Randy Jackson leaving 'American Idol'

Published May 09, 2013

Associated Press

• 

  FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2013 file photo, Randy Jackson arrives at the Winter TCA Fox All-Star Party at the Langham Huntington Hotel, in Pasadena, Calif. Jackson, the 56-year-old "American Idol" judge says he won't be returning to the Fox talent competition after serving 12 seasons on the show's judging panel. The record producer says in a statement on Thursday, May 9, 2013, he's leaving "Idol" to focus on his record label and other business opportunities. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)

LOS ANGELES –  Randy Jackson out.

The 56-year-old "American Idol" judge says he won't be returning to the Fox talent competition after serving 12 seasons on the show's judging panel.

The record producer said in a statement Thursday that he's leaving "Idol" to focus on his record label and other business opportunities.

Jackson became famous for his easygoing "yo, dawg" rapport with contestants. He first appeared on the panel alongside Simon Cowell and Paul Abdul when the competition debuted in 2002, and currently judges the show with Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban.

Jackson's exit comes amid reports the entire panel will be replaced next season. A spokeswomen for Fox and spokesman for "Idol" producer FremantleMedia declined to comment.

The current 12th season concludes next week.

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South American countries battling Amazon over domain name

Published April 25, 2013

FoxNews.com

The governments of South American countries, including Brazil and Peru, are in a tussle with Amazon.com to see who will become the digital king of the jungle.

The Seattle-based web giant, which is one of the Internet’s biggest retailers, has applied for the “.amazon” domain name. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) -- a U.S.-based nonprofit that helps govern the Internet -- is weighing bids to add hundreds of new domain names to the existing 22, which include .com and .gov., The Guardian reports.

But Brazil and Peru have called for the application to be withdrawn, arguing that the name could be used to promote environmental protection and other public interests.

"Allowing private companies to register geographic names as [generic top-level domains] to reinforce their brand strategy or to profit from the meaning of these names does not serve, in our view, the public interest," the Brazilian ministry of science and technology said in a statement.

Last month, Brazil said its views were endorsed by the Amazon Co-operation Treaty, which includes countries like Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela, The Guardian reports. A formal complaint was filed in November 2012.

The disputed “.amazon” proposal, along with others like ".patagonia" and ".shangrila," are to be discussed at an Icann meeting in South Africa in July. The new domain names, if approved, could appear on the Internet by the end of the year.

Click for more from The Guardian.

View the original article here

American tourists recoving after swimming for 14 hours when ship sinks in Caribbean

• 

  This Nov. 2009 photo courtesy of Dan Suski shows Kate Suski, right, and her brother Dan while on vacation in San Diego, Ca. The brother and sister are recovering in the eastern Caribbean island of St. Lucia after their ship sank on April 21 during a fishing trip, forcing them to swim almost 14 hours to reach land, according to the siblings.AP/Dan Suski

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico –  The fishing trip off the rugged north coast of St. Lucia was supposed to last all day, but about four hours into the journey, the boat's electric system crackled and popped.

Dan Suski, a 30-year-old business owner and information technology expert from San Francisco, had been wrestling a 200-pound marlin in rough seas with help from his sister, Kate Suski, a 39-year-old architect from Seattle. It was around noon April 21.

He was still trying to reel in the fish when water rushed into the cabin and flooded the engine room, prompting the captain to radio for help as he yelled out their coordinates.

It would be nearly 14 hours and a long, long swim before what was supposed to be a highlight of their sunny vacation would come to an end.

As the waves pounded the boat they had chartered from the local company "Reel Irie," more water flooded in. The captain threw life preservers to the Suskis.

"He said, `Jump out! Jump out!"' Kate Suski recalled in a telephone interview Thursday with The Associated Press.

The Suskis obeyed and jumped into the water with the captain and first mate. Less than five minutes later, the boat sank.

The group was at least eight miles (13 kilometers) from shore, and waves more than twice their size tossed them.

"The captain was telling us to stay together, and that help was on its way and that we needed to wait," Kate Suski said.

The group waited for about an hour, but no one came.

"I was saying, `Let's swim, let's swim. If they're coming, they will find us. We can't just stay here,"' she recalled.

As they began to swim, the Suskis lost sight of the captain and first mate amid the burgeoning swells. Soon after, they also lost sight of land amid the rain.

"We would just see swells and gray," Dan Suski said.

A plane and a helicopter appeared in the distance and hovered over the area, but no one spotted the siblings.

Several hours went by, and the sun began to set.

"There's this very real understanding that the situation is dire," Kate Suski said. "You come face-to-face with understanding your own mortality ... We both processed the possible ways we might die. Would we drown? Be eaten by a shark?"

"Hypothermia?" Dan Suski asked.

"Would our legs cramp up and make it impossible to swim?" the sister continued.

They swam for 12 to 14 hours, talking as they pushed and shivered their way through the ocean. Dan Suski tried to ignore images of the movie "Open Water" that kept popping into his head and its story of a scuba-diving couple left behind by their group and attacked by sharks. His sister said she also couldn't stop thinking about sharks.

"I thought I was going to vomit I was so scared," she said.

When they finally came within 30 feet (9 meters) of land, they realized they couldn't get out of the water.

"There were sheer cliffs coming into the ocean," she said. "We knew we would get crushed."

Dan Suski thought they should try to reach the rocks anyway, but his sister disagreed.

"We won't survive that," she told him.

They swam until they noticed a spit of sand nearby. When they got to land, they collapsed, barely able to walk. It was past midnight, and they didn't notice any homes in the area.

"Dan said the first priority was to stay warm," she recalled.

