Hi! The following news report is called FOCUS because it zeroes in on certain major news stories that, except for Ukraine, have been neglected by the Top Five News Stories that I’ve been posting. You’ll find another news report from me sometime tonight that will cover the rest of today’s news. – Ray
CHRISTIAN NEWS FROM RAY
A free service of Jesus Christ is Lord Ministries
News selected and edited by Ray Mossholder
CHRISTIAN NEWS FROM RAY – FOCUS
11 A.M. March 30, 2014
FEDERAL COURT RULES TEXAS CAN KEEP ITS STRONG ABORTION LAWS
A federal appeals court on Thursday send all of its new abortion restrictions in Texas our legal, a real victory for proponents of one of the toughest abortion laws in the country that has already led to the closure of at least a dozen clinics in the state.
Under the law passed last year, doctors performing abortions must have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. The Republican-controlled statehouse also placed strict limits on doctors prescribing pills that induce abortions.
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers argued that the regulations placed an undue burden on women trying to get an abortion. A lower court had ruled in October that the new rules violated the Constitution and that they served no medical purpose, but the federal appeals court overturned that ruling.
Some aspects of the new law, including a requirement that abortions take place in a surgical facility, will not go into effect until September.
ANOTHER LARGE EARTHQUAKE ROCKS LOS ANGELES
A magnitude-5.1 earthquake was widely felt in the Los Angeles area and surrounding counties Friday evening. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at about 9:09 p.m. and was centered near Brea in Orange County — about 20 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles — at a depth of about 5 miles. It was felt as far south as San Diego and as far north as Ventura County, according to citizen responses collected online by the USGS.
Southern California Edison reported power outages to about 2,000 customers following the quake.
Southern California Edison reported power outages to about 2,000 customers following the quake.
More than two dozen aftershocks ranging from magnitudes 2 to 3.6 were recorded, according to the USGS. Earlier in the evening, two foreshocks registering at magnitude-3.6 and magnitude-2.1 hit nearby in the city of La Habra.
Friday’s quake hit a week after a pre-dawn magnitude-4.4 quake centered in the San Fernando Valley rattled a swath of Southern California. That jolt shook buildings and rattled nerves, but did not cause significant damage.
Southern California has not experienced a devastating earthquake since the 1994 magnitude-6.7 Northridge quake killed several dozen people and caused $25 billion in damage.
Callers to KNX-AM reported seeing a brick wall collapse, water sloshing in a swimming pool and wires and trees swaying back and forth. One caller said he was in a movie theater lobby in Brea when the quake struck. “A lot of the glass in the place shook like crazy. It started like a roll and then it started shaking like crazy. Everybodyran outside, hugging each other in the streets.”
A helicopter news reporter from KNBC-TV reported from above that rides at Disneyland in Anaheim — several miles from the epicenter — were stopped as a precaution.
Tom Connolly, a Boeing employee who lives in La Mirada, the next town over from La Habra, said the magnitude-5.1 quake lasted about 30 seconds. “We felt a really good jolt. It was a long rumble and it just didn’t feel like it would end,” he told The Associated Press by phone. “Right in the beginning it shook really hard, so it was a little unnerving. People got quiet and started bracing themselves by holding on to each other. It was a little scary.”
Friday night’s 5.1 magnitude earthquake occurred near the Puente Hills thrust fault, which stretches from the San Gabriel Valley to downtown Los Angeles and caused the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake, USGS seismologist Lucy Jones said.
“It’s a place where we’ve had a lot of earthquakes in the past,” she said.
The 5.9 Whittier Narrows quake killed eight people and caused $360 million in damage.
Public safety officials said crews were inspecting bridges, dams, rail tracks and other infrastructure systems for signs of damage. The Brea police department said the rock slide in the Carbon Canyon area caused a car to overturn, and the people inside the car sustained minor injuries.
