, but that the cholesterol and saturated fat content in red meat does not appear to be enough to explain the increased cardiovascular risks. This discrepancy has been attributed to genetic differences, a high salt diet that is often associated with red meat consumption, and even possibly the cooking process, among other explanations. But Hazen says this new research suggests a new connection between red meat and cardiovascular disease.

"This process is different in everyone, depending on the gut microbe metabolism of the individual," he says. "Carnitine metabolism suggests a new way to help explain why a diet rich in red meat promotes atherosclerosis."

While carnitine is naturally occurring in red meats, including beef, venison, lamb, mutton, duck, and pork, it's also a dietary supplement available in pill form and a common ingredient in energy drinks. With this new research in mind, Hazen cautions that more research needs to be done to examine the safety of chronic carnitine supplementation.

"Carnitine is not an essential nutrient; our body naturally produces all we need," he says. "We need to examine the safety of chronically consuming carnitine supplements as we've shown that, under some conditions, it can foster the growth of bacteria that produce TMAO and potentially clog arteries."

This study is the latest in a line of research by Hazen and his colleagues exploring how gut microbes can contribute to atherosclerosis, uncovering new and unexpected pathways involved in heart disease. In a 2011 Nature study, they first discovered that people are not predisposed to cardiovascular disease solely because of their genetic make-up, but also based on how the micro-organisms in their digestive tracts metabolize lecithin, a compound with a structure similar to carnitine.

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---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Cleveland Clinic, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Robert A Koeth, Zeneng Wang, Bruce S Levison, Jennifer A Buffa, Elin Org, Brendan T Sheehy, Earl B Britt, Xiaoming Fu, Yuping Wu, Lin Li, Jonathan D Smith, Joseph A DiDonato, Jun Chen, Hongzhe Li, Gary D Wu, James D Lewis, Manya Warrier, J Mark Brown, Ronald M Krauss, W H Wilson Tang, Frederic D Bushman, Aldons J Lusis, Stanley L Hazen. Intestinal microbiota metabolism of l-carnitine, a nutrient in red meat, promotes atherosclerosis. Nature Medicine, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nm.3145

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/Gv4Dbnq_NVI/130407133320.htm

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Ex-porn star Jameson arrested for alleged battery

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) ? Police say former adult film star Jenna Jameson has been arrested after a report that she attacked someone at an Orange County home.

Newport Beach police Lt. Evan Sailor says the alleged victim put Jameson under citizen's arrest until police arrived at the home on the upscale Balboa Peninsula on Saturday night.

The 38-year-old Jameson, born Jenna Marie Massoli, was given a court date to face a misdemeanor battery charge and released on her own recognizance.

In May, Jameson was arrested for drunken driving after hitting a light pole in Westminster. She pleaded guilty in August was sentenced to three years' informal probation.

Jameson was among the biggest stars in porn when she left the industry in 2008. An email to her company seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-porn-star-jameson-arrested-alleged-battery-235517169.html

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Despite a Rocky Rookie Season, New York Jets WR Stephen Hill Still Has a Bright NFL Future

Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

After an up-and-down rookie season in the NFL, it seems like?New York Jets wide receiver Stephen Hill?has been getting lost in the shuffle when it comes to discussions about the future of the Jets? offense going forward.

The Jets traded up to select Hill in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft, and he got off to a great start with a pro debut to remember. The young wideout had five catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns in a Week 1 win.

However, that early success proved to be fleeting, for both the player and the team.

The Jets would lose 10 of their last 15 games, and Hill only had 16 more catches for 163 yards and a single touchdown the rest of way, struggling at times and suffering a knee injury that ended his season prematurely.

Despite those struggles, it would be foolish to write off Stephen Hill after one season, considering that Hill was just 21 years old as a rookie, and he doesn?t turn 22 until Apr. 25, ironically the same day as this year?s draft.

Hill played in a triple-option offense in college, and the Jets knew when they drafted him that he was a raw athlete with spectacular ability who would need to be coached up by wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal.

On top of that, Hill was also pressed into service earlier than expected, after Santonio Holmes went down with a season-ending injury and the second option in the passing game, Dustin Keller, was also banged up all year.

It?s easy to say that his rookie season was a disappointing one, but the Jets knew there would be some growing pains with a kid that young who had little experience in a pro style offense. The offseason should do him good.