They hiked inland and lay side by side, pulling up grass and brush to cover themselves and stay warm. Kate Suski had only her bikini on, having shed her sundress to swim better. Dan Suski had gotten rid of his shorts, having recalled a saying when he was a kid that "the best-dressed corpses wear cotton."

They heard a stream nearby but decided to wait until daylight to determine whether the water was safe to drink.

As the sun came up, they began to hike through thick brush, picking up bitter mangoes along the way and stopping to eat green bananas.

"It was probably the best and worst banana I've ever had," Dan Suski recalled.

Some three hours later, they spotted a young farm worker walking with his white dog. He fed them crackers, gave them water and waited until police arrived, the Suskis said.

"We asked if he knew anything about the captain and mate," Kate Suski said. "He said he had seen the news the night before and they hadn't been found at that time. I think we felt a sense of tragedy that we weren't prepared for."

The Suskis were hospitalized and received IV fluids, with doctors concerned they couldn't draw blood from Kate Suski's arm because she was so dehydrated. They also learned that the captain and mate were rescued after spending nearly 23 hours in the water, noting that their relatives called and took care of them after the ordeal.

St. Lucia's tourism minister called it a miracle, and the island's maritime affairs unit is investigating exactly what caused the ship to sink.  Marine Police Sgt. Finley Leonce said they have already interviewed the captain, and that police did not suspect foul play or any criminal activity in the sinking of the ship.

A man who answered the phone Thursday at the "Reel Irie" company declined to comment except to say that he's grateful everyone is safe. He said both the captain and first mate were standing next to him but that they weren't ready to talk about the incident.

The brother and sister said they don't blame anyone for the shipwreck.

"We are so grateful to be alive right now," Kate Suski said. "Nothing can sort of puncture that bubble."

Upon returning to their hotel in St. Lucia earlier this week, the Suskis were upgraded to a suite as they recover from cuts on their feet, severe tendonitis in their ankles from swimming and abrasions from the lifejackets.

"It's really been amazing," Dan Suski said. "It's a moving experience for me."

On Saturday, they plan to fly back to the U.S. to meet their father in Miami.

Once a night owl, Kate Suski no longer minds getting up early for flights, or for any other reason.

"Since this ordeal, I've been waking up at dawn every morning," she said. "I've never looked forward to the sunrise so much in my life."

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Marine veteran ordered to remove American flag from his yard

Published March 29, 2013

FoxNews.com

A U.S. Marine has been ordered by local officials to remove an American flag and flagpole that he installed outside his Florida home after returning home from serving in Iraq.

Gregory Schaffer told WPTV.com that he received a citation from the town of Hypoluxo, Fla., listing the flagpole as a violation of the town's permitting code.

"It's sad. It's sad that we have to go through that just to fly a flag," Schaffer told the station.

The 24-year-old Marine said a neighbor filed a complaint with the town within days after he installed the flagpole in his yard.

"It's disgusting that anybody should have to go through that. I fought for the flag, now I'm paying for the flag," Schaffer told the station.

A town building department official told WPTV.com that the flagpole is considered a structure and must be removed since Schaffer does not have a permit.

Schaffer told the station that because he is renting his property, he would have to hire a third party contractor to apply for the permit, which could cost up to $1,000.

The building department official said the town will try to work with the veteran to help him with the permitting process.

Click here for more from WPTV.com.

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American West running out of room for wild horses, officials weigh options

There are 10,000 more horses and burros in the wild than their habitat can support, according to the Bureau of Land Management. 

But, the agency says, there will soon be little they can do about it. 

The overpopulation problem is now putting a big strain on the agency as it tries to figure out how to keep the spiraling population from harming the ecosystem. 

The current conundrum can be traced in part to 1971. At the time, Congress passed the Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which tasked BLM with preserving the wild animals in the 10 western states where they roamed. As with any grazing animal, though, the absence of predators caused the population to boom. After their numbers doubled in five years, Congress passed the Federal Land Policy and Management Act which made BLM responsible for keeping wild horse and burro populations in check. 

Fran Ackley, who runs BLM's Wild Horse Program holding facility in Canon City, Colo., said that since there are no predators, federal officials "act as predators in that we remove horses (from the wild)." This, he said, "kind of serves as a similar act in controlling the population." 

Rounded up animals are placed in long- and short-term holding facilities and put up for adoption. Adoptions, however, especially in the recent recession, have been far lower than the number of horses taken off the range. The result is that there are now some 50,000 "wild" horses and burros in BLM holding facilities around the West. 

That's compared with roughly 37,000 currently in the wild, a number BLM says is 10,000 more than it should be. The agency says room in its holding facilities will reach capacity this year. 

"The growth rate 'in the wild' is about 20 percent," Ackley explained. "So that means we're going to have another 7,400 horses this summer after foaling season. And right now it looks like we cannot remove all of them, maybe between 5,000 and 6,000 animals." 

Each coming year, the population in the wild will increase, and if something isn't done, the BLM will be unable to remove any of them, according to Ackley. "If we don't manage them they're going to eat themselves out of house and home and destroy the habitat that supports -- not only them but, you know, endangered species, other plant and animal species and wildlife." 

Currently the Wild Horse and Bureau Program spends about $50 million a year just to feed the animals held in captivity. That's around 70 percent of its annual budget, and horses in captivity live up to 25 years. When it comes to other grazing animals like deer, elk and bison, hunting acts as a substitute for natural predation. 

Hunting horses, though, is prohibited. 

And while horse meat is consumed by humans in much of the world, selling any of the horses to slaughter houses is a public relations nightmare the Bureau is determined to avoid. 

