Father who lost custody of Nubia and Victor wants to see his injured son

MIAMI — Victor Bustillo hadn't seen or heard from his children Nubia and Victor in close to eight years, since the state took custody of the twins, then toddlers, after he was convicted of abusing a minor.

It wasn't until last week, when Bustillo saw news reports detailing how his daughter's dead body was stuffed in a plastic bag in the back of her adoptive father's pick-up truck, and his son was severely burned with hazardous chemicals, that Bustillo realized what had become of his children.

"This is hard," Bustillo said Tuesday outside his Miami apartment. "Imagine what I could be feeling right now."

The twins' adoptive father, Jorge Barahona, 53, now faces an attempted murder charge in connection with Victor's injuries. The boy was found in the front seat of Barahona's truck in West Palm Beach, seizing and covered in an unknown toxic chemical, and is now being treated at Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami.

Police and the state Department of Children and Families are still investigating Nubia's death. Meanwhile, two other children adopted by Barahona and his wife Carmen, 60, have been placed in a foster home.

Bustillo, 56, from El Salvador, said he did everything he could back in 2004 to keep custody of the twins, who had been under his care after the state terminated their mother's parental rights because of abuse, drug use and alleged prostitution.

"I never wanted to give up my parental rights, but they took my kids away," he added. "I did everything they asked me to do, but they took them away anyway."

Bustillo's criminal past and alleged neglect of his children, however, prevented him from keeping them. The state moved to terminate his parental rights in 2005.

According to the state's petition, Bustillo was an unfit father because of domestic violence, abandonment and medical neglect. Nubia was born with an unknown medical condition that required her to take medication, according to state officials.

In 2004, Bustillo was arrested and accused of pulling a 10-year-old girl into an apartment and touching her crotch in the presence of a 2-year-old child. The petition says that Bustillo admitted to molesting the girl in a taped confession.

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Young and wreck-less, Trevor Bayne wins Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Daytona 500 is a race that can complete a racing career.

Trevor Bayne's is just beginning.

In only his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start, Bayne won a wild Daytona 500 on Sunday to take the fabled Wood Brothers Racing team back to victory lane at Daytona International Speedway.

The 20-year-old led the final six laps and held off fellow Ford driver Carl Edwards by .118 seconds to become the youngest driver ever to win the Daytona 500.

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Federal agencies preparing for shutdown, White House says

Federal agencies are preparing to operate at reduced levels if a government shutdown occurs, but the Obama administration hopes to strike a deal with congressional Republicans to avoid one, the White House said Tuesday.

By March 4, lawmakers must pass a short-term resolution to continue funding the government, or President Obama and congressional leaders can strike a deal on how to fund government operations for the final seven months of fiscal 2011. Failing to do so would prompt at least a partial shutdown affecting various agencies and functions.

"There have been contingency plans for government shutdowns since 1980, and those plans are obviously updated accordingly, but they've been around for a long time," White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday. The White House hopes to reach an agreement with lawmakers soon, he said.

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New Facebook "Breakup Notifier" App Takes the Fun Out of Friend-Stalking

Thanks to developer Dan Loewenherz, Facebook just got a little bit creepier—or more loving, depending on your point of view. That's all thanks to the new application Loewenherz recently released: Breakup Notifier.

So what, exactly, does Breakup Notifier do?

"You like someone. They're in a relationship. Be the first to know when they're out of it," reads the description posted to Breakup Notifier's main page.

As described, the exact particulars of how the service works are fairly simple. You just have to log into Breakup Notifier using your Facebook account, and then select the various people on your friends list whose relationships are of critical interest to your daily life. Should said relationships change—for better or for worse—you'll get an email referencing the friend and the specific change made.

"A few days ago, my fiancee and her mom were talking about setting up a nice guy with my fiancee's sister. Unfortunately, said guy is in a relationship. My mother-in-law to be suggested it would be nice to know when the relationship was over (jokingly)," said Loewenherz in a post to Hacker News.

