Ancient Maya Wisdom Key to Modern Health, Says Belize's Chaa Creek

Rather than misinterpreting Maya beliefs to falsely predict the end of the world, researching and practicing ancient Maya medicine and natural healing techniques can open a new world of health today, noted author and Maya medicinal plant expert Dr. Rosita Arvigo advised participants at Chaa Creek’s 2012 Maya Winter Solstice celebrations.

(PRWEB) December 22, 2012
Rather than misinterpreting Maya beliefs to falsely predict the end of the world, researching and practicing ancient Maya medicine and natural healing techniques can open a new world of health today, noted author and Maya medicinal plant expert Dr. Rosita Arvigo advised participants at Chaa Creek’s 2012 Maya Winter Solstice celebrations.
Chaa Creek events coordinator Denise Duran said that Dr Arvigo’s presentation, “Tales of a Maya Shaman” was one of the highlights of the Belizean eco resort’s week-long Maya cultural exposition surrounding the 2012 Maya Winter Solstice celebrations of December 21, 2012.
“I think many of the people in the audience were surprised to learn how effective ancient Maya healing practices were, and how relevant they still are today. Dr. Arvigo’s presentation covered a wide range of topics and really inspired people to learn more about Maya healing and how to apply it to their own lives today,” Ms. Duran said.
In 1983 Dr. Arvigo began a 12-year apprenticeship with Don Elijio Panti, a renowned Belizean healer who had been using ancient Maya techniques that combine plants, prayers, massage, acupuncture, and herbal baths since 1931 to treat thousands of patients in the Central American region. He was recognised by the New York Botanical Garden for his "Distinguished Contribution to Science", and made a Member of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. He died in 1996 at the age of 103.
Dr. Arvigo chronicled her time with him in two of her books, “Sastun: My Apprenticeship With A Maya Healer” and “Rainforest Remedies: One Hundred Healing Herbs of Belize” and has gone on to refine his techniques for a modern audience, especially women, for whom Don Elijio’s treatments were regarded as particularly effective.
“Eventually”, Dr. Arvigo said, “I specialised in ailments of women using these time-honoured bodywork techniques that alleviate and prevent some of our very common complaints. The best part, though, is that it shows there really is an accessible alternative to surgery and drugs for abdominal and pelvis complaints.”
Workshop participants Laura Stegner Pessolano, from Portland, Oregon, and Lisa McElroy from Philadelphia, who attended the 2012 Maya Winter Solstice celebrations with her daughter Abby praised Dr. Arvigo’s talks for opening a new range of affordable and non-invasive health care options.
“This was a particularly valuable presentation in that it showed guests how some very simple, natural and inexpensive techniques can empower them to successfully manage their own health issues. Dr Arvigo emphasises that these ancient techniques aren’t meant to replace modern medicine or doctors, but can certainly be a valuable part of everyone’s health care,” Ms. Duran said.
Dr. Arvigo’s presentation was part of a week-long series of lectures, seminars and workshops held at Chaa Creek as part of Belize’s Maya 2012 Winter Solstice celebrations. Belize’s Maya account for over 12 percent of the population and are having an increasing active voice in national issues such as land management, ecology and social inclusion.
Other noteworthy speakers included archaeologist Dr. Jaime Awe, one of the world’s foremost Mayanists, author David Ruiz, Dr. Allan Moore and Maya flautist and musicologist Pablo Collado.
Chaa Creek proprietor and GM Lucy Fleming hailed the lecture series as a resounding success.
“Dr. Arvigo once again captivated her audience with her real-life journey as a Maya apprentice while imparting some very valuable information along the way. Combined with the presentations from our other expert speakers, our guests received a comprehensive education in Maya history, culture, cosmology and healing. What better way to welcome in the 2012 Winter Solstice and prepare for 2013?
“Chaa Creek will continue to support Maya studies and make our 356-acre nature reserve, which contains scores of Maya archaeological sites and the ancient Maya temple of Tunichilen to legitimate Maya researchers. What was presented at Chaa Creek this week is just the tip of a fascinating amount of Maya information just waiting to be discovered.
“Rather than marking the end of the world, we like to think that the Winter Solstice of 2012 will open up a whole new world of Maya studies for many people,” Ms. Fleming said.

