Boston drama grips television networks

Heavily armed police officers do house to house searches in the neighborhoods of Watertown, Mass. Friday, April 19, 2013, as a massive search continued for one of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing. A second suspect died in the early morning hours after an encounter with law enforcement. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Heavily armed police officers do house to house searches in the neighborhoods of Watertown, Mass. Friday, April 19, 2013, as a massive search continued for one of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing. A second suspect died in the early morning hours after an encounter with law enforcement. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

NEW YORK (AP) ? So much for scripted police procedurals. The marathon manhunt in Boston was a real-life drama that kept the biggest television networks and their viewers on edge for most of the day and into Friday evening, with a city's safety hanging in the balance.

It had a prime-time conclusion, too. Shortly before 9 p.m. ET, and three hours after the sound of gunfire indicated the end might be near, Boston police announced that the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing had been taken into custody.

Cameras caught Boston residents celebrating the end of a long, tense day.

"I feel like I've been watching a bad movie that I couldn't turn off," said one resident, Rita Colella, interviewed on NBC.

Viewers woke up to the news Friday that one suspect in Monday's bombing had been killed overnight, with another still at large. ABC, CBS and NBC took the unusual step of casting aside regular programming to cover the story throughout the day, joined by the cable news networks.

The coverage mixed moments of real excitement with tedium as the search continued for 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who escaped during an overnight shootout with police that killed his older brother Tamerlan.

TV was a window to the world for residents of Boston and some surrounding areas, who were asked by authorities to stay in their homes as the search went on.

"It's unbelievable, unprecedented to see a major metropolitan area essentially called to a halt," Chris Jansing said on MSNBC.

The evening action came as attention to the story was beginning to lag. After a full day of coverage, NBC switched to Ellen DeGeneres' talk show. Massachusetts authorities lifted their order that everyone in Boston and some suburbs stay at home.

The gunfire and rushing police cars around 7 p.m. ET snapped the networks back to attention. After confirming that police had found someone hiding under a boat stored in a backyard, CBS quickly found a Google Map image from above the yard that showed the boat stored there for the winter.

ABC's Diane Sawyer interviewed a witness who calmly said his neighbor had gone into the backyard when police eased restrictions and found blood on his boat and saw someone hiding there. He quickly called authorities. The homeowner was upset that his boat was riddled with gunfire after police arrived.

"I have a feeling around the country that there will be a lot of people who will want to help him get his boat back," Sawyer said.

During the long day of coverage, networks seemed to keep in mind Wednesday's embarrassment, when some news organizations erroneously reported that a suspect in the bombing had been arrested. The scarcity of solid information did lead to moments of confusion, though. In midmorning, MSNBC was reporting that a second suspect was being hunted. CNN flashed on its screen that police were searching for a Honda that the suspect may be driving in Connecticut.

Other networks didn't follow those reports and they were dropped as the search remained shrouded in mystery.

Pete Williams of NBC reported in midmorning that authorities believed they had the suspect cornered in a house and ABC's Pierre Thomas similarly reported that police were moving in. But hours went by without any news.

Shortly after 8 a.m., Fox News Channel reported explosions and indicated the drama might be coming to a head. Two hours later, NBC's Kerry Sanders was crouching on the ground talking on his cellphone, ordered down by police. It was pulse-quickening drama that led nowhere.

Both CNN and NBC told viewers that they were putting live pictures of the manhunt on a five-second delay to protect viewers in case the drama turned bloody.

Networks found friends and relatives of the suspects to talk about them, with Dzhokhar almost universally described as sharp and friendly. But in a news conference, an estranged uncle of the men, Ruslan Tsani, described his nephews as losers.

The suspects' Chechen background led to talk about whether the marathon bombing had something to do with Chechnya's longtime conflict with Russia. Others noted that Dzhokhar had been in the United States for many years, perhaps moving when he was only 9.

"The more we find out about him, the less we seem to know him," CBS' Bob Schieffer said.

As the day went on, networks found it harder to fill the time. Video of the overnight firefight was played over and over. NBC's Brian Williams had a fascinating interview with a couple who lived overlooking the street where the gunplay took place, describing bullets that came into their home. But it turned long-winded.

Williams later reacted with aplomb when NBC briefly cut to a simulcast of a New England cable news network, only to be greeted by a man who uttered an expletive.

