Oscar Pistorius Granted Bail in Murder Case

Oscar Pistorius was granted bail today in a South African court, meaning he can be released from jail for the six to eight months before his trial for the allegedly premeditated killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Magistrate Desmond Nair, in reading his lengthy decision, said, "The issue before me is whether this accused, being who is and the assets he has [here], would seek to duck and dive all over the world."
His conclusion:
"I cannot find that he is a flight risk."

Nair said, "The accused has made a case to be released on bail."

PHOTOS: Paralympics Champion Charged in Killing

The judge also said he had to weigh whether Pistorius would be a danger to others. He noted that Pistorius has been accused of using foul language against people in arguments and once threatened to break someone's legs, but he said that was different from someone with an arrest record of violence.

"I appreciate that a person is dead, but I don't think that is enough," he said.

Nair also said he could not be influenced by the public's "shock and outrage" if Pistorius is released.

A member of Pistorius' defense team told ABC News, "he is going to be released today."

Despite the ruling, prosecutors displayed confidence, with one of them emerging from the courthouse today to say, "We still believe we have the evidence to convict Oscar Pistorius."

The court set bail at about $113,000 (1 million rand) and June 4 as the date for Pistorius' next court appearance.

The other bail conditions are: Pistorius cannot leave the country; he must hand over his passports; he cannot return to his home as long as it's an active crime scene; he needs permission to leave the Pretoria area; he must visit a police station on a daily basis and be available to a probation officer at all times via cellphone; he is not allowed any communication with prosecution witnesses; he cannot drink alcohol; and he must relinquish his firearms.

"Do you understand?" the magistrate asked him.

"Yes, sir," Pistorius replied.

Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images

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Speaking for the family, Arnold Pistorius, the Olympian's uncle, said, "Although we are obviously relieved that Oscar has been granted bail, this is still a very sad time for the family of Reeva and for us.

"We are grateful that the Magistrate recognized the validity and strength of our application. As the family, we are convinced that Oscar's version of what happened on that terrible night will prove to be true."

The judge's ruling came on the fourth and final day of the bail hearing for Pistorius, the Olympian accused of murdering his girlfriend on Valentine's Day.

Pistorius, who gained global acclaim for racing at the 2012 London Olympics, shot his model-girlfriend through a closed bathroom. He says he killed Reeva Steenkamp accidentally, but prosecutors alleged that he took a moment to put on his prosthetic legs, indicating that he thought out and planned to kill Steenkamp when he shot her three times through the bathroom door.

Pistorius sobbed today in court. Barry Roux, his defense attorney, said the prosecution misinterpreted the assigning of intent, meaning that the runner's intent to shoot at a supposed intruder in his home cannot be transferred to someone else who was shot -- in this case, Steenkamp.

"He did not want to kill Reeva," Roux told the court.

FULL COVERAGE: Oscar Pistorius Case

When Magistrate Nair, who overheard the bail hearing, asked Roux what the charges should be if Pistorius intended to kill an intruder, the defense attorney responded that he should be charged with culpable homicide.

Culpable homicide is defined in South Africa as "the unlawful negligent killing of a human being."

Roux also made light of the prosecution's argument that Pistorius is a flight risk, saying that every time the double-amputee goes through airport security, it causes a commotion. He said that Pistorius' legs need constant maintenance and he needs medical attention for his stumps.

The prosecution argued today that the onus was on Pistorius to provide his version of events, and his version was improbable.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel also spoke of Pistorius' fame and his disability, even relating him to Wikipedia founder Julian Assange, who is now confined to Ecuador's London Embassy, where he has been granted political asylum.
"[Assange's] facial features are as well known as Mr. Pistorius' prostheses," Nel said.

Nel argued that Pistorius' prostheses do not set him apart, stating that it's no different to any other feature, and the court cannot be seen to treat people with disabilities accused of a crime, or famous people accused of crime, any differently.

Pistorius has said that in the early hours of Feb. 14 he was closing his balcony doors when he heard a noise from the bathroom. Fearing an intruder, and without his prosthetic legs on, he grabbed a gun from under his bed and fired through the closed bathroom door, he told the court.

