Obama expects stimulus bill to be ready by mid-Feb

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama launched a drive on Friday to get his $825 billion economic recovery plan through Congress, predicting lawmakers would resolve differences before a mid-February deadline.
"We are experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis that has to be dealt with and dealt with rapidly," Obama told reporters as he met Democratic and Republican congressional leaders at the White House.
Obama, who was sworn in on Tuesday on a mandate of change, has pledged swift action to rescue the U.S. economy from the worst turmoil in decades. With a daily stream of gloomy economic data, he has warned there is little time to lose.
Winning Republican support for the stimulus package will be an early test of Obama's promise to forge consensus and overcome the partisan politics that bitterly divided Washington under his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush.
In another show of bipartisanship, Obama will meet Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to hear their ideas about the stimulus plan, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Bush rarely visited Congress, preferring to send aides and sometimes his vice president, Dick Cheney.
Obama's appeal to Democrats and Republicans to set aside their differences appeared to pay swift dividends, with the most powerful Republican in Congress, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday calling for a joint effort to fix the economy.
It remains to be seen though how long this honeymoon will last. more

Beauty loses hands and feet

A STUNNING Miss World finalist had her hands and feet amputated – after contracting a killer bug, according to reports.
Doctors carried out the drastic surgery on Mariana Bridi da Costa after she was struck down with a urinary disease – which can be fatal.
Her boyfriend Thiago Simoes said 20-year-old Mariana fell ill on December 30 – but was initially misdiagnosed with kidney stones.
The infection quickly spread – causing her to go back to hospital for tests that revealed her condition.
Septicaemia set in her limbs, cutting off circulation and forcing doctors to amputate her hands and feet.
Devastated Mr Simoes said: "We are all absolutely distraught and are just praying now that she can pull through.

Infection ... Mariana
"She fell ill on December 30 and we took her to hospital where she was misdiagnosed with a kidney stone.
"They gave her some medicine and sent her home. But two days later she started getting worse.
"We took her back to hospital and they said she had a very serious infection.
"She got more and more sick, and had no blood circulation to her limbs.
"First she lost her feet, then on Tuesday she lost both her hands.
"But she is a very strong person and we just want her to survive."
Miss Bridi is in a serious condition on a ventilation machine in hospital in Serra, in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo. more

Case of Teens Charged With Spanking Elderly Shocks Community

ALBERT LEA, Minn. — Allegations that two young assistants groped, spanked and spat on several nursing home residents suffering from dementia have shaken members of this southern Minnesota community, including the lead prosecutor in the case.
Brianna Marie Broitzman and Ashton Michelle Larson, both 19, appeared in court Wednesday to face multiple charges over the alleged abuse at Good Samaritan Society. The young women did not enter pleas, and both were released on bail.

"I think that they are very serious charges," Freeborn County Attorney Craig Nelson said after the hearing. "We're dealing with people who are vulnerable adults. People who are clearly ... in need of our care and our concern and our monitoring. They depend on us for everything."
Nelson added: "I, as a member of this community, certainly can feel it in my bones."
Four younger aides were also charged earlier, with one pleading guilty and the others facing trials in Juvenile Court.
A criminal complaint alleges the abuse occurred over several months in early 2008. The complaint says in one case, Broitzman and Larson allegedly poked a woman in the breasts and laughed when she told them to stop.
more

Man murder wife because she changed her marital status to single

A man murdered his estranged wife after he became “enraged” that she had changed her marital status to single on the social networking site Facebook.
Edward Richardson, 41, was found guilty of stabbing to death Sarah Richardson, 26, a hairdresser, in her parents’ house in Staffordshire on May 12 last year.
Fiona Cortese of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Richarsdon became enraged when Sarah changed her marital status on Facebook to single and decided to go and see her as she was not responding to his messages.”
Stafford Crown Court heard that Richardson, a carpenter from Biddulph, Stoke-on-Trent, had sought out Mrs Richardson in her parents house and entered by breaking the front door window.
“Once inside he found Sarah in her bedroom and subjected her to a frenzied and brutal attack with a knife and then attempted to take his own life,” said Ms Cortese.
She said: “We hope that today’s guilty verdict will go some way to easing the pain of Sarah’s friends and family after losing her in such a violent and abrupt way.”

