iPhone 5 is out! The biggest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone.

2012-09-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

It doesn’t seem possible. That an iPhone with so much — a larger display, a faster chip, ultrafast wireless technology, an 8MP iSight camera — could be so thin and so light. But it is. In fact, iPhone 5 is the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever.

The 4-inch Retina display lets you see more of everything. And everything you see is vivid and lifelike. It’s a larger, more beautiful canvas made the right way. Because even though the display is bigger, iPhone 5 is the same width as iPhone 4S. So it’s just as easy to use with one hand.

With support for the latest wireless technologies, iPhone 5 connects to more networks all over the world.* And Wi-Fi is faster, too. So you can browse, download, and stream content at remarkable speeds, wherever you happen to be.

The all-new Apple-designed A6 chip in iPhone 5 is powerful but not power hungry. CPU performance and graphics performance are up to twice as fast as on the A5 chip. But even with all that speed, iPhone 5 gives you outstanding battery life.

To learn more about iPhone 5 go to Apple Website

Usher Stepson Dies After Jetski Accident

2012-07-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

Usher's 11-year-old stepson has passed away this morning from injuries suffered in a tragic jetski accident in Georgia earlier this month ... TMZ has learned.

Doctors removed 11-year-old Kyle Glover from life support after it was determined the injuries were too severe to overcome. We're told Kyle's mother, Tameka Foster, struggled tremendously with the decision.

According to our sources, Tameka is understandably devastated.

Glover was injured on July 8 ... as he was riding in an inner tube that was connected to a pontoon in Lake Lanier. According to authorities, a family friend who was riding a jetski behind the pontoon lost control and collided with Glover's tube.

The accident is currently under investigation.

Article: http://www.tmz.com

Coronor Identifies Victims Of Aurora Shooting Spree

2012-07-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office has released the names of 11 of those killed in Friday's mass shooting in Aurora, Colo., during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. An additional victim was identified in a statement released by the family. Officials notified the families of all of the victims before publicly releasing the names.
This list will be updated as we learn more about each of those killed in the shooting.

Jessica N. Ghawi, 24: An aspiring sportswriter and blogger, Ghawi recently wrote of surviving a Toronto shooting. Described by friends as outgoing, smart and witty, Ghawi wrote that the incident in Toronto taught her to appreciate every moment of life. NPR's Eyder Peralta wrote about Ghawi's tragic story on Friday.
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Alex M. Sullivan, 27: Sullivan was celebrating his 27th birthday with a day out at the movies with friends to see The Dark Knight Rises. His uncle, Joe Loewenguth, told the Associated Press that he "was a very good young man," and that "he always made you laugh." Before the movie, Sullivan posted on his Twitter feed: "one hour till the movie and its going to be the best BIRTHDAY ever."
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Veronica Moser-Sullivan, 6: The youngest of those killed in the shooting, Veronica's mother, 25-year-old Ashley Moser, was also injured. A relative described Jessica as a "vibrant 6-year-old" who had just learned how to swim.
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John T. Larimer, 27: A U.S. Navy sailor, Larimer was a Petty Officer 3rd Class and had been assigned to Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora in October 2011, where he worked as a cryptologic technician. Cmdr. Jeffrey Jakuboski, Larimer's commanding officer, said in a statement that Larimer was "was an outstanding shipmate" and a "valued member of our Navy team," reports the Chicago Tribune.
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Jesse E. Childress, 29: An Air Force reservist, Sgt. Childress was a cyber-systems operator, the Air Force said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. He was from Thornton, Colorado.
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Micayla C. Medek, 23: A graduate of William C. Hinkley High School in Aurora, Medek said on her Facebook page she was a member of the class of 2015 of the Community College of Aurora, reports the Los Angeles Times. "I'm a simple independent girl who's just trying to get her life together while still having fun," she wrote. The Times reports that friends said they tried to carry her out of theater after she was wounded, but paramedics said there was nothing they could and told them to leave her behind.
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Alexander J. Boik, 18: CBS Denver reports that Boik was from Aurora and that the family released a statement saying he "was a wonderful, handsome and loving 18-year-old young man with a warm and loving heart." The statement says Boik was at the movie with his girlfriend, who survived the attack.
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Jonathan T. Blunk, 26: "He took a bullet for me," Jansen Young, Blunk's girlfriend, told NBC's Today Show. The couple, dating since October, according to Young, had been surprised to be able to get tickets on the day of the popular movie's premiere. Jansen said that when the bullets started flying, Blunk, who had some military experience and who had been planning to re-enlist in the military, pushed her under the seat to get her out of the line of fire and likely saved her life.
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Matthew McQuinn, 27: McQuinn's identification is awaiting final confirmation from the coroner, but his family's attorney confirmed in a statement that he was among those killed. The New York Times reports that McQuinn threw his body in front of his longtime girlfriend, Samantha Yowler, shielding her from the bullets that took his life. Yowler was hit by a bullet in her right knee, according to the statement, but is expected to make a full recovery.
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Alexander C. Teves, 24: CBS Denver says Teves attended Desert Vista High School in Phoenix and graduated in 2006. He earned a master's degree in counseling psychology in June from the University of Denver.
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Rebecca Ann Wingo, 32: According to her Facebook page, Wingo had attended Aurora Community College as well as worked for the U.S. Air Force. Wingo's father, Steve Hernandez, posted the following to Facebook: "I lost my daughter yesterday to a mad man, my grief right now is inconsolable. I hear she died instantly, without pain, however the pain is unbearable ... I love you my daughter Rebecca, we all will miss you."
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Gordon W. Cowden, 51: The oldest victim killed in the shooting, the New York Daily News says Cowden was a divorced father of four who worked from his Aurora home as a real estate appraiser.