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Man Refuses To Give Facebook Password For Background Check | WUSA9.com | Washington, DC |

BALTIMORE, Md. (WUSA) -- Robert Collins tells 9NEWS NOW he had to give up his Facebook account password and information for a background check to return to work as a corrections officer in Maryland. Now, he and the ACLU have managed to get the Maryland Department of Public Safety to suspend that practice, at least for now. That policy has been pulled for the next 45 days as it goes under review.

Robert Collins began his work as a corrections officer at the Patuxent Institution in 2007. He took a leave of absence in April 2010 and then decided he wanted his old job back later that year.
According to Collins, the re-certification process included a 2010 November interview where an investigator asked for among other things some private information regarding his use of social media.

"He began to ask me which social networks I had accounts and logins, and passwords. Personal information for this stuff," stated Collins.

According to Collins, applicants applying for corrections officers jobs in the state of Maryland already go through an in-depth background check to screen for, among other things, possible gang affiliations within applicants.

The information he was asked to give, he says, was bothersome because he felt his privacy and that of his Facebook friends was being invaded.

"To go this distance, it's too much and then it's illegal," stated Collins.

Man Refuses To Give Facebook Password For Background Check | WUSA9.com | Washington, DC |

Houston 108, Detroit 100: Pistons can't hold early lead

WHAT HAPPENED: The Pistons shot 52% in the first quarter and scored 28 points to take an eight-point lead with Greg Monroe scoring six points and pulling down six rebounds.

SEE THE BOX SCORE

With the second unit playing well and sharing the ball the Pistons opened up an 11-point lead, 39-28. A 9-2 spurt by the Rockets closed the deficit to 43-39. As the Pistons shooting percentage fell so did their lead. Shane Battier drained a three to put the Rockets up 50-49. Rodney Stuckey tied the game going into halftime, 51-51, on two free throws.

Houston used a 14-3 run to start the third quarter against the cold-shooting Pistons to grab a 65-54 lead. Chuck Hayes scored six during the rally. Taking advantage of the small Rockets point guards, Stuckey got the Pistons to within 65-60.

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San Jose 4, Detroit 3: Notes and quotes from Tuesday's game

IN THE FIRST: The Wings owned the puck the first stretch of the game, pounding Antti Niemi with pucks while Jimmy Howard grew cold. That changed at 11:28, when Nicklas Lidstrom's stick caught Logan Couture in the face, sending Lidstrom to the penalty box for high-sticking. He joined Jonathan Ericsson, who began serving 4 minutes for cutting Couture at 9:46. Thus the Sharks had 2 minutes with a two-man advantage, and the Wings had one of their best penalty killers, Lidstrom, in the box. A combination of Brad Stuart, Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Ruslan Salei did an outstanding job blocking lanes and frustrating the Sharks. And when a shot did get through, Howard made big saves, like when he snatched Ryane Clowe's shot out of the air. The Wings got a sound round of applause after that deed, but they couldn't follow up when the Sharks got another power play in the last 20 seconds of the period, allowing Joe Thornton to score his 300th career goal. After the Wings outshot the Sharks, 9-1, to start the game, the Sharks held an 18-10 advantage after 20 minutes.
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Rutgers' Rice apologizes following team's poor effort against Louisville

Rutgers men's basketball coach Mike Rice may have been sorry, but nothing was sorrier than his team's abysmal offensive performance in a 55-37 rout at the hands of No. 16 Louisville on Tuesday night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.

"I should be out in the parking lot apologizing," Rice said after his team established season-lows in both points scored and field goal percentage (29.5). "It's as simple as that. "I want to apologize to the students, the alumni, the people who came out. It's a shame. Our fans have pride in Rutgers and it's sad their guys and their coaching staff couldn't pull off a better performance."

The Scarlet Knights (13-14, 4-11 Big East), who lost their third straight and eighth in their last nine games, scored their fewest points since also notching 37 in a 60-37 loss to Depaul on Jan. 13, 2007. And you'd have to go all the way back to Feb. 18, 1959 for their previous worst, a 36-point effort in a 38-36 defeat against Lehigh.