"We'd like to see reproduction targeted as part of a solution," said Karen Herman, owner and operator of the Sky Mountain Wild Horse Sanctuary near Santa Fe, N.M. She said it's obvious to everyone the current system for managing wild horses is broken. "I think we need to be much more creative and innovative, and I think PZP is a science-based solution that's also ecologically and economically sound." 

PZP, porcine zona pellucida, is a birth control drug that can last up to two years. Longer lasting fertility drugs are being developed. Herman has been involved in PZP trials in the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico where mares are darted in the wild to inject the drug. 

"It limits their reproduction so they can stay free, they can be wild." Herman said. "And yet their numbers aren't exceeding the capacity that the land can hold. There's 20 years of data that shows it's totally safe, it's 90 percent effective (and) it doesn't change their family behavior, their social behavior." 

Many wild horse advocates oppose fertility control but Herman says the alternatives of roundup or overpopulation are far less attractive. "There's nothing humane about starvation -- it's a long, cruel, slow death. I respect other peoples' right to their perspective. Mine is that we have the means to help horses stay healthy and free. Why not use it?" 

Ackley also feels that PZP is promising and points out that the BLM is also conducting trials. He agrees, though, that fertility control is only part of the solution. 

"I'm going to guess there's in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 herds that we can actually do that: approach the horses on foot with a dart gun and put the drug into them. But you know, in Utah, Wyoming, California and Nevada, their horses are a lot more wild ... so that's really not practical in those populations." 

Recently, Kathleen Mussetter came to the BLM Canon City holding facility to adopt one of the mustangs removed from the wild. "They're just so amazing. Just completely honest," she said. 

Mussetter said she also worries about what will happen to the mustangs still roaming wild. "They reproduce out there, but the range is not reproducing. So I believe the BLM is kind of between a rock and a hard place. They're trying to do the right thing for the horses but what can you do? It's hard for a horse lover, it's a hard subject."

View the original article here

Kerry calls for 'immediate' release of American in Iran after letter detailing abuse

• 

Secretary of State John Kerry, in a first-ever statement from his office on the case of imprisoned Iranian-American Saeed Abedini, called Friday for Abedini to be “immediately released” and said he is “disturbed” by reports that he’s suffered physical and psychological abuse at the Iranian prison where he’s being held.

The statement was released by Kerry late Friday afternoon, and it came after the attorneys representing Abedini’s family released a letter the Christian pastor sent to his wife describing how he was beaten and denied medical treatment because he was seen as "unclean" because of his faith.

Kerry's call for the pastor’s release marks the first such formal statement on the case. The full statement from Kerry read as follows:

“I am deeply concerned about the fate of U.S. citizen Saeed Abedini, who has been detained for nearly six months and was sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran on charges related to his religious beliefs. I am disturbed by reports that Mr. Abedini has suffered physical and psychological abuse in prison, and that his condition has become increasingly dire. Such mistreatment violates international norms as well as Iran's own laws.  

“I am also troubled by the lack of due process in Mr. Abedini's case and Iran's continued refusal to allow consular access by Swiss authorities, the U.S. protecting power in Iran.  I welcome reports that Mr. Abedini was examined by a physician and expect Iranian authorities to honor their commitment to allow Mr. Abedini to receive treatment for these injuries from a specialist outside the prison. The best outcome for Mr. Abedini is that he be immediately released.”

Attorneys for Abedini's wife, Naghmeh Abedini, as well as lawmakers who have rallied on the prisoner’s behalf, have been urging Kerry to get directly involved. Republican lawmakers expressed dismay last Friday when the State Department did not provide a witness for a hearing at which Naghmeh Abedini testified.

Since that hearing, and the attention it received, the Obama administration has taken additional actions. State Department representatives met with Naghmeh Abedini last week, and the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday directly called for Abedini's release during a meeting in Geneva. An attorney for the family called that the "first pro-active statement by ... our administration" in the case.

State Department and White House officials have previously addressed Abedini’s case in public before, but only when questioned about it by reporters and others.

The Kerry statement late Friday marks a new level of escalation in the administration’s statements.

Hours earlier, a letter was released which was received by Saeed Abedini's family this week, though it may have been written weeks ago.

The letter from Saeed Abedini to his wife described in detail how he's been mistreated at Iran's notorious Evin Prison. He described how he saw his face for the first time in the mirror of an elevator.

"I said hi to the person staring back at me because I did not recognize myself," Abedini wrote. "My hair was shaven, under my eyes were swollen three times what they should have been, my face was swollen, and my beard had grown."

The pastor explained how, despite his situation, he is trying to focus on "forgiveness." He said he forgave the "interrogator who beat me" as well as the doctor who "did not give me the medication that I needed."

Abedini wrote that a nurse would not provide him with treatment because she said "in our religion we are not suppose to touch you, you are unclean." He wrote that he could not fall to sleep one night because of the pain, as he listened to the sound of "dirty sewer rats with their loud noises and screeches."

Attorney Jordan Sekulow, though, told Fox News on Friday that he has since received a medical review. Sekulow said Abedini was promised he'd be moved to a hospital outside the prison, though cautioned that the family would have to see that happen to believe it.

Sekulow, meanwhile, drew attention to a statement delivered Thursday in Geneva by Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, the U.S. representative on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

She said: "Iranian officials continue to restrict these communities' freedom to practice their religious beliefs free from harassment, threat or intimidation. Christian pastor Saeed Abedini's continuing harsh treatment at the hands of Iranian authorities exemplifies this trend.