"Well, that was a fortuitous time to dip into the coverage of New England Cable News," Williams said, apologizing to viewers as NBC quickly switched away.

Individual networks were able to show strengths during the coverage. ABC's Bianna Golodryga used her fluency in Russian to conduct interviews with the suspects' father. On CBS, John Miller and Bill Bratton displayed their police connections in a knowledgeable and low-key manner.

NBC's star-crossed "Today" show had sent Matt Lauer to Texas on Friday to the scene of a fertilizer plant explosion, where he was largely forgotten. Earlier in the week, Savannah Guthrie's interview with President Barack Obama was overlooked because it happened hours before the marathon bombings.

Lauer's absence gave Guthrie her greatest visibility since she joined "Today" last summer, however, as she led NBC's coverage.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-19-US-Boston-Marathon-Media/id-a9cad625c33644eb969201103cba5785

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Royal Caribbean launches new Quantum cruising - Breaking Travel ...

Building on a legacy of more than 40 years of innovation and creative design, Royal Caribbean International has unveiled first details of the next generation of cruise holidays ? Quantum cruising.

The Quantum class of ships will take a dramatic leap forwards, introducing more game-changing ?firsts at sea? such as a skydiving experience, a thrilling adventure that transports guests more than 300 feet in the air on a breathtaking journey; cutting-edge transformative venues including the largest indoor sports and entertainment complex at sea with bumper cars, roller skating and more; and the cruise line?s largest and most advanced accommodation ever.

These new, larger staterooms enable innovation in design, storage and comfort including the industry?s first virtual balconies - every stateroom on Quantum of the Seas will have a view.

The much anticipated details were unveiled by stage, television and film star, Kristin Chenoweth ? Godmother of Quantum of the Seas ? at an exclusive event in New York City this morning.

?This new generation of ships gave us an opportunity to make another leap in vessel design.? Innovation has always been part of our DNA and we have taken advantage of all that creativity to design Quantum cruising,? stated Richard Fain, chairman, Royal Caribbean Cruises.

?The unique features on Quantum of the Seas will boggle our guests? minds, but the real strength of the design is how our people have integrated all these diverse components to create a comfortable and exciting experience.?

Having led the cruise and leisure industry by introducing incredible signature offerings such as the first Rock Climbing Wall, ice-skating rink, FlowRider surf simulator, Central Park and AquaTheater at sea, Royal Caribbean International will advance the onboard experience even further by delivering a groundbreaking line-up of ?firsts at sea? on Quantum-class ships.?

?We are excited to be introducing major advancements in ship design and offerings on Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas,? said Adam Goldstein, president, Royal Caribbean International.?

?The innovative spirit of our brand is alive and well, and with Quantum class, we will deliver more unexpected activities in the most extraordinary spaces.

?Our guests should prepare to be wowed.?

With Quantum class, Royal Caribbean International marries new innovations with significant architectural design elements to introduce spectacular spaces.?

On Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas guests will find endless possibilities with three new signature venues.

Source: http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/royal-caribbean-launches-new-quantum-cruising/

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Poll: Blocking Google Images After Image Search Traffic Drop?

In late January, Google launched a new design change for Google Image search. Google said they've "seen a net increase in the average click-through rate to the hosting website."

But webmasters are not seeing that or believing that. Shortly after, even before the stats were in, webmasters were skeptical and not happy with the changes. They believed it would result in less traffic from Google. And a month after that, we had stats to show huge declines in impressions drived from Google Image Search.

Google attributes the decline as not real, i.e. phantom visits that were caused in the old image search design. I.e. in the old design, Google loaded your page in the background even if the user didn't click through.

As I covered at Search Engine Land, a study done by Define Media Group said they had seen no instance of the phantom visit phenomenon and said on average, image search traffic is down 63% on average and as high as 78% in some verticals.

Google told us that this is not accurate, and that click through rates to webmasters is up 25% if you do not count phantom visits. They added they doubled the ways for searchers to click through the search site.

It has come to a point where webmasters do not believe Google and many are deciding to block Google from indexing their images. Here is a poll, what will you do?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Source: http://feeds.seroundtable.com/~r/SearchEngineRoundtable1/~3/S7MESQz4w-g/block-google-image-search-16663.html

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Senate's failure to pass meaningful gun control 'shameful,' Obama says

The Senate on Wednesday failed to get the 60 votes necessary to pass a bipartisan bill that would have expanded gun control background checks to gun shows and Internet sales.

