<![CDATA[National news from metro.us/newyork]]> en-us <![CDATA[Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg face lawsuit over IPO]]>
The defendants were accused of concealing from investors during the IPO marketing process "a severe and pronounced reduction" in Facebook revenue growth forecasts, resulting from increased use of its app or website through mobile devices.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, according to a lawyer for the plaintiff. ]]> http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143837--facebook-mark-zuckerberg-face-lawsuit-over-ipo Wed, 23 May 2012 09:38:24 -0400 Reuters http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143837--facebook-mark-zuckerberg-face-lawsuit-over-ipo <![CDATA[Metropolitik: Finance’s benefactors back their paymasters]]>
It started on Sunday talk show "Meet the Press" when Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat, criticized an ad put out by President Obama's re-election campaign. Booker judged the attack ad -- which contrasted Mitt Romney's touted business experience with the lives destroyed in the wake of his company's highly profitable machinations -- as "nauseating," explaining that it made him "very uncomfortable."

The fallout began immediately. Republicans pounced on the quotes, while Booker quickly walked them back, clarifying -- and then re-clarifying -- that he in fact stands with Obama 100 percent.
But the damage -- or rather, opportunity -- had been done. With no haste, another pair of Democrats, former Tennessee pol Harold Ford Jr. and Obama's former "auto czar" Steve Rattner, jumped aboard the Free Private Equity bandwagon, and Team Romney spun it all as an Obama attack on freedom.

Yet it's not too difficult to suss out what is going on here. Ford is currently a managing director for Morgan Stanley. Rattner co-founded a private equity firm and worked for Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley and others. Booker is a sitting politician whose job is directly linked to the financial sector:?Bain and other similar firms contributed hundreds of thousands to his last election.

"I'm not about to sit here and indict private equity," Booker said. No, he's not, but not due to any strong moral convictions. Booker and his compatriots have a clear conflict of interest here; in Washington as elsewhere, you don't bite the hand that feeds you.

But nor must we eat from the hand that bites us. (Pardon the strained metaphor.) The financial industry bankrolls the entire political complex, making it practically impossible to oversee. Any time the conversation gets shifted to the real levers of power, and the arms that pull them, is a moment when we can honestly discuss the problems before us.

Is Romney gaining the upper hand? Did Obama score points? Who knows? Let's linger on this accidental peek into the smoke-filled room.

Follow Brayden Simms on Twitter @metropolitik ]]> http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143795--metropolitik-finance-s-benefactors-back-their-paymasters Tue, 22 May 2012 18:23:56 -0400 NEW YORK http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143795--metropolitik-finance-s-benefactors-back-their-paymasters <![CDATA[Our parents were criminals]]>
The Jersey mom has been charged with child endangerment under NJ law, which provides that a person having a legal duty for the care of a child who causes the child harm that meets the definition of “abuse” or “neglect” (as defined by NJ law) commits a crime of the second degree.  So what is abuse or neglect?  It’s defined as loosely as: a risk of physical harm, or failing to take proper care of the child.  What exactly does that mean?  Under that broad definition, my own Mom committed crimes when she:

•   Locked my brothers and I in the station wagon at the grocery store parking lot with the window cracked;

•   Let us jump off the high dive at the community pool (remember high dives?--thanks lawyers);

•   Burned through two lighters a day smoking cigarettes around us. (Not two packs, mind you.  Two lighters.)  

All of these exposed us potentially to “harm,” under the statute.  Under the statute, your parents were surely criminals at some point.  And if you have kids, you have been a criminal at some point too, even though you likely strap your kid into his car seat like it’s a NASA shuttle launch.  

And this is the problem: we’ve drafted criminal codes so broadly that criminal activity is not a matter of tangible, ascertainable definition, but rather human discretion. And that discretion is often influenced by a singular, bizarre incident, and the public pressure that results.

Do we really need to pass legislation on the tanning industry because of this one incident?  Is that the best use of the lawmakers’ time?