Read More..

Dr. Farshchian: Rotator Cuff Injuries are being Treated Now Using Cell Therapy at the Center for Regenerative Medicine

"Rotator cuff injuries are being treated now using cell therapy at the center for regenerative medicine," according to A.J. Farshchian MD.

(PRWEB) December 22, 2012
"Rotator cuff injuries are being treated now using cell therapy at the center for regenerative medicine," according to A.J. Farshchian MD.
Rotator cuff tears are becoming more and more prevalent in young adults and a cause of pain and disability. The rotator cuff is made up of four muscles and their tendons. Together they form a "cuff" over the Humerus head (medical lingo: the upper arm bone). The four muscles are called supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor. The rotator cuff's job is to lift and rotate the arm and to hold the ball of the shoulder within the joint.
Most of damages occur at the level of supraspinatus.
Some of the common symptoms are:

•Pain upon lifting of the arm or lowering the arm from a fully raised position.

•Weakness upon lifting or rotating the arm.

•Crepitus or crackling sensation (the sound that the above patient experiences) upon moving the shoulder in certain directions.

•In advanced cases atrophy or thinning of the muscles could be noted on the exam.
U.S.A.-based physician Dr. Farshchian is a medical author, humanitarian, and active Republican member. He is best known for coining the term "orthopedic regenerative medicine." Dr. Farshchian is recognized as a leading authority in the new clinical science of regenerative medicine. He is also a television personality, currently hosting "The Arthritis Show."

Read More..

SEO Consult® reacts to Google Mobile Ads update

North West based search engine optimisation agency, SEO Consult®, has reacted positively to news of an update to Google Mobile Ads.

(PRWEB UK) 22 December 2012
North West based search engine optimisation agency, SEO Consult®, has reacted positively to news of an update to Google Mobile Ads.
According to the Google Mobile Ads Blog, the search engine giant is rolling out ‘confirmed clicks’ to its ad banners on mobile devices. This is in an attempt to combat accidental clicking on adverts at the bottom of pages on smartphones and tablets when scrolling down the page. This can happen as a result of poor ad placement and design, and is a significant problem for users, publishers and advertisers alike. What Google will now do is ask the user to confirm that they wish to continue through to the advertiser’s site whenever their fingers appear to tap the border of the banner.
This builds on Google’s introduction of implementing this type of confirmed clicking for text ad banners a few years ago. Many users dub this kind of accidental clicking as ‘fat finger syndrome’ and this is exactly what Google is trying to eradicate.
UK leading search engine marketing agency SEO Consult® has welcomed these improvements to navigation on mobile devices. This will benefit users, but also advertisers and publishers, who will be able to improve the accuracy of their analytics and reporting.
“We’re delighted that Google has decided to add the confirmed clicks facility on all of its ad banners on mobile devices. There is nothing more annoying for users than clicking on adverts unintentionally, and there is nothing more annoying for companies like ourselves when we’re going through our stats to get results distorted by unintentional clicking,” said Matt Bullas, Managing Director of SEO Consult®. “We’re continually looking at ways in which we can improve the quality of our services to our clients and this new update from Google will definitely help us to do this.”
To find out more about SEO Consult® and the services that the agency offers, it is recommended that you visit their website http://www.seoconsult.com or call 0845 205 0292.
About SEO Consult®:
Based in Cheshire 10 miles south of Liverpool, SEO Consult® is the dedicated search engine optimisation department of leading internet marketing company Click Consult. Established in 2003, Click Consult employs over 100 members of staff and has over 300 clients in its portfolio. Click Consults offers search engine marketing solutions such as Web Development, Pay Per Click, Social Media Marketing, Reputation Management and more.

Read More..

Another school massacre pressures Obama on gun control

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The mass killing on Friday at a Connecticut school put renewed pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama and other Democrats to reverse their years of caution about gun control laws and address the easy availability of firearms.
The scenes from Sandy Hook Elementary - of children running from a school where a lone gunman killed at least 20 children and six adults [ID:nL1E8NE53F] - were certain to stir public opinion, supporters of gun control said.
Just an hour after Obama tearfully said on national television that the country needs "meaningful action to prevent more tragedies," about 200 people rallied outside the White House on a cold evening in favor of gun restrictions.
Their hopes were buoyed by Obama's re-election last month, a development that could free the president - a longtime advocate for gun control - to approach the subject without fear of political consequences in his second four-year term.
However, Obama still faces a Republican-led House of Representatives that could block such reforms.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who runs a coalition of mayors on gun policy, said Obama should not be deterred and should send legislation to Congress.
"We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership - not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today," Bloomberg said in a statement.
U.S. lawmakers have not approved a major new gun law since 1994, and they let a ban on certain semiautomatic rifles known as assault weapons expire in 2004.
FEAR OF NRA
Faced with intense lobbying by the National Rifle Association and other gun groups, and fearful of a backlash from gun-owning voters, most Democrats have stopped trying to pass new laws.
Their caution has continued despite high-profile incidents such as the January 2011 near-fatal shooting of Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, and the July 2012 killing of 12 at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.
But, supporters of gun control said, two factors may shake Democrats out of their passive stance: the increasing frequency of mass killings, and the defenselessness of the young children killed at the school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Some gun rights supporters said after the Aurora massacre that the shooter might have been stopped if more theater-goers had been armed. But this argument is more difficult to make in the latest incident.
"You can't have an elementary school teacher have a gun in her purse. You just can't do that," said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
Outside the White House on Friday, the crowd held candles and chanted, "Today is the day." Some dabbed tears. People carried signs reading, "Too many guns" and "Disarm."
Anna Oman of Silver Spring, Maryland, was in the crowd with her 5-year-old son, Hugo.
"I felt today like I did on September 11," she said. "I had to do something."
NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said in an email: "Until the facts are thoroughly known, NRA will not have any comment."
The NRA's strength could be tested anew after its largely unsuccessful efforts in the 2012 election. The organization pushed strongly for Obama's defeat, and most of its favored candidates for the U.S. Senate lost.
Any national gun legislation would face its most difficult obstacle in the House, whose Republican leaders have strong ties to the NRA.
BOEHNER'S 'A' RATING
House Speaker John Boehner has received an "A" rating in the past from the NRA, the largest lobbying group for gun owners and makers. Boehner released a statement mourning the deaths in Connecticut, but the Republican leader would have no comment on possible gun control legislation, a spokesman said.
Another lawmaker with an "A" rating from the NRA, Virginia Republican Representative Bob Goodlatte, will have jurisdiction over gun bills when he starts next month as the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. A spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Mark Glaze, director of Bloomberg's group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said it would take presidential involvement for the issue to gain momentum.
"After Tucson, after Aurora, and now after Newtown, we've been told it's time for a moment of silence. And that moment of silence stretches into months. The president could actually make a difference, and it's time for him to try," Glaze said.
On social media, some people responded to the Connecticut shooting by trying to coin new terms to replace "gun control," such as "massacre prevention."
There is no shortage of ideas among gun control advocates.
They could push to require background checks for all gun purchases; checks are now required only at licensed commercial dealers but not among private sellers. They could also push for a federal law on gun trafficking, for tougher sentences for illegal purchases or for more resources for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was in Connecticut this month to talk about guns - but only about gun violence among gangs, not gun control generally.
On Wednesday, a day after a shooting at an Oregon shopping mall, Holder told reporters that the Obama administration was in discussions about proposals but he made no commitments.
"There are a number of proposals that we're in the process of considering, and I expect that you will be hearing from the administration," Holder said.

Read More..

