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Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
U.S. to 'rain mice' on tree snakes
Labels: LifestyleiPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.Man vanishes into bedroom sinkhole
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Authorities release the audio of a 911 call: "The house just fell through"
- Rescuers have turned to trying to recover man's body, sheriff's office says
- The sinkhole opened under a home's bedroom, swallowing a man inside
- Hole, previously reported as 100 feet across, is about 20 to 30 feet wide, engineer says
Seffner, Florida (CNN) -- The ground just swallowed him up.
A Florida man fell into a sinkhole that opened suddenly Thursday night beneath the bedroom of his suburban Tampa home, calling out to his brother for help as he fell, the brother said Friday.
"I heard a loud crash, like a car coming through the house," Jeremy Bush told CNN affiliate WFTS. "I heard my brother screaming and I ran back there and tried going inside his room, but my old lady turned the light on and all I seen was this big hole, a real big hole, and all I saw was his mattress."
Bush frantically tried to rescue his brother, Jeff Bush, by standing in the hole and digging at the rubble with a shovel until police arrived and pulled him out, saying the floor was still collapsing.
"I thought I heard him holler for me to help him," the man tearfully told WFTS.
Jeremy Bush and four other people, including a 2-year-old child, escaped from the blue, one-story 1970s-era home in Seffner, Florida, a Tampa suburb.
Sinkholes: Common, costly and sometimes deadly
What began with hopes of rescue turned into a body recovery operation after monitoring equipment failed to detect any signs that Jeff Bush survived the fall into the hole, according the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
The office released a 911 call on Friday.
"The house just fell through," a female voice says on the recording. She asks for an ambulance and the police.
"The bedroom floor just collapsed, and my brother-in-law is in there. He's underneath the house," she says.
Rescuers still hadn't gone into the hole -- it's too dangerous, Fire Chief Ron Rogers told reporters. Authorities say they worry the hole is still spreading and the house could collapse at any time.
The sinkhole is about 20 feet to 30 feet across and may be 30 feet deep, said Bill Bracken, president of an engineering company assisting emergency workers. The hole was originally reported to be 100 feet across, but that is the diameter of the safety zone surrounding it, Bracken said.
"It started in the bedroom, and it has been expanding outward and it's taking the house with it as it opens up," he said.
Check out images of the sinkhole house
Nearby homes have been evacuated as a precaution, Rogers said.
Damico said about 40 police and firefighters were standing by at the scene Friday morning. Meanwhile, engineers hope to use more sophisticated equipment to get a three-dimensional image of the sinkhole.
Family members were also on hand, waiting out what they feared would be a devastating day.
"I know in my heart he's dead," Jeremy Bush said. "But I just want to be here for him, because I love him. He was my brother, man."
Sinkholes are common in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The state lies on bedrock made of limestone or other carbonate rock that can be eaten away by acidic groundwater, forming voids that collapse when the rock can no longer support the weight of what's above it.
Hillsborough County is part of an area known as "sinkhole alley" that accounts for two-thirds of the sinkhole-related insurance claims in the state, according to a Florida state Senate Insurance and Banking Committee report.
John Zarrella reported from Seffner; Michael Pearson reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Jake Carpenter, Brian Carberry, Elwyn Lopez, Nick Valencia and Tina Burnside also contributed to this report.
Racy mag cover features Kim, Kanye
Labels: Lifestyleon your computer or on the CNN Apps for iPhone® and iPad®.
iPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.As cuts near, what's Congress doing?
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: GOP plan would require Obama to submit alternative cuts to Congress by March 15
- During a visit to the Capitol, Obama talks briefly with Hill leaders about the cuts
- Obama set to meet with congressional leaders at the White House on Friday
- Republican says White House uses cuts to release undocumented workers with criminal records
Washington (CNN) -- We now have only two days left before $85 billion in widely disliked spending cuts start to take effect. So what's Congress doing Wednesday to deal with this self-inflicted crisis?
Congressional leaders saw President Barack Obama on the Hill.
But Obama wasn't there to talk about the cuts. Hill leaders did manage to have a brief conversation with the president, according to White House spokesman Jay Carney. There's no indication any serious progress was made on a deal to avoid or replace the cuts.
Spending cuts: It's about to get weird
Congressional leaders will meet Obama at the White House on Friday.
But expectations are low. Republicans don't expect the meeting to be anything more than optics, an effort by the president to show he is at least talking to Congress on the day the cuts begin to kick in, a senior GOP aide told CNN
"Either someone needs to buy the White House a calendar, or this is just a belated farce," a congressional Republican said. "They ought to at least pretend to try."
Budget cuts would hit private air traffic in effort to spare airlines
Senate should vote this week on plans to replace cuts or mitigate their impact.
But nobody expects those plans to go anywhere. Any plan put forward by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, or Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, will need at least 60 votes to win approval in the 100-member chamber. Neither leader is believed to be in a position to pull that off.
Regardless, Senate Republicans are pushing a proposal that could alleviate the impact of the cuts by giving the president flexibility to decide where they would occur. Under the GOP plan, Obama would be required to submit a list of replacement cuts to Congress by March 15 and couldn't cut defense by more than $42.7 billion.
Democrats worry that would let Republicans off the hook while placing responsibility for the cuts clearly on the president's shoulders; critics in both parties consider the idea an abdication of Congress's power of the purse.
Opinion: Americans sick of budget soap opera
Democrats want to replace much of the sequester with more tax revenue collected from millionaires while also eliminating agriculture subsidies and reducing defense spending after the end of combat operations in Afghanistan next year. Republicans are virtually unified in opposing any new taxes -- a stance Reid called a deal killer on Tuesday.
"Until there's some agreement with revenue, I believe we should just go ahead" with the spending cuts, Reid told reporters on the Hill.
Budget cuts could sacrifice nearly 800,000 jobs
The blame game goes on
Reid and McConnell both blamed the other party for the current quagmire during their Wednesday morning Senate floor speeches.