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AP sports reporter Beth Harris contributed to this report from Buena Park, Calif.
The Associated Press
PUTIN HAS BLINKED
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Paris Saturday ahead of a Sunday meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The top diplomats’ gathering was scheduled after Kerry unexpectedly canceled his return trip to the U.S. following a call between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The meeting will take place as Russia seeks to calm fears it plans further invasions in Eastern Ukraine. “We have absolutely no intention of – or interest in – crossing Ukraine’s borders,” Lavrov said on Russian television, Reuters reports, despite reports of Russian troops amassing on the Ukrainian border.
Lavrov’s comments came a day after Russian Putin called Obama in an attempt to open dialogue between the Kremlin and the West. Kerry and Lavrov spoke on the phone Saturday to follow-up on their bosses’ call and schedule Sunday’s planned meeting.
Putin phoned Obama on Friday to discuss the tenuous situation in Ukraine — the latest exchange between two leaders who have been at loggerheads over the crisis and what should happen next. According to the White House, Putin called to talk about an American proposal “for a diplomatic resolution,” and the two presidents agreed their respective top diplomats “would meet to discuss next steps.” The back-and-forth also gave Obama the opportunity to express, as he’s done repeatedly in recent weeks, his opposition to what he described as Russia’s takeover of Crimea, which just a few weeks ago was part of Ukraine.
“We view it as a concrete threat to Ukraine and see the potential for further interventions,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. “I fear that it is not yet enough for [Putin].”
Putin has said its troops have only been carrying out snap military exercises in the region. The release said Obama asked Putin to deliver a written response to his proposal, and the two agreed to have Kerry and Lavrov meet again.
[Reuters}
UKRAINE – PROTEST LEADER NO LONGER RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN)– Boxer-turned-politician Vitali Klitschko on Saturday pulled out of the race for Ukraine’s president, throwing his weight instead behind a billionaire businessman. His announcement came as Russia has repeated its declaration over and over again that it had no intention and has no intention of sending troops into Ukraine — responding to Western warnings over a military buildup on the border following Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula.
Klitschko, one of the most familiar faces of the opposition during the anti-government protests that ousted pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych last month, also told members of his UDAR party that Ukraine should aim to join the European Union fully. “We need to have a joint democratic nominee. It has to be a candidate with the highest chances of winning. Today, I believe such a candidate is Petro Poroshenko,” he told a party convention in Kiev, referring to the billionaire businessman,also a former foreign minister. “Our goal is full membership of Ukraine in the EU.”
Klitschko said that he would run for mayor of the capital. “All reforms start in Kiev,” he said.
Klitschko’s withdrawal from the presidential race would set up a battle between confectionery businessman Poroshenko and Ukraine’s former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, in the May 25 elections.
After more than two years in prison, Tymoshenko was released in February following the ouster of her rival Yanukovych.
Vitali Klitschko with Petro Poroshenko Yulia Tymoshenko
U.S. MILITARY WILL NOT EVER HAVE BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN UKRAINE
There is no plan to involve the U.S. military in what is happening in Ukraine, even if Russia did take more territory. Ukraine borders Russia, and Ukraine does not belong to NATO, where an attack on one member is deemed to be an attack on all.
“Should the Russians continue to move aggressively in that region and in the Ukraine, and NATO would have to respond, for example—what would that mean for the United States Army?” Representative Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, asked the Army’s top officer Thursday.
My responsibility is to make sure that the U.S. Army is prepared to respond as part of a joint force, as part of NATO,” General Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, responded. “So what I’m focused on is improving our readiness in combat, combat service support and combat aviation capabilities to make sure we’re ready to respond whether it’s from a humanitarian assistance aspect or any other
aspect.”
General Ray Odierno
How many of the 67,000 U.S. troops in Europe might be involved?
“I simply don’t know,” Odierno said. “And I would just remind people that, actually, some of the soldiers that are assigned to Europe actually right now are in Afghanistan.”
Lawmakers suggested that the world is abandoning Ukraine. “It appears to me Ukraine was left defenseless over the last two decades,” said Representative Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio. “Ukraine has stood with us both in Iraq and Afghanistan,” added Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J. “We’re highly appreciative and recognize their sacrifice.”
The U.S. has made plain it is not rushing military aid of any kind to Ukraine, despite Kiev’s requests. Ukraine has sought lethal military aid—small arms and ammunition—but that is off the table. “The rations, the Meals Ready to Eat, they are on the way,” Kirby said. “We expect them to arrive in Ukraine probably by the weekend is the best estimate. They’re going over land.”
Obama stressed Thursday that economic and political sanctions would be the primary weapons the international community would be brandishing to curb Russian aggression against Ukraine. “I’ve been very clear in saying that we are going to do everything we can to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” he said in Rome. “But I think that it’s also important for us not to promise and then not be able to deliver.”
Congress spoke with one voice against Russia’s annexation of Crimea, passing legislation in the House and Senate giving help to cash-strapped Ukraine and imposing sanctions against Russia. The Senate approved the legislation by voice vote Thursday at the same time the House was passing a different version on a 399-19 vote. The votes were a show of solidarity with President Obama, who had already announced sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and others. The president spent several days rallying U.S. allies to stand firm against Putin’s aggression.
Lawmakers intended to get a final measure to the White House by Friday’s end.
Each bill would provide $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine and impose penalties on Russia for its aggression. “President Putin is watching … waiting to see if we have the resolve to act,” said Senator Bob Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Senator Bob Mendez
Menendez said the Senate bill would provide $1 billion in loan guarantees to help stabilize Ukraine’s economy and would authorize assistance for democracy, governance and civil society programs and enhanced security cooperation. It also would provide support for the Ukrainian government to help recover assets linked to corruption by former Ukraine government officials. The measure also would sanction those who are responsible for human rights abuses against anti-government protesters and those responsible for undermining the peace and sovereignty of the Ukraine to be dealt with. Targeting Russia, the bill also would freeze assets and revoke visas of Russian officials and their associates who are complicit in or responsible for significant corruption in Ukraine.
“Putin’s cronies should recognize that Putin may not be the right horse to be betting on any longer,” Menendez said.
The Senate bill authorizes $50 million in assistance to Ukraine for such things as improving democratic governance and anti-corruption efforts; supporting free and fair elections in Ukraine; and bolstering democratic institutions and civil society organizations. The bill authorizes an additional $100 million to enhance security cooperation among the United States, European Union and countries in central and eastern Europe and further authorizes the president to provide defense articles and services, and additional security assistance to Ukraine and countries in the region.
Swift approval of the legislation came after Senate Democrats backed down and stripped International Monetary Fund reform language from the bill. The move signaled a retreat for Democrats and the Obama administration, which had promoted the IMF provisions. But with tens of thousands of Russian troops amassed on Ukraine’s eastern border, Senate Democrats decided it was more important to denounce Russia, codify sanctions against Putin’s inner circle and support Ukraine rather than push now for the IMF changes.
The State Department issued a Ukraine travel warning on March 21 warning “U.S. citizens to defer all non-essential travel to Ukraine and to defer all travel to the Crimean Peninsula and eastern regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Lugansk due to the presence of Russian military forces in the Crimean Peninsula, and in Russia near the Ukrainian border.”
Three days after that warning was issued the State Department’s official Twitterfeed disseminated an official video promoting travel to Ukraine and arguing that all is safe for tourists. “Disinformation: Kyiv is a burned out battle ground filled with rampaging lawless groups,” wrote a caption on the video, which was posted by the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. “Fact: The effects of the Maidan confrontation are extremely localized, relegated to three or four streets in the center of the city.” The video struck some foreign policy observers as confusing and contradictory given the sharp contrast between the two messages. State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf told the Free Beacon that the video is an effort to combat “Kremlin propaganda” that aims to distort the situation in Ukraine and mislead the international community.