"We repeat our call for the government of Iran to release Mr. Abedini, and others who are unjustly imprisoned, and to cease immediately its persecution of all religious minority communities. The United States also repeats its call for the government of Iran to provide without delay the urgent medical attention Mr. Abedini needs."

Donahoe came under criticism for neglecting to specifically address the case at a recent meeting in Geneva on Iran's human rights record. Donahoe instead broadly criticized "the Iranian government's ceaseless campaign of abuse" against those who dissent.

Abedini has been held in Iran's Evin Prison since September of last year and was sentenced to eight years in prison in January -- accused of evangelizing and threatening national security.

Naghmeh Abedini met Saeed in 2002 and they married two years later. Both had converted from Islam to Christianity -- Saeed became a U.S. citizen in 2010.

The Iranian government does not recognize his American citizenship, though it had enabled him to travel freely between both countries until this past summer, when he was pulled off a bus and placed under house arrest, according to his supporters.

View the original article here

Kerry calls for 'immediate' release of American in Iran after letter detailing abuse

• 

Secretary of State John Kerry, in a first-ever statement from his office on the case of imprisoned Iranian-American Saeed Abedini, called Friday for Abedini to be “immediately released” and said he is “disturbed” by reports that he’s suffered physical and psychological abuse at the Iranian prison where he’s being held.

The statement was released by Kerry late Friday afternoon, and it came after the attorneys representing Abedini’s family released a letter the Christian pastor sent to his wife describing how he was beaten and denied medical treatment because he was seen as "unclean" because of his faith.

Kerry's call for the pastor’s release marks the first such formal statement on the case. The full statement from Kerry read as follows:

“I am deeply concerned about the fate of U.S. citizen Saeed Abedini, who has been detained for nearly six months and was sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran on charges related to his religious beliefs. I am disturbed by reports that Mr. Abedini has suffered physical and psychological abuse in prison, and that his condition has become increasingly dire. Such mistreatment violates international norms as well as Iran's own laws.  

“I am also troubled by the lack of due process in Mr. Abedini's case and Iran's continued refusal to allow consular access by Swiss authorities, the U.S. protecting power in Iran.  I welcome reports that Mr. Abedini was examined by a physician and expect Iranian authorities to honor their commitment to allow Mr. Abedini to receive treatment for these injuries from a specialist outside the prison. The best outcome for Mr. Abedini is that he be immediately released.”

Attorneys for Abedini's wife, Naghmeh Abedini, as well as lawmakers who have rallied on the prisoner’s behalf, have been urging Kerry to get directly involved. Republican lawmakers expressed dismay last Friday when the State Department did not provide a witness for a hearing at which Naghmeh Abedini testified.

Since that hearing, and the attention it received, the Obama administration has taken additional actions. State Department representatives met with Naghmeh Abedini last week, and the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday directly called for Abedini's release during a meeting in Geneva. An attorney for the family called that the "first pro-active statement by ... our administration" in the case.

State Department and White House officials have previously addressed Abedini’s case in public before, but only when questioned about it by reporters and others.

The Kerry statement late Friday marks a new level of escalation in the administration’s statements.

Hours earlier, a letter was released which was received by Saeed Abedini's family this week, though it may have been written weeks ago.

The letter from Saeed Abedini to his wife described in detail how he's been mistreated at Iran's notorious Evin Prison. He described how he saw his face for the first time in the mirror of an elevator.

"I said hi to the person staring back at me because I did not recognize myself," Abedini wrote. "My hair was shaven, under my eyes were swollen three times what they should have been, my face was swollen, and my beard had grown."

The pastor explained how, despite his situation, he is trying to focus on "forgiveness." He said he forgave the "interrogator who beat me" as well as the doctor who "did not give me the medication that I needed."

Abedini wrote that a nurse would not provide him with treatment because she said "in our religion we are not suppose to touch you, you are unclean." He wrote that he could not fall to sleep one night because of the pain, as he listened to the sound of "dirty sewer rats with their loud noises and screeches."

Attorney Jordan Sekulow, though, told Fox News on Friday that he has since received a medical review. Sekulow said Abedini was promised he'd be moved to a hospital outside the prison, though cautioned that the family would have to see that happen to believe it.

Sekulow, meanwhile, drew attention to a statement delivered Thursday in Geneva by Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, the U.S. representative on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

She said: "Iranian officials continue to restrict these communities' freedom to practice their religious beliefs free from harassment, threat or intimidation. Christian pastor Saeed Abedini's continuing harsh treatment at the hands of Iranian authorities exemplifies this trend.

"We repeat our call for the government of Iran to release Mr. Abedini, and others who are unjustly imprisoned, and to cease immediately its persecution of all religious minority communities. The United States also repeats its call for the government of Iran to provide without delay the urgent medical attention Mr. Abedini needs."

Donahoe came under criticism for neglecting to specifically address the case at a recent meeting in Geneva on Iran's human rights record. Donahoe instead broadly criticized "the Iranian government's ceaseless campaign of abuse" against those who dissent.

Abedini has been held in Iran's Evin Prison since September of last year and was sentenced to eight years in prison in January -- accused of evangelizing and threatening national security.

Naghmeh Abedini met Saeed in 2002 and they married two years later. Both had converted from Islam to Christianity -- Saeed became a U.S. citizen in 2010.

The Iranian government does not recognize his American citizenship, though it had enabled him to travel freely between both countries until this past summer, when he was pulled off a bus and placed under house arrest, according to his supporters.