But prosecutors say that's implausible, that the gun's holster was found under the side of the bed where Steenkamp slept, and that Pistorius would have seen she wasn't there. Prosecutors also say the angle at which the shots were fired shows Pistorius was already wearing his prosthetics when he fired.

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Nigerian troops surround French family's kidnappers: source

YAOUNDE/MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian security forces surrounded the kidnappers of a French family in northeast Borno state on Thursday in an operation to rescue the hostages, a Nigerian military source said.

French, Nigerian and Cameroonian officials earlier denied French media reports that the family, who were seized in Cameroon and taken over the border, had been freed.

The Nigerian military located the hostages and kidnappers between Dikwa and Ngala in the far northeast, the military source in Borno said, asking not to be identified.

Dikwa is less than 80 km (50 miles) from the border with Cameroon where the three adults and four children were taken hostage on Tuesday.

A senior Cameroonian military official declined to comment saying the matter was too sensitive.

Citing a Cameroon army officer, French media reported earlier on Thursday that the hostages had been found alive in a house in northern Nigeria.

"This is a crazy rumor that we cannot confirm. We do not know where is it coming from," Cameroon Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary told Reuters by telephone from the capital Yaounde.

"What is certain is that the French tourists who were abducted are no longer on our territory. However, we are in touch with the Government of Nigeria to intensify measures to continue the search for them along our common border," he said.

French gendarmes backed by special forces arrived in northern Cameroon on Wednesday to help locate the family, a local governor and French defense ministry official said.

Nigerian military spokesman Sagir Musa earlier also said the report on France's BFM television of the hostages being released was "not true," while Didier Le Bret, the head of the French foreign ministry's crisis center, said the information was "baseless."

The abduction was the first case of foreigners being seized in the mostly Muslim north of Cameroon, a former French colony.

But the region - like others in West and North Africa with porous borders - is considered within the operational sphere of Boko Haram and fellow Nigerian Islamist militants Ansaru.

On Sunday, seven foreigners were snatched from the compound of Lebanese construction company Setraco in northern Nigeria's Bauchi state, and Ansaru took responsibility.

Northern Nigeria is increasingly afflicted by attacks and kidnappings by Islamist militants. Ansaru, which rose to prominence only in recent months, has claimed the abduction in December of a French national who is still missing.

Three foreigners were killed in two failed rescue attempts last year after being kidnapped in northern Nigeria and Ansaru, blamed for those kidnaps, warned this could happen again.

The threat to French nationals in the region has grown since France deployed thousands of troops to Mali to oust al Qaeda-linked Islamists who controlled the country's north.

The kidnapping in Cameroon brought to 15 the number of French citizens being held in West Africa.

(Reporting By Emile Picy and Nicholas Vinocur in Paris; Additional reporting by Joe Brock in Abuja and Bate Felix and John Irish in Dakar; Writing by Bate Felix and John Irish; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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Falling energy prices curb US inflation

WASHINGTON: US consumer prices were flat for a second month in a row in January, held down by a sharp drop in gasoline and fuel oil prices, government data released Thursday showed.

The Labour Department said its consumer price index was unchanged, while core CPI, excluding food and energy, rose 0.3 per cent.

The energy sub-index fell 1.7 per cent, its third consecutive decline, led by 3.0 per cent drops in prices for gasoline and fuel oil that offset a 1.1 per cent rise in electricity costs.

Food prices were unchanged after inching up 0.2 per cent in the prior three months.

In the overall CPI, clothing was the strongest price gainer, up 0.8 per cent.

The data underscored continued weak inflationary pressures in the sluggish economy, which contracted 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012 despite massive stimulus from the Federal Reserve.

Year-over-year, CPI slowed for a third straight month, rising 1.6 per cent in January, its lowest rise in six months. In January 2012, CPI was up 2.9 per cent from the year-ago month.

Core CPI was up 1.9 per cent from a year ago, driven by a 3.8 per cent jump in airline fares and a 3.1 per cent rise in medical care costs.

"The year/year gain has been hovering around the two per cent mark for the past seven months, and shouldn't worry Fed officials too much," said Jennifer Lee of BMO Capital Markets.