Some Democrats call for action on gun control after Connecticut shootings

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A day after the Connecticut elementary school massacre, a senior congressional Democrat on Saturday called on U.S. lawmakers to pass sweeping new gun control measures including banning assault weapons and high-capacity clips, saying, "Politics be damned."
Representative John Larson, chairman of the House of Representatives Democratic Caucus, gave a list of specific policies he wanted the U.S. Congress to vote on quickly after the mass shooting in his home state of Connecticut.
U.S. lawmakers have not approved a major new gun law since 1994, and they let a ban on certain semiautomatic rifles known as assault weapons expire in 2004.
Hours after Friday's rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School, President Barack Obama called for the federal government to prevent mass shootings "regardless of politics," but did not offer details on policies he would seek. He reiterated his commitment to "meaningful action" during his weekly radio address on Saturday.
Twenty-eight people died in the incident - 20 schoolchildren and six adults shot at the school, one woman at another nearby site and the gunman.
The incident put renewed pressure on Obama and other Democrats to reverse their years of caution about gun control laws and address the easy availability of firearms. However, gun control supporters face a Republican-led House that could block such measures.
"There may not be a single cure-all for the violence in our nation, however we must start the process and begin the deeper and longer conversations that need to take place. Politics be damned," Larson said in a statement.
"Of the 12 deadliest shootings in our nation's history, half of them have happened in the last five years. And there is not a single person in America who doesn't fear it will happen again."
BACKGROUND CHECKS
Larson said Congress must quickly vote on measures that include requiring background checks for all gun sales, closing "loopholes" on the terrorist watch list and banning assault weapons and high-capacity clips.
Other Democrats, including Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, New York Representative Carolyn McCarthy and California Representative George Miller, are calling for stricter gun control after the shootings.
Blumenthal and Miller said they believe the nation should have a "conversation" about gun control, but Blumenthal declined to discuss his ideas at depth so soon after the shootings, saying he wanted to show respect to the families of the victims.
McCarthy, whose husband was killed by a gunman on a commuter train in 1993, said in a statement: "I agree, now is not the time to talk about gun laws - the time for that conversation was long before all those kids in Connecticut died."
McCarthy and other Democrats, who traditionally support gun control, voiced skepticism about the call Obama made for "meaningful action," mostly because of his lack of specificity.
"I'm not sure if the president meant it or if it was just more rhetoric," a senior Democratic congressional aide said on Saturday. "But if anything is ever going to happen on gun control, now is the time. He is in a perfect position to act."
The aide said Obama should take advantage of having just won a second term, which means he can act without worrying about voter repercussions in the polls or donors withdrawing dollars.
Faced with intense lobbying by the National Rifle Association and other gun groups, and fearful of a backlash from gun-owning voters, most Democrats have stopped trying to pass new laws.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the NRA did not donate money to Obama during this year's presidential election but sent funds to his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
In total, it donated $634,146 to Republicans during the 2012 election and $85,450 to Democrats.

Read More..

