Having come under fire over its relaxed attitude towards saved passwords in Chrome earlier in the year, Google is finally looking to do something about it. In a post to his Google+ page, Chrome tinkerer Franois Beaufort notes that the company will now ask users to authenticate themselves using a ...Lighted pylons at the Century Boulevard entrance to Los Angeles International Airport, which normally flash in a multicolored sequence, shine a steady blue Saturday evening, Nov. 2, 2013, in honor of Gerardo Hernandez, the Transportation Security Administration officer slain at an LAX terminal Friday. He is the first TSA officer to die in the line of duty in the history of the 12-year-old agency, created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. A police entry checkpoint, part of an increased visible police presence, is seen in the foreground. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Lighted pylons at the Century Boulevard entrance to Los Angeles International Airport, which normally flash in a multicolored sequence, shine a steady blue Saturday evening, Nov. 2, 2013, in honor of Gerardo Hernandez, the Transportation Security Administration officer slain at an LAX terminal Friday. He is the first TSA officer to die in the line of duty in the history of the 12-year-old agency, created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. A police entry checkpoint, part of an increased visible police presence, is seen in the foreground. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
This photo provided by the FBI shows Paul Ciancia, 23. Accused of opening fire inside the Los Angeles airport, Ciancia was determined to lash out at the Transportation Security Administration, saying in a note that he wanted to kill at least one TSA officer and didn’t care which one, authorities said Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/FBI)
ALTERNATE HORIZONTAL CROP - This June, 2013 photo released by the Hernandez family Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013, shows Transportation Security Administration officer Gerardo Hernandez. Hernandez, 39, was shot to death and several others wounded by a gunman who went on a shooting rampage in Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport Friday. (AP Photo/Courtesy Hernandez Family)
This photo provided by the Calabasas Courier, a student publication of Calabasas, Calif., High School, shows teacher Brian Ludmer in September, 2012. Ludmer, 29, was the lone civilian wounded by gunfire in the shooting rampage at Los Angeles International Airport Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Ludmer remained in fair condition at Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the leg. Two other people suffered injuries trying to evade the gunman, but weren't shot. (AP Photo/Calabasas Courier)
John S. Pistole, left, Administrator of Transportation Security Administration and Ana Fernandez, center, wife of TSA agent Gerardo Fernandez, victim at LAX shooting, before a press conference in Porter Ranch, Calif. on Saturday Nov. 2, 2013. A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, killing a Transportation Security Administration employee and wounding two other people in an attack that frightened passengers and disrupted flights nationwide. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The man accused of opening fire at Los Angeles International Airport, shooting employees and terrorizing travelers, accomplished two of his goals, according to authorities: kill a Transportation Security Administration officer and show how easy it is to get a gun into an airport.
The deadly rampage left investigators to piece together what motivated Paul Ciancia's hatred toward the agency formed to make air travel safer after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, but could ultimately lead to changes in the way airports are patrolled.
Ciancia was shot four times by airport police, including in the mouth, and remains heavily sedated and under 24-hour armed guard at the hospital, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Sunday. The official was not authorized to speak publicly on the case and requested anonymity.
The FBI said he had a handwritten letter, stating that he made the conscious decision to try to kill multiple TSA officers and "instill fear in your traitorous minds."
The unemployed motorcycle mechanic who recently moved to Los Angeles from the small, blue-collar town of Pennsville, N.J., had a friend drop him at LAX on Friday just moments before he pulled a .223-caliber assault rifle from his duffel bag and opened fire, killing one TSA officer and wounding three other people, including two more TSA workers.
Officials do not believe that the friend knew of the shooter's plans. Ciancia arrived at the airport in a black Hyundai and was not a ticketed passenger.
Ciancia is facing charges of murder of a federal officer and committing violence at an international airport. The charges could qualify him for the death penalty. It was not immediately clear when he would make a first court appearance given his medical condition.
In court documents and interviews, authorities spelled out a chilling chain of events, saying Ciancia walked into the airport's Terminal 3, pulled the assault rifle from his duffel bag and fired repeatedly at 39-year-old TSA officer Gerardo I. Hernandez. He went up an escalator, turned back to see Hernandez move and returned to shoot him again, according to surveillance video reviewed by investigators.
He then fired on two other uniformed TSA employees and an airline passenger, who all were wounded, as he moved methodically through the security checkpoint to the passenger gate area before airport police shot him as panicked travelers hid in stores and restaurants.
It wasn't clear why Ciancia targeted TSA officers, but what he left behind indicated he was willing to kill any of them that crossed his path, authorities revealed.
The letter in his duffel bag refers to how Ciancia believed his constitutional rights were being violated by TSA searches and that he's a "pissed-off patriot" upset at former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
"Black, white, yellow, brown, I don't discriminate," the note read, according to a paraphrase by a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The screed also mentioned "fiat currency" and "NWO," possible references to the New World Order, a conspiracy theory that foresees a totalitarian one-world government.
The letter also talked about "how easy it is to get a gun into the airport," the law enforcement official said.
When searched, the suspect had five 30-round magazines, and his bag contained hundreds more rounds in boxes.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday that Ciancia's actions show how difficult it is to protect travelers at a massive airport such as LAX.
The terminals are open and easily accessible to thousands of people who arrive at large sliding glass doors via a broad ring road that fronts the facility and is designed to move people along quickly.
"It's like a shopping mall outside the perimeter, it's almost like an open shopping mall," McCaul said.
TSA Administrator John Pistole said the agency will need to work with each airport's police agency "to see how we'll go about in providing the best possible security."