Of course, with a new offensive coordinator in Marty Mornhinweg, all of the offensive players will be starting from scratch with a new playbook. Not everybody can get a head start with Jeff Garcia like Mark Sanchez can.

However, things should be different for Stephen Hill, with a full year under his belt, Holmes returning from injury, and fellow wideout Jeremy Kerley emerging as a legitimate weapon to help take the pressure off him.

The bottom line is that it?s far too early to write the book on Stephen Hill?s Jets career.

Hill is far from the first wide receiver to struggle early in his career. In 2013, he?ll be looking to write his own story.

Jon Presser?is RantSports.com?s?New York Jets?Lead Columnist
Follow him on Twitter?@metsjetsnets88?and on?Google+

Source: http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2013/04/06/stephen-hill-new-york-jets/

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AP source: FBI eyes possible extortion at Rutgers

The FBI is investigating whether a former Rutgers basketball employee tried to extort the university before he made videos that showed ex-coach Mike Rice shoving and kicking players and berating them with gay slurs.

Meanwhile, Robert Morris University is expected to report in coming days what it has learned in its own inquiry on the three years Rice spent as head coach there.

A person familiar with the FBI's probe told The Associated Press on Sunday that investigators are interested in Eric Murdock, who left his job as the men's basketball program's player development director last year and later provided the video to university officials and ESPN.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the inquiry has not been announced. The investigation was first reported last week by ESPN and The New York Times.

A spokeswoman for the FBI's Newark office said the agency would not say whether there is an investigation. Murdock's lawyer did not return a call to the AP on Sunday. A Rutgers spokesman referred questions to the FBI.

A December letter from Murdock's lawyer to a lawyer representing Rutgers requested $950,000 to settle employment issues and said that if the university did not agree by Jan. 4, Murdock was prepared to file a lawsuit. The letter was obtained last week by the AP and other media outlets.

No settlement has been made. The video became public last week, and Murdock on Friday filed a lawsuit against the university, contending he was fired because he was a whistleblower trying to bring to light Rice's behavior.

The video's release last week set off a chain reaction that led to Rice's firing and the resignations of athletic director Tim Pernetti, the university's top in-house lawyer and an assistant basketball coach. Some critics want the university's president, Robert Barchi, to resign.

Barchi will hold a town hall meeting Monday at the school's Newark campus, where he is expected to face some students and faculty who say they lost confidence in him even before the controversy over Rice's firing. They have said his plan to reorganize the state's higher education system shortchanges the Rutgers campuses in Camden and Newark.

At a news conference last week, Barchi said the firing and resignations likely never would have happened unless Murdock provided the video to ESPN. Barchi said he did not see the video himself until after it had been made public.

Murdock, a New Jersey native who played for seven NBA teams from 1991 to 2000, was on the initial staff Rice assembled when he became the Rutgers coach in 2010. He left the team last year, though there are conflicting stories about the circumstances.

Murdock has said Rice fired him after he skipped a session of Rice's summer basketball camp, but has said he was targeted because he had spoken with others about Rice's conduct at practice. The university found in a report that Murdock was not actually fired and that he could have continued working at the school.

After Murdock left, he spoke with university officials about his allegations against Rice. He also used an open public records request to obtain hundreds of hours of videos of basketball practice. It's not clear who shot the original footage, but it was edited into the half-hour video later given to the university that touched off a scandal last week.

The university report on Rice, which was completed in December but not made public until Friday, criticized the video provided by Murdock as taken many situations out of context. While the report found fault with Rice's behavior in several instances, it also said he did not create a hostile work environment, as Murdock had suggested.

The report also said that Murdock had claimed some violations of NCAA rules ? including that he and others in the program paid players ? but he did not provide evidence.

After a review, university officials agreed to suspend Rice without pay for three games, fine him $50,000, send him to anger-management counseling and monitor his behavior.

Barchi said when he first saw the video last week he immediately decided Rice could not continue as coach.

Robert Morris officials said athletic director Craig Coleman could speak about the matter Monday or Tuesday. Rice coached there before leaving for Rutgers in 2010.

Murdock told ESPN in an interview last week that coaches brawled with players during Rice's time at the Pennsylvania college. Robert Morris officials initially said that the video of Rice at Rutgers was not representative of how he acted at Robert Morris.

____

Associated Press writer Katie Zezima in Newark and AP sports writer Tim Sullivan contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-source-fbi-eyes-possible-extortion-rutgers-171147758--spt.html

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Are you sick and tired of people interrupting your training - because I ...

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Judge making morning-after pill available to all

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The morning-after pill might become as easy to buy as aspirin.

In a scathing rebuke accusing the Obama administration of letting election-year politics trump science, a federal judge ruled Friday that women of any age should be able to buy emergency contraception without a doctor's prescription.

Today, women can do that only if they prove at the pharmacy that they're 17 or older; everyone else must see a doctor first. U.S. District Judge Edward Korman of New York blasted the government's decision on age limits as "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable," and ordered an end to the restrictions within 30 days.

The Justice Department was evaluating whether to appeal, and spokeswoman Allison Price said there would be a prompt decision.

President Barack Obama had supported the 2011 decision setting age limits, and White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday the president hasn't changed his position. "He believes it was the right common-sense approach to this issue," Carney said.

If the court order stands, Plan B One-Step and its generic versions could move from behind pharmacy counters out to drugstore shelves ? ending a decade-plus struggle by women's groups for easier access to these pills, which can prevent pregnancy if taken soon enough after unprotected sex.

Saying the sales restrictions can make it hard for women of any age to buy the pills, Korman described the administration's decision, in the year before the 2012 presidential and congressional elections, as "politically motivated, scientifically unjustified and contrary to agency precedent."

Women's health specialists hailed the ruling.

"It has been clear for a long time that the medical and scientific community think this should be fully over the counter and is safe for women of all ages to use," said Dr. Susan Wood, who resigned as FDA's women's health chief in 2005 to protest Bush administration foot-dragging over Plan B.

Half the nation's pregnancies every year are unintended. Doctors' groups say more access to morning-after pills ? by putting them near the condoms and spermicides so people can learn about them and buy them quickly ? could cut those numbers. They see little risk in overuse, as the pills cost $40 to $50 apiece.

"The fact that it's over the counter does not make people have sex," said Dr. Angela Diaz, director of New York's Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center. "Sixty percent of young people are sexually active by 12th grade, and the more tools we have to help them be responsible, the better."

Social conservatives criticized the ruling.

"There is a real danger that Plan B may be given to young girls, under coercion or without their consent," said Anna Higgins of the Family Research Council. "The involvement of parents and medical professionals acts as a safeguard for these young girls. However, today's ruling removes these common-sense protections."

Deirdre McQuade, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said: "Plan B does not prevent or treat any disease, but makes young adolescent girls more available to sexual predators. The court's action undermines parents' ability to protect their daughters from such exploitation and from the adverse effects of the drug itself."

The morning-after pill contains a higher dose of the female progestin hormone than is in regular birth control pills. Taking it within 72 hours of rape, condom failure or just forgetting regular contraception can cut the chances of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. But it works best within the first 24 hours.

If a woman already is pregnant, the pill has no effect. It prevents ovulation or fertilization of an egg. According to the medical definition, pregnancy doesn't begin until a fertilized egg implants itself into the wall of the uterus. Still, some critics say Plan B is the equivalent of an abortion pill because it may also be able to prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus, a contention that many scientists ? and Korman, in his ruling ? said has been discredited.

The Food and Drug Administration actually was preparing to allow over-the-counter sale of Plan B One-Step with no age limits in late 2011 when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in an unprecedented move, overruled her own scientists. Sebelius said some girls as young as 11 are physically capable of bearing children but shouldn't be able to buy the pregnancy-preventing pill on their own.

The federal judge dismissed that argument.

"This case is not about the potential misuse of Plan B by 11-year-olds," said Korman, who called the pills safe for girls but said the number using them "is likely to be minuscule" as less than 3 percent of girls under age 13 are sexually active.

He cited the Administrative Procedure Act as granting a judge the authority to set aside an agency's rulings "if they are 'arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law.'"

Korman said regulation requires that when the FDA allows nonprescription drug sales, "the standards are the same for aspirin and for contraceptives" ? and he ultimately determined that the government violated those standards in the case of Plan B.