- AFP/fa

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Hyderabad blasts: NIA, NSG teams flying to blast site, home secretary says

NEW DELHI: Elite teams of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the National Security Guard (NSG) will be flying to Hyderabad, which has been rocked by twin blasts that killed 10 people and injured 50, an official said.

"We have a news of two blasts. We have spoken to state chief secretary, DGP (director general of police) and governor (E.S.L. Narasimhan)," Home secretary R.K. Singh told reporters here.

"Ten people have died and 50 have been injured in the blasts," he said.

He said the state police chief is reaching the blast site, which has been cordoned off.

"Our NIA team is also reaching as it has a hub there. The NIA officials are there at the site. Our IG NIA is also going from here. The post blast investigating team of NSG is also going," he told reporters,

The two teams will fly at 9.30 p.m. in a Border Security Force plane, he added.

The near-simultaneous blasts occurred near two theatres in Dilsukhnagar, a busy commercial area in the southern part of city, about 15 km from downtown.

Police have not yet confirmed either the cause of the explosions or the number of casualties.

The first blast occurred around 7 pm near a tiffin centre opposite Venkatadri Theatre and the second near Konark Theatre. Both the theatres are about 500 meters from each other.

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Flu shot did poor job against worst bug in seniors

ATLANTA (AP) — For those 65 and older, this season's flu shot is only 9 percent effective against the most common and dangerous flu bug, according to a startling new government report.

Flu vaccine tends to protect younger people better than older ones and never works as well as other kinds of vaccines. But experts say the preliminary results for seniors are disappointing and highlight the need for a better vaccine.

For all age groups, the vaccine's effectiveness is moderate at 56 percent, which is nearly as well as other flu seasons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

For those 65 and older, it is 27 percent effective against the three strains in the vaccine, the lowest in about a decade but not far below from what's expected. But the vaccine did a particularly poor job of protecting older people against the harshest flu strain, which is causing most of the illnesses this year. CDC officials say it's not clear why.

Vaccinations are now recommended for anyone over 6 months, and health officials stress that some vaccine protection is better than none at all. While it's likely that older people who were vaccinated are still getting sick, many of them may be getting less severe symptoms.

"Year in and year out, the vaccine is the best protection we have," said CDC flu expert Dr. Joseph Bresee.

To be sure, the preliminary data for seniors is less than definitive. It is based on fewer than 300 people scattered among five states.

But it will no doubt surprise many people that the effectiveness is that low, said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease expert who has tried to draw attention to the need for a more effective flu vaccine.

Among infectious diseases, flu is considered one of the nation's leading killers. On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.

This flu season started in early December, a month earlier than usual, and peaked by the end of year. Older people are most vulnerable to flu and its complications, and the nation has seen some of the highest hospitalization rates for people 65 and older in a decade.

Flu viruses tend to mutate more quickly than others, and it's not unusual for multiple strains to be spreading at the same time. A new vaccine is formulated each year targeting the three strains expected to be the major threats. But that involves guesswork.

Because of these challenges, scientists tend to set a lower bar for flu vaccine. While childhood vaccines against diseases like measles are expected to be 90 or 95 percent effective, a flu vaccine that's 60 to 70 percent effective in the U.S. is considered pretty good.

By that standard, this year's vaccine is OK. The 56 percent effectiveness figure means people have a 56 percent lower chance of winding up at the doctor for treatment of flu symptoms.

For seniors, a flu vaccine is considered pretty good if it's in the 30 to 40 percent range, said Dr. Arnold Monto, a University of Michigan flu expert.

Older people have weaker immune systems that don't respond as well to flu shots. That's why a high-dose version was recently made available for those 65 and older. The new study was too small to show whether that made a difference this year.

The CDC estimates are based on about 2,700 people who got sick in December and January. The researchers traced back to see who had gotten flu shots and who hadn't. An earlier study put the vaccine's overall effectiveness slightly higher, at 62 percent.

The CDC's Bresee said there's a danger in providing preliminary results because it may result in people doubting — or skipping — flu shots. But the data was released to warn older people who got shots that they may still get sick and shouldn't ignore any serious flu-like symptoms, he said.