We have spent several hours today trying to figure out what is happening in Ukraine. One of our friends lives in a village near the Eastern Border. She said the people are really scared. It is reported there are 100,00 Russian troops on the Eastern Border and the people fear they will come in and take over that area. However that is the part of Ukraine that speaks Russian and most of the people there would not be upset if Russia did take over. Ukraine is really not prepared for war but they are preparing now.
This woman also told us something else that is quite interesting. Crimea has no power or water except what they get from Ukraine. She said no one is saying anything about that. So who knows what’s going to happen?
Another source lives in Kiev. He too is a missionary to Ukraine. Putin said he doesn’t really want any more land, but the people believe this is just the first place he is going to take. The Russians are poised on the three districts in the Eastern part of Ukraine.
About Olexander Muzychko who you reported was buried yesterday after being shot and killed, was the leader of the Right Fixers who were militant protesters in Kiev. They were the ones who started throwing the Molotov cocktails at the police. The Right Fixers are made up mainly of young people. They tend to be against any negotiations. This guy fought on the side of the Cechnians against the Russians. Most Americans undoubtedly assume Putin had him killed, but he was killed by the Ukrainian police.
To sum it up, the Ukrainians just want peace but peace with freedom. The grievna (the money over there) is very unstable. Yesterday it was 8 grievna to the dollar and today it is 11 grievna to the dollar.
The one positive in all of this is the effect it is having for the Lord. People are holding prayer meetings 2 and 3 times a day. Some people are showing up who have showed an interest in Jesus but now are really interested. God always has a positive side to a negative. Remember to pray for Ukraine.
In Him, Bob & Jan
GAY RIGHTS
HOLDER SAYS MICHIGAN’S MARRIED WILL RECEIVE
THE SAME FEDERAL BENEFITS ALL OTHER MARRIED COUPLES DO
Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday that the federal government will recognize about 300 same-sex marriages performed in Michigan before a federal appeals court halted them, despite a decision by Michigan’s governor not to recognize those unions. The decision means federal benefits will be extended to those couples — including the ability to file taxes jointly, get Social Security benefits for spouses and request legal immigration status for partners.
“These families will be eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages,” Holder said in a statement.
The announcement Friday morning is Holder’s latest entry into the state-level same-sex marriage debate. Holder did the same thing in Utah, where more than 1,000 same-sex couples got married, before the Supreme Court put those unions on hold in January after a federal judge overturned the conservative state’s same-sex marriage ban in December. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman struck down Michigan’s gay marriage ban.
Judge Bernard Friedman
Four counties then took the extraordinary step of granting licenses on the Saturday before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a temporary halt. The stay was extended indefinitely on Tuesday.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder afterward called the marriages performed last weekend legal but said Michigan won’t recognize them. Snyder, who is a Republican, acknowledged that same-sex couples “had a legal marriage.” But because of the court’s stay, he added, the gay marriage ban has been restored. The governor’s move closed the door, at least for now, to certain state benefits reserved solely for married couples. The American Civil Liberties Union has said more than 1,000 Michigan laws are tied to marriage.
Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday, “The Governor of Michigan has made clear that the marriages that took place on Saturday were lawful and valid when entered into, although Michigan will not extend state rights and benefits tied to these marriages pending further legal proceedings,” he said. “For purposes of federal law, as I announced in January with respect to similarly situated same-sex couples in Utah, these Michigan couples will not be asked to wait for further resolution in the courts before they may seek federal benefits to which they are entitled.”
Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., issue licenses for same-sex marriages. Since December, bans on gay marriage also have been overturned by courts in Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Virginia, but appeals have put those cases on hold.