"The decision that the agency was forced to make, contrary to its own policies and judgment, is not entitled to any deference," Korman concluded. "Indeed, it is hardly clear that the secretary had the power to issue the order, and if she did have that authority, her decision was arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable."

It was the judge's latest ruling in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights and dating back to 2005 that pushed for unfettered over-the-counter access to Plan B.

Korman didn't spare the FDA from criticism, citing "a strong showing of bad faith and improper political influence" going back to the Bush administration, when the center filed a citizen's petition to try to get the agency to act. That was followed by the lawsuit.

"More than twelve years have passed since the citizen petition was filed and eight years since this lawsuit commenced," Korman wrote in a decision dated Thursday and released Friday. "The FDA has engaged in intolerable delays in processing the petition. Indeed, it could accurately be described as an administrative agency filibuster."

The judge said the FDA decided after 11 months, 47,000 public comments and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars spent, that it did not need rulemaking on the subject.

"The plaintiffs should not be forced to endure, nor should the agency's misconduct be rewarded by, an exercise that permits the FDA to engage in further delay and obstruction," he wrote.

Four years ago, Korman was highly critical of the Bush administration's initial handling of the issue when he ordered the FDA to let 17-year-olds obtain the medication, instead of setting the age at 18. At the time, he accused the government of letting "political considerations, delays and implausible justifications for decision-making" cloud the approval process.

__

Neumeister reported from New York. Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-making-morning-pill-available-204902870--politics.html

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South Africa: Mandela discharged from the hospital

JOHANNESBURG -- Former President Nelson Mandela was discharged from a hospital on Saturday after an improvement in his health following treatment for pneumonia, the South African presidency said.

The statement from the office of President Jacob Zuma said there had been "a sustained and gradual improvement" in the condition of 94-year-old Mandela, who was admitted to a hospital on the night of March 27.

"The former President will now receive home-based high care," the statement said. Mandela had received similar treatment at his home in Johannesburg after a hospital stay in December.

During Mandela's hospitalization, doctors drained fluid from his lung area, making it easier for him to breathe.

It was his third trip to a hospital since December, when he was treated during a three-week stay for a lung infection and had a procedure to remove gallstones. Earlier in March, the anti-apartheid leader was hospitalized overnight for what authorities said was a successful scheduled medical test.

Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994 after elections were held, bringing an end to the system of white racist rule known as apartheid. After his release from prison in 1990, Mandela was widely credited with averting even greater bloodshed by helping the country in the transition to democratic rule.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been particularly vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during his 27-year imprisonment for fighting white racist rule in his country.

The elderly are especially vulnerable to pneumonia, which can be fatal. Its symptoms include fever, chills, a cough, chest pain and shortness of breath. Many germs cause pneumonia.

South African officials have said doctors were acting with extreme caution because of Mandela's advanced age.

In Saturday's statement, Zuma thanked the medical team and hospital staff that looked after Mandela and expressed gratitude for South Africans and people around the world who had shown support for Mandela.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/06/3326745/south-africa-mandela-discharged.html

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The linkdown: A stylish dude, an icon(ic) bag and 'Haiku-ization'

By Rob Walker

As the work-week winds down and your colleagues clump around the water cooler to yap about the season premier of ?Mad Men,? ignore them! Check out this stuff instead. More fun.

The BuzzFeed-ication of Mainstream Media: NPR presents ?67 Years of Potato Chip Innovation, In 5 Animated GIFs.? Well, why not?

The Haiku-ization of Mainstream Media: ?Whimsy is not a quality we usually associate with computer programs,? announces Times Haiku, which is ?a Tumblr blog of haikus found within The New York Times.?? I think haiku is overrated, but I feel obliged to pass this on at least in part because it?s a project created by an actual Times person (not some smart-aleck third-party code genius) and whimsy is not a quality we usually associate with the Times. Via PSFK.

So Much Better than Sartorialist: A photo blog about the stylish outfits worn by one 83-year-old guy in Berlin: What Ali Wore. Via Peta Pixel.

Pong, 29 Stories High: Need I say more? Explanatory video here featuring the Drexel University prof who made it happen?finally academia produces something worthwhile! Via BoingBoing.

Product of the Week: Story Tape evidently started out as an April Fools? gag ? blank measuring tape, haw. Then it sank in that, actually, it could be useful, in surprising ways: documenting a child?s growth, for instance. Via Cool Tools.

