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JAKARTA, Indonesia?? Indonesia has adopted a potentially deadly new tactic in an attempt to stop people illegally riding the roofs of trains.
Grapefruit-sized concrete balls have been suspended across the tracks, positioned to rake over the top of trains as they pull out of stations or go through rail crossings.
Authorities hope the balls ? which could deliver serious blows to the head ? will be enough to deter defiant roof riders.
"We've tried just about everything, even putting rolls of barbed wire on the roof, but nothing seems to work," said Mateta Rizahulhaq, a spokesman for the state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api. "Maybe this will do it."
"With this method, we hope the passengers will no longer sit on the train roof, as it is dangerous," Mateta told the Jakarta Globe.
Dogs, paint, religion failed
Previous attempt to stop the practice including hosing people down with red paint, threatening them with dogs and appealing for help from religious leaders.
Trains that crisscross Indonesia on poorly maintained tracks left behind by Dutch colonizers six decades ago usually are packed with passengers, especially during the rush hour.
Hundreds seeking to escape the overcrowded carriages clamor to the top. Some ride high to avoid paying for a ticket. Others do so because ? despite the dangers, with dozens killed or injured every year ? "rail surfing" is fun.
The first dozen or so balls were installed Tuesday hundreds of yards from the entrance of a train station just outside the capital, Jakarta. Painted silver, the balls hung by chains from what looked like the frame of a giant soccer goal.
But there was a glitch: The chains were too short, leaving a gap of about 16 inches between the balls and the roofs of the passing train carriages. Rizahulhaq said adjustments would be made.
If successful, the project will be expanded, with balls also set up near railway crossings.
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Asked about worries that the balls could hurt or even kill those who defy the roof-riding ban, he insisted that wasn't really his problem.
"They don't have to sit on top," he said. "And we've already told them, if the train is full, go to the office. We will be happy to reimburse their tickets."
'It's windy, really nice'
The commuters, known as "Atappers" or "Roofers," meanwhile are hardcore in their determination to stay on top.
"I was really scared when I first heard about these balls," said Mulyanto, a 27-year-old shopkeeper, who rides between his hometown of Bogor and Jakarta almost every day for work. "It sounds like it could be really dangerous."
"But I don't think it'll last long," he said. "They've tried everything to keep us from riding ... in the end we always win. We like it up there, it's windy, really nice."
"There's a rush when you get on top of the train, plus the view is great and you don't have to pay," another rail surfer Adit, 17, told the Jakarta Globe.
Many of the roof riders ? and regular passengers ? say the main problem lies with Indonesia's dilapidated railway system. There are not enough trains to meet demand, they say. And there are constant delays in service.
"People have jobs! They can't be late," said Parto, a trader at the Jakarta stock exchange, who can usually be found sitting inside. "If the train is late, they'll do whatever they have to."
Several years ago, paint guns were set up to spray those riding on the top of carriages so authorities could identify and round up the guilty travelers.
But roof riders destroyed the equipment soon after. The exhortations of clerics didn't work. Neither did the dogs.
At one point, police decided to do the expected: Arrest the culprits. But their officers were pelted with rocks and they gave up.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46021563/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/
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BOSTON (AP) ? Mark Wahlberg says he's considering a jailhouse meeting with James "Whitey" Bulger, but victim's relatives are criticizing the actor's interest in the reputed former mob boss.
Bulger has reached out to Wahlberg, the actor told Boston's WAAF-FM radio Friday, and he speculated Bulger wants to give him rights to his story.
"He wants me to come down and visit him. Maybe he'll give me the exclusive rights to tell his story, 'cause he knows, you know, we can do it better than anybody else," Wahlberg said.
Wahlberg grew up in South Boston, also Bulger's home when he ran a local gang in the '70s, '80s and '90s while working as an FBI informant. Bulger, 82, is accused of participating in 19 murders before fleeing in 1995, allegedly after his FBI handler tipped him that an indictment was coming. He was caught in California last year after 16 years on the run.
Wahlberg said his "heart goes out" to loved ones of Bulger's victims, but the story has tremendous potential.
"If there's a story to be told there, and, you know, we can do it in the way we want in the way that we best see fit, then, you know, then it's certainly something that we would explore," he said.
Patricia Donahue, whose husband, Michael Donahue, was allegedly killed by Bulger during a hit on another man, said Saturday that's there nothing she can do to stop someone from making a movie. But, she said, she prays the filmmakers don't make Bulger a hero and "will portray him as he really is, the murderer that he is."
Donahue said she doubted Bulger would be honest with Wahlberg.
"The government can't get the truth out of him, nobody seems to be able to get the truth out of him, so why is he gonna to pour his heart out to Markie Wahlberg?" Donahue said.
But Wahlberg's local roots could help him sort through the lies, she added.
"He has a pretty good idea of who's who in this whole episode," she said.
Steven Davis, whose sister, Deborah Davis, was allegedly strangled by Bulger, told the Boston Herald that Bulger ruined "my whole family" and shouldn't be glamorized.
"I have a lot of respect for Mark (Wahlberg). I would hope that he would reach out to us, too," he said.
Phone messages left with Wahlberg's representatives at Leverage Management were not immediately returned Saturday.
A Massachusetts legislator, Sen. Stephen Brewer, has proposed a bill that allows only Bulger's victims to profit from his story.