I’m not saying Tanning Mom is Mother of the Year.  I’m more concerned about how we as a society are now trying to legislate aspects of human behavior that are not really legislate-able.  If exposing a kid to ultra-violet rays is abuse or endangerment, then isn’t letting your kids run amok on the beach in Wildwood in July without sunscreen also “endangerment”?  Is moving your family to sunny Arizona per se endangerment of your children?  All of these expose kids to solar radiation--possibly more than a tanning bed.  Every parent arguably exposes their child to some harm every day.  And while we’re talking about potential harm, what about the actual harm absent dads are imposing every day on an entire generation?  If I had to choose between (1) Mom forcing me into a tanning booth, and (2) Dad being just a phone call at Christmas, I say: slather me in Hawaiian Tropic, and let’s get our Pauly-D on.  But we won’t condemn absent Dads because, well, did you see Tanning Mom?  What’s more interesting to you?  Of course.  The train wreck is.    

Negligent parenting is about the biggest--and most ignored--social crisis today.  But the solution begins with parents--not with legislation. We will always have bad parents--after all, without them, who’s going to keep the porn industry supplied with fresh talent? Hopefully, not you.  Take care of your own little snowflake; don’t ask the law to do it for you. ]]> http://www.metro.us/newyork/local/article/1143742--our-parents-were-criminals Tue, 22 May 2012 14:06:26 -0400 DANNY CEVALLOS, DANNY CEVALLOS http://www.metro.us/newyork/local/article/1143742--our-parents-were-criminals <![CDATA[Obama hails spirit rebuilding tornado-struck Joplin]]>
Recalling the kindness of strangers shown Joplin, Missouri, after the tornado killed 161 people a few hours after Joplin High School seniors had attended their graduation ceremony, Obama said the outpouring of help was a source of national inspiration.

"Just as you have learned the goodness of people, so have you learned the power of community," he told Joplin High School's graduating class of 2012. "We can define our own lives not by what happens to us but by how we respond."

Landing in rural Missouri after hosting back-to-back summits of NATO in Chicago and the Group of Eight at Camp David in Maryland, a broadly smiling Obama greeted graduating students, and then reminded them of two classmates killed by the tornado.

"It took Will Norton, who had just left this auditorium with a diploma in his hand. It took Lantz Hare, who should've received his diploma next year," said Obama, who visited a few days after the tornado hit and returned to hail the town's recovery.

Joplin is still rebuilding from the tornado that was up to three-quarters of a mile wide and stayed on the ground for 32 minutes and 13 miles. The old school has been demolished and students took classes in a shopping mall.

Generous donations, including from movie stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, a Missouri native, came from across the country and around the world.

"Some of life's strongest bonds are the ones we forge when everything around us seems broken," said Obama.

He made no mention of the upcoming November 6 election, even though Missouri is a state he needs to win to keep the White House.

But the president's words echoed the hopeful, unifying theme of his 2008 victory that some critics say has been missing in this year's already acrimonious campaign.

"You will meet people who try to build themselves up by tearing others down," Obama said. "But you are from Joplin. So you will remember, you will know, just how many people there are who see life differently; those who are guided by kindness and generosity and quiet service." ]]> http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143723--obama-hails-spirit-rebuilding-tornado-struck-joplin Tue, 22 May 2012 10:08:28 -0400 REUTERS http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143723--obama-hails-spirit-rebuilding-tornado-struck-joplin <![CDATA[Bobby Vaughn: Georgia man becomes third recent victim of flesh-eating bacteria]]> Lana Kuykendall and Georgia grad student Aimee Copeland remain in the hospital after a series of surgeries, the rare flesh-eating bacteria known as necrotizing fasciitis has stuck for the third time in recent weeks.

The latest victim is Bobby Vaughn, a landscaper from Cartersville, Georgia. Despite the media frenzy surrounding the rare condition recently, Vaughn said never suspected he had contracted necrotizing fasciitis when he first noticed his symptoms.

"I just started feeling very sick," Vaughn, 33, told WXIA in Atlanta. "I was throwing up and had a backache. I just thought it was a little infection."

When the swelling began, Vaughn went to the hospital where antibiotics failed to treat him. He eventually underwent five surgeries that removed two pounds of tissue, but is now on the road to recovery.

He is at the same Augusta, Georgia hospital as Aimee Copeland who is still in critical condition after losing a leg, her other foot, and both hands as a result of contracting necrotizing fasciitis after a zip-lining accident. Lana Kuykendall, who gave birth to twins three weeks ago, is also still battling the bacteria after seven surgeries.

There is no sure way to prevent NF, but there are ways to reduce your risk:

The single biggest preventative measure is keeping the skin intact!