Other Product of the Week: Handbag that looks like an envelope icon. Via Bem Legaus.

Images of the Week: Fascinating street art by Felice Varini, whose meticulous multi-building murals only make sense from a specific angle. When documented, they look like manipulated pictures. ?Life imitates Photoshop,? as a friend of mine once said.

Easy: Do It: I?ve often argued that much of the best stuff on YouTube is decades-old material that has somehow found its way, super-belatedly, online. A case in point: The short (delightfully weird) film ?The Discipline of DE? (or ?do easy?), by Gus Van Sant, based on a William Burroughs story. Includes the ultimate discipline??doing nothing??and asks the ultimate question: ?How fast can you take your time?? Via Lucian James.

Dear Boss: I think it?s important for my readers that I conduct extensive testing of Goldbely, which promises to deliver Texas barbecue, New York pastrami sandwiches, New Orleans beignets, and other regional food highlights to my door. This will be an extensive reporting project, and may require substantial expenses. Worth it. Via Mashable.

Um: I don?t really know the story behind this monument keyboard, but ? it?s something!

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/weekend-linkdown--one-stylish-dude--an-icon-ic--bag-and-the-hardship-of-reporting-on-barbecue-192311598.html

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Obama apologizes for commenting on AG's looks

President Barack Obama called California Attorney General Kamala Harris to apologize after calling her "by far, the best-looking attorney general" during remarks at a fundraiser in Atherton, Calif., on Thursday, the White House confirmed on Friday.

"The president did speak with Attorney General Harris last night after he came back from his trip," White House press secretary Jay Carney said at Friday's press briefing, "and he called her to apologize for the distraction created by his comments." Carney said Obama and Harris are "old friends" and "he did not want in any way to diminish the attorney general's profession, accomplishments and her capabilities." Carney lauded her experience and record, repeating the professional compliments the president had also issued on Thursday night.

"He fully recognizes the challenges women continue to face in the workplace and that they should not be judged based on appearance," Carney said.

At the start of his current term, the president faced criticism for nominating only white men to top administration positions, including in a New York Times story discussing the president's all-male inner circle.

Since then, the president's nominations have included REI CEO Sally Jewell to lead the Interior Department, Secret Service Chief of Staff Julia Pierson to head that agency and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Tom Perez to head Labor.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-apologizes-kamala-harris-comments-her-appearance-184835621--politics.html

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Unemployment rate dip offers little reason to celebrate

Allison Linn , NBC News ? ? ? 10 hrs.

If you?re thinking a drop in the jobless rate is reason to celebrate, bad news: You might want to keep that bottle of bubbly corked.

The unemployment rate dipped to 7.6 percent in March, from 7.7 percent a month earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. But the drop came as nearly 500,000 Americans left the labor force, meaning they stopped working or looking for work and were no longer counted in the official employment numbers.

?Normally we?d love to see a decline in the unemployment rate. Unfortunately, this was largely due to a lot of people dropping out of the labor force,? said Joel Naroff, chief economist with Naroff Economic Advisors.

The economy added a paltry 88,000 jobs in March, according to a separate tally included in the jobs report. That?s about half the number that many experts had been expecting.

?It?s not a promising picture. You want to see the unemployment rate go down because people are getting jobs,? said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

The disappointing jobs growth in March came after several more promising months. The economy added 268,000 jobs in February, after gaining 148,000 jobs in January.

Economists would like to be seeing 200,000 to 400,000 jobs added in a given month to feel like the job market is truly entering a period of strong recovery. But employers have been very slow to add jobs, and millions of Americans have found it incredibly difficult to get work.

Naroff cautioned that the monthly reports on jobs growth can be volatile, so it would be a mistake to read too much into one month?s data. Still, he noted that it would be much better to see better, more consistent numbers each month.

?Unfortunately, the trends are not in the right direction. We?re not seeing a strong growth in the labor market,? he said.

Related: Have you been hit hard by a career misstep or mistake?

The labor force participation rate, a measure of how many Americans are either working or looking for work, fell to 63.3 percent in March. That?s down from 63.5 percent in February and a sharp drop from 66.1 percent five years ago.