By Patrik Jonsson,?Staff writer / April 17, 2013

President Obama frowns as he speaks during a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Wednesday about a bill to expand background checks on guns that was defeated in the Senate. He is joined by former Rep. Gabby Giffords (2nd l.), Vice President Joe Biden, and Newtown family members (from l.) Neil Heslin, father of Jesse Lewis; and Mark Barden.

Jacquelyn Martin/AP

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A clearly angry President Obama called Wednesday "a pretty shameful day for Washington" after the US Senate failed to pass a key bipartisan bill to expand background gun checks in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre.

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He called the gun lobby ?willful liars? and berated mostly Republican senators for ?looking for any excuse? to vote "no" on a compromise bill hammered out by Sens. Pat Toomey (R) of Pennsylvania and Joe Manchin (D) of West Virginia that would have made it harder for criminals and the mentally ill to legally buy guns at gun shows or over the Internet.

But in his comments, Mr. Obama also hinted at a distinct ?passion? gap between those who love guns and those who want to see more restrictions on gun ownership. Flanked by some Sandy Hook parents as well as former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a gun owner who barely survived an assassination attempt three years ago, Obama acknowledged that the 90 percent of Americans who, according to polls, support stronger background checks didn?t carry as much weight as impassioned gun supporters who have burned up the phone lines to Washington in opposition to any new federal gun control measure.

?An intense minority of gun owners intimidated senators,? Obama said.

The statement was an tacit admission that, even after several of the most traumatic mass shootings in American history in recent years, culminating in the massacre of 20 Sandy Hook first-graders and six staff in Newtown, Conn., last December, the dynamics of the gun control debate appear to have changed little.

After the Newtown shootings, that did not appear to be the case. Unlike other previous mass shootings, the Newtown massacre nudged public opinion toward increased gun control ? including an assault weapons ban, limits on magazine size, and expanded background checks ? giving the first opening in a generation for a major shift in how America, a nation with a clear gun violence problem, addresses gun ownership without infringing on the Second Amendment.

An AP-Gfk poll in January showed 58 percent of American in support of stronger gun laws. But as of this month, only 49 percent of Americans said the same thing.

The defeat was bitter for Obama, who had spent enormous political capital to shore up disparate antigun violence groups in order to put pressure on lawmakers. The failure of that strategy amounted to an ?unmitigated disaster,? as one senior Obama associate told the National Journal.

The defeat came after several emotional meetings with gun victims, including former Ms. Giffords and families of the Newtown victims. What became the centerpiece of the push to woo reluctant Republicans was a compromise amendment by Senators Toomey and Manchin, which expanded background checks for many gun sales.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/86Wrs_oskVM/Senate-s-failure-to-pass-meaningful-gun-control-shameful-Obama-says

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Appeals court to hear challenge to gay therapy ban

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? A federal appeals court is to hear arguments Wednesday on whether a first-of-its-kind law that prohibits licensed mental health professionals in California from offering therapies aimed at making gay and lesbian teenagers straight violates the civil rights of practitioners and parents.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering two legal challenges to the ban on "sexual orientation change efforts" that was passed by the California Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown last fall.

The ban, which was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, was put on hold by the 9th Circuit pending resolution of the closely watched cases. It spurred similar legislation still being considered by lawmakers in New Jersey,

The law states that therapists and counselors who treat minors with methods designed to eliminate or reduce their same-sex attractions would be engaging in unprofessional conduct and subject to discipline by state licensing boards. The activities of pastors and lay counselors who are unlicensed but provide such therapy through church programs would not be covered.

The cases before the appeals court ? brought by professionals who practice sexual orientation change therapy, two families who say their teenage sons benefited from it and a national association of Christian mental health counselors ? argue that the ban infringes on their free speech, freedom of association and religious rights, and in the case of the counselors, jeopardizes their livelihoods.

"The state has determined that the only permissible message (is that) same-sex attractions, behavior or identity are to be accepted, supported and understood, thus suppressing all other viewpoints to the detriment of licensed professionals and their vulnerable minor clients," lawyers for the families, several practitioners and the professional group said.

