Christopher Carlson plead not guilty letters sent to Congress
PORTLAND, Ore. -- A Vancouver, Wash., man accused of sending threatening letters containing white powder to members of Congress pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges.
A federal grand jury in Portland indicted Carlson earlier this month on charges that he mailed threatening letters to Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.
The two counts arose from an investigation into the mailing of about 100 envelopes containing white powder. The U.S. attorney's office in Portland said the letters, postmarked in Portland, have tested negative for toxic substances.
The letters came to light in late February.
Recipients were told that there was a "10 percent chance you have just been exposed to a lethal pathogen."
The sender wanted an "end to corporate money and `lobbying,'" an end to corporate "personhood" and a new constitutional convention. The Associated Press obtained a copy of a letter.
The FBI focused on Carlson after a Vancouver police officer told the agency about a March 4 interview in which Carlson's wife reportedly told the officer about her husband's recent emotional turmoil.
Officer Leah Supriano was on patrol that day when a dispatcher reported concerns about possible domestic violence at the Carlson home. Supriano phoned Adrienne Carlson, who said her husband had verbally abused her and left. Then she gave the officer a statement about suspicions her husband had committed a crime.
"Adrienne told me that a few months ago, Chris had talked about sending letters to members of the Senate and the media to express his frustration with certain things," Supriano reported. "About two weeks ago, they were driving in Portland ... and when they passed a post office somewhere off Stark (Street), he pointed at the post office and told her that he was worried and wondered if they had surveillance cameras."
"Oh no, you didn't send those letters did you?" Adrienne Carlson said, according to the report.
Christopher Carlson acknowledged that he did, his wife reported.
The Oregonian has reported that Adrienne Carlson told the officer her husband said he'd laced the envelopes with a mixture of celery salt and corn starch.
Investigators have recovered dozens of letters addressed to U.S. senators and representatives. The Seattle office of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said it also received one of the letters.
Some letters were sent to Congress members' district offices.
The letters bore a return address from "The MIB." According to the Vancouver police report, Adrienne Carlson told the officer "MIB" meant "Man in Black." She added that her husband was planning to send a second round of letters that would contain lye, a highly corrosive chemical used to make soap and detergents.
The listed Portland return address didn't exist.
Vancouver police forwarded the woman's suspicions to the FBI, which investigated in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police.
Carlson's mother, Rose Hatch, and his stepfather, Bryce Hatch, described him as extremely bright, The Oregonian has reported. But they said he had a somewhat contemptuous view of politicians and was disappointed that President Barack Obama had not lived up to his high expectations.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers moved into its final chapter Tuesday, but it will take years before the 161-year-old financial firm will close the book on its storied history.
Three and a half years after it filed for bankruptcy in New York, Lehman Brothers Holdings emerged from court protection Tuesday with a plan to redistribute roughly $65 billion to creditors before closing its doors for good.
Those doors are housed on a few floors of the Time & Life building in midtown Manhattan, not far from the gleaming Times Square skyscraper that once housed about 9,000 of Lehman Brothers' estimated 25,000 employees.
Now, under the supervision of seven new directors, Lehman Brothers' litany of advisers, lawyers and ex-employees will remain busy. There's $10 billion in real estate, $9 billion in private equity investments, $3 billion in corporate loans and $2 billion in derivatives left to sell, as well as several multi-billion legal battles left to fight.
"We've been liquidating since the date of filing," said Steven Cohn, Lehman's treasurer in bankruptcy. "Our job was to marshal assets and we've gone from very little cash to managing about $30 billion in cash."
The $65 billion Lehman plans to redistribute is but a fraction of the estimated $613 billion in debts held by the bank in 2008.
Not included in the $65 billion recovery estimate is any payout that could come from ongoing litigation that Lehman's fighting against JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) over that investment bank's alleged role in the bankruptcy.
Immediately after Lehman declared bankruptcy, Barclays (BCS) paid $1.3 billion for most of the firm's North American operations, its Times Square headquarters, and about 9,000 employees. Nomura Holdings (NMR) paid roughly $200 million for Lehman's operations in Asia.
About $10 billion of Lehman's current cash balance will be repaid to creditors in mid April, the first payout since Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 on Sept. 15, 2008.
The value of Lehman's estate could still change if real estate values recover or if the market continue to appreciate (or fall).
The Dow has jumped about 20% since Lehman filed. But it's been an expensive three and a half years in bankruptcy for the firm, with fees already topping $1.6 billion.
Although the real estate market has bounced back a bit, what Lehman paid for certain real estate investments still seems staggering. Lehman took a 50% stake in a $22 billion buyout of apartment operator Archstone-Smith in 2007 that's now valued at roughly $4 billion.
Archstone is among Lehman's largest real estate holdings, and the firm's estate is embroiled in a battle for control with investor Sam Zell. Lehman also holds a stake in southern California land developer SunCal.
Among the hedge funds that have been active buyers and could stand to profit are Elliott Management, King Street, Fir Tree, Och-Ziff, Avenue Capital, Paulson & Co. and Baupost Capital, according to court filings.
Lehman's former executives have repeatedly called the defunct bank the scapegoat of the financial crisis after it failed, while its competitors were bailed out by the U.S. taxpayers.
Whatever Lehman is or was, the tumultuous, ultimately fatally troubled firm has only a finite time left with billions to sell and miles to go before it sleeps.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Borrowers with some federally insured mortgages will be able to refinance into lower interest rate loans more easily and cheaply under a plan unveiled Tuesday by the Obama administration.
At a news conference, President Obama announced that the Federal Housing Administration will cut upfront fees for refinanced loans it already insures.
The new fees are for borrowers whose FHA loans were issued before June 1, 2009. An estimated 2 to 3 million borrowers could take advantage of the savings, which could reduce mortgage payments for the typical FHA borrower by about a thousand dollars a year, according to the administration.
"It's like another tax cut in people's pockets," said President Obama.
Borrowers who refinance their existing FHA loans will pay an upfront insurance premium equal to 0.1%, the lowest allowable rate, of the mortgage amount -- $100 for a $100,000 loan -- plus an annual fee of 0.55%.
The new refinancing fees contrast sharply with the cost of obtaining a FHA loan, according to Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with the Washington Research Group. A borrower making a 3.5% down payment on a home purchase as of April 1 will pay a 1.75% upfront fee and a 1.25% annual fee. Those purchase fees were raised barely a week ago to improve the FHA's capital reserve.
Still, lowering refinancing fees "should be broadly positive for housing and the economy by reducing foreclosures and freeing up income for consumers to spend on other goods and services," Seiberg said.
The new policy will also make it easier for the banks to refinance loans because it directs the FHA not to count the loans toward the lender's "compare ratio." That calculates the performance of loans issued by the lenders and compares it to the performance of other lenders.
Some lenders have not wanted to refinance FHA loans because many of them were made during years of high default rates, according to Seiberg.
Knowing that the FHA will not hold refinanced loans against them should they fail to perform could make lenders more willing to refinance loans for borrowers at a higher credit risk, according to Jay Brinkmann, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association.
"They have not been accepting credit scores below a certain point," he said. "Now, they may."
The fee reduction is the latest in a long line of administration initiatives intended to jump-start the housing market and, by extension, the economy.
The latest move can be thought of as an extension of the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP. That program enables borrowers with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae (FNMA, Fortune 500) or Freddie Mac (FRE) to refinance even when they owe far more than their homes are worth. By reducing mortgage payments, both HARP and the new FHA fees free up money that could now be spent on other things like consumer goods.
Help for service members
In addition to the new refinancing fees, President Obama also announced steps to provide relief to service members who were wrongfully foreclosed on or suffered financial during the housing meltdown. As part of the plan, mortgage lenders and servicers will be required to review the case of every service member who was foreclosed on since 2006.
Any member of the military who wrongfully lost their home to foreclosure during that period will be repaid for their lost equity, plus interest. They will also receive a flat fee of $116,785.
Arrived at in negotiations with the five major servicers, that payout represents compensation for economic loss and emotional distress, said Tom Perez, U.S. assistant attorney general in the civil rights division. "I want to emphasize that it's a floor, not a ceiling and that overall compensation may be higher," he said.
According to Shaun Donovan, the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, there's no way to accurately forecast how many service members would be eligible for relief under this part of the settlement. However, he said a similar agreement with just one of the servicers, Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), yielded 157 cases in which compensation was paid out.
"I'm anticipating that there could be thousands of potential victims," he said
Service members who were denied the opportunity to refinance at the 6% interest rate required under the Relief Act will also be refunded anything they were charged over the 6% rate, plus interest.
In addition, military members who bought their homes between July 1, 2006 and December 31, 2008 and were forced to sell them at a loss due to a permanent change in station may be compensated for the loss in their home's value.
Of the 10 Super Tuesday states, Ohio accounts for the most electoral votes.