Man Wills Himself to Live After Body Nearly Severed by Train

A Texas man calls 911 after being cut nearly in half by a train.
In June 2006, Duncan was working at his job in the rail yards of Cleburne, Texas, when he slipped and fell onto the tracks while riding on the front of a train car that was moving toward a repair dock.
Watch the story Friday on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET
"I just fell," the 38-year-old said. "At that point I started running backwards, you know, obviously fast as I could, and I tried to outrun it. I didn't make it."
Duncan was pulled under the rail car, its wheels grinding steadily underneath.
"It just felt like a monster," he said. "I couldn't get away from it, like it was just pulling me in, and I'm pushing away … [and] I was cut in two."

By the time the rail car came to a stop, Duncan had been dragged 75 feet. His lower body, was still entangled in the wheels of the train, and he was cut nearly in half at the waist, with one leg attached by a single muscle.
"The pain was real severe, and then it just kinda like it wasn't there," Duncan said. "I think something else kicks in and then you try to do things necessary to stay alive."
Duncan knew he had to fight to stay alive.

"I knew if I just lay there and lay there and lay there, eventually I was gonna die," he said. "But if I stayed awake, made sure I got my help there then was a possibility that I would live and that's when I realized that I might have my phone on my hip."
Duncan was able to reach his cell phone and call 911. more

Sniper rifle software launched for iPod touch

BulletFlight is a new application has been launched for the iPod touch to help gun users line up a clean shot at their target
A new application has been launched for the iPod touch to help gun users line up a clean shot at their target.
The BulletFlight app, which costs £6.99 to download from the iTunes store, has been developed by Runaway App to turn the iPod touch into a ballistics computer which the company says can provide “quick solutions in the field”.
Users can mount their iPod touch to their rifle, and then use the iPod’s touch-screen to tap in details about the wind conditions, ammunition type, distance to the intended target and even the wind speed.
“Unlike other apps, BulletFlight does not output information in table format,” says the application’s iTunes page. “What it does do is dynamically give you the solution you need now to take that shot.”
The application features built-in profiles for three weapons – the M110 semi-automatic precision rifle, the KAC PDW, and the 14.5in SR16 rifle – although users can add more weapons into the app.
“Environmental calculations are based on the Sierra Bullet model,” says the BulletFlight iTunes entry. “Up to five ballistic co-efficients with corresponding velocity thresholds may be used for each profile.”
BulletFlight is not the first shooting application for the iPhone and iPod touch – that honour goes to iSnipe – but it’s the latest in a long line of unusal apps for the devices, which have included simulated beer-pouring, a fart machine, and even “breathalysers”.

President Obama Wears Bullet-Resistant Suit at Inaugural

Barack Obama had more than the Presidential 'beast' limo taking care of his safety yesterday.
According to some reports, he wore a suit made by a clothier specializing in bullet-resistant clothing during the inauguration ceremonies.
While no one from the U.S. Secret Service have yet to mention any details about the garment's structure, some are speculating it may have come from the line by Colombian designer Miguel Caballero. As we noted last year, Caballero is well known for his super tough but flexible and business appropriate clothing (see pic at right), such as the $7,500 polo shirt that can stop a shot from a 9-mm revolver.
Due to some of the unfortunately rising levels of dangerous conflicts in Colombia and other parts of Latin America, the need for this type of clothing has also led to a spike in sales.
According to Caballero, many of his garments offer more than three levels of ballistic protection and they are about seven times more flexible than the Kevlar vests that are usually worn. Designers that use Kevlar tie together dense strands of the material (500 to 1,500 filaments per strand of yarn, according to Slate), which is then weaved into the clothing.
With close to 2 million people on hand to watch the president-elect take the Oath of Office, the level of security was understandably tight and every precaution was taken to ensure safety for all.
Earlier this month, we noted that President Obama will be using the safest Presidential limo ever built, the so-called Cadillac One (or simply, "The Beast"), whose toughness rivals a tank and seals off like a bank vault in the event of a potential attack.