By NED POTTER (@NedPotterABC) , COLLEEN CURRY and MICHAEL S. JAMES
Oct. 5, 2011
Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind Apple’s iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes, has died, Apple said. Jobs was 56.

Jobs died “peacefully,” surrounded by family members, his family said in a statement.

Neither Jobs’ family nor Apple revealed where he died or from what cause, though in recent years Jobs had fought a form of pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant.

“We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today,” read a statement by Apple’s board of directors. “Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Ourhearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.”

As Jobs’ death was announced, the homepage of Apple’s website switched to a full-page image of Jobs with the text, “Steve Jobs 1955-2011.”

Clicking on the image revealed additional text that was credited to current Apple CEO Tim Cook in a separate memo to Apple employees.

“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being,” the text read. “Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”

Reaction to Jobs’ death came from far and wide — even from the White House.

“Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs,” President Obama said in a written statement. “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”

Jobs co-founded Apple Computer in 1976 and, with his childhood friend Steve Wozniak, marketed what was considered the world’s first personal computer, the Apple II.

Shortly after learning of Jobs’ death, Wozniak told ABC News, “I’m shocked and disturbed.”

Later, on ABC News’ “Nightline,” he said it was hard to imagine, in some ways, how the world would move forward without Jobs.

“You get shocked when people you know die,” Wozniak said. “And this was closer to when John Lennon died, or JFK or Martin Luther King.”

Industry watchers called Jobs a master innovator — perhaps on a par with Thomas Edison — changing the worlds of computing, recorded music and communications.

Click Here for Pictures: Steve Jobs Through the Years

Jobs’ rivals in the development of personal computers, Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, immediately reacted to his death and highlighted his importance to their industry.

Allen called him “a unique tech pioneer and auteur who knew how to make amazingly great products.”

Gates extended his condolences and noted in a written statement that he and Jobs “have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.”

“The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come,” Gates added. “For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.”

A more recent contemporary in the tech world, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, also weighed in with a statement on Jobs.

“Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend,” it read. “Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.”

Source (article): ABCNEWS.COM

Source (pictures): LEADERSHIP-WITH-YOU.COM, EREPAIR, MAYPALO, POKERKNAVE

While some were predicting a political tsunami that would wipe out Democrats across the country, the more apt metaphor of what took place on Election Night was the hurricane — which first ripped through the South and then the Midwest, but only nicked the Northeast and West.

The hurricane was destructive enough to dismantle the Democrats’ majority in the House, resulting in a party’s largest congressional-seat loss since 1948.

In particular, they suffered sizable losses in Midwest states that President Barack Obama carried in 2008 (five congressional seats in Ohio, five in Pennsylvania, three in Illinois and two in Indiana).

Democrats also lost both the Senate and gubernatorial races in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as well as the Senate contest in Indiana and the gubernatorial race in Michigan.

And the destruction for Democrats was equally bad in the South, with Republicans picking up four House seats in Florida, three in Virginia, three in Tennessee and one in Georgia.

Republicans also gained Senate seats in Arkansas and Florida, and governor’s mansions in Tennessee and Oklahoma.

“The path of the hurricane swished up the middle of the country,” says Jennifer Duffy, who analyzes Senate and gubernatorial contests for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. “The eye was — bang — over the Industrial Midwest.”

But the political hurricane only touched the Democratic strongholds in the Northeast and West.

In the Northeast, Democrats held on to the contested governorships in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York. In the West, they won the governorship and Senate in California, and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray was neck and neck with GOP challenger Dino Rossi with 65 percent of the vote counted in Washington.

The Democrats’ biggest victory was in Nevada, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid defeated GOP challenger Sharron Angle. And in the battleground state of Colorado, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Republican Ken Buck were deadlocked.

Still, Election Day was mostly a rebuke to Democrats and the expansion of government.

According to the nationwide exit poll, 73 percent of those who voted disapproved of Congress’ job, and those people voted Republican by a 64-to-33 percent margin.

In addition, 54 percent disapproved of President Obama’s job performance, and those voters broke 85 to 11 percent.

And 56 percent of the electorate said the government is doing too many things, which equaled the percent from 1994, the last time Republicans won back control of the House.

In 2008, however, only 43 percent said the government was doing too much.

NBC News’ Domenico Montanaro contributed to this report.

Source (article): MSNBC

Source (picture): BLOGS.E-ROCKFORD.COM, KENTGH, SEVENSIDEDCUBE

COPIAPO, Chile  — Chile’s 33 newly rescued miners recovered from their ordeal on Thursday while also pondering the celebrity status they have gained following a more than two-month entrapment deep under a remote desert.

Most of the miners were found to be in decent health despite being stuck in a collapsed mine tunnel since August 5.