The new data highlights an evolution in how experts are evaluating flu vaccine effectiveness. For years, it was believed that if the viruses in the vaccine matched the ones spreading around the country, then the vaccine would be effective. This year's shot was a good match to the bugs going around this winter, including the harsher H3N2 that tends to make people sicker.

But the season proved to be a moderately severe one, with many illnesses occurring in people who'd been vaccinated.

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Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr

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3 Dead in Rolling Gun Battle on Vegas Strip

A drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas strip early this morning by the occupants of a Range Rover SUV, who shot at the occupants of a Maserati, caused a multi-car accident and car explosion that left three dead.

Police said that they believe a group of men riding in a black Range Rover Sport SUV pulled up alongside a Maserati around 4:20 a.m. today and fired shots into the car, striking the driver and passenger, according to Officer Jose Hernandez of the Las Vegas Metropolitan police department.

The Maserati then swerved through an intersection, hitting at least four other cars. One car that was struck, a taxi with a driver and passenger in it, caught on fire and burst into flames, trapping both occupants, Hernandez said.

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The SUV then fled the scene, according to cops.

The driver of the Maserati died from his gunshot wounds at University Medical Center shortly after the shooting, according to Sgt. John Sheahan.

The driver and passenger of the taxi both died in the car fire.

At least three individuals, including the passenger of the Maserati, were injured during the shooting and car crashes and are being treated at UMC hospital.

Police are scouring surveillance video from the area, including from the strip's major casinos, to try and identify the Range Rover and its occupants, according to police.

They do not yet know why the Range Rovers' occupants fired shots at the Maserati or whether the cars had local plates or were from out of state.

No bystanders were hit by gunfire, Hernandez said.

"We're currently looking for a black Range Rover Sport, with large black rims and some sort of dealership advertising or advertisement plates," Hernandez said. "This is an armed and dangerous vehicle."

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority had no immediate comment about the safety of tourists in the wake of the shooting today.

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Bulgarian government resigns amid growing protests

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's government resigned on Wednesday after mass protests against high power prices and falling living standards, joining a long list of European administrations felled by austerity during four years of debt crisis.

Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, an ex-bodyguard who took power in 2009 on pledges to root out graft and raise incomes in the European Union's poorest member, faces a tough task of propping up eroding support ahead of an expected early election.

Wage and pension freezes and tax hikes have bitten deep in a country where earnings are less than half the EU average and tens of thousands of Bulgarians have rallied in protests that have turned violent, chanting "Mafia" and "Resign".

Moves by Borisov on Tuesday to blame foreign utility companies for the rise in the cost of heating homes was to no avail and an eleventh day of marches saw 15 people hospitalized and 25 arrested in clashes with police.

"My decision to resign will not be changed under any circumstances. I do not build roads so that blood is shed on them," said Borisov, who began his career guarding the Black Sea state's communist dictator Todor Zhivkov.

A karate black belt, Borisov has cultivated a Putin-like "can-do" image since he entered politics as Sofia mayor in 2005 and would connect with voters by showing up on the capital's rutted streets to oversee the repair of pot-holes.

But critics say he has often skirted due process, sometimes to the benefit of those close to him, and his swift policy U-turns have wounded the public's trust.

The spark for the protests was high electricity bills, after the government raised prices by 13 percent last July. But it quickly spilled over into wider frustration with Borisov and political elites with perceived links to shadowy businesses.

"He made my day," said student Borislav Hadzhiev in central Sofia, commenting on Borisov's resignation. "The truth is that we're living in an extremely poor country."

POLLS, PRICES

The prime minister's final desperate moves on Tuesday included cutting power prices and risking a diplomatic row with the Czech Republic by punishing companies including CEZ, moves which conflicted with EU norms on protection of investors and due process.

CEZ officials were hopeful on Wednesday that it would be able to avoid losing its distribution license after all and officials from the Bulgarian regulator said the company would not be punished if it dealt with breaches of procedure.

But shares in what is central Europe's largest publicly-listed company fell another 1 percent on Wednesday.

If pushed through, the fines for CEZ and two other foreign-owned firms will not encourage other investors in Bulgaria, who already have to navigate complicated bureaucracy and widespread corruption and organized crime to take advantage of Bulgaria's 10-percent flat tax rate.