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Christchurch earthquake death toll rises with hundreds still missing

Hopes of pulling more survivors from the rubble are fading in Christchurch as the city beds down for the second night since being rocked by a calamitous earthquake on Tuesday. Police declared a downtown curfew as aftershocks tested the spirit of a city that had not yet recovered from a quake in September last year.

The death toll from Tuesday's 6.3-magnitude quake has reached 75 and is expected to rise. Three hundred people are missing. Reports of Britons among the dead have not been confirmed. The British high commission, which is providing consular assistance in Christchurch, said it had received no information as yet of any British casualties.

Officials have urged Christchurch people to stay at home unless travel is essential. Locals venturing into the city to view the damage would hamper the rescue operation, said police superintendent Dave Cliff. He warned of the danger of "criminal elements" and announced a strict exclusion zone around the city's "four avenues" from 6.30pm. Six arrests for burglary have been made.

In the afternoon emergency workers were hurriedly evacuated from two blocks around the Hotel Grand Chancellor amid fears that the 27-storey building, which has slumped at one of its corners, could fall.

Up to 100 people are feared dead in the Canterbury TV building. Despite reports that authorities thought the building "not survivable", Ross Dittmer of the fire service said rescuers' pullout from the site was to do with the proximity to the Chancellor hotel rather than any abandonment of hope. Just after 8pm on Wednesday evening television images suggested the rescue effort at the CTV building was being relaunched.

There was rare a ray of hope on a gloomy day when rescuers pulled Ann Bodkin from the remains of the Pyne Gould Guinness building. She had spent a day trapped under her desk. The sun broke out as she emerged. According to the Christchurch mayor, Bob Parker, one emergency worker near the site said: "They got Ann out of the building and God turned on the lights."

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Mobile phones 'affect the brain'

A study by the National Institutes of Health in the US suggests that mobile phones could have an effect on the brain.

They reported higher sugar use in the brain, a sign of increased activity, after 50 minutes on the phone.

The research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association said the clinical significance was unknown.

Experts in the UK said there was no suggestion of a health risk.

Since the boom in mobile phone use, there has been considerable interest in the effect on the body.

The largest study on 420,000 mobile phone users in Denmark, has not shown a link between phone use and cancer.

This small study on 47 people investigated the effect of magnetic fields (RF-EMFs) coming from a phone's antenna.

It suggests that brain activity is affected, but cannot draw any conclusions about possible health implications.

Mobile phones were attached to both ears of each participant. One phone was off, the another was on but muted so the person could not tell the difference.

Their brains were then scanned to detect changes in glucose use, which increased by 7% in parts of the brain close to the antenna.

The researchers conclude that "the human brain is sensitive to the effects of RF-EMFs from acute cell phone exposures.

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Friends: Americans killed by pirates were careful

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — They were four adventure seekers who loved the sea and wanted to see the world. Friends said they were meticulous and planned for any dangers, but even that couldn't prepare them for the Somali pirates who stormed their yacht and took their lives.

The boat's owners, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, along with Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were shot to death early Tuesday, after pirates took them hostage on Friday about several hundred miles south of Oman.

Macay's niece, Nina Crossland, told reporters Tuesday that her aunt was "a very smart and avid sailor."

"I think she was smart enough and planned ahead and prepared to not be in this type of situation," she said, visibly shaken and holding back tears.

The Adams had been sailing full-time on their 58-foot yacht, the Quest, since December 2004 after retiring. They often travelled with friends, and on this trip were joined by Riggle and Macay.

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Daily Game Feb 23 - Little Noah Saves The Wor

Help little Noah save the world by kicking the extra sheep.

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Qaddafi’s Grip on the Capital Tightens as Revolt Grows

A bloody crackdown drove protesters from the streets of Tripoli, where residents described a state of terror. After a televised speech by Colonel Qaddafi, thousands of his supporters converged in the city's central Green Square, wearing green bandannas and brandishing large machetes.

Many loaded into trucks headed for the outlying areas of the city, where they occupied traffic intersections and appeared to be massing for neighborhood-to-neighborhood searches.