Next is cleanliness. Always wash even the smallest opening in the skin and apply an antibiotic ointment. Buy tubes of antibiotic ointment and keep one in your car, your desk, your exercise bag, and at home.

Take care with your children, impressing upon them the importance of cleanliness.
  ]]> http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143665--bobby-vaughn-georgia-man-becomes-third-recent-victim-of-flesh-eating-bacteria Mon, 21 May 2012 15:26:00 -0400 CASSANDRA GARRISON, NEW YORK http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143665--bobby-vaughn-georgia-man-becomes-third-recent-victim-of-flesh-eating-bacteria <![CDATA[Former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi sentenced to 30 days in prison]]> A former Rutgers University student was sentenced on Monday to 30 days in prison for hate crimes after spying on his roommate's gay encounter with another man.

Dharun Ravi, 20, had faced a maximum of 10 years behind bars for his conviction, which ramped up penalties in the invasion of privacy case in Middlesex County Superior Court in New Jersey. The sentence was imposed by Judge Glenn Berman, who also gave Ravi probation.

Ravi had been accused of using a computer-mounted camera to spy on his roommate Tyler Clementi's gay tryst with an older man in their college dorm room.

Clementi, who was 18, days later committed suicide, and the case drew a national spotlight to gay bullying and the hazards of social media. Ravi was not charged with causing Clementi's death.

Ravi also received three years of probation and was ordered to pay $11,000. He must complete 300 hours of community service for cyber bullying and alternative lifestyles. He also faces possible deportation because he was born in India, although he grew up in the United States. ]]> http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143640--former-rutgers-student-dharun-ravi-sentenced-to-30-days-in-prison Mon, 21 May 2012 12:31:02 -0400 Reuters/Metro http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143640--former-rutgers-student-dharun-ravi-sentenced-to-30-days-in-prison <![CDATA[PHOTOS: At least 45 arrests, some injuries in Chicago anti-NATO clashes]]>
A lawyer's group assisting protesters challenged police figures, saying at least 12 protesters were hurt, some with head wounds from police batons, and more than 60 people detained.

The confrontation began after a 2 1/2 mile march from a Chicago park to near the site of the summit, where leaders of the NATO alliance are discussing the war in Afghanistan.

Chicago Police Chief Garry McCarthy defended police tactics.

"I know that picture (of officers in riot gear pushing and hitting protesters) is going to be what people are going to run away here with," McCarthy told reporters. "But cops are not here to be assaulted."

Most of the officers sustained minor injuries, but one was stabbed in the leg, McCarthy said.



While the melee at the end of the rally received the most attention, the situation had calmed down by dark.

The size of the protests over the last week fell short of expectations. Police estimated about 3,000 people attended on Sunday, although many participants thought the crowd was larger. Organizers did not get the 10,000 people they had hoped for, or the 40,000 the anti-Wall Street Occupy movement boasted it would attract.



On Sunday afternoon, police ordered the protesters to disperse or risk arrest. Most of the demonstrators did, but several hundred ignored the order and police moved in.

Hundreds of demonstrators, reporters and photographers were hemmed in by lines of blue-helmeted police, pushing them back with plastic shields.

One young man sat at the side of the street, the back of his head streaming blood. His friends said he was hit by riot police.



"This is what police brutality looks like," said Ryan Zielinski, 23, a protester who said he was hit in the chest with a baton as police pushed protesters back. "All we're trying to do is protest and the police are attacking us."

McCarthy said officers had endured numerous profane taunts and showed restraint. But he said police would not tolerate assaults by black-clad anarchists.

"What we saw is these guys rally their courage and say, 'OK, let's go. That's what we came here for.' And I have to say to myself, what are you thinking?" McCarthy said.



The march included people in festive costumes, a few parents pushing strollers and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Demonstrators had little chance of being seen by the world leaders and representatives from 60 countries at the meeting of the military alliance. The summit site, the McCormick Place convention center, is inside a security zone guarded by high fences. Protesters were kept blocks away.



President Barack Obama, who is hosting the summit in his hometown, convened the summit to chart a path out of the unpopular war in Afghanistan.

The Coalition Against NATO-G8, the group organizing Sunday's march, wants an immediate end to the U.S. role in the Afghan war. Other protesters decried U.S. defense spending and economic inequality.



Matt Howard, a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq, was one of nearly 50 veterans who threw service medals into the street near the summit site in protest.