Who wins them in the general election could rely heavily on candidates' views on manufacturing -- the cornerstone of the state's economy.
After slumping in the recession, the sector has recently seen some improvement.
But unemployment remains high across the state. Even manufacturing jobs aren't likely to get back to pre-recession levels. New technology and productivity increases have diminished the need for workers.
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- Job creation was expected to be the topic at a closed-door meeting Tuesday night between President Obama and a lobbying group made up of CEOs whose ideas often clash with the administration's.
The Business Roundtable is a group made up of the top leaders of the largest U.S. companies. Chaired by W. James McNerney, Jr., of the Boeing Company (BA, Fortune 500), the group has opposed Obama initiatives ranging from clean air rules to health care reform to Wall Street reform.
Over the past year, Obama has increasingly turned to Big Business to talk about jobs. He regularly meets with a jobs panel chaired by Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric Co (GE, Fortune 500)., that includes leaders from the manufacturing and tech industries.
Tuesday's meeting will be Obama's third with the Business Roundtable and comes on the eve of the group's release of list of ideas to spur more job growth and a healthier economy.
"The meeting should produce a valuable and vigorous discussion about the U.S. economy and jobs," said Business Roundtable President John Engler in a statement.
A review of a year's worth of the group's reports on job creation reveals a glimpse of possible topic matter.
The group will likely press the president to reconsider regulations it considers unnecessary or costly. In the past, it has asked the administration to analyze the costs and benefits of major rules from all agencies, and to toss those believed to be too costly.
One example is the so-called Volcker rule, a part of the Wall Street reform measure. Named for former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, the rule aims to crack down on so-called proprietary trading, bets that big banks can make for their own accounts.
The Business Roundtable is among several business groups that oppose the Volcker rule, saying it has "far-reaching negative consequences that will impede our ability to raise capital and manage risk."
The lobbying group could also tell the president he can fast-track jobs by approving more leases for offshore oil and natural gas drilling.
And the CEOs might ask the president to get out of the way of Keystone XL pipeline project that would boost the flow of crude from the oil sands of Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Business Roundtable has called that project "key to U.S. job creation, economic growth and energy security," and opposes the administration's move to halt progress while the proposal is reviewed.
The CEOs also could talk to the president about the administration's plan to guide the debate on corporate income tax reform. While the group wants a lower rate for corporate income taxes, it doesn't like efforts to capture more tax dollars from companies' overseas operations.
"The White House calculation took into account only a small portion of taxes paid by worldwide American companies, and made other unstated assumptions that minimized the true tax burden faced by these companies," according to the group.
There are a few instances when the Business Roundtable has agreed with the Obama administration. Both the group and the president have been pushing for expanded trade opportunities for U.S. businesses.
Last September, the group also applauded the administration's controversial decision to back off a draft rule to toughen rules on air polluters.
A concept that was once considered dead weight has been revived over at Universal Pictures: The studio is back at work on a movie centered around the Ouija board game, reports Deadline.
The project reportedly had an original budget of more than $100 million, which is said to have been slashed down to $5 million. McG was attached to direct the high-budget version, but the lower-cost concept doesn't have a director yet. Michael Bay still serves as one of the producers, and Universal has tapped Jason Blum to produce the project as well.
Blum, of Blumhouse Productions, is also behind the successful "Paranormal Activity" movies, which easily recoup their tight budgets at the box office.
Plot details are light, but considering it's centered on the Ouija board, we can only guess that it would involve the supernatural.
We remember Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz showing off their (clothed) backsides while presenting at the Oscars on Sunday, but to hear the Internet tell it, Lopez also showed us a bit more than that.
The actress/singer/"Idol" judge looked stunning in a form-fitting Zuhair Murad gown with a cleavage-baring neckline. But some have said that at one point, it looked like one of her cups was running over, giving viewers at home a glimpse of a nip slip.
And yet, according to Lopez's stylist Mariel Haenn, those who saw it must've been imagining things.
Haenn's tweeted that the 42-year-old's gown was custom-made to avoid slippage or spillage of any kind. "The dress fit perfectly to her every inch. There were cups built in ...and in NO chance that there were any, how do you say?... 'slips,'" Haenn wrote.
She added in a statement to People magazine, "While the dress did give the illusion of sheer-ness, joke's on everyone who wishes they saw something!"
That hasn't stopped someone from setting up a Twitter account for a particular part of Lopez's anatomy.
(CNN) -- We've come to know her as Lady Gaga, but before the world tours, "The Fame" or even the dress made of meat, photographer Malgorzata Saniewska knew her simply as her restaurant co-worker, Stefani Germanotta.
In the summer of 2005, Saniewska, who goes by Maggie, happened to be tending bar at the same West Village restaurant where the 19-year-old soon-to-be star worked as a waitress.
Just 24 at the time, Saniewska had moved from her native Poland to the United States two years prior with dreams of becoming a photographer.
But to support herself, "I started working as a bartender," she recalled. "It was definitely a money thing. I did want to go to school, but I didn't do research on photography, my focus was to make better money."
Keeping an eye on her bank account is what drove Saniewska to study accounting, leaving photography to become an amateur pursuit for a while.
She went from taking landscape photos of New York City to setting up her own shoots, with Gaga being among some of her first ones.
"We were colleagues, we didn't hang out really heavily, but she's the nicest girl ever. ... She's down-to-earth," Saniewska said. "At that time, she gave me a CD of her first single, and I listened to it and I was really impressed. And she's a beautiful girl. Based on her looks and her personality I thought (a photo shoot) would be great fun." CNN Photos: See Malgorzata Saniewska's exclusive and unseen photos of Lady Gaga
Back then, Gaga "played piano and sang. This 19-year-old girl, she was really talented. She didn't talk about it a lot, (but) she did say that she studied music. ... I cannot even explain to you what she sounds like with just a piano, then or now," Saniewska said. "I offered her the photo shoot, and she said yes right away."
Gaga had the perfect location in mind: Her parents' place on the Upper East Side. (CNN has reached out to Lady Gaga's rep for comment.)
The two young women hopped on a train and headed over there, and set to work creating what Saniewska says became Lady Gaga's first photo shoot, although Saniewska didn't know that at the time.
"The house was empty, it was just the two of us," Saniewska said. "I knew she was a singer, so our focus was her and her very first piano. We just hung out in her parents' living room, and the piano was right by the window."
"She's a good model, obviously," Saniewska added with a laugh.
Armed with just her first point-and-shoot camera, Saniewska let the intimate shoot unfold organically.
"We had no plan."
"We basically walked into her house, she did hair and makeup, picked out the clothes and we started," she recalled. The lighting was natural: "No strobe lights, nothing special, no tripods," she said. "It was hand-held."
Saniewska, who's never been formally trained, said she shot around 200 photos that day. After culling through the resulting images, choosing the photos with the best natural lighting, she presented Gaga with a CD of the pictures. The burgeoning singer was happy with them, and used some of the art for her own promotional materials.
Of course, there's no way Saniewska could have known that the young woman she photographed on a summer day in 2005 would become the international superstar she is today. As a matter of fact, Saniewska says that at first, when she saw her as Lady Gaga, she didn't recognize her, having been accustomed to her as a long-haired brunette waitress.
Even as Gaga's fame continued to grow, Saniewska kept those early photos to herself "out of respect," she said, particularly because she wasn't in touch with her.
And then, she just so happened to bump into her old colleague in 2010.
"I actually ran into her in the East Village, and she came up to me. She was already Lady Gaga, and we spoke a little, and she leaned on me, and she said in my ear, 'Did you know that this was my first photo shoot?' I had no idea," Saniewska said. "She was really excited. From that moment on I figured I could do something about it. And she's OK with it."
Saniewska hopes that those viewing the photos will get to see another side of Gaga, a peek at who the star was before the world knew her name.
But even with all the fame, to Saniewska, she's "still the same girl. The fact that we ran into each other and she came up to me - she didn't say 'Hi' and run off. She stood there for 15 minutes, just chatting. She remembered my name, she remembered who I was, and she had so much to say. She's still the same person to me."
(EW.com) -- Lionel Richie's got once, twice, three times the friends you do.
As previously reported, CBS will be airing "ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends in Concert" after the Academy of Country Music Awards telecast April 13.
And while the special event already boasted an impressive roster of country stars -- including Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Kenny Rogers, Rascal Flatts, The Band Perry, and Martina McBride -- it turns out there are even more guests waiting in the wings.
Luke Bryan, Sara Evans, Tim McGraw, and Jennifer Nettles are the night's newest additions, the ACM and Dick Clark Productions announced today.