Baker noted that the drop in labor force participation in March came as many states have started cutting back the number of weeks of unemployment benefits that are being paid out. He suspects that some people might have been looking for work while there were still unemployment benefits available to them, but then dropped out when they had maxed out on their benefits but still hadn?t found a job.

?This all fits with the story of people just kind of throwing in the towel,? Baker said.

That?s not surprising given how difficult it has been to find a job. The nation was officially in recession from December of 2007 to June of 2009, but the recovery in the nearly four years since has been slow and spotty.

Employers have been particularly stingy about adding jobs. The March employment report showed that 51,000 jobs were added in professional and business services, and there also was some growth in areas including construction and health care.

But retail employment fell by 24,000, and the postal service also cut about 12,000 jobs.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a60ce3b/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Ceconomywatch0Cunemployment0Erate0Edip0Eoffers0Elittle0Ereason0Ecelebrate0E1B9231939/story01.htm

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Newspaper publishes photo of Pistorius in blades

In this photo taken March 24 2013, shows Olympian athlete Oscar Pistorius running on the track at the University of Pretoria South Africa. The photo was taken by a pupil from the Voortrekker High School in Pietermaritzburg while on a hockey tour in Pretoria. A South African newspaper published the grainy cellphone image of Pistorius at a running track in his carbon fiber blades Thursday as the Olympian?s agent said his return to training was now imminent, but denied he was already in training. (AP Photo/Lisa Smith)

In this photo taken March 24 2013, shows Olympian athlete Oscar Pistorius running on the track at the University of Pretoria South Africa. The photo was taken by a pupil from the Voortrekker High School in Pietermaritzburg while on a hockey tour in Pretoria. A South African newspaper published the grainy cellphone image of Pistorius at a running track in his carbon fiber blades Thursday as the Olympian?s agent said his return to training was now imminent, but denied he was already in training. (AP Photo/Lisa Smith)

FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2012 file photo, South Africa's Oscar Pistorius competes during Men's 100m T44 round 1 at the 2012 Paralympics in London. A judge in South Africa says Pistorius, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend, can leave South Africa to compete in international competition, with conditions. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2013 file photo, olympian Oscar Pistorius stands following his bail hearing in Pretoria, South Africa. A judge in South Africa says Pistorius, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend, can leave South Africa to compete in international competition, with conditions. (AP Photo/File)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? A South African newspaper published a grainy cellphone photograph of Oscar Pistorius at a running track in his carbon fiber blades Thursday as the Olympian's agent said his return to training was now imminent ? but denied he was already in training.

The Afrikaans-language Beeld newspaper had the image of what it said was Pistorius, who was charged with murder for the Valentine's Day shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, on the front page of its Thursday edition.

In the photograph ? taken by a high school student from a bus passing by the track ? the double amputee is seen from some distance wearing his blades and dark lycra running clothes and is walking on a track with his hands on his hips.

The photo was taken on March 24 by teenager Lisa Smith, her field hockey coach said, when their team was visiting the University of Pretoria where Pistorius' regular practice facility is.

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Pistorius had been at the track in the South African capital city on the day of the photograph.

It was the first time Pistorius had put his blades on since he shot dead Steenkamp in his home in the early hours of Feb. 14, his agent, Peet van Zyl, told the AP later on Thursday.

Pistorius was only "having a jog around the track," the agent said, as the newspaper claimed sources had told it the Olympic 400-meter runner and Paralympic champion had begun full training at the university on March 21. Van Zyl disputed that and said neither he nor Ampie Louw, Pistorius' coach and the man who controls his training sessions, were present at the track on the day the photograph was taken.

Field hockey coach and school sports director Charmaine Koekemoer said she was driving the bus past the track at around 10.15 a.m. on the Sunday morning when members of her Hoerskool Voortrekker girls hockey team started shouting "There's Oscar, there's Oscar!" from the back.

Student Smith then took the photo on her BlackBerry, Koekemoer said. It shows Pistorius in the distance with the bars of a metal fence in the foreground. He is the only person in the shot.

"The kids were very excited," Koekemoer told the AP. "That was the excitement, seeing a world icon in real life. It was nothing to do with his case.

"We didn't see him running around the track. He was just walking to the 100 meter end line down the final stretch. It looked like he was going to take his blades off."