View the original article here

US puts $10 million bounty on American citizens suspected of working with terrorists in Somalia

Published March 21, 2013

FoxNews.com

• 

  Omar Shafik Hammami. left and Jehad Serwan Mostafa.FBI

The FBI says they are offering $10 million for information leading to the arrest of two Americans who are suspected of working with terrorists in Somalia. 

The State Department said Wednesday $5 million each will be rewarded for information leading to the capture of al-Shabab members Omar Shafik Hammami and Jehad Mostafa, both of whom are on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List. Al-Shabab is an Al Qaeda affiliate based in Somalia. 

A senior FBI official tells Fox 5 both men allegedly “had a persistent interest in targeting U.S. interests” and are “believed to be involved in planning attacks on U.S. persons or property." 

However, the official declined to state what, if any, attacks or thwarted attacks the Americans are believed to have been involved in. 

Fox 5 reports Mostafa, who is believed to be either 27 or 32, was living in San Diego before moving to Somalia in 2005. He had previously lived in Wisconsin.

The FBI says Mostafa commands foreign fighters for al-Shabab, which has fought for years for control over Somalia. Fox 5 reports he was indicted in California for allegedly providing material support to al-Shabaab.

28-year-old Hammami, a former resident of Daphne, Ala., is believed to have moved to Somalia in 2006. 

The FBI says has served as a propagandist for the Al Qaeda-affiliated organization, attracting English-speaking youth with rap songs and video statements, and as a military commander. Fox 5 reports he was indicted in Alabama in 2009 on charges of providing support to a terrorist group.

Hammami reportedly has been involved in a public rift with al-Shabab since last March, when he made a video saying he feared for his safety. Fox 5 reports he has since then spoke out against some of the group's leaders, and his family has said they fear for his life.

Click for more from Fox 5.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

View the original article here

US offers $10M for info leading to American terror suspects in Somalia

Published March 20, 2013

Associated Press

The United States is offering $10 million for information leading to the arrest of two Americans in Somalia who are on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List. 

The State Department says the rewards are $5 million each for al-Shabab members Omar Shafik Hammami and Jehad Mostafa. 

It says the 28-year-old Hammami is a resident of Daphne, Ala., who moved to Somalia in 2006. 

He has served as a propagandist for the Al Qaeda-affiliated organization, attracting English-speaking youth with rap songs and video statements, and as a military commander. 

The department says Mostafa lived in San Diego before moving to Somalia in 2005. He commands foreign fighters for al-Shabab, which has fought for years for control over Somalia. 

Both men have been indicted in the U.S. on terror charges.

View the original article here

American teens gripped by epidemic that crushes empathy

In Steubenville, Ohio two teenage boys— a 17-year-old and 16-year-old—are on trial for allegedly stripping a very inebriated and nearly unconscious 16-year-old girl naked, attempting to make her perform oral sex on them (although she could not even open her mouth), urinating on her, using their fingers to penetrate her and carrying her from one location to another, to continue sexually violating her.

The texts they allegedly sent one another when the girl heard rumors from friends about what happened to her while she was too drunk to be aware of it, or even remember it, are chilling.  They refer to her as a dead body, gleefully recall humiliating her and contain degrading statements about all females being worthy of sexual degradation.  

In one text, the 17-year-old, knowing he has been identified as a possible assailant, tells a friend that he might as well have raped the girl (not just digitally, but using his penis), given the possible consequences he could face:

17-year-old: 10.50.24pm 'I should have raped her now cos everyone thinks I did.

Friend: Yeh you should.'

Equally heartbreaking is the fact that no one helped the alleged victim, despite the fact that her plight was obvious to many people at the party where she was publicly stripped naked, before being carried away to the house where she was then allegedly brutally assaulted.  Here are the texts where she seems incredulous that one “friend” did nothing to help her:

August 12, 5.45pm
Male friend: Are you all right? (Sent repeatedly until 6.37pm)
06.39pm
Victim: I’m good I need to find my phone tho and (the accused) went through my phone and looked at all our sh*t but what happened last night?
F: You were like dead. Then they took you to (another teen's house). I went there and left when I saw you naked on the ground. I seriously felt so bad for you and I couldn’t do sh*t about it. I’m so sorry.

06.44pm
V: WTF? Who was there? Who did that to me?
F: The kids who you woke up with and Idk (I don’t know) you’ll have to ask them.
V: You couldn’t have told them to stop or anything?
F: You don’t think I did? I flipped out on them and they just said they were going to put you to bed and I don’t know what happened after that.
V: Thanks. I hate my life. I don’t even know wtf happened.

How could this happen?  I believe American teens are in the grips of a psychological epidemic that has eroded much of their capacity to connect with genuine emotion and is, therefore, crushing their empathy.  

Having watched tens of thousands of YouTube videos with bizarre scenarios unfolding, having Tweeted thousands of senseless missives of no real importance, having watched contrived “Reality TV” programs in which people are posers in false dramas about love or lust or revenge, having texted millions of times, rather than truly connecting and having lost their real faces to the fake life stories of Facebook, they look upon the actual events of their lives with no more actual investment and actual concern and actual courage than they would look upon a fictional character in a movie.  

They are absent from their own lives and those of others.  They are floating free in a virtual world where nothing really matters other than being cool observers of their own detached existence, occasionally alighting on one another’s bodies, in sexual embraces that remind them—for an orgasmic moment—that they are actually alive and actually human.  

The psychological epidemic dissolves courage and compassion and is the most virulent and dangerous one our culture and the world has ever faced. It could ruin us.