"Once again, Republicans are too busy fighting among themselves to unite behind a course of action," Reid said. "So they are instead doing nothing. Zero."
Let's "make sure everyone understands this is not President Obama's" package of cuts, Reid added. He said 174 House Republicans voted for them as did 28 GOP senators.
"Congress has the power to void these self-inflicted wounds. But Democrats can't do it alone. Republicans have to do their part," he said.
Shortly after Reid spoke, McConnell declared that Obama "wasn't elected to work with the Congress he wants. He was elected to work with the Congress he has, and that means working with both parties to get things done. It means leaving the gimmicks behind and working with us to hammer out a smarter solution" to his cuts.
"The president's party runs Washington," McConnell said. "It is time they got off the campaign trail and start working with us to govern for a change."
7 budget cuts you'll really feel
Oh the humanity! House members to fly commercial
Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told his GOP caucus that he is suspending the use of military aircraft for official travel by House members, according to an aide to the speaker. The suspension comes as Congress is required to reduce its own expenses.
"The speaker believes this is the prudent and responsible course of action, and it goes above and beyond the spending cuts the House will be implementing," the aide said.
GOP leader says Obama using cuts to release crooks
The White House was on the defensive Wednesday after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, released a statement indicating his panel learned the administration has "ordered the release of an unspecified number of illegal immigrants in detention" due to the looming cuts.
"These detained illegal immigrants have either been charged or convicted of a crime, have a final order of deportation, are fugitives, or are suspected gang members," the statement noted.
"It's abhorrent that President Obama is releasing criminals into our communities to promote his political agenda" on the cuts, Goodlatte said Tuesday. "By releasing criminal immigrants onto the streets, the administration is needlessly endangering American lives. It also undermines our efforts to come together with the administration and reform our nation's immigration laws."
A statement Wednesday from Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that as "fiscal uncertainty remains over (government funding and potential cuts), ICE has reviewed its detained population to ensure detention levels stay within ICE's current budget. Over the last week, ICE has reviewed several hundred cases and placed these individuals on methods of supervision less costly than detention."
The statement stressed that "all of these individuals remain in removal proceedings. Priority for detention remains on serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety."
An administration official told CNN the decision to release certain undocumented workers was made by career ICE employees without any White House input. The official said the workers who were released are individuals with one-time misdemeanor convictions or similar offenses.
White House was 'unaware' of immigration detainee release
CNN's Jim Acosta, Dana Bash, Tom Cohen, and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report
Meet the new Pentagon chief: former Army Sgt. Chuck Hagel
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Senate votes 58-41 to confirm former Nebraska senator, a Republican
- Fight for Cabinet post was deeply partisan, uphill battle for Hagel
- NEW: Obama says he will rely on Hagel's counsel on national security issues
- NEW: Hagel pledges to work with Congress; Will be sworn in on Wednesday
Washington (CNN) -- Chuck Hagel's rocky and inauspicious path to leadership of the Pentagon could haunt him if he doesn't watch his step.
"If people feel Hagel makes a mistake in the future, they will come after him even harder than if this ugly process of recent weeks hadn't happened," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a co-author of "Bending History: Barack Obama's Foreign Policy."
The former Nebraska senator's nomination as defense secretary was subject to harsh criticism from some fellow Republicans over past statements on sensitive political and national security matters.
His shaky performance at his confirmation hearing and the subsequent fierce political wrangling over his selection and on unrelated matters did not help his case.
But efforts to further delay his nomination were swept away on Tuesday as the Senate confirmed him, 58-41, with a handful of Republican votes in his corner. Hagel will be sworn in on Wednesday, succeeding Leon Panetta.
President Barack Obama, a former Senate colleague, called Hagel a patriot who "fought and bled for our country."
Obama said he will count on Hagel's "counsel and judgment" as the United States ends combat operations in Afghanistan and stays "ready to meet the threats of our time."
The task for Hagel, 66, going forward is to swiftly move past the protracted nomination battle, prove himself a strong and capable Pentagon chief, and repair relationships on Capitol Hill, said Fran Townsend, a former homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush.
"Of course, when he walks through the door he is bruised and battered. But I think we shouldn't overestimate the impact of that," Townsend said. "Frankly, once he is confirmed as secretary of defense and once he sits in the seat and takes on the mantle of responsibility, everyone in the Pentagon is going to stand up and salute smartly, as well they should."
Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran, said in a statement that he was honored to have been nominated and confirmed, and pledged to work closely with Congress to "ensure that we maintain the strongest military in the world."
With Hagel's confirmation, Obama has put in place another crucial piece of his second-term national security team. John Kerry has been installed as secretary of state and John Brennan is awaiting Senate action on his nomination to be CIA director. Thomas Donilon is already serving as national security adviser.
O'Hanlon said Hagel would not "be damaged goods" and the political outcry over his nomination would quickly be overshadowed by the latest budget drama engulfing Washington over spending cuts, which would hit the Pentagon hard, if enacted.
Bad feelings about Hagel stem, in part, from his 2007 comments that the "Jewish lobby intimidated lawmakers." Republicans who are already uncomfortable with Obama's policies toward Israel are uneasy about a defense secretary holding such views.
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, said in a statement that Israel "looks forward to working closely" with Hagel.
Hagel's criticism of the Iraq War, the Patriot Act, and his past positions on Iran and on U.S. military intervention also raised red flags with his opponents.
Moreover, he spoke about an ambassadorial nominee in the late 1990s as being "openly, ggressively gay," remarks for which he has since apologized. Obama ended the prohibition on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.
And Hagel hasn't been sparing in his criticism of conservative and GOP figures, saying radio show hosts like Rush Limbaugh "try to rip everybody down" but "don't have any answers," and labeling George W. Bush as callous on Iraq when he was president.
Last week, 15 GOP senators sent a letter to Obama calling on him to withdraw Hagel's nomination.