Bulger is awaiting trial. A federal prosecutor said Wednesday at a status conference that he believes Bulger is trying to "manipulate the system" so he's never brought to trial for his role in the murders.
Bulger's lawyer said the volume of evidence he has received from prosecutors is "enormous" and he and other lawyers need more time to go through it, and noted that it generally takes 18-30 months for a murder case to go to trial in Massachusetts.
Another status conference in the case is scheduled for next month.
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CES 2012 sets all-time records for attendance, exhibitors and claimed floor space originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) ? Showtime announced a Dick Cheney documentary from "The War Room" filmmaker R.J. Cutler and that "Nurse Jackie," "The Big C" and "The Borgias" will all return on Sunday, April 8.
The network made the announcements Thursday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour.
In "The World According to Dick Cheney," Cutler will offer what Showtime describes as a "measured, layered profile of the polarizing, controversial former vice president. Cheney's life and career will be deeply analyzed from his days as Gerald Ford's 34-year-old chief-of-staff to his eight-year reign as the most powerful vice president this country has ever known."
"Jackie" will be back for its fourth season at 9 p.m. on April 8; "Big C" will return for its third season at 9:30, and "The Borgias" will return for its second season at 10.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120112/tv_nm/us_dickcheney
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Retail sales rose at the weakest pace in seven months in December and first-time claims for jobless benefits moved higher last week, signs the economic recovery remains shaky despite a pick-up in growth.
Total retail sales increased 0.1 percent after rising by an upwardly revised 0.4 percent in November, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.
"The retail sales (data) suggests that spending isn't really picking up any momentum," said Sean Incremona, economist at 4Cast Ltd in New York.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales climbing 0.3 percent last month.
In a separate report, the Labor Department said initial unemployment claims jumped to 399,000 in the first week of 2012, the highest in six weeks.
The unemployment rate has fallen sharply in recent months and was 8.5 percent December, putting the economy on better footing as the euro zone grapples with an economic downturn.
But some analysts worry the drop in unemployment has been due in part to discouraged workers dropping out of the labor force.
"The jobless claims are certainly not going in the right direction, said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.
Stocks fell after the data's release, also hurt by a profit warning from energy major Chevron. U.S. Treasury prices were mostly flat.
Another report showed business inventories rose 0.3 percent in November, reinforcing the view that fourth-quarter economic growth could get a boost as companies restock their shelves.
Some Federal Reserve officials earlier this week signaled more help for the U.S. economy may be necessary despite recent data that suggested the recovery was picking up steam going into 2012.
Many economists see the economy growing by at least a 3 percent annual rate during the last quarter of 2011 after growing 1.8 percent during the July-September period. Growth, however, is expected to slow during the first three months of this year.
A report from real estate data firm RealtyTrac showed foreclosure activity slowed last year following claims in 2010 that lenders had relied on "robo-signing" where documents were signed without a review of the case files.
A wave of foreclosures has kept downward pressure on home prices, and economists say the market might need to clear before it can mount a convincing recovery and provide a significant boost to the overall economy.
The central bank has tried to boost the sector by lowering interest rates and buying mortgage securities, which helped bring the average rate on 30-year fixed rate mortgages down to a record low this week.
The U.S. central bank is not expected to take any action at its next meeting on January 24-25.
Within the retail report, the upward revision for November sales suggests consumers frontloaded their holiday shopping as retailers discounted heavily and extended store hours in the days following Thanksgiving.
By the end of the season, however, consumers cut back, with spending at electronics and appliance stores down 3.9 percent in December. Shopping at department stores slipped 0.2 percent, while receipts at gasoline stations dropped 1.6 percent.
The government had initially estimated retail sales gained 0.2 percent in November.
Fueling the overall increase in retail sales during December, receipts for motor vehicles and parts increased 1.5 percent. Excluding autos, retail sales fell 0.2 percent, the first decline since May 2010.
Core retail sales, which exclude autos, gasoline and building materials, dropped 0.1 percent in December after advancing 0.3 percent the prior month.
Core sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of the government's gross domestic product report.
(Additional reporting by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa in Washington and by Chris Reese and Angela Moon in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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LANCASTER (CBS) ? A Lancaster mother is on a crusade to convince toy maker Mattel to create a cancer Barbie to honor sick children.
Beckie Sypin?s 12-year-old daughter Kinley Inich was diagnosed less than one year ago with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Within days of learning she had cancer, Kinley had lost more than 20 pounds.
?She was just so sick she couldn?t even stay awake,? says a tearful Sypin. ?She couldn?t even have a conversation with you.?
To help Kinley and other children battling cancer, Sypin and a family friend reached out to Mattel, the maker of Barbie to request the company manufacture a bald version of the iconic doll.
Mattel has made a bald Barbie before, but has never mass produced one.
Sypin set up a Facebook page to garner support for a potential ?Beautiful and Bald? Barbie. The page received more than 83,000 likes in less than a month.
?We wrote Mattel a letter,? says Sypin. ?And they came back saying they don?t accept unsolicited, outside suggestions.?
Kinley believes having her own bald Barbie would make her feel like less of a standout in public.
?It?s so important to me because I get to take her anywhere,? says Kinley. ?And if there?s someone staring, I can be ?look, there?s someone like me too.??
Source: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/01/13/mom-crusades-to-get-cancer-barbie-from-mattel/
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