What was once referred to as “the bystander effect”—a psychological phenomenon in which individuals in a crowd tend not to step forward to save a victim, is now an apt label for a large percentage of teens.  They are bystanders in their own lives.  They are bystanders to the lives of others.  And just as they may stand by as a “friend” of theirs is brutally sexually assaulted, humiliated and degraded, they could stand by as forces of darkness gather to confront the American ideals of liberty and justice.  

Editors’ Note: The Associated Press named the minors charged due to the fact they have been identified in other news coverage and their names were used in open court. FoxNews.com will not name the defendants as they are being tried in juvenile  court. 

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatrist and member of the Fox News Medical A-Team. Dr. Ablow can be reached at info@keithablow.com.

Dr. Keith Ablow

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American teens gripped by epidemic that crushes empathy

In Steubenville, Ohio two teenage boys— a 17-year-old and 16-year-old—are on trial for allegedly stripping a very inebriated and nearly unconscious 16-year-old girl naked, attempting to make her perform oral sex on them (although she could not even open her mouth), urinating on her, using their fingers to penetrate her and carrying her from one location to another, to continue sexually violating her.

The texts they allegedly sent one another when the girl heard rumors from friends about what happened to her while she was too drunk to be aware of it, or even remember it, are chilling.  They refer to her as a dead body, gleefully recall humiliating her and contain degrading statements about all females being worthy of sexual degradation.  

In one text, the 17-year-old, knowing he has been identified as a possible assailant, tells a friend that he might as well have raped the girl (not just digitally, but using his penis), given the possible consequences he could face:

17-year-old: 10.50.24pm 'I should have raped her now cos everyone thinks I did.

Friend: Yeh you should.'

Equally heartbreaking is the fact that no one helped the alleged victim, despite the fact that her plight was obvious to many people at the party where she was publicly stripped naked, before being carried away to the house where she was then allegedly brutally assaulted.  Here are the texts where she seems incredulous that one “friend” did nothing to help her:

August 12, 5.45pm
Male friend: Are you all right? (Sent repeatedly until 6.37pm)
06.39pm
Victim: I’m good I need to find my phone tho and (the accused) went through my phone and looked at all our sh*t but what happened last night?
F: You were like dead. Then they took you to (another teen's house). I went there and left when I saw you naked on the ground. I seriously felt so bad for you and I couldn’t do sh*t about it. I’m so sorry.

06.44pm
V: WTF? Who was there? Who did that to me?
F: The kids who you woke up with and Idk (I don’t know) you’ll have to ask them.
V: You couldn’t have told them to stop or anything?
F: You don’t think I did? I flipped out on them and they just said they were going to put you to bed and I don’t know what happened after that.
V: Thanks. I hate my life. I don’t even know wtf happened.

How could this happen?  I believe American teens are in the grips of a psychological epidemic that has eroded much of their capacity to connect with genuine emotion and is, therefore, crushing their empathy.  

Having watched tens of thousands of YouTube videos with bizarre scenarios unfolding, having Tweeted thousands of senseless missives of no real importance, having watched contrived “Reality TV” programs in which people are posers in false dramas about love or lust or revenge, having texted millions of times, rather than truly connecting and having lost their real faces to the fake life stories of Facebook, they look upon the actual events of their lives with no more actual investment and actual concern and actual courage than they would look upon a fictional character in a movie.  

They are absent from their own lives and those of others.  They are floating free in a virtual world where nothing really matters other than being cool observers of their own detached existence, occasionally alighting on one another’s bodies, in sexual embraces that remind them—for an orgasmic moment—that they are actually alive and actually human.  

The psychological epidemic dissolves courage and compassion and is the most virulent and dangerous one our culture and the world has ever faced. It could ruin us.

What was once referred to as “the bystander effect”—a psychological phenomenon in which individuals in a crowd tend not to step forward to save a victim, is now an apt label for a large percentage of teens.  They are bystanders in their own lives.  They are bystanders to the lives of others.  And just as they may stand by as a “friend” of theirs is brutally sexually assaulted, humiliated and degraded, they could stand by as forces of darkness gather to confront the American ideals of liberty and justice.  

Editors’ Note: The Associated Press named the minors charged due to the fact they have been identified in other news coverage and their names were used in open court. FoxNews.com will not name the defendants as they are being tried in juvenile  court. 

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatrist and member of the Fox News Medical A-Team. Dr. Ablow can be reached at info@keithablow.com.

Dr. Keith Ablow

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An American Pope? Cardinal Dolan may charm his way to Vatican

Cardinal Timothy Dolan is quick with a quip and, more often than not, he is the target of his own sense of humor -- a trait that will continue to serve him well if he is to become the first American pope.

While archbishop of Milwaukee a decade ago, Dolan once wore the Green Bay Packers’ trademark “cheesehead” hat during a homily. Last September, he shared a stage at Fordham University with Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert for a moderated discussion of humor and faith and more than held his own in generating laughs. And when named a cardinal last year, Dolan joked to a reporter at New York’s fabled St. Patrick’s Cathedral that he’d pondered holding the title as a little boy growing up in Missouri.

"I can never remember a time I didn't want to be a priest."

- Cardinal Timothy Dolan

“When I was 6 years old, I wanted to be Stan Musial!” Dolan replied, referring to the late baseball Hall of Famer.

In a more serious moment, Dolan, who grew up the eldest of five and the son of a McDonnell Douglas engineer and a homemaker, acknowledged that as a boy he would pretend to celebrate Mass.

"I can never remember a time I didn't want to be a priest," he said.