Factbox: Major parties in Japan's parliament after December 16 poll

TOKYO (Reuters) - Conservative ex-premier Shinzo Abe will get a second chance to lead Japan after his Liberal Democratic Party surged back to power in Sunday's election, while Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat, securing less than one-fifth of the seats won in 2009.
Below are some key facts about Japan's political parties.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF JAPAN (LDP)
Established: 1955
Website: http://www.jimin.jp/english/
2012 lower house election result: 294 out of 480 seats
The LDP returned to power after a three-year hiatus. Until the 2009 election, the party, which has nurtured close ties with business and the bureaucracy, had been in power alone or in coalitions almost non-stop since its founding in 1955.
The victory by the LDP will usher in a government pledged to a tough stance in a territorial row with China, a pro-nuclear energy policy despite the 2011 Fukushima disaster and a potentially risky recipe for hyper-easy monetary policy and big fiscal spending to boost growth.
LDP leader Abe, 58, was prime minister from 2006-2007. He has piled pressure on the central bank to ease monetary policy further and adopt a 2 percent inflation target and might delay the sales tax rise if deflation persists. The party favors a central role for nuclear power in Japan's energy mix despite a dramatic shift in public opinion in favor of phasing out atomic energy after the Fukushima crisis.
NEW KOMEITO
Established: 1998
Website: http://www.komei.or.jp/en/
2012 result: 31 seats
The party, founded by members of the Soka Gakkai Buddhist sect, has been a junior partner in LDP-led governments for 10 years until the ruling camp's rout in a 2009 lower house election. The LDP confirmed the partnership with New Komeito that will give it a two-thirds majority in the lower house.
Some in the LDP would like eventually to end the alliance, given policy differences in some areas, but cutting ties would not be easy since the two parties have cooperated closely in election districts, with the LDP relying on the Komeito's solid vote machine to provide support for many of its own candidates.
The New Komeito focuses on economic policies for the less well off and is more moderate on security issues than the LDP, opposing revision of the pacifist constitution, for example.
DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF JAPAN (DPJ)
Established: 1998
Website: http://www.dpj.or.jp/english/
2012 election result: 57
Formed in a merger of several opposition parties, the DPJ swept to power in 2009 to end more than half a century of almost unbroken LDP rule. After three years in power, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's party was crushed and won fewer than a fifth of the seats it took in 2009, when it came to power promising to pay more heed to consumers than companies and pry control of policies from bureaucrats.
The Democrats' support slumped over what voters saw as broken promises, a confused response to last year's Fukushima tsunami and nuclear crisis and Noda's embrace of unpopular causes such as the tax hike and the restart of nuclear reactors.
Noda, 55, has announced he will step down as leader of the party. The former finance minister made raising the sales tax to curb public debt, which is already more than twice the size of the economy, his top goal even though it was not part of the DPJ's 2009 campaign platform.
JAPAN RESTORATION PARTY
Established: 2012
Website: http://j-ishin.jp/(Japanese only)
2012 election result: 54
Popular Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, 43, launched the right-leaning party in September to woo voters fed up with the two main parties. His core policies include shrinking the role of the central government, more market competition and cuts in corporate and income taxes.
Last month, the party merged with a few conservative lawmakers led by former nationalist Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, 80, in a bid to build an influential "third force".
The party wants to boost defense spending and maritime surveillance in response to a territorial row with China.
It has flip-flopped on nuclear power after merging with Ishihara's pro-atomic group, and confusion persists.

Read More..

NRA goes unusually silent after Connecticut school shooting leaves 20 youngsters dead

The nation's largest gun-rights organization — typically outspoken about its positions even after shooting deaths — has gone all but silent since last week's rampage at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school that left 26 people dead, including 20 children.
Its Facebook page has disappeared. It has posted no tweets. It makes no mention of the shooting on its website. None of its leaders hit the media circuit Sunday to promote its support of the Second Amendment right to bear arms as the nation mourns the latest shooting victims and opens a new debate over gun restrictions. On Monday, the NRA offered no rebuttal as 300 anti-gun protesters marched to its Capitol Hill office.
After previous mass shootings — such as in Oregon and Wisconsin — the group was quick to both send its condolences and defend gun owners' constitutional rights, popular among millions of Americans. There's no indication that the National Rifle Association's silence this time is a signal that a change in its ardent opposition to gun restrictions is imminent. Nor has there been any explanation for its absence from the debate thus far.
The NRA, which claims 4.3 million members and is based in Northern Virginia, did not return telephone messages Monday seeking comment.
Its deep-pocketed efforts to oppose gun control laws have proven resilient. Firearms are in a third or more of U.S. households and suspicion runs deep of an overbearing government whenever it proposes expanding federal authority. The argument of gun-rights advocates that firearm ownership is a bedrock freedom as well as a necessary option for self-defence has proved persuasive enough to dampen political enthusiasm for substantial change.
Seldom has the NRA gone so long after a fatal shooting without a public presence. It resumed tweeting just one day after a gunman killed two people and then himself at an Oregon shopping mall last Tuesday, and one day after six people were fatally shot at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin in August.
The Connecticut shootings occurred three days after the incident in Oregon.
"The NRA's probably doing a good thing by laying low," said Hogan Gidley, a Republican strategist and gun owner who was a top aide to Rick Santorum's presidential bid. "Often after these tragedies, so many look to lay blame on someone, and the NRA is an easy whipping boy for this."
Indeed, since the Connecticut shootings, the NRA has been taunted and criticized at length, vitriol that may have prompted the shuttering of its Facebook page just a day after the association boasted about reaching 1.7 million supporters on the social media network.
Twitter users have been relentless, protesting the organization with hashtags like NoWayNRA.
The NRA has not responded to them. Its last tweets, sent Friday, offered a chance to win an auto flashlight.
Offline, some 300 protesters gathered outside the NRA's lobbying headquarters on Capitol Hill on Monday chanting, "Shame on the NRA" and waving signs declaring "Kill the 2nd Amendment, Not Children" and "Protect Children, Not Guns."
"I had to be here," said Gayle Fleming, 65, a real estate agent from Arlington, Va., saying she was attending her first anti-gun rally. "These were 20 babies. I will be at every rally, will sign every letter, call every congressman going forward."
Retired attorney Kathleen Buffon of Chevy Chase, Md., reflected on earlier mass shootings, saying: "All of the other ones, they've been terrible. This is the last straw. These were children."
"The NRA has had a stranglehold on Congress," she added as she marched toward the NRA's unmarked office. "It's time to call them out."
The group's reach on Capitol Hill is wide as it wields its deep pockets to defeat lawmakers, many of them Democrats, who push for restrictions on gun ownership.
The NRA outspent its chief opponent by a 73-1 margin to lobby the outgoing Congress, according to the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, which tracks such spending. It spent more than 4,000 times its biggest opponents during the 2012 election.
In all, the group spent at least $24 million this election cycle — $16.8 million through its political action committee and nearly $7.5 million through its affiliated Institute for Legislative Action. Its chief foil, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, spent just $5,816.
On direct lobbying, the NRA also was mismatched. Through July 1, the NRA spent $4.4 million to lobby Congress to the Brady Campaign's $60,000.