The statement released by Arapahoe County coroner Michael Dobersen said autopsies were done on all of the victims. "The cause of death in all cases is related to gunshot wounds. The manner of death is homicide," according to the statement.
The suspected gunman, 24-year-old James Holmes, is in police custody and is scheduled to appear in court Monday. Authorities and bomb technicians spent the day trying to access Holmes' Aurora apartment, which was booby-trapped with what police believe were explosive and incendiary devices. .

Article from: http://ketr.org

Police begin disabling booby traps in shooting suspect's home

2012-07-21T13:06:00.001-07:00

AURORA, Colo. (Reuters) - A controlled explosion by a bomb squad on Saturday appears to have made it safe for police to enter the booby-trapped apartment of the man suspected in Friday's mass shooting at a Denver-area movie theater, police said.

Police were undertaking the delicate task of disabling what they described as sophisticated explosives at the Aurora, Colorado, apartment of suspect James Holmes, who officials believe booby trapped his home before killing 12 people and injuring more than 50 others at the theater early on Friday.
The bomb squad used a robot to place a tube -- known as a "water shot" -- near an explosive device in the apartment. The water shot was then detonated to disable the explosive.
Photos of the apartment, taken by a camera raised up to the third-floor window, showed jars of ammunition on the floor and "things that look like mortar rounds," Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said. There were also bottles filled with an unknown liquid as well as what appeared to be trip wires laid out across the apartment, he said.
Aurora Police spokeswoman Sergeant Cassidee Carlson said the device had clearly been "set up to kill."
"We have been successful in disabling a second triggering device," she said. "Although not certain, we are hopeful we have eliminated the remaining major threats. We will not know this until we enter the apartment."
"There still remains all kinds of hazards inside the apartment," Carlson said. "We will remain here for hours to collect evidence and mitigate those hazards."
Police evacuated five nearby buildings and created a perimeter of several blocks around Holmes' apartment, the top-floor unit of a three-story red brick building in a run-down section of Aurora.
The shooting occurred as hundreds of people watched sold-out midnight screenings of "The Dark Knight Rises" at a mall in Aurora.
The gunman -- armed with an assault rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, and wearing a full suit of tactical body armor, a helmet and a gas mask -- set off two smoke bombs before opening fire in the dark theater.
Officers who arrived on scene within 90 seconds of the first emergency calls quickly took Holmes, 24, into custody in a parking lot behind the cinema, where he surrendered without a fight, Oates said.
Holmes, a graduate student who authorities said had his hair dyed red and called himself "the Joker" in a reference to Batman's comic-book nemesis, was due to make an initial court appearance on Monday.
LONG-TERM INJURIES
Hospital officials said some patients had sustained serious head injuries and chest injuries.
The University of Colorado Hospital, which treated 23 victims of the shooting, said 10 people had been released and five remained in critical condition.
The Medical Center of Aurora said of its seven patients -- ranging in age from 16 to 31 -- four remained in the intensive care unit and three other patients are on the main trauma floor.
"The initial adrenalin rush of having something like this happen, both for the families and the patients themselves, is starting to wear off," said Dr. Bob Snyder, a trauma surgeon at the Medical Center of Aurora. "There is going to be some realization that there are going to be some serious, long-term issues that people are going to have to deal with."
A memorial of flowers, candles and stuffed animals has been set up at the Aurora shopping mall where the shooting rampage took place. A handwritten sign read: "7/20 gone not forgotten."
President Barack Obama called the shootings a reminder that life is fragile and promised that the federal government stood ready to do all it could to seek justice for the "heinous crime.
"Even as we come to learn how this happened and who's responsible, we may never understand what leads anyone to terrorize their fellow human beings," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, which was broadcast on Saturday.
Witnesses at the movie theater told of a horrific scene, with dazed victims bleeding from bullet wounds, spitting up blood and crying for help. Among those taken to hospitals as a precaution was a baby boy just a few months old.
"I slipped on some blood and landed on a lady. I shook her and said, 'We need to go; get up,' and there was no response, so I presumed she was dead," said Tanner Coon, 17.
The suspect may have blended in with other moviegoers who wore costumes as heroes and villains, and some witnesses said they believed at first that his appearance was a theatrical enhancement to the film.
"It was just straight chaos," said Jennifer Seeger, 25. "Everybody was starting to scream and run at that point. He went straight from here to here with a gun in my face at that point. That rifle was in my face and I honestly didn't know what to think."
The shooting evoked memories of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, 17 miles from Aurora, where two students opened fire and killed 12 students and a teacher.
The gunman was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a Glock .40-caliber handgun, Oates said. Police found an additional Glock .40-caliber handgun in his car, parked just outside the theater's rear emergency exit, he said.
Holmes had purchased the weapons legally at three area gun stores in the last 60 days and bought 6,000 rounds of ammunition, including a 100-round drum magazine for an assault rifle, Oates said.
He said police had not yet determined whether the rifle was fully or semi-automatic. Still, with the 100-round drum in place, the shooter could easily have squeezed off 50 to 60 shots in a minute, Oates said.
A law enforcement official who asked to remain anonymous said the suspect had purchased a ticket, entered the theater and propped open the emergency exit while he slipped out to "gear up" and return armed.
The portrait of Holmes that emerged in the day following the shooting remained fuzzy, with only a speeding ticket on his record and nothing to suggest he was capable of an outburst of gun violence.
Holmes' family issued a statement of sympathy for the victims, saying, "Our heart goes out" to their loved ones, while they also asked for privacy from the media while they "process this information.
(Additional reporting by Keith Coffman and Stephanie Simon and Mary Slosson; Writing by Edith Honan; Editing by Eric Beech)

