Sabtu, 14 Disember 2013

NST Online Top Stories - Google News

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

NST Online Top Stories - Google News


Bells toll as nation marks anniversary of Sandy Hook school shooting - Los Angeles Times

Posted: 14 Dec 2013 08:19 AM PST

From the steepled churches of Newtown, Conn., to the state Capitol in Hartford, bells chimed 26 times Saturday to remember the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which sparked a debate on gun laws that continues to divide the nation.

While the small New England city marked the one-year anniversary of its tragedy, residents of Centennial, Colo., more than 1,500 miles away, were beginning to deal with their own school shooting. One teenager was in critical condition and the teenage shooter was dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after opening fire at Arapahoe High School there on Friday.

There have been more than 20 school shootings in the United States since Adam Lanza shot his way into the Sandy Hook school on the morning of Dec. 14, 2012, and killed 20 first-graders and six school employees. Lanza, 20, who had already shot dead his mother, Nancy, in their Newtown home, then committed suicide in the school.

As snow fell over Newtown, the bells began ringing at 9:30 a.m., the time that Lanza entered the school. At the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, each chime was accompanied by the reading of a victim's name.

Newtown officials and residents have appealed for privacy, and the city said it would not hold a public memorial out of respect for victims' survivors and others who do not want to be reminded of what happened.

But the Colorado shooting catapulted Sandy Hook into the nation's collective memory, and Sandy Hook Promise, an organization formed in Newtown in the aftermath of its massacre, lamented the stream of school shootings in the last year.

"We were horrified to hear today of a school shooting ... just one day before the one-year mark of the Sandy Hook shootings," the group's executive director, Tim Makris, said in a statement after the Centennial shooting. "It's time to start a new conversation to protect our children."

In Washington, President Obama, whose effort to pass stricter federal laws after Sandy Hook failed, paid tribute to Newtown parents who have battled for changes in gun laws that permit high-capacity magazines and the purchase of weapons without universal background checks.

"Over the past year, their voices have sustained us," Obama said in his weekly address. But he said the rest of the country needed to do more to prevent future shootings, and he warned that Newtown could be any town.

"Newtown is a town like so many of our hometowns," said Obama. "The victims were educators and kids that could have been any of our own."

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy ordered flags flown at half-staff in observance of the Sandy Hook anniversary and urged people to mark the day by performing an act of kindness. "The message of these two actions is simple: a moment to come together and mourn, followed by acts of kindness to one another," Malloy said.

Jim Rousseau, father of first-grade teacher Lauren Rousseau, who was killed at Sandy Hook, echoed the thought.

"Acts of kindness and efforts to promote just cause are the best way to keep the memory of victims of gun violence alive," Rousseau, clutching a photograph of his daughter, said during a Washington, D.C., vigil for gun violence victims last week at the National Cathedral.

Some victims' parents posted videos to remember their children, describing them as fun-loving, energetic first-graders whose deaths should serve as catalysts for change.

"Dylan was a very happy little boy," Nicole Hockley said of her son, Dylan, who was 6 when he was killed at Sandy Hook. "We'll never know what he might have been or what he might have contributed to society. That's why I'm here talking about him. To ensure in this way, in some way, Dylan remains alive and his name and image are associated with the promises that we make to build a safer future."

The mother of Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, Nelba Marquez-Greene, said her daughter "sang before she spoke, and danced before she walked."

One of the family's favorite things, Marquez-Greene said, was to make music together. "Our life now is trying to make sense of having a trio, and not a quartet."

Daniel Barden's father, Mark Barden, described his son's empathy for everything from tiny bugs to his classmates at Sandy Hook.

"He would pick up ants from the kitchen and carry them outside to reconnect them with their families. He would pick up worms from the driveway and rescue them from the sun," Barden said. "He had a way of noticing if someone or something was vulnerable. He was just compelled to go comfort that person."

"I choose to honor Daniel's life by sharing his love and his joy with everyone I can," Barden said.

ALSO:

Amid hatred, Colorado shooter mourned

Estate of poisoned Illinois Lottery winner is settled

Up to four people stabbed after Broncos football game in Denver

Ryan's Spending Deal Sets Back His Hopes for 2016, Boosts Fortunes in House - Bloomberg

Posted: 14 Dec 2013 08:07 AM PST

Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, and U.S. Representative Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, speak at a news conference in Washington about a agreement reached on the federal budget. (Source: Bloomberg)

U.S. Representative Paul Ryan put his political future on the line by brokering a budget deal blasted by the Tea Party groups that have shaped his Republican Party's agenda in recent years.

In doing so, the Wisconsin lawmaker created a hurdle for his presidential ambitions, while strengthening his status within the House and positioning himself to possibly succeed John Boehner as the chamber's speaker.

"The Ryan-for-Republican-nominee campaign took a step backward with this deal, but Ryan's future in the House -- and even being a speaker one day -- took a big step forward," Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist, said in an interview.