Vietnam War veteran Ron McSheffery, 61, said, "I'm in total support of stopping NATO and stopping the slaughter of innocent civilians. If we took the money we spent on bombs and put it into green energy, we wouldn't need to keep the sea lanes open" for oil transport.



Before the summit began, five men were arrested on terrorism-related or bomb-making charges. Three of those charged were plotting to attack Obama's campaign headquarters, police stations and other targets, according to court documents. Defense lawyers said the three were entrapped by police informants. ]]> http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143627--photos-at-least-45-arrests-some-injuries-in-chicago-anti-nato-clashes Mon, 21 May 2012 09:45:12 -0400 REUTERS http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143627--photos-at-least-45-arrests-some-injuries-in-chicago-anti-nato-clashes <![CDATA[Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg marries girlfriend Priscilla Chan in surprise ceremony]]>
The 28-year-old billionaire's wedding took place a day after Facebook's initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday.

More than 280,000 people "liked" Zuckerberg's status change, which was accompanied by a photo of the smiling couple in wedding attire in a small, verdant outdoor setting with a string of lights behind them.

In the photo, the famously casual Zuckerberg is wearing a dark blue suit and tie, a departure from his trademark "hoodie," while Chan has on a sleeveless white dress with lace overlay.

The pair wed in an intimate backyard ceremony in Palo Alto, California, according to People magazine. The couple had planned the exchange of vows for four months, but surprised their guests, who thought they were to celebrate Chan's recent graduation from medical school, the magazine reported.

Zuckerberg's sister, Arielle Zuckerberg, posted, "Balls. Now I'm the only unmarried Zuckerberg..." on her Facebook page. She is listed by Chan as a family member on the site.

Zuckerberg designed a simple ruby wedding ring for Chan himself, People reported. Guests dined on food from the couple's favorite restaurants, and nibbled on mouse-shaped chocolates that the pair ate on their first date nine years ago.

Tim Carvell, lead writer for "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart, reacted to the news on Twitter, writing: "Congratulations, Mark Zuckerberg! As a gift, I got you the names of all my friends, a list of my favorite movies, and some photos of me!"

OPENING BELL TO WEDDING BELLS

Zuckerberg, whose shares are worth nearly $20 billion and who retains voting control of Facebook, marked the debut of his company's stock at Facebook's Silicon Valley campus on Friday, symbolically ringing the opening bell for stock trading.

The IPO did not go as well as the social networking company had hoped, with shares closing just above the offering price of $38 a share after trading glitches and a last-minute, 25 percent increase in the number of shares being sold.

More than 576 million shares changed hands, setting a trading volume record for U.S. market debuts. Facebook posted $3.7 billion in revenue in 2011 and $1 billion in profit. The site boasts 900 million global users.

Facebook's emergence as a cultural phenomenon was depicted in the fictionalized 2010 film "The Social Network."

Zuckerberg, Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2010, started Facebook in his Harvard University dorm room eight years ago, before dropping out of the Ivy League school. Chan just graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. The couple met while at Harvard.

Neither Zuckerberg nor Chan commented further about their marriage on their Facebook pages, and Facebook representatives did not immediately respond to e-mailed requests for comment on the wedding.

The couple adopted a Hungarian sheepdog named Beast a year ago, and live together in Palo Alto. ]]> http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143538--facebook-s-mark-zuckerberg-marries-girlfriend-priscilla-chan-in-surprise-ceremony Sun, 20 May 2012 10:25:33 -0400 Reuters http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143538--facebook-s-mark-zuckerberg-marries-girlfriend-priscilla-chan-in-surprise-ceremony <![CDATA[Weird news roundup: Don't call 911 for phone sex]]> Diaper discipline
FRIDLEY, Minn. (AP) - Police say a Minnesota mother and her boyfriend shaved the head of her 12-year-old daughter and made her run up and down the street in a diaper because she wasn’t getting good grades.

A neighbor called police Monday night after a crowd of about 50 people gathered in Fridley, near Minneapolis, to watch the girl, who was also wearing a tank top.

Police say the girl was crying and hysterical when an officer approached her.

The couple was arrested. Officials say they were laughing on the way to the county jail, and questioning why police got involved in the incident.

The girl and three younger children have been placed in foster care.

Oklahoma Man Arrested For Talking Dirty to Emergency Operators


OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma City police have arrested an elderly man for allegedly calling 911 operators to discuss the birds and the bees.