Article from http://ca.news.yahoo.com

Batman Shooter James Holmes Fallout: Movie Theaters Should Not Become Police Checkpoints

2012-07-21T09:00:00.001-07:00

Batman Shooter James Holmes Fallout Movie Theaters Should Not Become Police Checkpoints

The much-anticipated release of The Dark Knight Rises on Friday was dampened immensely by the news of James Holmes shooting and killing 12, and injuring over 70 others in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theatre.
Due to the unfortunate nature of mainstream American news coverage, tragedies of this nature tend to quickly become politicized and the Friday event was no different. By the morning after the crime, Holmes was accused of being a Tea Party member, debates over gun control were re-ignited, and President Obama released a statement.
Witnesses said Holmes was standing there like target practice, indiscriminately firing at the already tear-gassed crowd. How could this have been prevented? Is security at movie theatres, where crowds of people are funnelled in and out, not tight enough? Should movie theatres resemble airports or many professional sports stadiums with searches?
There are so many factors that go into decisions over what is the proper amount of security. Is it placing a security guard or two in every theatre? Frisking and searching everyone who buys a ticket? Allowing private, concealed firearms or banning all weapons from the location?
And while I don't know exactly what the best solution should be, the responsibility ultimately lies with the owners of a theater. In my experience, the mega-theatres I have been to in San Francisco tend to have light, but adequate, security. Private security guards roam throughout the building and look prepared to handle any possible conflict or disaster scenarios. And keep in mind that just a few months ago, a possible massacre in Aurora was prevented by a brave and armed citizen.
This is how security should be run, by private property owners who are liable both for the benefits and costs associated with their property and can and should be held liable for damages that may occur. In the same way that prices of consumer goods give economic signals, this cost-benefit factor in property ownership help find a proper balance on how much, or little, security is needed. Private firearm ownership
Undoubtedly, there will be calls to have government play a larger role as it has in airports. But what is interesting to note is that the police arrived after the carnage had already been inflicted. This is not a direct shot at police, but simply a reality of the incentive structures of government services, in this case security. Government police lack the feedback that market prices give, tend to escalate rather than diffuse situations, and according to multiple Supreme Court rulings, have absolutely no legal obligation to protect you.
Aside from questions of security and how something like this can be prevented in the future, there are two things that immediately came to mind upon hearing about the tragedy in Aurora that the news media will likely not discuss.

First is the issue of heavily-prescribed psychiatric drugs and the terrible anti-social and violent side effects that they can have. When one researches any of the mass shootings that have occurred in recent history, in nearly every single one, psychiatric drugs (or symptoms of withdrawal) were involved. There is no word yet on whether Holmes was on them as well, but given the political interests that are involved with the pharmaceutical industry and the frequency at which they are prescribed, the chances are high that he was and that it would be under-reported or ignored.
Secondly, Eric Harris, who along with Dylan Klebold committed the Columbine massacre, was inspired by President Clinton's bombing of Serbia. "I hope we do go to war...[I want to] shoot every one," he told a friend. He even tried to join the Marines, but the recruiter was hesitant because Harris was taking anti-depressants.
Was Holmes inspired, directly or indirectly, by the incredible amount of violence and carnage that President Obama inflicts around the world? This is not hyperbole, it's an honest question. If a president is supposed to be the leader of a people, what example is set when that president brags and gloats about his "kill lists," drone strikes, and extrajudicial assassinations?
Because of Holmes' heinous crimes, security may well be upgraded in theaters and other places with large crowds of people. No amount of additional government powers or enhanced security, however, can mask the institutionalized factors that have led to public shooting sprees in the past and that were likely behind Holmes's as well. The only thing worse than these acts of mass violence would be failing to recognize these multitude of determinants involved and ignoring them.