Arizona Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a fierce Hagel critic, did not sign the letter. But he led the charge against him in the Senate, stalling the nomination at one point in exchange for more information from the White House on the deadly September terror attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
The real reasons why conservative groups are still going after Hagel
That sentiment gained traction in conservative circles.
"There is simply no way to sugar coat it. Senator Hagel's performance before the Senate Armed Services Committee was remarkably inept and we should not be installing a defense secretary who is obviously not qualified for the job and who holds dangerously misguided views on some of the most important issues facing national security policy for our country," said Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
Vote no and send a message to Hagel
There was a healthy serving of politics behind the Hagel pushback, some experts say. He isn't the only potential member of Obama's first or second-term Cabinet to be grilled during the nomination process.
At the start of his first term, Obama's pick to lead the Treasury Department, Timothy Geithner, emerged from a tough confirmation fight in the wake of recession to help push through Wall Street reform as well as the banking and auto industry rescues. His successor, Jack Lew, is expected to be confirmed.
Some Republicans also believed that Hagel, like Susan Rice, was vulnerable in a divided political climate in Washington made more sharply partisan by Obama's re-election, according to experts.
Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, withdrew her name from consideration for secretary of state after drawing heavy criticism from McCain and other Republicans over her public statements about the Benghazi attack.
Democratic supporters of Hagel came to his defense this week as the vote drew near.
"The president wants him in the room as he's making important decisions. There's no question about his integrity of character. I think the president deserves to have the Cabinet he wants as long as the person is qualified," Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill said on "Fox News Sunday."
The consternation over Hagel's confirmation has been "kabuki theater," said David Rothkopf, editor of Foreign Policy magazine.
"The political divisions that dictated the pace and twists of his confirmation process pre-date him and will post-date his confirmation," Rothkopf said. "The reality is that Hagel won't drive (defense) policy, the president and Hill politics will."
And time will heal even these political wounds, Rothkopf said.
CNN's Kevin Liptak and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
Weatherman blacks out on live TV
Labels: Lifestyleon your computer or on the CNN Apps for iPhone® and iPad®.
iPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.Jimmie Johnson does it again
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Jimmie Johnson led 17 laps, says he was confident in his car
- Danica Patrick becomes first woman to lead green-flag lap at the race
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a runner-up for the third time in four years
- Some fans injured in Saturday incident were scheduled to attend race, official says
(CNN) -- Racing at the Daytona International Speedway can be like playing the lottery against 42 other drivers who all have a ticket, all seem to have an equal shot at winning.
While luck can certainly help, so does experience, something Jimmie Johnson put to use as the laps wound down in NASCAR's season-opening and most prestigious race of the season.
Johnson won the Daytona 500 on Sunday, edging out Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished second for the third time in four years.
Johnson, who won the race for the second time, led 17 laps on the track where speeds are limited by a restrictor plate. The result is close racing, with cars separated by hundredths of a second.
It's a race that often involves a big wreck near the end, so Sunday drivers were content to line up one by- ne and go around and a round and around for the first 180 laps. Then Johnson took over.
"I had a lot of confidence leading the train," Johnson said of being the first car in line as drivers raced around the 2 1/2-mile track. "I knew I had a fast car."
Bleacher Report: Johnson finds way to win
His crew chief, Chad Knaus said that despite the uncertainty of racing this season with the latest generation of NASCAR cars -- which are lighter and sleeker -- they knew for weeks what they wanted to do.
"Jimmie did a great job of following that plan," said Knaus, who sat out the team's 2006 Daytona 500 win because of a suspension.
Bleacher Report's snap reaction
Danica Patrick through the years
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Danica Patrick, the first woman to win the pole position at the Daytona 500, led three times, including five laps under green -- also becoming the first woman to lead a lap at the race not under a yellow flag caution. She finished eighth, the highest finish ever for a female driver at the race.
"At the end of the day, it was a solid day," she said. "We stayed basically in the top 10 all day, so it was nice."
Crew chief Tony Gibson beamed after the race.
"She did great under pressure," he said.
Bleacher Report: Danica Patrick proves her chops
Earnhardt did his best to earn his second win in the "Great American Race," but his last-lap charge came up short. With just over a mile to go, Earhardt, followed by veteran driver Mark Martin, went low on the track. With Martin's car pushing Earnhardt's the two pushed into contention, but Johnson maneuvered in front of his teammate Earnhardt.
The 54-year-old Martin crossed the finish line third.
"We just kinda ran out of steam out of (turn) four," Earnhardt said. "We made a good move, but there just was not enough race track."
Some of the fans who were injured by flying debris Saturday during a crash late in the Nationwide Series Drive4COPD 300 were to attend the Daytona 500, speedway president Joie Chitwood said Sunday morning.
At least 28 fans were injured when more than a dozen cars piled up in the final curve of Saturday's race. Some of the debris went over a 22-foot-high fence that was built in 2010, and some of it went through holes as the fence was mangled when a car slammed into it and bounced back onto the track.
Saturday's wreck occurred when several closely packed cars were jostling for position at top speeds of about 175 mph. They got tangled up, setting off a dangerous chain reaction that ensnared several vehicles.
Driver Kyle Larson's vehicle ended up flying into a fence that separates the track from spectators. The car broke into pieces, including tires and a fiery engine.
Larson walked away from the crash, even after the front part of his No. 32 car was gone. He and the other nine drivers involved told reporters that they were checked at a medical tent on the Daytona infield and released.
Water tank body still mystery
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Cause of death deferred, pending further examination
- Tests show hotel water is free of harmful bacteria, health department says
- Canadian university says woman not registered in classes this year
- Water "had a very funny, sweety, disgusting taste," one guest says
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Two days after the grisly discovery, the case of the Los Angeles hotel water tank corpse is a mystery with many unanswered questions.
The decomposing body of Elisa Lam floated inside a water tank on the roof of the Cecil Hotel while guests brushed their teeth, bathed and drank with water from it for as long as 19 days.