According to a police report, Clyde Dorain Hobbs, 72, called 911 on Saturday, May 5 at least 17 times. The report reveals Hobbs made sexually oriented comments to the emergency operators each time he called.

Police say it isn’t the first time they’ve arrested Hobbs for calling 911. Records show he’s been arrested three previous times. The report states when officers arrived to Hobbs’ home, he was "very belligerent and rude."

Classes Axed After Body Spray Sets Off School Fire Alarm


MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) - Officials are saying one student’s "overabundance" of body spray in a locker room triggered the schools fire alarm.

Firefighters were called to Middletown High School shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday.

Officials say the excessive use of scented body spray created a mist cloud below a heat sensor, which tripped the alarm.

Officials deemed the call a "routine accidental." No word on whether the student was spoken to about the proper use of fragrance.

Arkansas Child Lodges Arm In Gumball Machine

An Arkansas toddler reaching for a sweet treat instead found firefighters reaching out to rescue him from the grasp of a gumball machine.

Terrell Parks Jr., 2, was out shopping with his father when, like most toddlers, he was lured in by the line of candy machines near the front of the Texarkana store where they were shopping.

Terrell reached into the machine so far that Fire Rescue had to be called in. They couldn’t just butter him up and slip the arm out…the rescue team needed to dismantle the machine to free the boy.

When his arm was freed…Terrell was still holding onto that gumball.

NY Man Shoots Friend In The Leg…At His Request


STOCKHOLM, N.Y. (AP) - Police say a northern New York man had his friend shoot him with a rifle because he was interested in knowing what it feels like to be shot.

State police say the shooting occurred around 5 p.m. Sunday in the rural town of Stockholm when 25-year-old Shawn Mossow gave in to his friend’s repeated requests and shot him once in the right leg with a .22-caliber rifle.

The 24-year-old is expected to make a full recovery. Police haven’t released his name.

Mossow was charged with reckless endangerment. He’s being held in the county jail on $10,000 bail.

Teachers Dancing Behind Students


Teachers at a Massachusetts charter school had some fun behind students who believed they were participating in a documentary.

Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School teacher Mike Penney told students he was making a documentary for the school’s annual student film festival, in which the teachers typically have an entry.

While the students were talking to the camera about topics like their favorite classes, teachers at the school snuck into the background and busted out some dance moves.

"It’s pretty rare that we get one over on them," Penney said of the students, who he said weren’t aware of the practical joke until the video was screened at the film festival, itself.

]]> http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143522--weird-news-roundup-don-t-call-911-for-phone-sex Fri, 18 May 2012 17:25:02 -0400 RACHEL PAISTE http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1143522--weird-news-roundup-don-t-call-911-for-phone-sex <![CDATA[Facebook fizzles in debut, shares skirt IPO price]]>
The stock opened 11 percent higher and rose to $45 before rapidly heading south in frenzied trade, touching its initial public offering price of $38. The No. 1 online social network raised as much as $18.4 billion in one of the biggest initial public offerings in U.S. history.

After a delay in the opening print that drove up anxiety levels among traders and onlookers outside the Nasdaq, the company's closely watched stock began trading at $42.05, compared with an IPO price of $38.

To rapturous applause from employees, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg -- flanked by Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Nasdaq Chief Executive Robert Greifeld -- rang the bell to kick off trading at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time.

The 28-year-old billionaire founder hugged and high-fived Sandberg and other employees in celebration after he pressed the remote button.

The area outside Facebook's offices at 1 Hacker Way was packed with throngs of photographers, more than 12 television trucks, and a TV news helicopter hovering overhead as the excitement reached fever pitch.

"A 15 to 20 percent pop is in the realm of possibility," said Tim Loughran, a finance professor at the University of Notre Dame, before the start of trade.

"Given they already moved their IPO range up and increased the size, that's bullish to begin with."

Some expect shares could rise 30 percent or more on Friday, despite ongoing concerns about Facebook's long-term money-making potential. An average of Morningstar analyst estimates put the closing price for Facebook shares on Friday at $50. ]]> http://www.metro.us/newyork/money/article/1143507--facebook-fizzles-in-debut-shares-skirt-ipo-price Fri, 18 May 2012 13:00:06 -0400 REUTERS http://www.metro.us/newyork/money/article/1143507--facebook-fizzles-in-debut-shares-skirt-ipo-price