Read More..

NRA goes silent after Connecticut school shooting

The nation's largest gun-rights organization — typically outspoken about its positions even after shooting deaths — has gone all but silent since last week's rampage at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school that left 26 people dead, including 20 children.
Its Facebook page has disappeared. It has posted no tweets. It makes no mention of the shooting on its website. None of its leaders hit the media circuit Sunday to promote its support of the Second Amendment right to bear arms as the nation mourns the latest shooting victims and opens a new debate over gun restrictions. On Monday, the NRA offered no rebuttal as 300 anti-gun protesters marched to its Capitol Hill office.
After previous mass shootings — such as in Oregon and Wisconsin — the group was quick to both send its condolences and defend gun owners' constitutional rights, popular among millions of Americans. There's no indication that the National Rifle Association's silence this time is a signal that a change in its ardent opposition to gun restrictions is imminent. Nor has there been any explanation for its absence from the debate thus far.
The NRA, which claims 4.3 million members and is based in Northern Virginia, did not return telephone messages Monday seeking comment.
Its deep-pocketed efforts to oppose gun control laws have proven resilient. Firearms are in a third or more of U.S. households and suspicion runs deep of an overbearing government whenever it proposes expanding federal authority. The argument of gun-rights advocates that firearm ownership is a bedrock freedom as well as a necessary option for self-defense has proved persuasive enough to dampen political enthusiasm for substantial change.
Seldom has the NRA gone so long after a fatal shooting without a public presence. It resumed tweeting just one day after a gunman killed two people and then himself at an Oregon shopping mall last Tuesday, and one day after six people were fatally shot at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin in August.
The Connecticut shootings occurred three days after the incident in Oregon.
"The NRA's probably doing a good thing by laying low," said Hogan Gidley, a Republican strategist and gun owner who was a top aide to Rick Santorum's presidential bid. "Often after these tragedies, so many look to lay blame on someone, and the NRA is an easy whipping boy for this."
Indeed, since the Connecticut shootings, the NRA has been taunted and criticized at length, vitriol that may have prompted the shuttering of its Facebook page just a day after the association boasted about reaching 1.7 million supporters on the social media network.
Twitter users have been relentless, protesting the organization with hashtags like NoWayNRA.
The NRA has not responded to them. Its last tweets, sent Friday, offered a chance to win an auto flashlight.
Offline, some 300 protesters gathered outside the NRA's lobbying headquarters on Capitol Hill on Monday chanting, "Shame on the NRA" and waving signs declaring "Kill the 2nd Amendment, Not Children" and "Protect Children, Not Guns."
"I had to be here," said Gayle Fleming, 65, a real estate agent from Arlington, Va., saying she was attending her first anti-gun rally. "These were 20 babies. I will be at every rally, will sign every letter, call every congressman going forward."
Retired attorney Kathleen Buffon of Chevy Chase, Md., reflected on earlier mass shootings, saying: "All of the other ones, they've been terrible. This is the last straw. These were children."
"The NRA has had a stranglehold on Congress," she added as she marched toward the NRA's unmarked office. "It's time to call them out."
The group's reach on Capitol Hill is wide as it wields its deep pockets to defeat lawmakers, many of them Democrats, who push for restrictions on gun ownership.
The NRA outspent its chief opponent by a 73-1 margin to lobby the outgoing Congress, according to the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, which tracks such spending. It spent more than 4,000 times its biggest opponents during the 2012 election.
In all, the group spent at least $24 million this election cycle — $16.8 million through its political action committee and nearly $7.5 million through its affiliated Institute for Legislative Action. Its chief foil, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, spent just $5,816.
On direct lobbying, the NRA also was mismatched. Through July 1, the NRA spent $4.4 million to lobby Congress to the Brady Campaign's $60,000.