"It looks like they have been given a green light to kill these people," one witness said.

Human Rights Watch said it had confirmed 62 deaths in two hospitals after a rampage on Monday night, when witnesses said groups of heavily armed militiamen and mercenaries from other African countries cruised the streets in pickup trucks, spraying crowds with machine-gun fire.

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13 boxes of pre-ticked ballots seized in Kampala as Mayoral elections start

At least 13 boxes packed with pre-ticked ballot papers meant for today's national local government council elections have been intercepted in different parts of Kampala as the voting exercise in some areas turned messy.

Five boxes were found at Bat Valley and three at Public Library polling station on Buganda Road. Another two boxes were found at Railway polling station and a further four were found at National Theatre, where two Electoral Commission poling officials were arrested and taken to police for allegedly aiding rigging.

In one of the boxes counted at around 7:30am in the presence of our reporter at Bat Valley, there were 399 pre-ticked ballot papers – all in favour of the ruling National Resistance Movement's (NRM's) Kampala mayoral candidate, Peter Ssematimba.

In the second box, there were 424 ballot papers pre-ticked in favour of NRM councillors while the remaining three boxes were confiscated before they were pre-ticked. The intercepted pre-ticked ballot papers at Buganda Road polling station had not yet been counted by 9:50 am as officials waited for instructions from the Electoral Commission.

In Rubaga Division, Kakeeka polling station, there were ugly scenes after Mr Ssematimba's supporters turned rowdy and clashed with Mr Lukwago's supporters who had intercepted a rigging plan. It took the intervention of the military police to calm the situation. Voters who had gathered to cast their ballots scampered to safety.

Journalists beaten

According to our reporters, Mr Nicholas Bbaale, a journalist working with Channel 44 was reportedly badly injured in a fracas where other journalists were beaten.

Mr Robert Musoke, a polling agent for the Kampala mayoral candidate Erias Lukwago said they received reports at 3am that Mr Ssematimba's group had hatched a rigging plan. "We gathered our people from Makerere, Kivulu and other neighbouring areas and caught these people with five ballot boxes with pre-ticked ballots," Musoke said.

Police on the spot

A scuffle ensued after police attempted to take the stuffed boxes to Kampala Central Police Station. After a standoff, EC officials intervened and ordered that all the stuffed boxes be kept at the polling station until the end of the exercise.

According to Mr Musoke and eye witnesses, those who stuffed ballot boxes with pre-ticked papers were being protected by police officers led by Andrew Sorowen, the Commander of Kampala Metropolitan. Police were at the scene from 3am to 7am.

At National Theatre polling station, reports indicate that people started voting at 5:30am and by 6am 58 out of 666 registered voters had finished through unclear circumstances. By the time Joseph Biribonwa, a commissioner with the Electoral Commission came to the area, 99 people had voted before the official time for the start of voting. The voting was supposed to begin at 7am.

With the Electoral Commission convinced that there was glaring rigging, the electoral body was forced to suspend the exercise at Bat Valley and Public Library, located on Buganda Road. There were reports that in other areas, polling agents for some candidates connived with returning officers to open the exercise ahead of the official voting time.

The two stuffed ballot boxes seized at Railway Poling station were taken to CPS under the command of Mr Pius Otto, the officer in charge, amid protests from Mr Lukwago supporters. At National Theatre, after the arrest of the poling officials, leaked ballot papers and boxes were replaced by others and the exercise later resumed at 10:30 am.

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We had no intention of killing US hostages, says Somali pirate

A MEMBER of the Somali pirate group involved in the capture and murder of four Americans off the coast of Somalia said Wednesday that they only killed the hostages because the US military started firing at them.

"We had no intention of killing the hostages until the Americans began shooting at us," Liban Muse told the Los Angeles Times.

"Our preference is only to take ships and ransom money, not to kill. But governments are targeting and killing our people."

Jean Adam, 66, and 70-year-old Scott Adam, the yacht's Californian owners, and two others, Phyllis Macay, 59, and Bob Riggle, 67, from Seattle, were on board the S/V Quest, reportedly heading for the coast of Somalia, when it was seized Friday afternoon 240 nautical miles off the coast of Oman.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Tuesday that the four were killed by their captors.