A maintenance worker, checking on complaints about the hotel's water, found the 21-year-old Canadian tourist inside one of four water cisterns Tuesday morning, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Rudy Lopez said.
How and where did Elisa Lam die?
Los Angeles robbery-homicide detectives are treating this as a suspicious death for obvious reasons, Lopez said. Falling into a covered water tank behind a locked door on top of a roof would be an unusual accident.
An autopsy was completed, but the cause of death is deferred pending further examination, assistant chief coroner Ed Winter said Thursday. That may take six to eight weeks.
It will be several weeks before investigators have the toxicology lab report which would show whether Lam had any drugs in her system.
Any marks, injuries or wounds may suggest Lam died elsewhere and was dumped into the tank by her killer.
Water in Lam's lungs could be a sign that she drowned, but it might not tell why she was inside the small tank.
One clue comes from security camera video of Lam inside a hotel elevator the last day she was seen.
She is seen walking into the elevator, pushing the buttons for four floors and then peering out of the opened elevator door as if she is hiding or looking for someone. Clad in a red hoodie, Lam at one point walks out of the elevator before returning to it, pushing the buttons again. She then stands outside the open elevator doorway, motioning with her hands, before apparently walking away.
Lam checked into the Cecil Hotel five days earlier, January 26, on her way to Santa Cruz, California, according to police in her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Why did it it take so long to find Lam?
Lam's parents reported the University of British Columbia student missing in early February. Her daily calls home stopped on January 31, police told reporters on February 6 at a Los Angeles news conference.
Because it was an international case -- and her parents and sister flew to California to find answers -- the case may have gotten more attention than most of the several thousand missing person reports made in Los Angeles each year.
A search of the hotel then found no sign of Lam, including a trip to the roof with a police search dog, Lopez said.
Strange things began happening with the hotel's water supply later in the month, according to Sabina and Michael Baugh, a British couple who spent eight days there until checking out Wednesday. The water pressure dropped to a trickle at times.
"The shower was awful," Sabina Baugh said. "When you turned the tap on, the water was coming black first for two seconds and then it was going back to normal."
The tap water "tasted horrible," Baugh said. "It had a very funny, sweety, disgusting taste. It's a very strange taste. I can barely describe it."
But for a week, they never complained. "We never thought anything of it," she said. "We thought it was just the way it was here."
Knowing now what they didn't know then about the water is sickening, Michael Baugh said. "It makes you feel literally physically sick, but more than that you feel it psychologically. You think about it and it's not good."
Eventually, the hotel maintenance department investigated the water problem, sending a worker to look into the tank, police said. He saw Lam's lifeless body at the bottom.
A hard-working family
Randy Schmidt, a spokesman for the University of British Columbia, said Lam was registered in a class in August, but was not registered in any classes this year, according to records.
"Unfortunately, we do not have much more to say, other than to extend our deepest sympathies to the family," said Schmidt.
According to Los Angeles police, Lam tended to use public transportation.
Teika Steins, manager of a hostel in Toronto, Canada, said Lam stayed a week there in early December. Steins called the young woman friendly and outgoing.
Flowers and signs were left Thursday outside the temporarily-closed Lam family restaurant in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Tanya Grohmann, who works nearby, said she was saddened by the loss and the fact the family did not know what happened to the young woman.
"They are a hard-working family. They immigrated here," she told CNN affiliate CTV. "They've been in the neighborhood for nine years working. ... They're honest people."
Why did hotel stay open after discovery?
New guests continued to check into the Cecil in the hours after firefighters removed Lam's body from the water tank. But each guest was asked to sign a waiver releasing the hotel from liability if they become ill. "You do so at your own risk and peril," the hotel's release said. Guests who already paid for their rooms would not get refunds if they move out, it said.
CNN's repeated calls to the hotel for comment were unreturned Wednesday and Thursday.
The Los Angeles Public Health Department immediately tested the water supply, but told the manager they could stay open as long as they provided bottle water and warned guests not to drink the tap water.
The results of the testing showed no harmful bacteria in the tank or the pipes, according to Angelo Bellomo, director of environmental health for the department. Chlorine in the city's water may be the reason it is safe, he said.
All of the tanks and pipes in the building still must be drained, flushed and sanitized, Bellomo said. The water will be retested after that process, which should take several days, he said.
Several guests interviewed by CNN on Wednesday indicated the hotel management did not tell them about the body in the water supply they had been drinking and bathing in.
Qui Nguyen learned about it from a CNN reporter Wednesday morning. He decided not to sign the waiver and instead find a new hotel.
Many of its guests are tourists from other countries drawn by the hotel's billing as a "European-style" hotel that is the perfect accommodation for "spend-thrifty travelers."
But if they take Kim Cooper's tour bus ride through the neighborhood, they would hear about the Cecil being the former temporary home to at least two convicted murderers, including "Night Stalker" serial killer Richard Ramirez. Ramirez paid $14 a day to stay on the 14th floor during his 1980s killing spree, Cooper said.
The Cecil Hotel is "in the heart of the action, allowing our guest to embrace the city and the surrounding areas that make Los Angeles famous," according to the description you'll hear when you call there and are placed on hold.
In fact, the hotel is just a few blocks away from the infamous Skid Row district in downtown Los Angeles, but 16 miles from the beaches of Santa Monica, eight miles from Hollywood's Walk of Fame and 12 miles from glamorous streets of Beverly Hills that are prominently featured on the Cecil's website.
If you want a reservation at the Cecil you will have to wait until next month. The website said the hotel is "sold out" until March 1. After then, you can book a room for $65.
Hotel with corpse in water tank has notorious past
CNN's Kyung Lah, Chandler Friedman and Chuck Conder contributed to this report.
Sorority girl drops 107 pounds
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Brittni Garcia didn't think her weight was a problem until she couldn't fit into her "fat shorts"
- At 235 pounds, Garcia always felt like she stood out from her sorority sisters in college
- Garcia shed 107 pounds, and now promotes weight training and a healthy diet
- Do you have a weight loss success story? Share it with CNN iReport
(CNN) -- Brittni Garcia's family didn't go out for walks; they went out for dinner. And when they were at home, they enjoyed watching movies, playing board games and eating big Mexican-style home-cooked meals.