The deal, passed by the House 332-94 yesterday and expected to clear the Senate next week, takes off the table for two years the spending issues that have crippled Republicans in polls and contributed to the battle over control of the party.

"It saves us from ourselves," Tom Rath, a Republican strategist in New Hampshire, said of the deal. "We can now have the argument on entitlements," the funding of programs including Medicare and Social Security, "without the threat of a shutdown," he added.

Ryan, 43, has said he's considering a 2016 run for the White House. He was the Republican vice presidential nominee last year, yet his leadership position in Washington may hamstring his ability to win the nomination for the White House.

Photographer: J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

Walking through a basement corridor on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Dec. 11, 2013,... Read More

Walking through a basement corridor on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Dec. 11, 2013, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., talks to reporters on the morning after a budget deal was worked out between Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Close

Close

Open
Photographer: J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

Walking through a basement corridor on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Dec. 11, 2013, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., talks to reporters on the morning after a budget deal was worked out between Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Several Republican strategists, including Steve Schmidt, the top adviser on John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, said the party's best chance to win is with a governor or former governor who can criticize Washington.

Party Clash

Still, there's no stronger voice than Ryan's for House Republicans on the budget, the issue fueling the party's civil war. Tea Party groups have moved to oust senators who backed a budget that ended the 16-day partial government shutdown in October, while business advocates are mobilizing to defeat allies of the small-government movement.

Polls show that voters blamed Republicans for the shutdown. The party's favorability was at a record low of 28 percent in October, down 10 percentage points from the previous month and 15 points below the figure for Democrats, according to a Gallup Poll. Republicans' favorability improved to 32 percent this month, still trailing Democrats by 10 points, according to Gallup.

Though Ryan wasn't a key player in the October deliberations to end the shutdown, fund the government through early next year and raise the nation's debt limit, he became the House Republican point man in fiscal talks called for by that agreement.

Revised Cuts

Teaming with Senator Patty Murray, a Washington state Democrat, the pair this week announced the agreement that lessens automatic spending cuts by $40 billion in the 2014 budget, which began Oct. 1, and about $20 billion in fiscal 2015.

The plan sets spending at about $1.01 trillion for this fiscal year, higher than the $967 billion required in the 2011 deal that set in place the automatic cuts. It also includes $23 billion in long-term debt reduction.

Ryan told reporters in Washington yesterday that he and Murray kept their "emotions in check and kept working at it" to reach a deal. "That's the key, it's just trying to understand each other, get to know each other and just talk things out," he said.

The easing of the automatic cuts, known as sequestration, spurred attacks from groups including the Club for Growth and Heritage Foundation that, like Tea Party activists, push for smaller government and have exerted strong influence within the House Republican caucus.

'Much Higher'

Boehner, who's given no indication he plans to relinquish the speakership, responded by criticizing the groups' campaign against the Ryan-Murray accord. And the margin by which it passed the House surprised many, including Ryan.

"It was much higher than I expected," he said. "People are hungry to get things done around here."

Club for Growth President Chris Chocola refused to scold Ryan personally for the budget deal that he worked to defeat. "If you're looking for someone to bash or defend Ryan, I'm not your guy," Chocola said in an interview.

While arguing that Republicans should have kept current spending levels in place, he said, "The problem is that Ryan didn't have enough votes to craft the deal he wanted."

Representative Devin Nunes, a California Republican who was an outspoken critic of party tactics that led to the government shutdown, characterized Ryan as "one of our rising stars."

'Knows His Facts'

He said Ryan's political skills and knowledge of the government's finances helped him win support -- or silence -- from Tea Party Republicans in closed-door meetings where the budget agreement was detailed.

"He knows his facts," Nunes said. "He was willing to take any questions from the members, and many of the members who were going to vote 'no' on this were hiding. They didn't even ask him a question because they do not want to know the truth."

The agreement's fiercest opponents included Representative Tim Huelskamp, a Kansas Republican backed by the Tea Party who routinely criticizes Boehner and his leadership team. He said Ryan often serves as a liaison between those leaders and Tea Party-aligned members on controversial bills.

"Leadership will bring him in when they want conservatives to vote for something that conservatives don't want to vote on," Huelskamp said in an interview.

'Spoils' Milk

For Huelskamp, the latest budget may be one deal too many for Ryan. "It kind of spoils the milk on this one," he said. "Name one conservative thing in here -- spending increase?"

Others see Ryan as maintaining a stronger following within the House Republican caucus than Boehner, of Ohio, or Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican.

"Paul is solid in every respect and even the people who choose to criticize him over this particular deal will be some of the people that will have enormous support for him with whatever he chooses to do in the future," Representative Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican, said in an interview. "It's another example of Paul's incredible ability to negotiate in a very responsible and respectful way."

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael C. Bender in Washington at mbender10@bloomberg.net; Roxana Tiron in Washington at rtiron@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jodi Schneider at jschneider50@bloomberg.net

Kredit: www.nst.com.my
 

NST Online

Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved