Teacher Who Died Trying To End Shooting Remembered As A Hero

A Sparks Middle School student cries with family members after a fellow student killed a math teacher and himself Monday in Sparks, Nev.

Kevin Clifford/AP

A Sparks Middle School student cries with family members after a fellow student killed a math teacher and himself Monday in Sparks, Nev.

Kevin Clifford/AP

Michael Landsberry, the 45-year-old middle school math teacher and Afghan War veteran who was killed Monday trying to talk down a student shooter at a Nevada middle school, is being remembered as a hero.

Witnesses at Sparks Middle School in the city of Sparks, near Reno, described how Landsberry approached the armed 13-year-old boy and tried to get him to surrender a semi-automatic pistol he had used to shoot two fellow students. The boy then turned the weapon on Landsberry, fatally shooting him, before using the pistol to take his own life.

"In my estimation he is a hero," Reno Deputy Police Chief Tom Robinson said at a news conference Monday.

Washoe County School District Superintendent Pedro Martinez said: "We have a lot of heroes today, including our children ... and our fallen hero, an amazing teacher."

A Facebook page in honor of the fallen teacher "Rest Easy Mr. Landsberry" had more than 12,000 "likes." Other photos of Landsberry can be seen here.

"It's very unfortunate that [the life of] someone like that, who protected our country over there and came back alive ... had to be taken at his work, at a school," Sparks Mayor Geno Martini said, according to CNN.

Landsberry, a former U.S. Marine who later served in Afghanistan with the Nevada Air National Guard and held the rank of senior master sergeant, wrote on his classroom webpage: "One of my goals is to earn your respect while you earn mine. I believe that with mutual respect that the classroom environment will run smoothly."

Chanda Landsberry said her brother-in-law loved teaching.

"He loved his schoolkids. He loved the Guard," she said. "It defined him."

She said he leaves behind his wife, Sharon, and two stepdaughters.

Authorities tell ABCNews that one of the wounded boys had been through surgery and the second is said to be "doing well."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/22/239681615/teacher-who-died-trying-to-end-shooting-remembered-as-a-hero?ft=1&f=1013
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For A Father With Alzheimer's, Life 'Came Down To Love'

Priya Morganstern (left) and Bhavani Jaroff visited a StoryCorps booth with their father, Ken Morganstern, in 2006. He passed away a year later.

StoryCorps

Priya Morganstern (left) and Bhavani Jaroff visited a StoryCorps booth with their father, Ken Morganstern, in 2006. He passed away a year later.

StoryCorps

Five years after Ken Morganstern was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, he sat down with his daughters Priya Morganstern and Bhavani Jaroff to talk about some of the memories he had left.

At 81, he couldn't see and he needed some prompting from time to time, but family stayed strong in his memory.

He remembered that his dad was an easygoing guy, nicknamed "Happy Harry." "I had a lot of his characteristics, I think," he said.

Priya Morganstern (left), 57, and Bhavani Jaroff, 56.

StoryCorps

Priya Morganstern (left), 57, and Bhavani Jaroff, 56.

StoryCorps

Priya asked him if he wished he had gotten anything in life that he didn't get. "I have no regrets on anything," he responded. "I have a family that I love. And they're loving people. That's the biggest thing you can leave is a ..."

"Legacy," Bhavani said.

"Legacy, yeah."

The interview was first broadcast in 2006, and Ken died a year later. His daughters recently came back to a StoryCorps booth to talk about his legacy.

"I remember one time we stopped for a bagel and he's taking a bite and he goes, 'Who would have ever thought eating blind could be so much fun. Every bite's a surprise!' " Bhavani, now 56, says.

His daughters say they listen to the original interview often.

"I think my father had the opportunity to say what was important in his life," Bhavani says. "And it really came down to love."

Audio produced for Morning Edition by Michael Garofalo with Yasmina Guerda.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NprTopicsInterviews/~3/cDNsR1hhFW0/for-a-father-with-alzheimers-life-came-down-to-love
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Scientists Have Created a Disk That Can Store Data for a Million Years

Magnetic disk drive storage was born in the 1950s—thanks, IBM!—but while storage density and power efficiency have rocketed, the lifetime for which data can be stored has remained about the same, at around a decade. That could soon change.

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Dick Cheney's Fear of Heart Device Hacks Justified

Dick Cheney's fear of assassination by heart device hack was justified, according to medical device security experts.

The former vice president, who relied on a pacemaker, an implantable defibrillator and a left ventricular assist device before undergoing a heart transplant in March 2012, said he worried that terrorist hackers could crash the computerized implants – a scenario depicted in the TV series Homeland.

"I found it credible," the 72-year-old said of the fictional plotline on CBS's "60 Minutes." "I was aware of the danger, if you will, that existed."

While there have been no reports of hacking attempts on medical implants in the U.S., scientists have long warned about the possibility.

"Researchers have been looking at this for decades but more seriously since about 2006 or 2007," said medical device securities expert Kevin Fu, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan. "But I think it's important to stress that patients are actually much safer using these devices than not."

Fu said hundreds of thousands of Americans have benefitted from implantable devices like pacemakers and pumps, and he's "not aware of single case of someone being harmed."

"[The risks] are based on theoretical, in-lab experiments as opposed to happenings in the real world, if that's at all comforting," said Fu, who has five PhD students in his lab working on improving the cybersecurity of medical devices.

But even the remote possibility of a real-world problem can be unsettling for patients who rely on devices buried deep in their bodies. In 2012, a McAfee researcher revealed that he could trigger a life-threatening release of insulin from an implantable pump 300 feet away. And studies by Fu and others suggest that a "growing list of confirmed cybersecurity vulnerabilities in medical devices pose challenging risks to patients whose privacy or disease management depends on the proper functioning of devices."

But most experts agree that the odds of living a long, healthy life with an implantable device are much higher than those of being hacked.

"Diabetes is infinitely more dangerous than the possibility of a hacker deciding to target your insulin pump," Dr. David Lubarsky, professor and chief of the University of Miami Health System, said of the McAfee experiment.

"I can't emphasize enough that patients are far safer with the devices," Fu added, explaining that for every Cheney that are "tens of thousands of lives saved" by the wirelessly-controlled machines. "And the good news is that there are good people working on approaches to mitigate the risks."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/dick-cheneys-fear-heart-device-hacks-justified-experts/story?id=20633284
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Vatican finance reform shows different opinions about process ...

St. Peter's Square. Credit: Camille King (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Vatican City, Oct 21, 2013 / 02:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).-
As Vatican City commits to financial transparency, the hiring of a risk-management company to review the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See may reveal differing opinions about financial reform.

The Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See – APSA – is the office that handles the Vatican’s investment portfolio and its real estate holdings, as well as serving as the Vatican employment office and procurements agency.

APSA announced Oct. 15 that a “due diligence” review by the Promontory Financial Group had begun. Promontory had already been hired to review all the accounts and the procedures of the Institute for Religious Works, the so-called 'Vatican bank'.

Due diligence is the “evaluation of risks” in investments and loans, particularly with regards to the clients in a bank.

However, APSA is not a bank. The Holy See told evaluators from Moneyval, the European Council committee that evaluates adherence to anti-money laundering standards, that while APSA holds some accounts, such banking-type activity is minimal and will be closed.

In a July report on Vatican City, Moneyval wrote that “the APSA representatives stated that in 2001 the Board of Cardinals took the decision to gradually limit the provision of financial services to individual persons (both clerical and lay) that are not organs or bodies of the Holy See/Vatican City State.”

“Finally,” the report continued, “on 27 January 2006, the Board of Cardinals decided to start the process of closing all remaining accounts with those persons as far as possible (copies of the minutes recording these decisions were shown to the evaluation team).”

According to Moneyval's report, the representatives of APSA also “stressed that since 2001 no deposits have been accepted for the remaining 23 accounts of natural persons. APSA only managed the assets deposited within those accounts and only the yields of the assets managed were reinvested.”

The 23 accounts belong to 15 cardinals and bishops who deposited charitable contributions made on their behalf, with the proceeds going to the Vatican or their home dioceses; and eight laypeople who made large donations, particularly of property, to the Vatican, and were receiving annuities until their deaths.

A source who wanted to maintain anonymity shared with CNA Oct. 18 that “starting this kind of due diligence procedures could create a split between decisions on APSA and the Vatican overall strategy to adhere to international anti-money laundering standards.”

The Holy See is due to issue a progress report on its adherence to anti-money laundering standards at the next Moneyval plenary assembly, to be held Dec. 9-13.

The APSA-related policy could in some ways influence the Moneyval evaluation because “while the Holy See explained that the Administration is not a bank and has not a bank's activity, it started due diligence, which can easily be referred to a banking activity,” according to the source.

But if there is not banking activity, the source asked, “will due diligence be applied to the functioning of the dicastery? And will this be a precedent to apply due diligence to each Vatican office?”