The single photo, a grainy image taken through the black fence and showing Pistorius walking on the far side of the track, was accompanied by a front-page story in Beeld under the headlines "Oscar is back on the track" and "In training with other athletes."

Pistorius' management team was expecting the photo to be published, Van Zyl said, after Pistorius had told them he had visited his track with some Australian athletes on the day a little under two weeks ago. Koekemoer ? who was visiting with her students from the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg ? said there were other athletes around Pistorius when they saw him.

Neither Pistorius' coach nor his agent knew about the track visit until afterward, Van Zyl said.

But while Pistorius wasn't yet in a training routine, the agent said, his return could be any day now. The image of the world's most famous disabled athlete back on his unmistakable running blades was likely now to become more and more common again.

"He might get up this morning and call (coach) Ampie (Louw) and say he wants to be at the track at one o'clock," Van Zyl said. Van Zyl also said Pistorius' desire to start training again did not show disrespect to the family of Steenkamp.

Pistorius denies murder in the Valentine's Day killing of model Steenkamp, saying he mistook her for a nighttime intruder in his home. His next scheduled court appearance is June 4, when prosecutors say they intend to serve indictments.

___

Follow Gerald Imray at www.twitter.com/GeraldImrayAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-04-OLY-Pistorius-Shooting/id-8ce9bd85cdbc4d788ec4aaf9600e315c

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Two Rutgers players defend fired coach Rice

En esta combinaci?n de im?genes tomada de un video de ESPN, el t?cnico del equipo masculino de baloncesto de Rutgers, Mike Rice, patea, empuja y arroja pelotas a sus jugadores durante pr?cticas en Piscataway, Nueva Jersey. Rice fue despedido pero siguen las consecuencias del caso despu?s que un grupo de profesores exigi? la renuncia del presidente de la universidad (AP Foto/ESPN)

En esta combinaci?n de im?genes tomada de un video de ESPN, el t?cnico del equipo masculino de baloncesto de Rutgers, Mike Rice, patea, empuja y arroja pelotas a sus jugadores durante pr?cticas en Piscataway, Nueva Jersey. Rice fue despedido pero siguen las consecuencias del caso despu?s que un grupo de profesores exigi? la renuncia del presidente de la universidad (AP Foto/ESPN)

Former Rutgers men's basketball coach Mike Rice leaves his home Wednesday, April 3, 2013, in Little Silver, N.J. Rice was fired Wednesday after a videotape aired showing Rice using gay slurs, shoving and grabbing his players and throwing balls at them in practice. Athletic director Tim Pernetti was given a copy of the tape by a former employee in November and, after an independent investigator was hired to review it, Rice was suspended for three games, fined $75,000 and ordered to attend anger management classes. University president Robert Barchi signed off on the penalty. But on Wednesday, Rutgers referred to new information and "a review of previously discovered issues" as the reasons for Rice's termination. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

FILE - In this May 6, 2010 file photo, Mike Rice, left, former coach of Robert Morris, is introduced as the new men's basketball coach of Rutgers by athletic director Tim Pernetti, during a news conference at Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers has fired Rice after a videotape aired showing him shoving, grabbing and throwing balls at players in practice and using gay slurs during practice. With mounting criticism on a state and national level, the school decided to take action on Wednesday, April 3, 2013. relieving Rice of his duties after three largely unsuccessful seasons at the Big East school. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz, File)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) ? Two Rutgers basketball players on Mike Rice's team say the fired coach wasn't the abusive tyrant he appears to be on a widely viewed video that ultimately cost him his job.

"You can't let those individual moments define what he was," junior forward Wally Judge said during a telephone interview Thursday. "In my past two years, me being an older guy and being under other coaches, I have grown from the moment I stepped in these doors, not only as a player but also as a person because of how he has treated me."

Sophomore forward Austin Johnson agreed.

"He did a lot for us off the court, academically, socially," he said during a separate telephone conversation. "I have to say I enjoyed my time, even it was an emotional rollercoaster."

Rice was fired Wednesday, the day after a video aired on ESPN showing him shoving, grabbing and throwing balls at players in practice and using gay slurs.

"I feel if people had a chance to see the other portions of practice, or had been at practice, their judgment would not be as severe," Johnson said. "I am not saying what he did wasn't wrong, because I do believe it was wrong. But it is also tough because it was a highlight reel of his worst moments.