This lazy lifestyle led Garcia to weigh more than 200 pounds by the eighth grade.
"My mom always said, 'You are a big girl. You are just big-boned,'" said the 25-year-old information specialist. "So I just accepted it."
Through high school and college, her weight continued to rise. But even at 235 pounds, Garcia didn't think her weight was a problem -- until she couldn't fit into her "fat shorts" anymore.
That was December 2009.
It was a typical night for Garcia. She was studying for finals in her sorority house at Eastern Illinois University and wanted to change into some comfortable clothing. She found her red pajama XXL shorts that she normally wore to bed.
As she struggled to pull them up, she realized they were too tight and uncomfortable -- her "big, comfy shorts" no longer fit.
"Tons of emotions ran through my head," she said. "I was afraid that was the way my life was going to be."
That's when Garcia's mentality changed. Being overweight was no longer normal for her.
Heart disease runs in her family, and she realized it was time to address her weight now before it turned into a bigger health problem.
"I wanted to lose weight to challenge myself and show myself I can change, and not change for the world," Garcia wrote in her iReport. "This time, it was for me."
Getting in shape wasn't going to be easy. Going to the gym had been one of her biggest fears for a long time. She was self-conscious about how she looked and sounded when she ran.
"It was hard for me to breathe," Garcia said. "It was embarrassing."
Team loses 400 pounds for Winter Games
Embarrassment about her weight extended to other areas of her life. Although she was president of her sorority, Garcia always felt like she stood out.
"All the sorority girls had cookie-cutter form, and I looked different," she said. "It was really hard for me to connect."
Garcia's involvement in Greek life perpetuated her unhealthy habits; she often went to bars and restaurants to mingle with her college friends. It was difficult to break the cycle, but she found supportive friends who also hit the gym.
"What I tell people is that you find new friends at the gym," she said. "If you don't have the support, it's really hard to do it on your own."
Garcia found one of her biggest supporters through her sorority. She met Nicholas Monreal at a Greek function, and they began dating when she was at her heaviest. But the days of social functions, bar visits and restaurant outings are long gone for the couple.
"He was there when I realized I wanted to change," she said. "To this day, our dates are to the gym. We see excitement in going on walks and runs."
The couple has been together for four years; he proposed in December. Monreal has noticed a significant difference in Garcia over the past few years -- not just physically.
"She's more energetic ... and she's more willing to try new things," he said "She's just working very hard, and she's a better person for it."
On the right track
Since the beginning of 2010, Garcia has lost 107 pounds.
There were setbacks, the biggest of which came this past August when she was in a car accident. She completed three months of physical therapy and wasn't able to go to the gym and do her daily routines for a month and a half.
She was angry at first -- mad at the person who hit her car and stalled her progress at the gym.
But she got over her initial anger, and Garcia went on a walk. This time, she wasn't alone. Her fiance, her parents, her sisters and her aunt encouraged her to stay active. As a result, Garcia went on walks with them and did yoga at a gym.
Girl loses 65 pounds in fight against childhood obesity
After getting back on track with her daily workouts, Garcia realized she also had to better manage her eating habits.
"For the longest, I would go to the gym and go home to eat whatever I wanted," she said. "That's not how it works. I had to learn to eat differently and to learn to like new foods."
She started doing research on proper nutrition. She read books and online articles, shopped at health foods stores and learned to prepare meals that helped her maintain a healthy diet.
Now for two hours every Sunday, Garcia grills chicken, cooks vegetables and packs fresh fruit in preparation for the upcoming week.
"(I) make eating as simple as possible," she said. "If there are a lot of ingredients, I don't want it."
The next step
Down to 128 pounds, Garcia has been left with a lot of loose skin -- particularly around her stomach. She is doing CrossFit exercises and weight training to tighten up the area.
She's also checking off some other goals.
One of the most rewarding moments in Garcia's weight loss journey was completing her first 5K run in 27 minutes.
When she first started training, running three miles took her 48 minutes. Today, she can complete it in less than 25.
"I hadn't been able to walk a lap, let alone run it," she said. "And now when I finish a workout, I really get emotional and I can't believe that I could do it."
She isn't stopping there. Garcia wants to complete a half marathon as well as the Warrior Dash in June. As a result, she might take a pool break in between.
"I really want to fit in my bikini comfortably this summer," she said.
Today, Garcia doesn't shop at plus size clothing stores anymore. She was able to drop from a size 22 to a size 6.
And what happened to her XXL "fat shorts?" She ditched them for a pair of small exercise shorts.
To those just starting their weight-loss journey, she offers this advice:
"Once you start, don't give up. The hardest thing to do is to continue. If you have a bad day, don't make it a bad week."
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Do you have a weight loss story to share? Upload it to iReport.
Drew Peterson gets 38 years for ex-wife's murder
Labels: LifestyleBy Michael Christian and Greg Botelho, CNN
updated 7:09 PM EST, Thu February 21, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: State's attorney describes Drew Peterson as a "cold-blooded killer"
- NEW: Vowing to appeal, a defense lawyer says his client was "railroaded"
- The Chicago-area police sergeant was convicted of murdering his third wife
- He is sentenced to 38 years in prison and will get credit for nearly 4 years served
(CNN) -- After years policing Illinois streets for criminals, Drew Peterson is now among them -- and will be for more than three decades, a judge ruled Thursday.
Will County Judge Edward Burmila sentenced Peterson to 38 years in prison in the murder of his third ex-wife, Kathleen Savio, said state's attorney spokesman Charles B. Pelkie.
The former Chicago-area police sergeant will get credit for the nearly four years that he has been in custody, according to Pelkie, a spokesman for Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow. He could have received as many as 60 years in prison; Illinois does not have a death penalty.