THE HORRIBLE TRAGEDY OF WASHINGTON’S LANDSLIDE CONTINUES
DARRINGTON, Wash. (AP) – As firefighter Jeff McClelland uncovered a body on the moon-like surface that blankets what used to be the community of Oso, he soon realized that the search party had a close connection to the victim: The dead man’s son and brother were among the volunteers scouring the debris field.
The relatives sat beside the body as it was zipped into a bag. McClelland found himself overcome with tears.
The discovery served as a touching reminder of the deeply emotional work that is playing out in this tight-knit town as rescuers like McClelland search for bodies in the muck and devastation, hoping to at least bring some closure to the relatives and friends of those who have not been found.
McClelland said, “I can go home and … eat some food, hug my wife, come in and hug my friends the next morning and say, ‘Let’s go again. We’ve got something to do. We’ve got a job to do, so let’s go do it.’”
Scores of people once thought missing in the mudslide have turned up safe, but that provided little relief to rescuers like McClelland who are tasked with bringing closure to the relatives and friends of those who have not been found.
Hope of a miracle discovery of a survivor has faded as the search enters the second week. Hope is replaced by acknowledgement that some families may not be able to bury a body. Becky Bach watches and waits, hoping that search crews will find her brother, his wife, her 20-year-old great-niece and the young girl’s fiance. “Realistically … I honestly don’t think they’re going to find them alive,” Bach said, crying. “But as a family, we’re trying to figure out what to do if they find no bodies.
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Doug Massingale waits too for word about his 4-month-old granddaughter. Searchers were able to identify carpet from the infant’s bedroom, but a log jam stood in the way of a more thorough effort to find little Sanoah Huestis, known as “Snowy.” “It’s stressful to think about,” he said. “A little baby that hasn’t gotten a start yet in life. It’s too much.”
Crews found another body late Wednesday, said Brian McMahan, a landslide incident spokesman. Authorities have now discovered at least 25 bodies.
Trying to recover every corpse would be impractical and too dangerous. The debris field is about a square mile and 30 to 40 feet deep in places, with a surface that includes quicksand-like muck, rain-slickened mud and ice. The terrain is difficult to navigate on foot and makes it treacherous or impossible to bring in heavy equipment.
To make matters worse, the pile is laced with other hazards that include fallen trees, propane and septic tanks, twisted vehicles and countless shards of shattered homes.
A death certificate, issued by the state, is legal proof that someone has died. Families often need them to settle their affairs. The authority to issue them starts with a county medical examiner or coroner, said Donn Moyer, spokesman for the Washington State Department of Health. If and when it appears there is no chance of finding someone, people can ask the county to start that process.
Two Washington National Guard Blackhawk helicopters are always at the site and two more come to replace them regularly. The Blackhawks’ sole mission is body removal, said Bill Quistorf, chief pilot for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
Survivors grow more and more impatient that they aren’t allowed to return to the sites of their homes to search for their valuables and keepsakes. “This isn’t right. All of us who are still alive need to have access and find what we can of our lives,” said Robin Youngblood, who said her son-in-law was turned away from the slide site.
Associated Press writers Phuong Le and Matt Volz in Seattle; P. Solomon Banda in Darrington, Wash.; and photographer Elaine Thompson in Oso, Wash.; and researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.
The dreary slog to comb through the surreal aftermath of the landslide became even drearier and messier on Saturday, with persistent rain and strong winds adding to searchers’ already daunting challenges.
“The weather is basically working against us,” Fire District Chief Travis Hots said.
Heavy rain fell again Saturday on the hundreds of rescue personnel and volunteers fanned out across the rugged terrain in Snohomish County looking for signs of life or, at least, lives that once were.
Those downpours added to rain that’s fallen the last three days, with more such precipitation likely today and beyond, according to the National Weather Service’s forecast. The huge wall of earth that crashed into the collection of homes followed weeks of heavy rain. Areas that had dried up are now saturated again while puddles and pools are filling up even more.