US forces aboard four navy warships had been monitoring the captured vessel for approximately three days and had been taking part in negotiations to secure the release of the four Americans.

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Two pirates boarded the USS Sterett to participate in negotiations. It was unclear if any ransom was offered to the pirates.

As the talks continued Tuesday, the pirates aboard the yacht fired a rocket-propelled grenade toward the USS Sterett "with absolutely no warning," Vice Adm. Mark Fox, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, said in a telephone briefing.

Gunfire then erupted inside the yacht's cabin, after which pirates appeared on the deck of the yacht and moved toward the bow with their hands in the air to surrender.

US Special Operations Forces boarded the yacht by small boat and discovered the four American hostages had been shot.

"Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds," CENTCOM said in a statement.

The US forces killed one pirate with a firearm and another with a knife as they cleared the yacht. The remains of two other pirates were discovered aboard the Quest.

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Eminem Reaches One Billion Views on YouTube | TheCelebrityCafe.com

"Despite not winning the Grammy for Album of the Year, Eminem is still making major advances among music artists. Eminem has reached one billion video views on YouTube.

Idolator reports that Eminem is the third artist to reach one billion views, behind Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga in the one billion views count among musicians. Eminem is the first rapper to reach this milestone.

Famecount.com displays Eminem's total count of YouTube views. The number of his Facebook fans and Twitter followers is also displayed.

Eminem Reaches One Billion Views on YouTube | TheCelebrityCafe.com:

Daily Game Feb 22 - Sundrops

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Ratings up for NBA All-Star game, Daytona 500

Freed from competition against the Winter Olympics, ratings improved from a year ago Sunday for the Daytona 500 on Fox and the NBA All-Star Game on TNT.

Trevor Bayne's overtime win at Daytona registered an 8.7 Nielsen rating and 20 share with an average audience of 15.6 million viewers, up from 7.7/16 with 13.3 million viewers in 2010. Nielsen estimated that 30.1 million viewers watched at least a portion of the race, up from 29.8 million last year, when Daytona and the All-Star Game competed on successive weekends against the Winter Games from Vancouver.

The NBA All-Star Game had a 5.2 Nielsen rating, up from 3.8 in 2010, with an average audience of 9.1 million viewers, up from 6.8 million last year.

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Money, length of season are key issues in NFL talks

Here are some of the main issues… Players' cut of revenue

Under terms of the 2006 labor deal, players currently receive approximately 59.6 percent of most of the revenue — a pot that was roughly $9 billion this season — minus $1 billion set aside to the owners off the top for costs. The owners are asking for another $1 billion ($1.5 billion according to some reports) in credits off the top and then give the players close to 60 percent of what's left. It would essentially be a pay cut of 15-18 percent for the players. The owners argue that the extra 1-1.5 billion would be used to grow the game and make the revenue pot larger in the long run.

Expanding the season to 18 games

The owners want to expand the regular season from 16 to 18 games with the elimination of two preseason games. Their argument is that the extra TV money the two games would generate would expand the overall revenue pot available to the players — to as much as $12 billion in 2011, according to league estimates. The union is opposed because of the greater risk of injury from two extra games and playing a longer season for less money.

"Any change in the season that increases the risk of injury, increases the risk of concussion, increases the risk of a long-term consequence from playing football has the potential to shorten careers and jeopardize the 3.4 average that players have right now without a guaranteed contract, anything that does that is something that is not in the interest or best interest of the players of the National Football League," Smith said. "And that is going to be our position."

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Violence rages in Libya protests

Anti-government protesters say they have taken control of several towns [Reuters]

Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are fighting a bloody battle to keep him in power, with residents reporting gunfire in parts of the capital Tripoli and other cities, while other citizens, including the country's former ambassador to India, are saying that warplanes were used to "bomb" protesters.

Nearly 300 people are reported to have been killed in continuing violence in the capital and across the north African country as demonstrations enter their second week.

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