"The reason that I never looked Drew Peterson in the eye is because I never acknowledged his existence," said Glasgow, describing the convict as a "cold-blooded killer."
"But I looked him in the eye today," the prosecutor said. "He knows that we did our job."
Peterson was convicted of murder in September but had fought for a new trial, an effort that Burmila denied Thursday, just before the sentencing, Pelkie said.
Peterson's lawyers promised Thursday that they would press on with their appeal and expressed confidence they would prevail. They stood by their client, who made long and emotional remarks in court, claiming he never should have been found guilty of murder.
"Wouldn't you be angry if you were wrongly convicted?" said one of his attorneys, Steve Greenberg.
"In this case, (the prosecution) changed everything ... How would you feel if you were railroaded?"
Savio was found dead in her dry, clean bathtub on March 1, 2004. Prosecutors said Peterson killed her; the defense contended that she fell, hit her head and drowned.
The headline-grabbing case did not arise until after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared in October 2007. It was during the search for Stacy Peterson -- who still has not been found -- that investigators said they'd look again into Savio's death, which was initially ruled an accidental drowning.
Authorities altered their judgment and ruled Savio's death a homicide in February 2008, setting the stage for the first-degree murder trial last year of Peterson, a former police officer in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
A Will County jury convicted him of murder after nearly 14 hours of deliberation.
"Finally, somebody heard Kathleen's cry," the victim's mother, Marcia Savio, said after the verdict. "Twelve people did the right thing, oh, thank God."
Woman's corpse found in LA hotel's water tank
Labels: LifestyleBy Alan Duke, CNN
updated 6:53 PM EST, Wed February 20, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Elisa Lam disappeared from the hotel on January 31
- Canadian's body was found in a Cecil Hotel water tank Tuesday
- Police investigating death
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Tourists staying at a Los Angeles hotel bathed, brushed teeth and drank with water from a tank in which a young woman's body was likely decomposing for more than two weeks, police said.
Elisa Lam's corpse was found in the Cecil Hotel's rooftop water tank by a maintenance worker who was trying to figure out why the water pressure was low Tuesday.
Lam's parents reported her missing in early February. The last sighting of her was in the hotel on January 31, Los Angeles Police said.
Detectives are now investigating the 21-year-old Canadian's suspicious death, police Sgt. Rudy Lopez said.
It was not clear whether the water presented any health risks. Results on tests on the water done Wednesday by the Los Angeles Public Health Department were expected later in the day.
The hotel management has not responded to CNN requests for comment.
Video appears to show four cisterns on the hotel roof.
People who stayed at the Cecil since Lam's disappearance expressed shock about developments.
"The water did have a funny taste," Sabrina Baugh told CNN on Wednesday. She and her husband used the water for eight days.
"We never thought anything of it," the British woman said. "We thought it was just the way it was here."
What she described was not normal.
"The shower was awful," she said. "When you turned the tap on, the water was coming black first for two seconds and then it was going back to normal."
The hotel remained open after the discovery, but guests checking in Tuesday were told not to drink it, according to Qui Nguyen, who decided to find a new hotel Wednesday.
Nguyen said he learned about the body from a CNN reporter, not the hotel staff.
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CNN's Kyung Lah and Irving Last contributed to this report.
Georgia inmate granted last-minute stay of execution
Labels: LifestyleBy CNN Staff
updated 7:53 PM EST, Tue February 19, 2013
Warren Lee Hill's defenders say he should not be executed because he is mentally impaired.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Georgia Court of Appeals grant the stays
- NEW: Warren Lee Hill's attorney says they came within a half hour of the scheduled execution
- Hill's defenders say he's mentally disabled
- Hill was convicted of beating to death another Georgia inmate in 1990
(CNN) -- Twice-convicted killer Warren Lee Hill was granted final-hour stays of execution on Tuesday, his attorney said.
The stays came from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Georgia Court of Appeals.
"I think we were within about a half hour of the execution," said Brian Kammer, an attorney for Hill, whose supporters say he is mentally disabled.
The Georgia Court of Appeals acted on a appeal of a challenge to the way the prison handles the lethal injection drugs used in executions, while the federal appeals court issued a stay "ordering a further briefing on the issue of mental retardation," Kammer said.
Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution, as did the state Supreme Court, while the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles similarly denied a request for clemency.
Hill was sentenced to death for the 1990 killing of Joseph Handspike, another inmate in a Georgia state prison.
The execution had been scheduled for 7 p.m. ET at a state prison in Jackson, about 45 miles south of Atlanta.
Hill's lawyers have argued that his IQ of 70 means he should be spared under the 2002 decision that barred the execution of the mentally disabled. But a string of state courts has said Hill doesn't qualify under Georgia law, which requires inmates to prove mental impairment "beyond a reasonable doubt."
Hill was convicted of beating Handspike to death with a nail-studded board while serving a life sentence in the 1985 killing of his girlfriend, Myra Wright.
CNN's Tom Watkins, Matt Smith, Bill Mears, Dana Ford and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.
Pistorius' girlfriend was alive after shooting, official says
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Detectives are examining role of a blood-stained cricket bat, newspaper reports
- Runner Oscar Pistorius has been charged with murder in model Reeva Steenkamp's death
- Steenkamp was still alive when Pistorius carried her downstairs, an official says
Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- Model Reeva Steenkamp was shot four times through the bathroom door at the home of Olympian Oscar Pistorius, a South African official familiar with the case told CNN on Monday.
She was alive after she was shot and was carried downstairs by Pistorius, said the official, who was not authorized to release details to the media.
A blood-stained cricket bat has also emerged as key evidence in the case, according to the City Press newspaper of Johannesburg.
Detectives are working to determine whether the bat was used to attack Steenkamp or she used it in self-defense, the newspaper reported, citing a source with inside knowledge of the case. Detectives are also looking into the possibility that Pistorius used the bat to break down the bathroom door.