Read More..

Australian DJs Behind Royal Prank May Face Police Probe

The two Australian DJs who pulled the prank call on the U.K. hospital where Kate Middleton was staying are now in hiding and may soon have to face police after the death of a nurse caught in the hoax.

This morning, there are also new questions about whether DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, radio shock jocks at Sydney's 2Day FM broke laws after they recorded the private conversation when they pretended to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.

British police have also contacted Australian police about a possible probe into the prank call, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

Rhys Holleran, CEO of Southern Cross Austereo, the parent company of Sydney's 2Day FM radio station said no laws were broken.

The prank had been cleared by the Australian radio station's lawyers. Holleran said the DJs followed the company's procedures before broadcasting the call.

"I think the more important question here is that we're very confident that we haven't done anything illegal. Our main concern at this point in time is what has happened is incredibly tragic and we're deeply saddened and we're incredibly affected by that," Holleran said Saturday.

READ: Kate Middleton's Hospital Falls for Prank Call From Radio Station

The hoax has caused public outcry after the death of a nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, who connected the pair to the Duchess' room.

Saldanha was found dead Friday morning after police were called to an address near the hospital to "reports of a woman found unconscious," according to a statement from Scotland Yard.

Circumstances of her death are still being investigated, but are not suspicious at this stage, authorities said earlier.

Lord Glenarthur, the chairman of King Edward VII's Hospital, the U.K. hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was receiving treatment, condemned the prank Saturday in a letter to the Max Moore-Wilton, chairman of Southern Cross Austereo, the Australian radio station's parent company.

Glenarthur said the prank humiliated "two dedicated and caring nurses," and the consequences were "tragic beyond words," The Associated Press reported.

Max Moore-Wilton, the chairman of Southern Cross Austereo, said in a letter to Lord Glenarthur Sunday that the company is reviewing the station's broadcast policies, the AP reported.

"I can assure you we are taking immediate action and reviewing the broadcast and processes involved," Moore-Wilton said in the letter. "As we have said in our own statements on the matter, the outcome was unforeseeable and very regrettable."

Saldanha came to England from India nine years ago, with her husband and two children.

On Facebook, her 14-year-old daughter wrote this weekend, simply: "I miss you, I loveeee you."

Saldanha worked as a nurse at King Edward VII private hospital for four years. Her family lives 100 miles away in Bristol, but while on shift she slept in a residence for nurses.

With no receptionist on duty overnight she answered the prank call and put it through.

The hospital called her a "first-class nurse" and "a well-respected and popular member of the staff" and extended "deepest sympathies" to family and friends, saying that "everyone is shocked" at this "tragic event."

The duchess spent three days at the hospital undergoing treatment for hyperemesis gravidarum, severe or debilitating nausea and vomiting. She was released from the hospital Thursday morning.

The hospital apologized for the mistake.

"The call was transferred through to a ward, and a short conversation was held with one of the nursing staff," the hospital said in a statement. "King Edward VII's Hospital deeply regrets this incident."

The radio station also apologized for the prank call.

"2Day FM sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience caused by the inquiry to Kate's hospital. The radio segment was done with lighthearted intentions," the station said in a statement earlier.