The men were resting in a hospital after being hoisted to the surface in a rescue operation watched by millions worldwide . One of the miners had pneumonia and was being treated with antibiotics.

In a complicated but flawless operation under the far northern desert of the South American nation, the miners were hauled out one-by-one through 2,050 feet of rock in a metal capsule little wider than a man’s shoulders.

With much of the world transfixed on TV, celebrations erupted in Chile. The miners, who set a world record for survival underground, were welcomed as national heroes.

It took about 22 hours from the time the first miner was brought to the surface until the last miner was pulled to freedom late on Wednesday, and then another roughly 2-1/2 hours until the last of the six rescuers also emerged from the gold and copper mine early on Thursday.

“It’s so incredible that they all made it out alive,” said 51-year-old Luis Pina, a miner, hugging a perfect stranger as he celebrated in the main square in Copiapo where thousands of people cheered and waved red, white and blue Chilean flags.

“We have done what the entire world was waiting for,” said shift foreman Luis Urzua who enforced tight rations of their limited food and supplies before help could arrive. “We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing.”

The first rescue worker down was last up — Manuel Gonzalez, a mine rescue expert with Chile’s state-owned Codelco copper company, talked the men through the final hours inside the mine. Then, he spent 26 minutes alone down below before he strapped himself into the capsule for the ride up. He reached the surface at 12:32 a.m. Thursday local time (11:32 p.m. Wednesday ET) to hugs from his comrades and President Sebastian Pinera.

Despite the suffering they went through, the previously unknown miners now have plenty to look forward to if they want to take up the offers open to them.

Among a flood of invitations and gifts, Real Madrid and Manchester United have invited the miners — many of whom are avid soccer fans — to watch them play in Europe.

Book, film contracts
A flamboyant local singer-turned-businessman has given them $10,000 each, while Apple boss Steve Jobs has sent them all a latest iPod and a Greek firm has offered an islands tour.

Most of the miners are unlikely to return to their old employment, with various job offers, plus book and film contracts, coming their way in the wake of their experience.

President Pinera, whose popularity has risen over his handling of the crisis, was at the San Jose mine in the Atacama desert to greet each man as he emerged and plans to host them at his palace in the capital Santiago.

“I hand the shift over to you,” Urzua, who was the last miner out, told Pinera.

Having suffered a massive earthquake in February that killed more than 500 people, Chileans were euphoric about the happy ending to their latest challenge and proud of the technology that went into the successful rescue.

Church bells and car horns sounded across Chile in celebration, while family members and well-wishers both wept and laughed for joy outside the mine.

President Barack Obama and other world leaders sent messages of congratulations, saying the miners’ survival was an inspiration to all.

When the mine caved in on August 5, the men were all thought dead in yet another of Latin America’s litany of mining accidents. But rescuers found them 17 days later with a bore hole the width of a grapefruit.

That tiny hole became an umbilical cord used to pass hydration gels, water and food to keep them alive until a bigger space could be bored to bring them up.

Mining has played a central but often sad role in Latin America since the Spanish conquistadors’ first hunt for gold.

For centuries, conditions were appalling but they have improved radically in recent decades and the industry has helped fuel an economic boom in some nations including Chile.

The rescue process — via a metal capsule named Phoenix after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes — will do no harm to the reputation of Chile, which is already an investor’s favorite in the region due to its economic progress.

“I hope that this serves as a lesson so that things change in Chilean mining,” said Gonzalez, the rescuer, after emerging. “I hope this never happens again.”

Source (article): MSNBC

Source (pictures): BOSTON.COM, IRISHTIMES

NEW ORLEANS — BP finally gained control over one of America’s biggest environmental catastrophes by placing a carefully fitted cap over a runaway geyser that has been gushing crude into the Gulf of Mexico since early spring. Engineers, politicians and Gulf residents will watch anxiously over the next day and a half to see if it holds.

After nearly three months and up to 184 million gallons, the accomplishment Thursday was greeted with hope, high expectations — and, in many cases along the beleaguered coastline, disbelief. But no one was declaring victory just yet.

“It’s a great sight,” said BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles, who immediately urged caution. The flow, he said, could resume. “It’s far from the finish line. … It’s not the time to celebrate.”

Regardless, for the first time since an explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 workers April 20 and unleashed the spill 5,000 feet beneath the water’s surface, no oil was flowing into the Gulf.

The next hours would be critical. Engineers and scientists would be monitoring the cap around the clock, looking for pressure changes. High pressure is good, because it shows there’s only a single leak. Low pressure, below 6,000 pounds per square inch or so, could mean more leaks farther down in the well.

President Barack Obama, who has encouraged, cajoled and outright ordered BP to stop the leak, called Thursday’s development “a positive sign.” But Obama, whose political standing has taken a hit because of the spill and accusations of government inaction, cautioned that “we’re still in the testing phase.”