The details are the latest to emerge in the shooting death that has roiled the nation and left South Africans asking what went so terribly wrong inside the upscale Pretoria home of the man nicknamed "Blade Runner" for his lightning-fast prosthetic legs.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there were indications the 29-year-old model intended to stay the night at the house: She had an overnight bag and her iPad.
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Authorities have released little about a possible motive in the Valentine's Day shooting, while local media have reported that Pistorius had mistaken his girlfriend for an intruder. South African authorities have stressed that the scenario did not come from them, and said there was no evidence of forced entry at the home.
Police have charged Pistorius with murder, and he will appear in court Tuesday for a bail hearing. South African prosecutors have said they intend to upgrade the charge to premeditated murder, but have not released further details.
Pistorius, 26, has rejected the murder allegation "in the strongest terms," his agent said in a statement.
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Burial service
The same day Pistorius returns to court, Steenkamp will be buried in a private service in her hometown of Port Elizabeth.
Her burial Tuesday will come two days after South Africa's national broadcaster aired a pre-recorded reality TV show featuring Steenkamp discussing her exit from "Tropika Island of Treasure," on which local celebrities compete for prize money.
The decision to air the program took "much deliberation," and "this week's episode will be dedicated to Reeva's memory," said Samantha Moon, the executive producer.
The shooting has stunned South Africa, where Pistorius is a national hero as the first disabled athlete to compete in the able-bodied Olympic Games. He competed in the London Games as well as winning two gold medals in the Paralympic Games.
Headlines about the case have dominated in the days since Pistorius was arrested, though tight-lipped authorities have revealed little about what, if anything, the track star has said.
Oscar Pistorius with Reeva Steenkamp in January 2013.
Questions swirl
Reports say Pistorius and Steenkamp became an item around November and were popular in South African social circles.
The night before the shooting, Steenkamp appeared to be looking forward to Valentine's Day.
"What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow?" she asked her Twitter followers the day before. "Get excited."
Steenkamp was found in a pool of blood at Pistorius' home Thursday morning. Neighbors alerted authorities to the early morning shooting, saying they had "heard things earlier," police spokeswoman Denise Beukes has said. She did not clarify what the neighbors reported they heard.
Authorities also have not said whether Pistorius called for help.
Pictures of his walk to a police car, his head covered by a sweatshirt, have flashed repeatedly across television screens.
On Sunday, Pistorius canceled his appearances in five upcoming races.
The move is meant to help Pistorius focus on the legal proceedings and "help and support all those involved as they try to come to terms with this very difficult and distressing situation," said Peet Van Zyl of Pistorius' management company, In Site Athlete Management.
CNN's Robyn Curnow reported from South Africa; Chelsea J. Carter and Faith Karimi reported from Atlanta.
Pope delivers one of his final messages
Labels: LifestyleBy Hada Messia and Josh Levs, CNN
updated 7:21 PM EST, Sun February 17, 2013
Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives to lead the Angelus prayer at the Vatican on Sunday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- It's the pope's second-to-last Angelus prayer as pontiff
- Pope Benedict XVI thanks his flock for prayers and support
- He discusses "decisive moments of our lives"
- Cardinals may meet before March 15
(CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI led tens of thousands in a prayer for strength Sunday and thanked followers for their support during his second-to-last Angelus prayer as pontiff.
"Today we contemplate Christ in the desert, fasting, praying, and being tempted," the pope said to an unusually large crowd at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.
"As we begin our Lenten journey, we join him and we ask him to give us strength to fight our weaknesses. Let me also thank you for the prayers and support you have shown me in these days. May God bless all of you!"
Benedict, 85, shocked millions across the world last week when he announced his intention to stand down at the end of the month, citing the frailty of old age.
The decision makes him the first pope to step down in nearly 600 years.
Referring Sunday to a Bible passage, the pope said, "During the decisive moments of our lives, and in fact at every moment, we are in front of a crossroads: Do we want to follow the I or God? The individual interest or the true good, that which really is the good?"
The crowd appeared to have about 100,000 people
He also tweeted a message to followers worldwide, calling on them to "rediscover faith" as a foundation.
Cardinals may meet before March 15 to choose the next pope if they are all in Rome, a Vatican spokesman said Saturday. The conclave will bring together the 117 cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church.
Part of complete coverage on
What do you think about the Pope's decision to resign? If you are a Catholic, how will it affect you? Send us your thoughts and recollections.
Read all of the latest updates, including standards for the next pope and possible successors on CNN's Belief Blog.
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Internet rules: More cats. LESS CAPS
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Yes, there ARE some rules to the Internet, though, for now they're mainly an inside joke
- Some rules based on pop culture, some have become Web memes
- Other rules ominously quote Anonymous
- Is there a need for rules on the vast and wild Web? Depends on where you stand
Editor's note: In the gallery above, we've selected a handful of our favorite Internet rules, or truths. (You might recognize a few.) What are some of yours? Tell us in the comments. We'll feature some of the best on CNN.
(CNN) -- Hello!
Welcome to the Internet. It's a big place, so let me show you around.
You're approaching Oversharing Pass, where residents routinely post too much information. The Facebook Gorge and Twitter Triangle are particularly nefarious time-sucks. Restraint is advised.
Up ahead is Hyperbole Junction, which is the Worst. Spot. Ever. We recommend that you maintain an even keel and stay to the center; the extreme left and right can be dangerous.
And over there is the infamous Lair of Sociopaths, the home of trolls and loners who mercilessly mock everyone who enters their territory. Watch your step: They may trip you up and you'll fall into the Chasm of Lulz.
Our world isn't all dangerous, of course. You may visit Squee City, where images of cute cats and laughing babies fill the landscape. You'll also meet countless kind strangers, hilarious raconteurs and hard-working fact-checkers. They make it all worthwhile.
Hmm. Maybe it would be easier if you had a guide -- you know, some rules to help you find your way.
What, you didn't know there are rules of the Internet?
Of course there are rules. How do you think we maintain order around here?
A parody of rules
That's a joke.