DJs in Hiding

Greig and Christian are said to be in a fragile emotional state since Saldanha was found dead on Friday.

Station executives said the hosts are seeking the help of counselors.

"These people aren't machines, they're human beings," Holleran told reporters on Saturday. "We're all affected by this."

The DJs are in hiding and their Facebook and twitter accounts are now dark.

The Sydney radio station -- famous for its pranks and outrageousness -- has suspended all advertising in the face an advertising boycott and Greig and Christian have been pulled off the air.

Last spring, the station was warned by Australia's broadcast regulator about violations of the "decency provision" of the country's broadcast code.

Night Out Without Kate

Prince William was on his own Saturday night at a charity ball, for his first public function since his wife's pregnancy was announced.

In conversation he quipped about his Kate's illness: "I don't know why they call it morning sickness -- they should call it all day and all night sickness."

PHOTOS: The Life and Times of Kate Middleton

He did not talk about the tragic death of the nurse who fell victim to the hoax call, but he and Kate have issued a statement of sympathy for the family.

"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha," a spokesman from St. James Palace said in a statement.

For Kate, it is yet another test of her new life as a very public royal. In September, a tabloid photographer using an extremely long lens photographed her topless on a private vacation.

"While she understood what she was taking on, there have been a couple of things that will have made them go oh my goodness and think we didn't think it would be that bad in this day and age," said Victoria Murphy, royal reporter with The Daily Mirror.

Read More..

Australia royal hoax radio station to review procedures

PERTH, Australia/LONDON (Reuters) - An Australian radio station under fire over a prank call to a hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate said on Sunday it would review its procedures after a nurse's apparent suicide.

New South Wales Police said they were in contact with London's police force and were ready to assist in any investigation, as the incident sparked fresh soul-searching over the behaviour of the media.

Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found dead in staff accommodation near London's King Edward VII hospital on Friday after putting the hoax call through to a colleague who unwittingly disclosed details of Kate's morning sickness to 2DayFM's presenters.

A recording of the call, broadcast repeatedly by the station, rapidly became an internet hit and was reprinted as a transcript in many newspapers.

Public amusement at the prank turned to disgust after news of Saldanha's death swept around the globe. The station's owners pulled presenters Michael Christian and Mel Greig off the air as leading companies cancelled advertising.

The station's parent company, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), said it would fully cooperate in any investigations in a letter to the head of the King Edward hospital.

"I can assure you we are taking immediate action and reviewing the broadcast and processes involved," SCA chairman Max Moore-Wilton said.

"We are all saddened by the events of the last few days. They are truly tragic... The outcome was unforeseeable and very regrettable," he added.

The station's presenters have come under attack from around the world on social media sites and were "extremely distressed", an SCA spokeswoman said.

Both were keen to speak publicly about the incident, but were in too fragile a condition to do so, the spokeswoman added.

The hospital's chairman Lord Glenarthur had described their actions as "appalling" in a letter to SCA on Saturday.

Saldanha, married with two children, was originally from India and came to Britain around 10 years ago.

Her husband's family in the southern Indian state of Karnataka said she had spoken regularly to them but neither she or her husband had mentioned the hoax call, they told Britain's Observer newspaper.

A post mortem into the cause of her death will be held early next week, possibly as soon as Monday. An inquest will follow, and London police may want statements from the two presenters, although they had yet to make a formal request.

"It's been indicated that the London Metropolitan Police may wish to speak to the people involved in the matter from 2DayFM," said New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas.

"But we haven't been asked to do anything yet, and we certainly have not been asked to interview anyone, or line up any interviews for the Met," he added.

The tragic fallout from the radio stunt has rekindled memories of the death of William's mother Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997 and threatens to cast a pall over the birth of his and Kate's first child.

The couple's baby will be third in line to the British throne after William and his father Prince Charles.

The royal family are enjoying a boost in popularity in Britain after a period when they were seen as dated and out of touch.

William and Kate's wedding at London's Westminster Abbey last year rekindled public enthusiasm for royalty, which has been sustained during this year's jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth's 60 years as monarch.

Read More..