Deep-water drama
The worst-case scenario would be if the oil forced down into the bedrock ruptured the seafloor irreparably. Leaks deep in the well bore might also be found, which would mean that oil would continue to flow into the Gulf. And there’s always the possibility of another explosion, either from too much pressure or from a previously unknown unstable piece of piping.

The drama that unfolded quietly in the darkness of deep water Thursday was a combination of trial, error, technology and luck. It came after weeks of repeated attempts to stop the oil — everything from robotics to different capping techniques to stuffing the hole with mud and golf balls.

The week leading up to the moment where the oil stopped was a series of fitful starts and setbacks.

Robotic submarines working deep in the ocean removed a busted piece of pipe last weekend, at which point oil flowed unimpeded into the water. That was followed by installation of a connector that sits atop the spewing well bore — and by Monday the 75-ton metal cap, a stack of lines and valves latched onto the busted well.

After that, engineers spent hours creating a map of the rock under the sea floor to spot potential dangers, like gas pockets. They also shut down two ships collecting oil above the sea to get an accurate reading on the pressure in the cap.

As the oil flowed up to the cap, increasing the pressure, two valves were shut off like light switches, and the third dialed down on a dimmer switch until it too was choked off.

And just like that, the oil stopped.

It’s not clear yet whether the oil will remain bottled in the cap, or whether BP will choose to use the new device to funnel the crude into four ships on the surface.

‘Spillcam’
For nearly two months, the world’s window into the disaster has been through a battery of BP cameras, known as the “spillcam.” The constant stream of spewing oil became a fixture on cable TV news and web feeds.

That made it all the more dramatic on Thursday when, suddenly, it was no more.

On the video feed, the violently churning cloud of oil and gas coming out of a narrow tube thinned, and tapered off. Suddenly, there were a few puffs of oil, surrounded by cloudy dispersant that BP was pumping on top. Then there was nothing.

“Finally!” said Renee Brown, a school guidance counselor visiting Pensacola Beach, Fla., from London, Ky. “Honestly, I’m surprised that they haven’t been able to do something sooner, though.”

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley’s face lit up when he heard the news. “I think a lot of prayers were answered today,” he said.

Seafloor mapping
Thad Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral overseeing the spill for the government, said they are deciding as they go along whether to release oil into the water again. At the end of the 48-hour test it’s possible oil will start to flow again — but, theoretically, in a controlled manner.

When the test is complete, more seafloor mapping will be done to detect any damage or deep-water leaks.

The saga has devastated BP, costing it billions in everything from cleanup to repair efforts to plunging stock prices. Though BP shares have edged upward, they shot higher in the last hour of trading on Wall Street after the company announced the oil had stopped. Shares rose $2.74, or 7.6 percent, to close at $38.92 — still well below the $60.48 they fetched before the rig explosion.

The Gulf Coast has been shaken economically, environmentally and psychologically by the hardships of the past three months. That feeling of being swatted around — by BP, by the government, by fate even — was evident in the wide spectrum of reactions to news of the capping.

“Hallelujah! That’s wonderful news,” Belinda Griffin, who owns a charter fishing lodge in Lafitte, Louisiana, said upon hearing the gusher had stopped. “Now if we can just figure out what to do with all the oil that’s in the Gulf, we’ll be in good shape.”

The fishing industry in particular has been buffeted by fallout from the spill. Surveys of oyster grounds in Louisiana showed extensive deaths of the shellfish. Large sections of the Gulf Coast — which accounts for 60 to 70 percent of the oysters eaten in the United States — have been closed to harvesting, which helps explain why one oysterman in Louisiana refused to accept that progress was afoot.

At Get-Away-Lodge in Plaquemines Parish, the worst-hit area of the coast, three fishing captains changed oil in the boats they once used for fishing, but are a part of BP’s vessel of opportunity program when they heard.

They were pleased, but concerned — and worried about how long their jobs for BP will last.

“I think it’s wonderful they capped it, but it’s not helping our businesses,” said Chad Horton, 32, a native of Buras, who used to make a living putting customers on schools of redfish and speckled in these bountiful waters. “Our businesses are gone, but we’re depending on this (BP job) to support our families. They could come in and pull it out from under us at any time.”

Rosalie Lapeyrouse, who owns a grocery store and a shrimping operation in Chauvin, Louisiana, that cleans, boils and distributes the catch, was shocked.

“It what?” she said in disbelief. “It stopped?” she repeated after hearing the news.

“Oh, wow! That’s good,” she said, her face clouding. “I’m thinking they just stopped for a while. I don’t think it’s gonna last. They never could do nothing with it before.”