But there really are some rules of the Internet -- even if they, too, began as kind of a joke.
According to the site KnowYourMeme.com, the Rules began around 2006 as a guide for the Internet collective Anonymous and emerged on the old Encyclopedia Dramatica, a bawdy meme catalog. Soon a version emerged on 4chan, an online bulletin board where most users post anonymously, says Jamie Cohen, director of web/digital media at Hofstra University's School of Communication.
"Chris Poole (4chan's founder) kind of designed it, kind of like a Netiquette rules," he says, describing the unspoken code of conduct that lubricates Internet discourse. (Poole has attributed the rules to Gaia Online, a role-playing community.)
But the rules of the Internet deliberately mocked many of those conventions. The self-reflexive parody fit perfectly with its community's attitude, points out Anthony Rotolo, a professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies.
"These jokes are meant to comment on something happening in the world," he says. "Later they get accepted as truisms or become a meme."
The absurdity has been reflected even in the supposed number of rules. Though the best-known first version claimed there were 50 rules, only 18 were listed. Number 1 was initially "Do not talk about Rules 2-33"; no Rules 2-33 were on the list.
The sarcastic attitude was reinforced by the kicker found on Encyclopedia Dramatica. It was a parody of Wikipedia's stub language: "This article is crap. You can help by completely re-writing it."
'Fight Club' and Monty Python
Very quickly, the lists started multiplying and expanding, liberally borrowing from comedy, Web culture and math-science tropes. On one list, a few were designated by complex numbers and mathematical symbols. Some were observations; others were directives.
Some have traced the Internet rules to Chris Poole, the founder of 4chan.
Two rules were taken from "Fight Club": "You do not talk about 4chan (or "/b/," 4chan's random, free-wheeling bulletin board) and "You DO NOT talk about 4chan." One version of Rule 6 stated "There is no Rule 6," which is from a Monty Python sketch. Rule 42, "Always bring a towel," was drawn from Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. (If you have to ask, read the books.) "Profit," Rule 49, came from "South Park."
Other rules went the reverse direction and became part of mainstream culture. Rule 34 -- "If it exists, there is porn of it" -- is likely the most famous. But there's also "Pics or it didn't happen" (Rule 30), "For every given male character, there is a female version of that character; conversely for every given female character, there is a male version of that character" (Rule 63) and, of course, the corollary to Rule 34 -- "If no porn of it exists at the moment, it will be made" (Rule 35).
Most retained a sense of humor, riffing off established rules and occasionally ending with a giggly "No exceptions."
But a handful were, and remain, as serious as a judge -- notably the three directly about Anonymous (commonly Rules 3-5):
- We are Anonymous.
- We are legion.
- We do not forgive, we do not forget.
The overall Internet rules may have started as a joke, but such ominous language from Anonymous speaks to some of the paradoxes of the Web:
Rules? Why do we need some stinkin' rules?
After all, rules can be helpful -- or divisive. They can create community -- or subvert it.
Even Anonymous, the activist group itself, cuts both ways, says Rotolo. When it hacked the extremist Westboro Baptist Church, many people cheered. But when it goes after less unpopular targets, some cry vigilantism.
Cohen says that the rules themselves try to have it both ways. They're funny until someone gets hurt.
They "play more of a game type of role. They can be bent or broken or cheated or moved around, as you would in any game that has no physical reaction," he says. "That doesn't take into account ever the result of real people being affected by this -- such as teenagers, children, anybody who's seeing things that they shouldn't."
He adds, "There's a lot of rules in there that work for (the creators) more than anyone else. Until they become victims of their own thing, they don't know how powerful the rules are."
Evolving from the Wild West
Of course, the Internet isn't that old, and we're still in its Wild West era in many ways. As the technology evolves from a handful of hackers on Usenet bulletin boards to billions of users on officially sponsored sites, the customs -- the rules -- of the Web will evolve with it.
But we're not talking about the kinds of changes that your family makes to the rules of Monopoly (no, Free Parking is NOT for the pool of money acquired via Chance and Community Chest). We're talking something more expansive: All the established customs of our carbon-based life forms, making way for the instantaneous and virtual modes of silicon-based electronics.
Who knows what new rules may be written?
"When you're in the midst of social change, it's impossible to determine where it's going," says Peter S. Vogel, a former programmer who's now a Dallas-based attorney. "And I think we are in the greatest social change in the history of humans, because there are no boundaries of geography or time."
We haven't even sorted out what happens when the differences in local culture meet global technology. Bruce Umbaugh, a philosophy professor at Webster University in St. Louis who teaches a course on philosophy and technology, argues that not all parts of the world are as tolerant or open-minded as Western democracies.
There's a lot of rules in there that work for (the creators) more than anyone else.
Jamie Cohen, Hofstra University
"There are a lot of other places in the world that are actively using the technology of the Internet to control the free communication among citizens, and to identify critics of the government and hurt them," he says. "We need to be mindful in what we advocate from our perspective that the tools that are implemented on the Net are tools for the global Net."
In other words, citizens of other countries already face actual, enforceable rules -- unlike the folkways established by Web users in the West. Witness the frictions of the Arab Spring, or the restrictions of societies such as North Korea.
It's the kind of perspective that provides a different context for the issues raised by a libertarian, anything-goes Internet. It's hard enough to stop "Star Wars" comment boards from devolving into flamebaiting, meme-generating files of NSFW Yodas.
So for now, we're still making our way through the Series of Tubes, and nobody knows where the boundaries lie. We joke, we grimace and we marvel at the creativity of the hive mind. The Internet is a big place, and countless cultures have set up residence. Eventually, what is now humor may lose its zing; what are now customs may become laws.
Will the rules ever become The Rules? Maybe some future generation will figure out the true guideposts of Internet life, and the singularity will be upon us.
Nah. It'll never happen.
What did we miss? Share your rules for the internet below in the comments. We'll feature some of the best on CNN.
Sen. Rubio drowning in 'water-gate'
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