"The viewpoint of counselors who in their professional judgment determine that same-sex attractions conflict with the religious and moral beliefs of clients and are not desired, is silenced by SB 1172. This raises a serious constitutional question."

Supporters, including the governor and Attorney General Kamala Harris, say the prohibition on "reparative" and "conversion" therapy is necessary to protect children from a coercive practice that can put them at increased risk of suicide and whose efficacy has been questioned or rejected by every major mental health professional association.

Harris has argued that the law "is based on a scientific and professional consensus reached decades ago that homosexuality is a normal expression of human sexuality and not a disease, condition, or disorder in need of a 'cure.'"

Reflecting the competing issues before the appeals court, the two Sacramento-based trial judges who handled the lawsuits in December reached differing conclusions on whether the ban violates the U.S. Constitution.

One refused to block the law after ruling that the plaintiffs were unlikely to prove the prohibition unfairly tramples on their civil rights and should therefore be overturned. The other said he found the First Amendment issues presented by the ban to be compelling and ordered the state to temporarily exempt the three people named in the case before him.

The panel hearing the cases Wednesday consists of Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1985, Judge Susan Graber, a 1998 appointee of Bill Clinton's, and Judge Morgan Christen, a 2012 appointee of President Barack Obama. The judges do not have a deadline for issuing a decision.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/appeals-court-hear-challenge-gay-therapy-ban-073913241.html

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Man identified in retesting of World Trade Center remains

NEW YORK (AP) ? Authorities retesting human remains recovered from the World Trade Center site have identified those of a 55-year-old man.

A spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office said Wednesday the man's name won't be released at his family's request.

Some 2,750 people died at the World Trade Center in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Wednesday's announcement brings the number of identified victims up to 1,635.

The identification was made from remains collected before May 2002. The last time a person was identified from the original remains recovered at the site was in October.

Recently authorities have been sifting through about 60 truckloads of debris unearthed by construction crews working on the new World Trade Center tower in recent years. That process began earlier this month and has recovered more than 20 potential human remains.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/man-identified-retesting-wtc-remains-201815602.html

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Background check bill faces likely Senate defeat

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., walks with Rep. Ron Barber D-Ariz., and Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio, during the dedication of a room in the Capitol Visitors Center to slain congressional staffer Gabriel Zimmerman on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Zimmerman died two years ago in the Tucson, Ariz., attack that critically wounded Giffords and took six lives. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., walks with Rep. Ron Barber D-Ariz., and Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio, during the dedication of a room in the Capitol Visitors Center to slain congressional staffer Gabriel Zimmerman on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Zimmerman died two years ago in the Tucson, Ariz., attack that critically wounded Giffords and took six lives. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Graphic shows AP-GfK poll opinions on gun laws

Vice President Joe Biden speaks with former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. and Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz., during the dedication of a room in the Capitol Visitors Center to slain congressional staffer Gabriel Zimmerman on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Zimmerman died two years ago in the Tucson, Ariz., attack that critically wounded Giffords and took six lives. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio, speaks during the dedication of a room in the Capitol Visitors Center to slain congressional staffer Gabriel Zimmerman on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Zimmerman died two years ago in the Tucson, Ariz., attack that critically wounded Giffords and took six lives. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A bipartisan effort to expand background checks faced almost certain defeat Wednesday as the Senate approached a long-awaited vote on the linchpin of the drive to curb gun violence. As the showdown drew near, an Associated Press-GfK poll showed ebbing public support for tightening gun control laws.

With the roll call just hours away, two more senators ? Republican Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Democrat Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota ? declared they opposed the background check measure. Their announcements, along with opposition from other Republicans and some moderate Democrats, left supporters heading toward defeat unless they could turn votes around in the final hours, a near impossible task.

Rejection of the provision would mark a jarring setback for gun control advocates, who had hoped December's slayings of 20 children and six aides at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school would sway Congress to curb firearms violence. It would also be a victory for the National Rifle Association, which has fought the background check expansion as a misguided crackdown on gun rights that criminals would ignore anyway.

"As of this morning, we're short. We need more votes. It's close," Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a sponsor of the background check compromise, said in a brief interview Wednesday. Asked how he could get the needed votes with so many opponents, he said, "We're just hoping the good Lord will enter their heart and maybe change a few."