Article from: http://www.policymic.com

Picture Credit: 91st Customs 2012

James Holmes Sex Website Says Profile Is Legit exclusive

2012-07-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

A profile on a popular sex website appearing to be that of Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes is authentic ... so say sources connected to the website.

As TMZ first reported, the profile appeared on the website adultfriendfinder.com just days before the "Dark Knight Rises" massacre. The profile included a cryptic message on the top which reads, "Will you visit me in prison?"

Sources at the website tell TMZ they have confirmed it was created by Holmes. We're told they tracked the IP address back to Aurora, CO and the account info for the profile (such as the address and DOB) matched up with Holmes.

In the profile, Holmes described his penis as "short/average," said he was a "light/social drinker" and in the section where he's asked if he smokes or does drugs, he answered, "I'd prefer not to say."

Holmes created the profile on July 5 and last logged in to the site sometime in the past three days.

Law enforcement is currently looking at the profile to determine its authenticity and relevance, but website sources tell us ... they have not been contacted yet.

Article from: http://www.tmz.com

Dark Knight Colorado massacre suspect James Holmes has booby-trapped his apartment: police

2012-07-20T12:02:00.002-07:00

AP Photo/Ed Andrieski

AURORA, Colo. — Police searching the home of a man suspected of killing 12 people in a Denver, Colorado movie theatre have determined it is “booby-trapped” with what they are calling “very sophisticated” explosives or flammable materials.
U.S. law enforcement officials have named 24-year-old James Holmes as the suspected gunman in the shooting spree during the premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” at an Aurora theatre in suburban Denver.
Holmes is in custody, and the FBI says there in no indication he has ties to larger international terrorist organizations.
Wearing a gas mask, Holmes allegedly set off an unknown gas and fired into a crowded movie theatre at a midnight screening, killing at least 12 people and injuring at least 50 others, authorities said.
Police Chief Dan Oates says it could take “hours or days” to disarm any devices. The suspect earlier spoke of “possible explosives in his residence.”
Oates said police also checked for explosives in the parking lot and at the Century 16 theatre and secured those areas. Police were at the Denver-area apartment and had evacuated other residents of the building.
One of the dead is Jessica Ghawi, 24, a young aspiring sportscaster who last month survived Toronto’s Eaton Centre shooting. She wrote about her experience in a blog post dated June 5, 2012.
Some of the injured were children, with the youngest a 4-month-old baby who has been released from treatment. Victims were being treated for chemical exposure apparently related to canisters thrown by the gunman.
Moviegoers didn’t know what was happening and some thought the attack was part of the show. Then they saw a silhouette of a person in the smoke at the front of the theatre near the screen, pointing a gun at the crowd.
“I told my friend ’we’ve got to get out of here,’ but then he shot people trying to go out the exits,” Jennifer Seeger told NBC’s “Today.” She the shooter made his way up the aisle, shooting as he went, saying nothing.

Twitter

Aspiring sportscaster Jessica Ghawi was killed in the shooting. She also witnessed the Toronto Eaton Centre gunfight in June and had written widely about the incident.

Holmes was arrested shortly after the attack at 12:30 a.m. MDT at the multiplex theatre at a mall in Aurora.
It was the worst mass shooting in Colorado since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire at the school in the Denver suburb of Littleton, about 15 miles west of Aurora, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves in the school’s library.
Aurora police spokesman Frank Fania on ABC’s “Good Morning America” said he didn’t know yet if all the injuries were gunshot wounds. He said some might have been caused by other things such as shrapnel.
Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding the 911 switchboard, officials said.

Officers came running in and telling people to leave the theatre, Salina Jordan told the Denver Post. She said some police were carrying and dragging bodies.
Officers later found the gunman near a car behind the theatre.
“A gas mask, rifle, handgun at least one additional weapon [were] found inside,” he said.

AP Photo/Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post

A man puts his head in his hands after arriving at Children's Hospital in Aurora, CO, Friday, July 20, 2012.

The suspect was taken into custody, but no name was released. Oates said there’s no evidence of any other attackers. There was also no immediate word of any motive.
President Barack Obama said he was saddened by the “horrific and tragic shooting,” pledging that his administration was “committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded.”
“The Dark Knight Rises” is one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer. The movie opened across the world Friday, but the shooting prompted officials to cancel the Paris premiere, with workers pulling down the red carpet display at a theatre on the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue.
“Warner Bros. and the filmmakers are deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. We extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time,” the studio said.

REUTERS/Jason Hatfield

FBI officers, Aurora police officers, and fire crews are pictured outside the Denver shooting suspect's apartment building in Aurora Colorado.

Moviegoers spoke of their terror as violence erupted and people around them fell victim.
Bejamin Fernandez, 30, told the Post that he heard a series of explosions. He said that people ran from the theatre and there were gunshots as police shouted “get down!”
Frenandez said he saw people falling, including one young girl.
Jordan told the paper that one girl was struck in cheek, others in stomach including a girl who looked to be around 9-years-old.
Jordan said it sounded like firecrackers until someone ran into Theater 8 yelling “they’re shooting out here!”
Hayden Miller told KUSA-TV that he heard several shots.

AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez

Judy Goos, center left, hugs her daughter's friend, Isaiah Bow, 20, while eyewitnesses Emma Goos, 19, left, and Terrell Wallin, 20, right, gather outside Gateway High School where witnesses were brought for questioning Friday, July 20, 2012, in Aurora, Colo.

“Like little explosions going on and shortly after that we heard people screaming,” he told the station.
Hayden said at first he thought it was part of a louder movie next door. But then he saw “people hunched over leaving theatre.”
The police chief said 10 victims died at the theatre and four at area hospitals.
At least 24 people were being treated at Denver area hospitals.

KUSA reported that some hospitalized victims were being treated for chemical exposure, related apparently to canister thrown by gunman.
Eleven people were being treated at the Medical Center of Aurora for gunshots and ranged from minor to critical condition. Two others walked in to be treated for tear gas contamination.
Denver Health had seven victims — one in critical and the rest in fair condition.

JONATHAN CASTNER/AFP/GettyImages

Police cars in front of the Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colorado where a gunman opened fire during the opening of the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" killing at least 12 people and wounding 50 others.

The youngest victims were being treated at Children’s Hospital Colorado, where a total of six children were taken. Their condition wasn’t known.
Two people in critical condition were rushed to nearby Swedish Medical Center, spokeswoman Nicole Williams said.
Aurora is on Denver’s east side and is Colorado’s third-largest city with 327,000 residents. It is home to a large Defence Department satellite intelligence operation at Buckley Air Force Base, as well as The Children’s Hospital, the University of Colorado Hospital and a future Veterans Affairs hospital.

REUTERS/ Evan Semin

Tom Sullivan holds up a photo of his son Alex Sullivan pleading the media to help find him, outside Gateway High School a few blocks from the scene of the Century 16 Theatre shootings in Aurora, Colorado July 20, 2012.

Article taken from: http://news.nationalpost.com/

'Batman' Massacre 1st Photo of Shooter James Holmes

2012-07-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

Holmes also posted a picture of himself on his MySpace page (above). Holmes had no friends besides the MySpace founder Tom, who was automatically added as a friend to anyone who signed up for an account.

Here is the first photo of "Dark Knight" theater shooter James Holmes ... released by the University of Colorado, where he attended the School of Medicine.

SanDiego6.com also obtained a photo of Holmes, which appears to have been taken several years ago.

Holmes grew up in San Diego.

Article taken from: http://www.tmz.com

Anderson Cooper reveals he's gay in web post

2012-07-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

Anderson Cooper is the host of the current affairs program 360º on the 24-hour news network CNN. The celebrity journalist and son of heiress Gloria Vanderbilt came out in a letter to a writer for the news website the Daily Beast. (Danny Moloshok/Reuters)

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who has been reluctant to talk about his personal life in public, revealed that he is gay in an essay posted online on Monday.
The celebrity journalist and host of the current affairs program 360º said he had kept his sexual orientation private for personal and professional reasons but came to think that remaining silent had given some people a mistaken impression that he was ashamed.
"The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself and proud," he wrote in a letter to well-known commentator Andrew Sullivan, who writes the blog the Dish for the news website the Daily Beast.
The letter was written in response to Sullivan asking Cooper his thoughts on an Entertainment Weekly story about the recent tendency for gay people in the public eye to come out in a more restrained way than in the past. Cooper, a personal friend of Sullivan, gave Sullivan permission to publish his email response.
Cooper, the son of U.S. heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, had long been the subject of rumours about his sexual orientation. He said that in a perfect world, it wouldn't be anyone's business but that there is value in "standing up and being counted."
"I still consider myself a reserved person, and I hope this doesn't mean an end to a small amount of personal space," he wrote. "But I do think visibility is important, more important than preserving my reporter's shield of privacy."

Article From: http://www.cbc.ca

Human head found in Montreal park Unclear if find is linked to Magnotta body-parts case

2012-07-03T12:06:00.003-07:00

The park where a human head was found Sunday in Montreal. (QMI Agency)

MONTREAL - A human head was found in a west-end park on Sunday, QMI Agency has learned, but it was not immediately clear if there's a link to the Luka Magnotta body-parts case.