Another question the source raised the question of whether “it is proper to exalt the role of external companies, like Promontory Financial Group, in addition to backing the overall reform of the Vatican financial system begun under the Benedict XVI’s pontificate?”

The source's words seem to reveal a variety of views within the Vatican walls regarding the carrying out of the reform of Vatican finances.

APSA also announced Oct. 15 that in response to recommendations made by the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See, it was creating a supervisory board, but did not say what the responsibilities or power of the board would be.

Another source familiar with Vatican finances told CNA Oct. 20 that “there is seemingly an idea to apply to the Holy See, rules and procedures that are usually applied to big international companies.”

This strategy, he said, “does not take in consideration the peculiarity of the Vatican City State, which had been until now building a customized financial model, adherent to international standards and at the same times shaped in order to preserve the sovereignty of Vatican City State.”

Despite what is often reported, Vatican City State has no banks and no financial market.

The new model of financial system was further shaped by an Aug. 8 motu proprio which established a Committee for Financial Security, and by the Oct. 9 confirmation of  Law XVIII, which implemented the Holy See's anti-money laundering measures.

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Source: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-finance-reform-shows-different-opinions-about-process/
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Gay Couples Tie Knot In New Jersey As Christie Backs Down

New Jersey became the 14th state to allow same-sex marriage Monday when gay couples began marrying just after midnight. A state judge forced the state to recognize same-sex marriages. Initially, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appealed that ruling. But he dropped that appeal Monday, saying the New Jersey Supreme Court had already made clear how it would rule.

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SF Transit Agency, Unions Reach Deal To End Strike

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco Bay Area's main commuter train system and its unions reached a tentative agreement on a new contract Monday night, ending a crippling four-day strike.

Union officials announced the deal, which still requires approval from union members.

BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said limited service would begin Tuesday at 4 a.m. on all lines. BART officials hoped trains would be running at full strength in time for the afternoon commute.

BART is the nation's fifth-largest rail system, with an average weekday ridership of 400,000.

Workers walked off the job on Friday after talks broke down. Commuters endured jammed roadways and long lines for buses and ferries, as they looked for alternate ways around the region.

The contentious talks between BART and its two largest unions dragged on for six months— a period that saw two chaotic dayslong strikes, contentious negotiations and frazzled commuters wondering if they would wake up to find the trains running or not.

"The public expects us to resolve our differences and to keep the Bay Area moving," BART general manager Grace Crunican said Monday night.

Crunican said there would be no immediate announcements on the details while union leaders explained the agreement to their members, but she said it was a compromise and added: "This deal is more than we wanted to pay."

Negotiations resumed and a settlement was reached just two days after two track workers were killed in a BART train accident in Walnut Creek. Federal investigators said Monday that the train was run by a BART employee who was being trained to operate trains. Union officials had warned that training managers to operate trains during the walkout could be dangerous.

Antonette Bryant, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, expressed her condolences Monday night to the workers who were killed.

"We did not want to strike," she said, "and we are glad to have a tentative agreement that we feel will work for all parties."

The key issues in the negotiations were salaries and worker contributions to their health and pension plans.

Talks began in April, three months before the June 30 contract expirations, but both sides were far apart. The unions initially asked for 23.2 percent in raises over three years. BART countered, offering a four-year contract with 1 percent raises contingent on the agency meeting economic goals.

The unions contended that members made $100 million in concessions when they agreed to a deal in 2009 as BART faced a $310 million deficit. And they said they wanted their members to get their share of a $125 million operating surplus produced through increased ridership.

But the transit agency countered that it needed to control costs to help pay for new rail cars and other improvements.

BART and its workers all but agreed on the typically contentious contract issues of wages and benefits. Then a deal fell apart, and workers went on strike Friday for a second time.

Commuters endured jammed roadways and long lines for buses and ferries, as they looked for alternate ways around the region.

The main sticking point was work rules, which can be anything from how schedules are made and how grievances are handled to how paychecks are distributed and whether reports are written electronically or in longhand. For workers, stricter rules create stability in their assignments and how they do their jobs. For managers, they limit how flexibly and efficiently they can run the system.

Some of the biggest work-rule changes BART sought relate to work shifts and worker protections.

For example, BART wanted to be able to change work schedules with greater ease; the unions wanted to preserve schedules such as a 4-day, 10-hour week, saying this would help workers with child care and other obligations. Other proposed changes would have affected the handling of worker claims of discrimination or harassment by managers.

BART workers also walked off the job in early July, shutting down train service for nearly five days.

___

Thanawala reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Haven Daley and Terence Chea in Walnut Creek contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=238877952&ft=1&f=
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