The concert will feature a variety of offerings, from solo performances to duets with the man of the hour. Naturally, a whole bunch of Richie hits from the man's upcoming country duets album "Tuskegee," due March 27, will be addressed throughout the night; here's a peek at the itinerary:
Lionel Richie: Houston was iconic
Jason Aldean, "Say You Say Me"
The Band Perry, "Penny Lover"
Luke Bryan, "Running with the Night"
Lady Antebellum, "Truly"
Martina McBride, "Still"
Jennifer Nettles, "Hello"
Rascal Flatts, "Dancing on the Ceiling"
Kenny Chesney with Richie, "My Love"
Tim McGraw with Richie, "Sail On"
Kenny Rogers with Richie, "Lady"
The concert will tape April 2 at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena, a day after the Awards ceremony. See the full article at EW.com.
(CNN) -- "I don't know the ins and outs of his politics (but) for his procession to become President I was in America and his speeches were spine tingling. Barack Obama can talk, and coming after Bush it was something to behold. In my humble opinion, if he loses the next election to the other bunch then, good Lord, I will run myself."
So says Noel Gallagher, former creative force of British band Oasis and one of rock 'n' roll's biggest mouths. Singer-songwriter, brother to Liam and now a U.S. presidential candidate: 2012 promises to be quite a year for the 45-year-old whose song-writing talent has taken him from unemployment in a city called Manchester in northern England to sell-out stadium tours around the world, playing to millions.
By September, Gallagher will have completed the tour of his first solo album since the demise of Oasis in 2009; an expedition entailing 81 shows across Europe, the Pacific (Japan and Australia) and America as well as being a voyage into the unknown for the forthright backing-singer-now-frontman.
It was initially intended as a small affair, but such has been the demand for the new record -- "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds" topped the charts in the UK in October 2011-- theaters have rapidly been upgraded to arenas to cope with demand. A move that surprised the man himself and maybe explains the overriding mood of calm satisfaction the guitarist exudes from beneath a leather jacket as he sits down with a coffee to talk to CNN.
Former Oasis man finding solo success
"The amount of tickets I've sold, the amount of records I've sold ... I (just) didn't have any expectations for the new record. I thought I might stall at playing theaters for a couple of years but I've gone up to arenas before the end of the first year, so I'm blown away by that.
In my humble opinion, if he (Barack Obama) loses the next election to the other bunch then, good Lord, I will run myself Noel Gallagher
"Part of me thinks: 'Of course I'll be playing arenas because I'm f****** brilliant and the songs are f****** brilliant so it's inevitable, but the other part of me says I don't have any divine right to do that and I've got to work at it. Turns out, the former was correct! I am very grateful though."
It is not the first time the man dubbed "The Chief" by former band mates, has experienced a wave of success. Until 2009, Gallagher had been the artistic catalyst and the calmer half of the capricious brotherly partnership that saw Oasis, with their mix of Beatles melodies and Sex Pistols attitude, conquer charts around the world and become one of the planet's biggest-selling bands.
Oasis' second album (What's the story) Morning Glory? broke into the Billboard top ten and sold nearly four million copies in the United States alone. But this figure proved to be seven times the sales of the group's next three albums put together according to USA Today, a position that left many critics to argue that, unlike other British musical exports that had gone before them, the Gallagher's had not been taken to heart by the American music-buying public. It's an assertion the writer of Wonderwall contests.
"We got off on the wrong foot with Americans because they are extremely professional corporate people and we kind of treated that attitude with contempt. The only time we were ever on the cover of Rolling Stone they set aside eight hours for a photo shoot. Eight hours! I think we stayed for an hour ... and they couldn't believe it. (But) we just couldn't understand why you have to enter into theatrics with Rolling Stone magazine on a day off, because we were s***-kickers from the streets and didn't have time for that.
"Four American tours in a row were either never started or never finished (with Oasis) and we were subtitled on television because of our accents ... basically people couldn't understand a word we were saying. We also didn't have a front man like Bono or Chris Martin, we had a different kind of front-man who was like Johnny Rotten, but I don't think anybody ... would look back at it with regret, we did what we did on our own terms."
We couldn't understand why we had to enter into theatrics with Rolling Stone magazine on a day off, we were s***-kickers from the streets Noel Gallagher
A staunch defense maybe of a band Gallagher currently has no plans to reform, but for someone so imbued with a British identity, the new album has particularly strong American sentiments. The new band includes an American guitarist, the first single release -- 'The Death of You and Me' -- has a New Orleans-style brass section, and the videos for all the singles so far -- including 'Dream On' and 'AKA ... What a Life!' -- have a 1970's Americana theme with Noel as a central figure. Despite this, when asked if this had been a conscious thematic move, Gallagher remains adamant there is no new ambition to "crack" the United States.