The head was found on the shore of a lake in Angrignon park, a few kilometres south of Magnotta's apartment where his lover, Jun Lin, was killed in late May.
A large number of police officers and detectives were on the scene Sunday and a forensic identification truck was seen in the park.
The entire area was closed to the public.
Montreal police spokeswoman Anie Lemieux confirmed a discovery was made in the park Sunday morning but she wouldn't say if it was a human head.
"The major crimes squad investigators were in the park, they got information that led them there," Lemieux told QMI Agency.
"They found something that they have given to the coroner's office. It's too early to say if it's linked to the homicide case, the Magnotta case that we all know." She added that the item found near the lake would be examined in the coming days. Test results are expected to be completed within a week.
Police have told the Lin family about the discovery, a source told QMI.
The Chinese student was cut to pieces, his body parts mailed to the offices of Canadian political parties in Ottawa and public schools in Vancouver.
The head is the only part that has not been officially accounted for in the gory case that made headlines around the world.
Magnotta, born Eric Clinton Newman, is a former small-time porn actor who grew up in east-end Toronto and Lindsay, Ont., northeast of the city.
The 29-year-old was briefly considered the world's most wanted man after a janitor found Lin's torso outside Magnotta's west-end Montreal apartment.
The case took a grisly turn when a video was posted to a gore website that shows a man tied to a bed, stabbed to death with an ice pick and dismembered.
Police say the victim in the video is Jun Lin.
Magnotta fled to Europe following the murder and a manhunt extended to Paris and then to Berlin, where the suspect was arrested six days later.
He was extradited to Canada under unprecedented security and has pleaded not-guilty to first-degree murder and other charges.
Magnotta is being kept in solitary confinement pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for March.

Article From: http://www.torontosun.com

Luka Rocco Magnotta to make second Montreal court appearance

2012-06-21T08:55:00.001-07:00

MONTREAL – Luka Rocco Magnotta will appear at the Montreal courthouse via videoconference at 2 p.m. Thursday in connection with several charges, including the first-degree murder of student Lin Jun.
His lawyer, Pierre Panaccio, is expected to request his client undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he can be deemed criminally responsible for the crimes with which he is charged.
For the request to be accepted by Quebec Court judge Renée-Lori Weitzman, Panaccio will have to show reasonable cause that Magnotta requires an evaluation.
If the request were to be accepted, Magnotta would be transferred to the Philippe Pinel Institute for up to 30 days.
Magnotta, 29, is facing five charges in connection with the murder and dismemberment of 33-year-old Lin overnight May 24-25.
He is suspected of mailing Lin’s hands and feet to federal political parties in Ottawa and two schools in Vancouver, and of videotaping the crime and posting it to the Internet.
He was apprehended in Berlin on June 4, and flown back to Montreal Monday.

Article From:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/

Luka Rocco Magnotta’s online identities make his autobiographical information hard to decipher

2012-06-21T08:51:00.001-07:00

The world knows Luka Rocco Magnotta all too well.
His exploits, whether real or imagined, whether alleged by police or conjured up in his own mind, have been detailed by media outlets around the globe.
It appears the 29-year-old man accused of killing, dismembering and partially cannibalizing Montreal university student Jun Lin wanted it that way.
Mr. Magnotta appeared to live much of his life online, using the Internet to cultivate a dark and twisted, yet sexual, image.

It’s an image that’s likely here to stay now that he has been whisked back to Canada on charges including first-degree murder, defiling a corpse, and harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
He has been transferred to an east-end Montreal jail where he has been placed into solitary confinement and is under a 24-hour suicide watch while awaiting his next court appearance on Thursday.
Mr. Magnotta is under “super protection,” which means he has no contact with any of the other prisoners. Beyond that, he’ll receive no special treatment while in the jail.
“We do our work and we’re not afraid of him,” said Stephane Lemaire, head of the provincial jail guards’ union.
Police precautions used since Mr. Magnotta returned to Montreal have been excessive, Mr. Lemaire said. “It’s ridiculous the amount of money that was wasted to give the media a show … To see that much security, it feels like we’re dealing with Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs.”

John Mahoney/THE GAZETTE

Police reported that onlookers crowded onto highway overpasses for a glimpse of the motorcade carrying Magnotta as it sped to Montreal.

In reality, they’re dealing with Eric Clinton Newman, who was born on July 24, 1982 in east-end Toronto. Mr. Magnotta shed his original identity with a name change in 2006; the transition does not appear to have been smooth.
Mr. Magnotta has also gone by the aliases Vladimir Romanov and Jimmy, set up dozens of online usernames and maintained 70 Facebook pages and 20 websites, police have said.

Luka is unable to live unless there is chaos in his life, it makes him feel as though he matters

A MySpace page created by a Luka Magnotta and dedicated to grandparents Phyllis and Walter Yourkin and their extended family, the Yourkin-Williams clan, says he was raised by them, writing, “Luka Magnotta, he is like a very, very special son to Phyllis and Walter.”
There has been no activity on the page for the past several years, but several old family photos were uploaded, as well as two apparently self-stylized pictures of Mr. Magnotta.
In one marked “Eric Newman copyright 2005,” he is wearing a 1940s aviator costume with images of war planes superimposed. It says “Luka Magnotta aka Eric Newman” in red script.
Many other Internet postings that appear to come from Mr. Magnotta himself describe a childhood with his grandmother, though they don’t always paint as rosy a picture.
On what may have been his personal MySpace page, it says he grew up with “absentee parents” and no boundaries, though he “desperately wanted and needed” them.
His grandmother could not be reached for comment, and all other family members contacted, including his mother, Anna Yourkin, did not return calls.
A 1,200-word post by a Vladimir Romanov on a Psych Central “I hate my mother” forum from about nine or 10 months ago rants against the poster’s mom. Mr. Romanov says he is now 29 and mostly lived with his grandmother, but says his mother ruined his life.
Mr. Romanov says his “extremely manipulative” mother homeschooled him and forced him to wear diapers until the age of seven. He alleges abuse at the hands of a male relative.
He says he became a prostitute and was raped, but used the money to take his mother on “lavish vacations.”