The self-deprecation of the New York archbishop has been known to soften a sharp intellect, staunch conservatism and formidable fundraising skills, traits that would appear to have him on the short list to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who retired on Feb. 28.  As head of the second-biggest U.S. archdiocese with 2.5 million Catholics, Dolan also has used his wit to deliver a message to critics. When some questioned his invitation to President Obama to attend the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner over the president’s views on gay marriage and abortion last October, Dolan took to his blog to reply.

“If I only sat down with people who agreed with me, and I with them, or with those who were saints, I’d be taking all my meals alone,” wrote Dolan, 63, who had earlier strongly condemned Obama’s signature health care law, which he believes violated rights of employers by forcing them to provide health insurance that covered abortion and birth control.

Dolan is not immune to the stain of sex abuse scandals that plagued the church in past decades. The Milwaukee diocese he led from 2002 to 2009 was one of eight to file for bankruptcy since 2002 amid a flood of civil claims. Dolan publicized the names of priests accused of molesting children and also authorized $20,000 payments to predator priests to get them out of the church. Dolan called claims that the disbursements were payoffs "false, preposterous, and unjust." Supporters say the moves showed a willingness to confront the problem head-on, in contrast to how the church had long handled the scandal.

The Rev. Donald Hying, auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, said Dolan left a lasting impression during his time in Wisconsin.

“He never really stopped being a parish priest,” Hying recalled. “What struck me the most about him was his radical availability to people, his tremendous joy, his boundless energy.  He visited every one of the 205 parishes, every school, every fish fry.  He seemed to be everywhere at once.

“Every Catholic in Milwaukee has at least one Cardinal Dolan story -- a phone call, a letter, a drop-in visit -- some way that he reached out to people in moments of joy, sorrow, suffering and triumph,” Hying added. “He is an amazing man.”

Colin Nykaza, director of Young Adult Outreach for the Archdiocese of New York, said Dolan combines a sense of humor with an firm commitment to the church's long-held principles.

"His unwavering support on the dignity of human life and marriage has been crucial and vital for this Archdiocese when our very core beliefs are under attack," Nykaza said. "His funny and down to earth approach with dealing with many difficult issues is refreshing."

Dolan, who studied theology in Rome and earned a doctorate at Catholic University in Washington, lacks the language skills typically required of a pope. But If elected by the 115-member Papal Conclave, Dolan would continue – if not accelerate – the Vatican’s newfound embrace of technology. Where Pope Benedict received great fanfare for joining Twitter last year, Dolan is a veteran of the tweet, boasting 80,000 followers, and has his own blog, “The Gospel in the Digital Age.”

Georgetown University Prof. Thomas Reese wrote last week in his blog that the Conclave is “looking for someone who can preach the gospel in a way that is understandable and attractive to people in the 21st century. In other words, they want Jesus Christ with an MBA.”

There has never been a non-European pope, much less an American. Paddy Power currently lists Dolan as a 33-1 shot, well behind favorite Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, at 5-to-2, and Italian Cardinals Tarcisio Bertone and Angelo Scola, both of whom the Irish bookmaker lists at 7-to-2 odds.

If an American cardinal is to be the next pope, and his name is not Timothy Dolan, it will likely be Boston’s Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley. O’Malley, 68, was appointed archbishop in 2003, replacing the outgoing Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned after the sexual abuse scandal engulfed the parish. O’Malley is credited with applying a no-nonsense, hard-line approach to the pedophile priests, and has said the next pope must show no tolerance for them or bishops who protect them.

Where Dolan is known for wit and warmth, O’Malley is seen as an uncompromising and demanding administrator. Also making O’Malley a long shot is the fact that he is a Capuchin friar and not a diocesan priest, making him something of an outsider to the elector cardinals. Although worshippers within his parish believe he is a strong candidate to lead the church, O’Malley has dismissed suggestions that he is a legitimate contender.

For his part, Dolan also downplayed his chances of succeeding Benedict.

“I’ve got a better chance following ‘A-Rod’ at third base for the Yankees than following Benedict XVI as the bishop of Rome,” Dolan told reporters in Rome.

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The Obama Doctrine -- kill American terrorists overseas, try foreign terrorists in New York City

As an attorney who’s spent more than a dozen years protecting the right of both America and Israel to wage war against international terrorism, including appearances before the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at the Hague, I’m stumped.

My American Center for Law & Justices colleagues at our offices all over the world from Jerusalem, to France, to Washington, D.C. --who are even at this moment at an anti-terrorism conference in Israel -- are puzzled.

Here’s our question for the Obama administration: are we at war or not?

On the one hand, the administration has steadfastly defended its drone war – which rains sudden death on enemy combatants, American and non-American alike – as a necessary instrument in an ongoing military conflict against Al Qaeda.

Enemy combatants should be interrogated relentlessly, not given Miranda warnings.

In making this argument, the administration is extending Bush administration legal policy that was first implemented immediately after September 11, when the Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force against those organizations responsible for the worst enemy attack on foreign soil in our nation’s history.  In short, under international law, we have declared war.

But then the administration captured Abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti member of Al Qaeda -- a member of Usama bin Laden’s family, no less -- and brought him to the United States for a civilian trial in a Manhattan courtroom one mile from Ground Zero. In fact, he’s already appeared in that courtroom to plead not guilty to charges of conspiracy to kill Americans.   

How does this make any sense?  How is this consistent with any principled approach to fighting our War on Terror?

Senators Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte – and a number of other lawmakers – have rightly raised serious objections to Ghaith’s civilian detention and civilian trial.  

Enemy combatants should be interrogated relentlessly, not given Miranda warnings.  