Financial markets reacted negatively to the turbulence on Wednesday. The cost of insuring Bulgaria's debt rose to a three-month high and debt yields rose some 15 basis points, though the country's low deficit of 0.5 percent of gross domestic product means there is little risk to the lev currency's peg against the euro.

Borisov's interior minister indicated that elections originally planned for July would probably be pulled forward by saying that his rightist GERB party would not take part in talks to form a new government.

MILLIONS GONE

GERB's woes have echoes in another ex-communist EU member, Slovenia, where demonstrators have taken to the streets and added pressure to a crumbling conservative government.

A small crowd gathered in support of Borisov outside Sofia's parliament, which is expected to approve his resignation on Thursday, while bigger demonstrations against the premier were expected in the evening.

Unemployment in the country of 7.3 million is far from the highs hit in the decade after the end of communism but remains at 11.9 percent. Average salaries are stuck at around 800 levs ($550) a month and millions have emigrated, leaving swathes of the country depopulated and little hope for those who remain.

GERB's popularity has held up well and it still led in the latest polls before protests grew in size last weekend, but analysts say the opposition Socialists should draw strength from the demonstrations.

The leftists, successors to Bulgaria's communist party, have proposed tax cuts and wage hikes and are likely to raise questions about public finances if elected.

(Additional reporting by Angel Krasimirov; editing by Patrick Graham)

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Gbagbo lawyer slams "political trial" at ICC

THE HAGUE: Laurent Gbagbo's lawyer hit out at a "political trial" at the International Criminal Court on Wednesday, where judges are to decide if the Ivorian ex-president should face charges of crimes against humanity.

Gbagbo, 67, is the first former head of state brought before the ICC, where he is accused of masterminding a campaign of violence during a bloody 2010-2011 presidential election standoff in the West African nation in which over 3,000 people died.

"The Ivorian people deserve better than a political trial, they deserve a trial of those who are really responsible for the country's decade-long destruction and the court deserves to have been able to look at what really happened in Ivory Coast," lawyer Emmanuel Altit told the court on the second day of the confirmation of charges hearing.

Gbagbo maintains that he is the rightful president of Ivory Coast and that he was evicted in favour of his rival, current President Alassane Ouattara, thanks to a plot led by former colonial ruler France.

Gbagbo faces four counts of crimes against humanity for allegedly fomenting the wave of violence. He has denied the charges against him.

Altit said the evidence against Gbagbo had holes in it and did not represent reality.

"Why aren't they here, why aren't they being prosecuted?" said Altit, listing officials in Ouattara's government.

While thousands died during the five-month standoff, forces loyal to Gbagbo as well as those loyal to Ouattara have been accused of massive human rights abuses.

Prosecutors and the defence are to spend just over a week arguing their cases before a three-judge bench, who will then decide if there are "substantial grounds to believe that Gbagbo committed the crimes" and should be charged.

The prosecution says Gbagbo masterminded a plan to "stay in power by all means... through carefully planned, sustained and deadly attacks" against Ouattara supporters.

Between November 28, 2010 and May 8, 2011 Gbagbo's forces killed between 706 and 1,059 people and raped more than 35 women, prosecutors say.

His supporters have accused Ouattara's camp of practising "victor's justice" as many of the former president's backers are now behind bars -- including Gbagbo's wife Simone, who is also wanted by the ICC -- while none of those close to the Ouattara regime have been arrested.

The hearings started on Tuesday and are to last over a week, with Gbagbo expected to speak on the final day, February 28.

-AFP/ac

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Railways needs high speed freight corridor to compete with road transport: IFTRT

CHENNAI: The Railways need to introduce mass level exclusive parcel goods trains across the country to provide fast, safe, time bound service, said a latest report by the Indian Foundation of Transport Research & Training (IFTRT).
The Railways should set up retail cargo booking and delivery outlets in collaboration with private entrepreneurs in commercial centres, markets and industrial areas in an effort to effectively compete with road transport.