‘The damage is done’
Long after the out-of-control well is finally plugged, oil could still be washing up in marshes and on beaches as tar balls or disc-shaped patties. The sheen will dissolve over time, scientists say, and the slick will convert to another form.

There’s also fear that months from now, oil could move far west to Corpus Christi, Texas, or farther east and hitch a ride on the loop current, possibly showing up as tar balls in Miami or North Carolina.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expecting to track the oil in all its formations for several months after the well is killed, said Steve Lehmann, a scientific support coordinator for the federal agency.

Once the well stops actively spewing oil, the slicks will rapidly weather and disappear, possibly within a week, and NOAA will begin to rely more heavily on low-flying aircraft to search for tar balls and patties. Those can last for years, Lehmann said.

In St. Bernard Parish, oysterman Johnny Schneider stood near his boat, loaded not with seafood, but yellow plastic boom used to contain oil on the water.

“Eh, the damage is done. The oil’s everywhere now,” he said. “You ain’t never gonna get it out of the water.”

Source (article): MSNBC

Source (pictures): WORLDCORRESPONDENTS, PORTFOLIO

MOSCOW - Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow’s subway system as it was jam-packed with rush-hour passengers Monday, killing at least 37 people, officials said.

Witnesses described panic at two stations, with commuters falling over each other in dense smoke and dust as they tried to escape the worst attack on the Russian capital in six years.

The head of Russia’s main security agency said preliminary investigation places the blame on rebels from the restive Caucasus region that includes Chechnya, where separatists have fought Russian forces since the mid-1990s. Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB, told President Dmitry Medvedev the bombs were filled with bolts and iron rods.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who built much of his political capital by directing a fierce war with Chechen separatists a decade ago, vowed that “terrorists will be destroyed.”

In the wake of the explosions, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced a “heightened security presence,” NBC News reported.

The first blast just before 8 a.m. (12.00 a.m. ET) tore through the second carriage of a train as it stood at the Lubyanka metro station. The explosion killed at least 23 people.

The headquarters of the FSB, Russia’s main domestic security service and the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, is located in a building above the station.

‘Stampede’
Another blast about 40 minutes later wrecked the second carriage of a train waiting at the Park Kultury metro station, killing 14 more people.

“I heard a bang, turned my head and smoke was everywhere. People ran for the exits screaming,” said 24-year-old Alexander Vakulov, who said he was waiting on the platform opposite the targeted train at Park Kultury.

“I saw a dead person for the first time in my life,” said 19-year-old Valentin Popov, who also was standing on the opposite platform. “Everyone was screaming. There was a stampede at the doors. I saw one woman holding a child and pleading with people to let her through, but it was impossible.”

Surveillance camera footage posted on the Internet showed motionless bodies lying in Lubyanka station lobby and emergency workers treating victims.

Emergency Minister Sergei Shoigu said the toll was 37 killed and 102 injured, according to Russian news agencies.

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said both explosions were believed to have been set off on the trains.

“The first information that the FSB has given us is that there were two female suicide bombers,” he told reporters.

Russia’s civil aviation regulator ordered local airports to increase security, an official told Reuters.

President Barack Obama condemned the “outrageous” attacks. “The American people stand united with the people of Russia in opposition to violent extremism,” he added.

The Kremlin had declared victory in their battle with Chechen separatists who fought two wars with Moscow; but violence has intensified in the neighboring regions of Dagestan and Ingushetia, where Islamist militancy overlaps with clan rivalries and criminal rings.

‘Black Widows’
Jonathan Eyal, director of international security studies with the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said a group known as the “Black Widows” may have been involved in the attack. Some “Black Widows” are believed to have lost brothers or husbands in the Chechen conflict.

“This is a direct affront to Vladimir Putin, whose entire rise to power was built on his pledge to crush the enemies of Russia,” Eyal added. “The fact of the matter is that there is very little you can do to protect against this kind of attack without shutting down the entire transport system.”

The Moscow subway system is one of the world’s busiest, carrying around 7 million passengers on an average workday, and is a key element in running the sprawling and traffic-choked city.

The blasts practically paralyzed movement on the city center’s main roads, as emergency vehicles sped to the stations. Helicopters hovered overhead the Park Kultury station area, which is next to the city’s renowned Gorky Park.

Passengers, many of them in tears, streamed out of the station, one man exclaiming over and over “This is how we live!”

The current death toll makes it the worst attack on Moscow since February 2004, when a suicide bombing killed at least 39 people and wounded more than 100 on a metro train.

Chechen separatists were blamed for that attack.

Rapid transit has increasingly become the favored means of attack for Islamist terrorists. Over the past seven years, terrorists have targeted trains and subways throughout the world, killing nearly 800 people and wounding more than 1,500.

Source (article): MSNBC

Source (picture): WATODAY