Enemy combatants shouldn’t be tried in civilian courtrooms in the middle of a densely populated city – creating a much softer target for a spectacular and symbolic terrorist attack than a fortified military base like Guantanamo Bay. 

Moreover, if we’re going to make the legal argument at home and abroad that we’re at war, why play right into our critics’ hands by suddenly and arbitrarily treating our war like an episode of “CSI: New York”?

Our enemies, working with their allies on the international left, want America’s hands to be tied, for us to use police methods and – more importantly – police weapons and tactics even while they arm themselves to the teeth and work tirelessly to kill as many Americans as they can.

Already our military is under extreme pressure, even from some of our allies, to adopt a law-enforcement approach even in the conduct of our military operations in Afghanistan.  

Our rules of engagement are sometimes so restrictive that they can lead to loss of American life and grant actual battlefield advantages to the Taliban.  

While we’re in the midst of an international argument over the law of armed conflict, we just handed our ideological opponents something more than a significant propaganda victory – we handed them a real-life example to use as the foundation for a new “customary international law” that is the form of binding international law created by nations’ actual policies and practices in fighting terror.

In addition, the Obama administration is demonstrating that it exists as an “imperial presidency.” One that is more arbitrary than the Bush administration it so self-righteously criticized.  Under this Obama doctrine, the ultimate questions of war and peace, life and death, appear to follow no principle or pattern beyond the administration’s own whims.  

This administration has failed to articulate a coherent approach to fighting deadly enemies.  It brags about its “kill list” during a presidential campaign, yet after the campaign it doesn’t seem to mind when Egypt denies us access to the Benghazi suspects (by the way – where is the retaliation for that dreadful attack?).  

Simply put, Bin Laden family members should not get their day in court in Manhattan.

The only coherent, common thread amongst this confusion is the apparent absolute power of a president of the United States – relying on Congress’s bipartisan declaration of war when he wants to and ignoring it when he doesn't want to.

If I could speak with President Obama here’s what I would tell him: Mr. President, we are at war, and our legal and military actions should consistently reflect that fact.  Any other approach endangers American lives, confuses our allies, and encourages our enemies.  

Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ).

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Why there will not be an American pope

No chance for an American pope? That may be a bit strong. But it is at the very least highly unlikely that a citizen of the U.S. will be elected pope in the upcoming conclave, or indeed at any time on the horizon. There are several reasons for this.

While many have speculated about the possibility of electing an Asian, African or other cardinal from outside Europe to the papacy, any non-European cardinal is an underdog. A two-thirds majority of the voting cardinals is needed for election of the pope and though the College of Cardinals is more international than it used to be, it is still dominated by Italians and other Europeans. Despite plenty of cultural differences among European cardinals, who hail from places as diverse as Poland, Italy, Scotland, and Ireland, they will naturally tend to vote for fellow Europeans, just as they have done historically.

Many non-European cardinals, including some Americans, can compensate for their outsider status by spending years in Rome. And it helps for them to learn several languages, Italian among them -- English and a smattering of Spanish are not enough. But no matter how many languages they may speak, or how long they may have been in Rome, or what they may have done in Rome, Americans remain Americans, and will still be viewed that way.

No matter what an American cardinal does, he is nonetheless still an American, and is associated with the baggage that his nationality is thought to carry.

Inherent geopolitical factors about the United States also make the prospect of an American Pope improbable. In particular, the superpower status of America is a major obstacle. If China were ever to dominate the world, the chances for an American pope would rise. But for now, much of the world resents U.S. power and dominance -- military, political, diplomatic, cultural and economic. Few non-Americans would want religious dominance added to this list.  

This contrast between the European perspective -- and the Holy See’s -- and that of the U.S. has been highlighted especially within the last decade, such as in 2003 when Pope John Paul II criticized America’s handling of the war in Iraq. According to the European perspective, a perspective formed in part by American cinema, the U.S. looks permanently addicted to a cowboy culture that glorifies trigger-happy violence and spurns peaceful conflict resolution.

Such a perception extends to the view of American domestic politics. While the death penalty is but a distant memory in nearly all of Europe and indeed most of the world, it remains a lasting element of the U.S. system of justice. And while the papacy has moved in the last half century or so to defend human dignity by rejecting both individual and state-sponsored violence, the U.S. has appeared to be stuck in its death-penalty ways.    

Similarly, many take issue with a country as wealthy as the U.S. still arguing about whether it is willing to guarantee access to health care for all. While the Catholic Church promotes the common good, many still perceive individual greed as the operative motive for much of the U.S. While the Church’s tradition sees the poor as images of Christ, American culture tends to dismiss them. Such a disparity in attitudes toward the poor makes America look unattractive to much of the world.

This has been reflected in U.S. economic policy. After World War II, many European countries moved to adopt progressive economic policies with an emphasis on basic human needs like a living wage, a fair distribution of goods, paid vacations, equal access to health care and education, and a dignified retirement at a reasonable age. In countries such as Germany and Italy, this was especially influenced by Catholic Social Teaching, and included putting the dignity of labor and the right of workers to organize into law and practice.  In many places in the United States, there has been increased pushback against such policies.  

Perceptions count in papal elections, however fair or unreasonable, true or inaccurate they may be. No matter what an American cardinal does, he is nonetheless still an American, and is associated with the baggage that, according to many, his nationality is thought to carry.

But the possibility of an ‘American’ pope is decidedly less bleak if you include the Americas in a broader sense. A pope from north or south of the U.S. borders, such as from Canada or Latin America, free from the perceptions of U.S. political and cultural dominance is a decidedly more likely prospect.  

Thomas Worcester, S.J., is Professor of History at College of the Holy Cross.

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