There are also worries the weather will create hazards, which is why more geologists have been brought in to make sure that there’s not another landslide that puts rescuers in harms way. As Hots said Friday of the conditions, “It just makes things slower and more complicated.”
Things are already moving an arduous, if understandable, pace for those awaiting word on people who may or may not be buried in the rubble. “This is a sensitive situation for people who have lost their loved ones,” Hots said of the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office’s processing of additional bodies. “Everything is gray.”
Thankfully, workers have made big progress in creating an east-west roadway to connect searchers on both sides of the landslide. Still, in between, “the digging is very tough,” Mason noted. “… There’s a lot more mud, and the mud is a lot more fluid.”
Some of those scouring through the mud and rubble are firefighters or other emergency personnel. Others are local civilians eager to help, in some cases to look for neighbors or loved ones who might be in the muck. Most all of those in both groups are local citizen volunteers.
There are concerns about more landslides or being stuck or sucked into the mud themselves. There are the raw emotions of literally sifting through what’s left of some people’s lives. And there’s the fact sewage is mixed in with the mess, which is why everyone must be hosed off extensively.
As John Hadaway — who sustained a concussion earlier while trying to find his missing brother — told CNN affiliate KIRO, “It’s not a safe job. There’s nothing safe about it. And yet every day, people line up at nearby firehouses eager to help. These individuals come in up to waist-deep in mud that they’ve been going through,” Mason said Friday. “… They see things that people shouldn’t have to see.”
While some families cling to the hope that their loved ones have survived, others — like Rae Smith, whose daughter Summer Raffo was driving through the area when the slide hit — are in mourning. “My heart is broken. It’s broken,” Rae Smith said.
The confirmed death toll rose by one, to 18, Jason Biermann, program manager at the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management, said at a Saturday evening briefing. Authorities have recovered more than two dozen bodies — including one on Saturday — but they aren’t added to the official tally until a formal identification is made.
Underscoring the difficulty of identifying those killed in one of the deadliest landslides in U.S. history, Biermann said crews are not always discovering complete remains. “Rescuers are not always making full recoveries,” he said. “Often, they are making partial recoveries.”
A week after the landslide 55 miles northeast of Seattle, the search was going “all the way to the dirt” as crews looked for anything to provide answers for families and friends. Crews are also building a secondary road to the mudslide area for safer access, Harris sad. Biermann said at the news conference that the road was completed but was only for use by people involved in the search and rescue, families and friends.
All work on the debris field halted briefly Saturday for a moment of silence to honor those lost. Governor Jay Inslee had asked people across Washington to pause at 10:37 a.m., the time the huge slide struck on March 22. “People all over stopped work — all searchers — in honor of that moment,” Snohomish County Fire District 1 battalion chief Steve Mason said.
All work on the debris field halted briefly Saturday for a moment of silence to honor those lost. Governor Jay Inslee had asked people across Washington to pause at 10:37 a.m., the time the huge slide struck on March 22. “People all over stopped work — all searchers — in honor of that moment,” Snohomish County Fire District 1 battalion chief Steve Mason said.
An American flag had been run up a tree and then down to half-staff at the debris site, he said.
Among the dozens of missing are Adam Farnes, and his mother, Julie. “He was a giant of a man with a giant laugh,” Kellie Howe said of Farnes. Howe became friends with him when he moved to the area from Alaska. She said Adam Farnes was the kind of guy who would come into your house and help you do the dishes.
Adam Farnes also played the banjo, drums and bass guitar, she said, and had worked as a telephone lineman and a 911 dispatcher. “He loved his music loud,” she said.
Finding and identifying all the victims could stretch on for a very long time, and authorities have warned that not everyone may ultimately be accounted for.
Rescuers have given a cursory look at the entire debris field, said Steve Harris, division supervisor for the eastern incident management team. They are now sifting through the rest of the fragments, looking for places where dogs should give extra attention. Only “a very small percentage” has received the more thorough examination, he said.