"Parcel cargo booked through retail outlets and booking points should be linked to internet portal for location of cargo and its delivery to the consignors / consignees," said S P Singh, senior fellow and coordinator, IFTRT. "This will help trade and commerce to source railway parcel services at economical rates and pose direct competition to the powerful segment of goods parcel booking agents, and break their collective pricing behaviour, which is exploiting the consumers," he added. A expanding Railway with high speed freight corridors is key solution to rationalize logistic cost in India, the report said.

The Railways used to command nearly 80% freight share in 1952-52 while road transport comprised a meager 21%. In the ensuing half a century and more, it has slowly relinquished its preeminent position thus increasing India's logistic costs significantly. Currently road freight has 80% share as against rail having only 20% share. "Besides the retail parcel cargo share for road is over 95% and rail has almost 5% share," said the report.

There could be number of reasons for this reversal, but the gradual weakening of rail freight due to negligible investment on replacement and expansion of rolling stock, despite economies of scale and lower freight charges, has led to the rapid expansion of road freight/ truck transport. "The railways slackness has left the entire turf at the mercy of powerful unregulated mass of goods transport agents / transport contractors / common carriers, who on the one hand control and dictate the 85% of freight market by dictating terms with the consignors / traders and on the other hand have strong grip over the 5.6 million truck operators," said Singh.

There is a well knit network of 2.5 lakh good transport agents and common carriers in the country having almost Rs 4,00,000 crore annual turn over, which includes 1,40,000 crore of retail parcel / part load cargo. These common carriers have pricing power to dictate truck rentals and hiring charges across cities and towns. In contrast, almost 90% of truck operators own 1-5 vehicles only which offers them little elbow room or muscle, said Singh.

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Drug overdose deaths up for 11th consecutive year

CHICAGO (AP) — Drug overdose deaths rose for the 11th straight year, federal data show, and most of them were accidents involving addictive painkillers despite growing attention to risks from these medicines.

"The big picture is that this is a big problem that has gotten much worse quickly," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which gathered and analyzed the data.

In 2010, the CDC reported, there were 38,329 drug overdose deaths nationwide. Medicines, mostly prescription drugs, were involved in nearly 60 percent of overdose deaths that year, overshadowing deaths from illicit narcotics.

The report appears in Tuesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

It details which drugs were at play in most of the fatalities. As in previous recent years, opioid drugs — which include OxyContin and Vicodin — were the biggest problem, contributing to 3 out of 4 medication overdose deaths.

Frieden said many doctors and patients don't realize how addictive these drugs can be, and that they're too often prescribed for pain that can be managed with less risky drugs.

They're useful for cancer, "but if you've got terrible back pain or terrible migraines," using these addictive drugs can be dangerous, he said.

Medication-related deaths accounted for 22,134 of the drug overdose deaths in 2010.

Anti-anxiety drugs including Valium were among common causes of medication-related deaths, involved in almost 30 percent of them. Among the medication-related deaths, 17 percent were suicides.

The report's data came from death certificates, which aren't always clear on whether a death was a suicide or a tragic attempt at getting high. But it does seem like most serious painkiller overdoses were accidental, said Dr. Rich Zane, chair of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

The study's findings are no surprise, he added. "The results are consistent with what we experience" in ERs, he said, adding that the statistics no doubt have gotten worse since 2010.

Some experts believe these deaths will level off. "Right now, there's a general belief that because these are pharmaceutical drugs, they're safer than street drugs like heroin," said Don Des Jarlais, director of the chemical dependency institute at New York City's Beth Israel Medical Center.

"But at some point, people using these drugs are going to become more aware of the dangers," he said.

Frieden said the data show a need for more prescription drug monitoring programs at the state level, and more laws shutting down "pill mills" — doctor offices and pharmacies that over-prescribe addictive medicines.

Last month, a federal panel of drug safety specialists recommended that Vicodin and dozens of other medicines be subjected to the same restrictions as other narcotic drugs like oxycodone and morphine. Meanwhile, more and more hospitals have been establishing tougher restrictions on painkiller prescriptions and refills.

One example: The University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora is considering a rule that would ban emergency doctors from prescribing more medicine for patients who say they lost their pain meds, Zane said.

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Stobbe reported from Atlanta.

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Online:

JAMA: http://www.jama.ama-assn.org

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov

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AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com

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