AP Photo/Montreal Police

Magnotta is guided into a waiting van after arriving from a Canadian military plane on Monday in Mirabel, Quebec.

On a MySpace page belonging to an Anna Yourkin there are photos of a blond woman and Mr. Magnotta apparently on vacation in a tropical location.
Mr. Romanov’s post praises his 24-year-old sister and her three children.
Media reports say Mr. Magnotta has a sister named Melissa, and a Melissa is connected on MySpace to the family page set up by a Luka Magnotta. On the page, a Melissa writes, “I love my older brother Luka, he is the kindest person I know and he’s always there when I need him!”

He appears to have wanted to get people talking about the movie and wanting to see it, before he was able to post produce it for ‘official release’

An unnamed relative told the Ottawa Citizen the family hadn’t heard from Mr. Magnotta in a while, after he had hurt them when he was younger.
Much of his family lives in Peterborough, where Magnotta grew up. He also went to school for a few years in nearby Lindsay, but few former classmates remember him.
The ones who do remember him say he was targeted by bullies and often beaten up.
An aunt told the Peterborough Examiner that Mr. Magnotta always had a propensity for concocting stories and had “delusions of grandeur.”
He moved back to Toronto in about 2001 and reportedly got into escort work and worked as a stripper at a gay bar.
In 2003 he began his sporadic porn career, appearing in three films that year as both Luka and Jimmy, and five more films between then and 2010. Most of the titles indicate it was gay porn.
In 2004 Mr. Magnotta was charged in Toronto with several offences for nearly $17,000 in credit card fraud. He pleaded guilty in June 2005 and was handed a nine-month conditional sentence and a year of probation.
However, he declared bankruptcy in 2007. He owed $17,000 and had just $6,500 in assets. His job was listed as a server, and his monthly income was just $800.
The income on the Luka Magnotta MySpace was listed as $250,000 or higher.
He also lists his heroes as Jesus Christ, James Dean, Madonna and Abraham Lincoln.
It’s hard to know what, if anything, is true in Mr. Magnotta’s autobiographical information, and what came from Mr. Magnotta himself.
People in the online communities featuring posts about Mr. Magnotta certainly feel all of the information came straight from him. Much of it seems designed to talk up and hype a disturbed character.
There are posts on various blogs, forums and other websites that portray depraved or sadistic encounters with relatives.
One blog with only one entry, from August 2008, contains biographical information about Mr. Magnotta, but also says “he is in fact now living in the (Caribbean) with his new wife Karla Homolka,” that he is a “master manipulator” and in love with his sister.
“How delusional and sick can one man be?” the anonymous post asks.
“By 2007 though Luka’s relationship with his sister was imploding due to its own moral chaos,” the post concludes.
“Luka is unable to live unless there is chaos in his life, it makes him feel as though he matters. That is the explanation a psychiatrist has told me when I described this situation.”
Some wonder if Mr. Magnotta himself is the only source of rumours that he was dating Karla Homolka. He went to a Toronto newspaper in 2007 to deny the rumour and deny that he was behind the rumour.
There is also a post from the same Yourkin-Williams family MySpace page that was created on the personal Magnotta page, reading: “Luka Magnotta walks around his condo dressed to the nines in new clothes and then changes every hour. He has a mental disorder and is very very unpredictable. He abuses a lot of medication and calls his pills ‘vitamins.’ ”
It appears someone was posting about the “1 lunatic 1 ice pick” video, purporting to show Jun Lin’s dismemberment, several days before Mr. Lin went missing.
The operators of Best Gore, the website that hosted the ice pick video, believe the posts came from Mr. Magnotta. Some believe the posts were online before the murder.
“He appears to have wanted to get people talking about the movie and wanting to see it, before he was able to post produce it for ‘official release’ on the deep Web,” says a post on Best Gore dated June 9.
What will likely be a highly publicized journey through the justice system only just started with a first court appearance via video Tuesday when he pleaded not guilty. A quote on the Luka Magnotta MySpace page seems prophetic.
“Only god can judge me and im waiting for my judgement day,” it said. “Life is too short, live every day like it’s your last!”
The Canadian Press, with files from National Post

Article From: http://news.nationalpost.com

Luka Magnotta a ‘ticking time bomb’: Peterborough relative

2012-06-21T08:49:00.002-07:00

A photo of Luka Magnotta's Grade 10 high school yearbook photo from I.E. Weldon Secondary School in Lindsay. PETERBOROUGH - Luka Magnotta is a “ticking time bomb” who needs to be brought into custody, says a close family member of the primary suspect in a gruesome Montreal murder.