Dogs working four-hour shifts have been the most useful tool, Harris said, but they’re getting hypothermic in the rain and muck.
Commanders are making sure people have the right gear to stay safe in the rain and potentially hazardous materials, and they’re keeping a close eye on the level of the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River to be sure nobody is trapped by rising water.
Crews are also collecting bags of personal belongings that would later be cleaned, sorted and hopefully returned to families. “What we found out here is everything from pictures to gun safes,” Mason said.
Now, a week later, only local volunteers like Joe Wright are being allowed to help rescuers. The Darrington resident set up his tool-sharpening operation near the firehouse. He’s been busy. In a little more than a day, he estimated he had sharpened more than 150 chainsaw chains dulled by rocks and dirt. “There were people using their own saws,” Wright said. “They’re just trying to get down there to get the job done.”
Back at Darrington, about 15 miles from Oso, residents used Saturday’s solemnity to recall what they were doing when a piece of the Earth came crashing down.
Rankin was at a hardware store to buy screws for a weekend project. Then the credit card machines went down. Then came word of the landslide, with a home in its path.
Pastor Michael De Luca was having coffee with the local barber in his shop at the time. “A woman came through the door and asked for a cell phone. She wanted to make a call. She said, ‘I was following a car and a slide pushed it off the road.’”
Dan Rankin, mayor of the nearby logging town of Darrington, said the community had been “changed forevermore. It’s going to take a long time to heal, and the likelihood is we will probably never be whole,” he said.
CNN’s Chelsea Carter, Dan Simon, Linda Hall and Paul Vercammen contributed from Washington. Greg Botelho, Matt Smith, Mariano Castillo, Gabe Ramirez, Ana Cabrera and Jason Hanna also contributed to this report. Ralph Ellis in Atlanta and Michael Martinez in Los Angeles reported and wrote. Also Brian Skoloff and Lisa Baumann associated press
A LONG LONG WAY FROM OSO OTHER FAMILIES ARE TORN APART TOO
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (CNN) – Dozens of anguished Chinese relatives on Sunday demanded that Malaysia provide them with evidence on the fate of their loved ones aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The family members arrived in Kuala Lumpur and held a news conference at their hotel, imploring officials to be more transparent.
“We want evidence, we want truth and we want our family,” said Jiang Hui, the families’ designated representative. The crowd chanted the same words.
“We are here to call for the following three things,” he said. “First, the Malaysian side should provide us with timely and comprehensive evidence and answer the families’ questions.”
He also asked Malaysia to apologize for releasing confusing information and for announcing on March 24 that the plane had crashed even though there was not “direct evidence.”
On Saturday, crew members aboard a Chinese plane dropped buoys to mark three suspected debris sites, China’s state-run CCTV reported. It later said Sunday an orange “suspicious object” spotted by a Chinese plane Saturday turned out to be a dead jellyfish.
Various ships are also involved in the search, including the Australian navy ship Ocean Shield, which will be fitted with a “black box” detector and an autonomous underwater vehicle.
Amid the confusion, Malaysia said it has done its best with what it has.
“History will judge us as a country that has been very responsible,” Hishammuddin Hussein, spokesman for Malaysian Airlines, said. (65% of Malaysians are Muslim.)
Hishammuddin Hussein
Relatives said they hope to meet the transport minister in Kuala Lumpur. They also asked Malaysia to plan meetings with the various companies involved, including Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer.
The batteries on the flight data recorder, commonly referred to as the black box, are designed to last about 30 days. The plane disappeared March 8 — 22 days ago.
“We certainly have our challenges in front of us,” said Commander Mark Matthews of the U.S. Navy. “What we’re trying to find is an acoustic emission from one of the pingers on the flight data recorder (and) the cockpit voice recorder. Typically these last, the batteries last about 30 days, usually they last a little bit longer, and that’s what we’re trying to find. But what is critical is that the teams that are out there searching for the surface debris, they get good position data on that and they feed it back to the oceanographers, to help us determine a probable point of impact for where the aircraft went in.”