The White House said it wasn't giving up hope. Presidential spokesman Jay Carney said Obama was working on building support.

Perhaps helping explain Democrats' problems, an AP-GfK poll this month showed that 49 percent of Americans support stricter gun laws. That was down from 58 percent who said so in January.

Just over half the public ? 52 percent ? expressed disapproval in the new survey of how President Barack Obama has handled gun laws. Weeks after the Newtown slayings, Obama made a call for near universal background checks the heart of his gun control plan.

"Every once and awhile we are confronted with an issue that should transcend politics," Obama said in an interview that aired Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show. "And now's the time for us to take some measure of action that's going to prevent some of these tragedies from happening again."

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Wednesday that gun control was a legitimate issue to debate but didn't think victims and their families should be used "like props" to politicize a tragedy.

Relatives of victims of Newtown and other mass shootings have been lobbying lawmakers to restrict guns, and several planned to be in the visitors' gallery during Wednesday's vote, a spokeswoman said. Many have also appeared at news conferences, including at the White House.

"I think that, in some cases, the president has used them as props and that disappoints me," Paul said at a breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor.

Carney responded that the Newtown families were in Washington " because their children were murdered. They're here asking the Senate to do something that's common sense," Carney said.

In a climactic day, the Senate planned to hold eight other votes Wednesday besides the one on background checks, all of them amendments to a broad gun control measure.

They included Democratic proposals to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, which are expected to lose; a Republican proposal requiring states to honor other states' permits allowing concealed weapons, which faces a close vote; and a GOP substitute for the overall gun measure.

Taking a page from the NRA, a letter to senators from Mayors Against Illegal Guns warned that the group would keep track of how they vote on the background check and several other amendments. The group is funded by wealthy New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spent heavily to support gun control candidates.

As the day's debate began, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., set the tone for the GOP, whose members have largely opposed many of the Democratic proposals.

"The government shouldn't punish or harass law-abiding citizens in the exercise of their Second Amendment rights," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who has backed some gun rights efforts in the past, announced he would back the assault weapons ban, rejecting some opponents' claims that confiscating weapons would leave them vulnerable to an out-of-control government.

"I'll vote for the ban because maintaining law and order is more important than satisfying conspiracy theorists who believe in black helicopters," he said.

The concealed weapons amendment, seen by advocates as protecting gun rights, was vehemently opposed by gun control groups, who say it would allow more guns into states with stricter firearms laws.

Background checks, aimed at screening out criminals and the seriously mentally ill from getting firearms, now apply only to purchases handled by licensed firearms dealers.

Wednesday's first vote was on an amendment by Manchin and Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., extending the checks to firearms sales at gun shows and online. The compromise was widely seen as advocates' best chance for winning enough GOP votes to muscle broadened checks through the Senate.

Opponents will need just 41 of the Senate's 100 votes to derail the Manchin-Toomey background check plan.

Thirty-one senators voted last week to completely block debate on overall gun legislation. Just two were Democrats ? Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mark Begich of Alaska.

If all 31 oppose the Manchin-Toomey measure ? and that is not certain ? opponents would need just 10 more votes to prevail.

So far, 12 of 16 Republicans who voted last week to let debate on the gun bill begin have said they will oppose Manchin-Toomey. That would give foes of expanded background checks 42 potential votes ? one more than they need to win.

Still uncertain was support from some Democrats from GOP-heavy states, including Max Baucus of Montana and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. Both face re-election next year, Heitkamp does not.

The Senate gun bill would extend background checks to nearly all gun purchases, toughen penalties against illegal gun trafficking and add small sums to school safety programs.

The AP-GfK poll found that overall, 49 percent said gun laws should be made stricter while 38 percent said they should stay the same.

Among independents, support for stricter gun laws dipped from 60 percent in January to 40 percent now. About three-fourths of Democrats supported them then and now, while backing among Republicans for looser laws about doubled to 19 percent.

The AP-GfK poll was conducted from April 11-15 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,004 randomly chosen adults and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

___

AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta, news survey specialist Dennis Junius and writers Henry C. Jackson, Stephen Ohlemacher and Jim Abrams contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-17-US-Gun-Control-Congress/id-3d9160748fe7417db09993e5b861d325

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