"(Oasis) never had a number one album, we had a number two album ... we nearly got there. I don't even know what cracking America is supposed to be though? If it's playing arenas everywhere, 10 thousand people a night then we did it. Not that I've got to justify it but we did sell out the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Gardens regularly and I've got gold and platinum discs (and) the house to prove it, Sonny Jim (sic). We never won any Grammys, we never got nominated, but those people like Green Day and Hootie and the Blowfish; f*** me, enough said."
The solo album has received good reviews broadly speaking so far. Rolling Stone magazine gave it 3.5 out of five with the recommendation that Noel had: "Cook(ed) down the Beatles' LSD pop into MDMA head-rushes like Oasis did, he does his old band proud. "Shout it out for me!" he declares in 'Dream On,' making you want to do just that." So did the album feel like a renaissance as it was being created?
"I've made enough of my records to know this was a pretty good bunch of songs. When I heard the final mixes, I wanted to stand behind them, they were good. Whether it gets five stars out of five or seven out of ten doesn't make it any better or worse an album for me - or if it sells 700 thousand compared to 100 thousand - it is a good album because it is.
"Every album I've ever been involved in, on the day that it came out I believed in it. Believed in them all equally but it's evident that Morning Glory and Definitely Maybe have lasted for 18 years and some of them haven't. We won't know where this sits in the canon of what I've done for another five years but I'm confident it will be up there though, in fact I know it will."
Basically, the album includes brilliant, well-crafted songs, deceptively fantastic lyrics (all) criminally underrated in America! Noel Gallagher
The music on the new album breaks new ground for Gallagher, both in musical terms -- the Dixieland band on 'The Death of You and Me' and the driving, repetitive beats of 'Everybody's on the Run' and 'AKA ... What a Life!'-- and in the song's lyrical content. They verge, even revel, in romance.
"I don't know how that happened! My wife would say I'm not romantic at all but I would say that I'm the ultimate romancer because I write about ... life being brilliant. Not like the Indie (independent) music scene where I come from, they like to sing about the news don't they? There's nothing good on the news. You're not telling me CNN is all cats in trees are you? Nothing can be that good if Piers Morgan is in it, you know what I mean?
"So the themes (of the album are) escapism, love, romance; to be on a journey - though I don't like that word, people say that on reality shows don't they - you know when a fat person becomes skinny they've been on a amazing journey. No they haven't, they've been on an amazing treadmill. Basically, the album includes brilliant and very well crafted songs, deceptively fantastic lyrics, all brilliantly played with the minimum of fuss and which are criminally underrated particularly in America," Gallagher surmises in unabashed appraisal.
But though his unshakable faith in his music remains the same as his halcyon days with Oasis, touring is now a different proposition. As a father of three life on the road now also means life apart from his young family too.
"The boys (Donovan and Sonny) don't like me going away but I can't wait until they're old enough so I can explain to them: 'You see all this all this multi-colored stuff (in our house), where do you think it comes from? Well, it doesn't come form Father Christmas, somebody's got to work for it and that somebody is me. So you jog on and go to bed and I'll see you in a month.'"
And with that Noel Gallagher leaves the room to prepare for his latest arena show, played on this occasion in the Scottish city of Glasgow, a stone's throw from the tiny venue where Oasis were first discovered all those years ago. Maybe now it is time for establishment acceptance of Gallagher in America, even if it is not in the White House.
TOKYO – Japanese researchers have invented a speech-jamming gadget that painlessly forces people into silence.
Kazutaka Kurihara of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and Koji Tsukada of Ochanomizu University, developed a portable "SpeechJammer" gun that can silence people more than 30 meters away.
The device works by recording its target's speech then firing their words back at them with a 0.2-second delay, which affects the brain's cognitive processes and causes speakers to stutter before silencing them completely. Describing the device in a research paper published Feb. 28 at arXiv.org, Kurihara and Tsukada wrote, "In general, human speech is jammed by giving back to the speakers their own utterances at a delay of a few hundred milliseconds. This effect can disturb people without any physical discomfort, and disappears immediately by stopping speaking."
They found that the device works better on people who were reading aloud than engaged in "spontaneous speech" and it cannot stop people making meaningless sounds, such as "ahhh," that are uttered over a long time period.
Kurihara and Tsukada suggested the speech-jamming gun could be used to hush noisy speakers in public libraries or to silence people in group discussions who interrupt other people's speeches.
"There are still many cases in which the negative aspects of speech become a barrier to the peaceful resolution of conflicts," the authors said.
A concept that was once considered 
By Breeanna Hare, CNN