Commander Mark Matthews
American pinger locator and undersea search equipment was loaded onto the Ocean Shield. The ship is set to depart by Monday morning, and will take up to three days to reach the search area.
In Beijing on Saturday, some of the relatives of the missing vented their anguish in the streets. “They’re all still alive, my son and everyone on board!” yelled Wen Wancheng, 63, whose only son was among the passengers. “The plane is still there, too! They’re hiding it.” He held aloft a banner that read: “Son, Mom and Dad’s hearts are torn to pieces. Come home soon!”
“What they want is a commitment on our part to continue the search, and that I have given,” Hishammuddin said. “For me, as the minister responsible, this is the hardest part of my life, at the moment,” he told reporters. “Miracles do happen, remote or otherwise, and that is the hope that the families want me to convey — not only to the Malaysian government, MAS (Malaysia Airlines), but also to the world at large,” he said.
The latest data analysis shows Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 ended up in the southern Indian Ocean. Investigators concluded that during the flight’s initial phase, the plane was traveling faster and burning fuel faster than they previously had thought. As a result, it could not have traveled as far south as earlier estimates indicated.
The new search area is closer to Australia’s coast, so it takes less time to reach, meaning more area can be searched. It’s also marked by calmer waters.
The search for Flight 370 has spanned vast bodies of water and continents.
It started in the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, where the plane went out of contact with air traffic controllers. When authorities learned of radar data suggesting the plane had turned westward across the Malay Peninsula after losing contact, they expanded the search into the Strait of Malacca. When those efforts proved fruitless, the search spread north into the Andaman Sea and northern Indian Ocean. It then ballooned drastically after Malaysia announced March 15 that satellite data showed the plane could have flown along either of two huge arcs, one stretching northwest into the Asian land mass, the other southwest into the Indian Ocean. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has said that further analysis of the data led authorities to conclude the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean.
A search pilot said, “It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and you don’t find many of those.”
CNN’s Mitra Mobasherat, Brian Walker, Yuli Yangand Paula Hancocks contributed to this report
THE MOVIE “NOAH” SHOULD HAVE DROWNED AT SEA!
Editor’s Note: My daughter, Elizabeth, was given a free ticket to see the newly released motion picture “Noah,” so she used it. Then she wrote me this review of what she saw. – Ray
Let me start by saying that I am not a purist. The Bible was not written as a screen play so I am pretty forgiving when Hollywood takes some liberties to make the Biblical stories more geared for the big screen. For instance, in the recent movie “Son of God” it didn’t rock my faith when Jesus turned to Simon Peter in his fishing boat and said to follow Him since they were going to ‘change the world’. “Change the world” makes a lot more sense for the masses – many viewers not being churched – than, “I will make you fishers of men”.
But “Noah” is so beyond artistic license that I don’t know where to begin. And I would love to give you a spoiler alert warning but since the movie is fantastically spoiled, this is just a general warning. It was a bit like Noah meets transformers. There were rock creatures that were apparently the fallen angels who helped build the ark. There was cannibalism in the local village. There was a stow-away on the ark who almost kills Noah just as they find land. So bringing in a massive dose of Hollywood kept this from being even a semi-Biblical account. But more than that, they made the relationship between God, Noah and his family so convoluted (Noah almost kills his new granddaughters as he thinks that is God’s design) that it muddies the story completely. Oddly, the only accurate part of the movie is when Noah gets drunk after the flood.
I would not recommend this movie at all. No redeeming qualities and fully unbelievable. I will never get those two hours back.
Elizabeth Hinson
Associate Director, Office of Executive Programs
School of Public Policy
University of Maryland
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Sometimes a movie is so bad that you’re sorry you asked the man in front of you to remove his hat.
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