"I never expected for this to escalate as fast as it did," Johnson said. "We have to deal with this and it's new for a lot of the younger guys."

Judge believes some of those moments come across worse on camera than they really were.

Eric Murdock, former director of player development at Rutgers, put together the video that showed clips of several different practices over three years. In November, he showed it to athletic director Tim Pernetti.

"Honestly, a lot of the things that have been seen have been taken out of context. A lot of things that aren't seen are when we grab him and kid around," Judge said. "Like I said before, when people ask me why did I play for him, I told them 'He's a players' coach.'

"Mike was almost like a big brother. He would get on the floor with us and go through drills with us. He made it fun. When you have a big brother-type of figure, you know you can play around like that. I have grabbed Mike and put him in a headlock and we joke around and kid. That was the type of relationship he built with his players."

Pitt guard Travon Woodall also defended Rice, who recruited him when he was an assistant coach there.

"They are going at my man Mike Rice too hard," Woodall tweeted. "He's the reason I came to Pitt."

Woodall later added Rice is "not the only coach to put his hands on a player, or talk the way he did."

Murdock played in the NBA and was viewed in the program as someone who could mentor players. His contract was not renewed.

"I have a lot of respect for him. When he was here, he was somebody I would talk to because he knew of my aspirations for playing at the next level and he was a guy who had done it," Judge said. "He was a great guy to talk to. As far as this situation goes, I understand everything that is going on; I can't necessarily be mad at him, but it's been blown out of proportion. There are certain ways of going about things and this wasn't the way."

Rice left Pitt to coach at Robert Morris before landing at Rutgers, where his record was 44-51 over three seasons. He posted a 16-38 mark in the Big East, after going 73-31 in three seasons at Robert Morris. The Scarlet Knights went 15-16 this season and 5-13 in the league.

Rice was hired by Rutgers in May 2010, and he brought assistant Jimmy Martelli with him from Robert Morris. On Thursday, Martelli resigned.

In November, when athletic director Tim Pernetti first saw the tape, Rice was suspended three games for improper conduct, fined $75,000 and required to take anger management classes.

Still, Judge insisted Rice wasn't a "villain."

"He wasn't a guy we hated or despised," Judge said. "After practice, we would all go in the locker room and laugh. It was never a sad face or a hung head. What he did was he separated the court and he separated life. When we were on the court, we were on the court and locked in. That's why you see so many intense moments because he was so locked in on turning this program around. When we got in the locker room we were a family. We laughed."

Johnson hopes Rutgers' next coach can bring success to a program that hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 1991.

"I feel like winning solves everything," he said. "If we can get someone in and change the culture, I feel like all this stuff will be forgotten."

Said Judge: "We don't want a white-collar, clean-cut guy. We want somebody who understands us and will push us every day, like Rice did."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-04-BKC-Rutgers-Players/id-ae4eba778d624434894e4e9abbb1ae07

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Priest pleads guilty to drug-peddling charges

Monsignor Kevin Wallin of the Diocese of Bridgeport, 2010.

By LeAnne Gendreau, NBCConnecticut.com

A Connecticut Roman Catholic priest pleaded guilty on Tuesday to selling 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Monsignor Kevin Wallin, the 61-year-old former pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport, was arrested on Jan. 3, accused of receiving shipments of crystal meth from a California distributor and selling drugs to an undercover officer six times between September 2012 and January 2013.

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According to court documents, Wallin had a crystal meth addiction and sold the drug out of his Waterbury apartment. He also sold drugs from the parking lot of Land of Oz in North Haven, an adult specialty store and smoke shop, that he bought in the fall.

Investigators believe that Wallin bought the store with drug proceeds and might have intended to use it to launder drug money.

On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine. In doing so, he admitted to receiving and distributing 1.7 kilograms of meth, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Wallin resigned in 2011 citing health and personal issues and was suspended from public ministry last May by the Diocese of Bridgeport. He will be sentenced on June 25.

He originally pleaded not guilty in December, but changed his plea on Tuesday.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2a4a7f30/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C0A20C1757250A20Epriest0Epleads0Eguilty0Eto0Edrug0Epeddling0Echarges0Dlite/story01.htm

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