“I hope that he is caught because he is a ticking time bomb,” the woman said during an exclusive interview with QMI Agency. “Because he’s unstable, if he gets cornered, I just don’t think it will be a good outcome, so the faster he is caught the better.”
The woman, who has known Magnotta since he was a child, spoke on a condition of anonymity. She described a highly dysfunctional family where Magnotta was raised by his grandparents with little if any structure.
“This family from the head down is very dysfunctional,” she said, as she sipped a coffee in a Peterborough Tim Hortons.
“He’s a nut job. I did not trust him. Eric is the type of individual, I think he’s mentally ill. He has delusions of grandeur. He concocts stories that he tends to believe and they in turn become fact in his mind.”
“The essence of this whole story is parenting or the lack of.”
To the national, now international, audience that is following the case, Magnotta is a murder suspect, a porn-star, a kitten slaughterer and even a rumoured love interest of child killer Karla Holmoka.
But to his family in the Peterborough area, the man at the centre of a bizarre case in which parts from a dismembered body were mailed to national political party offices is just Eric Newman. The woman said Magnotta was an “odd,” effeminate teen growing up in Scarborough and then Lindsay where he attended I. E. Weldon Secondary School for Grade 10 and 11.
“He’s a nut job. I did not trust him,” the woman said. “Eric is the type of individual, I think he’s mentally ill. He has delusions of grandeur. He concocts stories that he tends to believe and they in turn become fact in his mind.”
Magnotta was born in Scarborough to parents Don Newman and Anna Yourkin and has a younger brother and sister and two younger half-siblings.
His mother and sister live in Peterborough. Both declined to comment Thursday.

“Please get off the property, you’re trespassing,” Anna Yourkin told The Examiner on Thursday morning through the door of her Westcott St. home.

That home was the site of a $60,000 fire in June 2010. Police said the fire was intentional and charged a 14-year-old boy with arson endangering life.
Magnotta’s 21-year-old cousin, Louis Yourkin, is currently calling the Central East Correctional Centre home. He is before the Peterborough court on charges of gun and drug trafficking.
He was charged after police seized handguns following a vehicle stop. Court has heard he purchased the handguns to settle a drug debt.
Both Magnotta and Louis Yourkin were raised by their biological grandmother — Phyllis Yourkin — who lives in Peterborough’s north-end, the family member said.
“(Phyllis) tries to be the typical matriarch of the family. She is very domineering, controlling and if you have a submissive personality she will beat you up and do what she wants,” she said.
Lindsay Post sister paper The Peterborough Examiner went to I. E. Weldon Secondary School and found Magnotta’s photo in the 1999 and 2000 yearbooks, where he is identified as Eric Newman. In his Grade 10 picture he sports a lumberjack shirt and Mohawk-style haircut. The following year he has the bleached blond dye characteristic of his current online persona.
The school’s vice-principal would not discuss Magnotta’s history at the school.
“We can’t comment,” Richard Christie said.
Since news broke of Magnotta’s suspected role in the gruesome murder and disembodiment of an unknown man in Montreal that police said was videotaped and posted online, the family has been shocked by the graphic details, the woman said.
“It made me nauseous,” she said.
But the woman said she doesn’t believe for a second that Magnotta had any romantic connection to school girl killer Karla Holmoka, a story that circulated five years ago. Magnotta has a habit of making up rumours about himself, she said.
“He will create a conflict, then he will take himself out and he will deny the content of the story, which he in fact started,” she explained.
While some media reports suggested Magnotta might have fled the country, the woman said
Peterborough and Lindsay residents should keep their eyes out for Magnotta as he feels comfortable in both communities.
“People need to be aware that he does have a connection to Peterborough, he does have a connection to Lindsay,” she said. “Eric thinks he’s smarter than he is.”
-The Peterborough Examiner

Article From: http://www.thepost.ca/

Taxi Driver Runs Over a Man After Being Attacked in Montreal

2012-04-30T16:26:00.006-07:00

VIDEO: (Warning: the following clip may be unsettling to some viewers. Discretion advised.)

MONTREAL -

A Montreal cab driver has been charged for running over a 23-year-old man early Sunday morning, as seen in a graphic video since posted online.

Guercy Edmond, 47, will remain behind bars after the Crown opposed bail. He faces charges of hit and run, aggravated assault and armed assault.

The victim suffered severe injuries after amateur video showed a taxi running him over as a cabbie tried to flee the scene of an altercation.

At about 3:45 a.m., a conflict erupted between the driver and a group of individuals who had just gotten out of the cab.

The group gathered around the cab, with some people hitting the car and one man getting on the roof and jumping up and down.

The driver then tried to drive away from the group, but ran over one man.

Video filmed by a witness shows the cab driving away from the scene as the group gathers around the man on the ground.

The young man who was injured could also face charges.

It was the top item of discussion Monday among Montreal cabbies, who sometimes face violence on the job.

"If I was in his place, I don't know what I would do," said one cabbie, who did not want to be named. "At night, at closing time, things are pretty dangerous."

Montreal has about 10,000 taxi drivers. About 50 of those are involved in violent incidents every year, say industry associations. Most of the disputes centre around clients who refuse to pay their fares.

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