The shooting temporarily halted traffic at the nation's third-busiest airport, stranding thousands of passengers and causing dozens of flights to be diverted to other airports. More than 1,500 flights and 167,000 passengers were affected nationwide, according to the Los Angeles Times.
On Sunday, flights at the airport were back on schedule and regular operations had resumed, LAX spokesman Marshall Lowe told the newspaper.
The FBI has served a search warrant on a Sun Valley residence where Ciancia lived, Ari Dekofsky, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said Sunday. Agents are still interviewing people, she said.
Authorities believe the rifle used in the shooting was purchased in Los Angeles. Ciancia also had two additional handguns that he purchased in Los Angeles, but which weren't at the crime scene, a law enforcement official said. The official, who has been briefed on the investigation, was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
The purchases themselves appeared legal, although authorities were still tracing them, and it's unclear if the shooter used his own identification or someone else's, the official said.
"He didn't buy them on the street. He didn't buy them on the Internet," the official said. "He bought them from a licensed gun dealer — the rifle and the two handguns."
Hernandez, a three-year veteran of the TSA, moved to the U.S. from El Salvador at age 15, married his sweetheart, Ana, on Valentine's Day in 1998 and had two children.
The TSA said the other two officers wounded in the attack — James Speer, 54, and Tony Grigsby, 36 — were released from the hospital.
Brian Ludmer, a Calabasas High School teacher, remained in fair condition at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and will need surgery for a gunshot wound to the leg. Two other people suffered injuries trying to evade the gunman, but weren't shot.
The FBI was still looking into Ciancia's past, but investigators said they had not found evidence of previous crimes or any run-ins with the TSA. They said he had never applied for a job with the agency.
___
Associated Press writers Alicia Chang and Gillian Flaccus in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-11-04-LAX%20Shooting/id-29804a3e12624362ac16dc523f6bff59CAIRO (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said there were indications Egypt's generals would restore democracy, after the military overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July following mass protests against his rule.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, Kerry said:
"Thus far there are indications that this is what they are intending to do," Kerry said about his recent remarks in Pakistan that Egypt's generals were "restoring democracy" when they deposed Mursi.
(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Shaimaa Fayed; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Susan Fenton)
People exit Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Friday.
People exit Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Friday.
As the FBI combs through the crime scene at Los Angeles International Airport, where a gunman opened fire on Friday, killing a TSA agent and hurting others, Terminal 3 remains closed.
The airport tweeted that 826 scheduled flights and 99,200 passengers were affected by the incident. Flights scheduled to leave from Terminal 3 are leaving from other terminals.
Meanwhile, we are learning a little more about the gunman and his victims. Here's an overview:
The Suspect:
— Friends told The Los Angeles Times that Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, was a quiet teenager who kept to himself.
"I really don't remember any one person who was close to him.... In four years, I never heard a word out of his mouth," David Hamilton, who graduated from a Delaware high school with Ciancia, told the paper.
— Quoting two federal law enforcement officials, USA Today reports that investigators discovered a note in the alleged shooter's bag that detailed "an intent to 'kill' TSA officers."
The note, the paper reports, hinted at some kind of suicide mission.
— The Los Angeles Times described the note as containing "anti-government" text.
— The AP quotes Pennsville Township, N.J., Police Chief Allen Cummings as saying that Ciancia's father called police Friday because he was worried that his son intended to take his own life.
Ciancia's father, Cummings said, had received a text message that worried him.
The Victims:
— Gerardo I. Hernandez, 39, is the first TSA agent to lose his life on the job.
"No words can explain the horror that we experienced today when a shooter took the life of a member of our family and injured two TSA officers at Los Angeles International Airport," TSA administrator John S. Pistole said in a statement.
NBC Los Angeles spoke to Kevin Maxwell, a friend of Hernandez. He said Hernandez always talked about his family:
"The victim was 'very proud' of his son and 'spoke profoundly' of his daughter, his friend and former colleague said.
"Maxwell said he worked with Hernandez in TSA's logistics department until last year, when Maxwell resigned from his position to care for his grandmother."
— The New York Times reports two other people and at least four others were injured during the incident.
The Witnesses:
— CNN reports that witness reports could give us a clue as to motive:
"Some said the gunmen asked people, 'Hey, are you TSA?' — the acronym for the Transportation Security Administration. If they said 'no,' he would move on.
"One of those questioned travelers was Leon Saryan. He told CNN's Anderson Cooper that the same man he'd just seen shoot a TSA officer 'calmly' walked toward him and asked, 'TSA?'
"'I just shook my head,' Saryan said. 'And he kept going.'"
— The New York Times spoke to Rich Garry, 68, of Fullerton, Calif., who said he had just cleared security when he heard two pops and saw a TSA agent on the floor.
The paper adds:
"As the gunman moved through the terminal, Mr. Garry said, 'he was very calm. When he got to the top of the stairs where the security checkpoints are, he looked around. If he would have come up the ramp, he would have had a field day with all the people lying on the ground, like me.'
"Mr. Garry said he and several others crawled to a nearby elevator and went to the ground floor. Once there, he saw police officers for the first time, and told them to go to the second floor."
"It seems no matter what device you decide on, there's always something you wished was better," suggested blogger Mike Stone. "This concept makes that whole problem moot. With Ara, you can choose each component, so you never have to settle for second rate. This could literally redefine the mobile market, and I don't mean like Apple claims it does."
Ever since Burger King hit the proverbial nail on the head with its famed "Have It Your Way" slogan back in 1974, everyone has known that people like to -- well, have it their own way.
Customization has been a growing trend in products large and small over the years, but until recently, smartphones were a glaring exception. Indeed, Linux Girl can no longer even count the number of times she's asked for a big "L" and an image of Tux emblazoned on her device, but no! Not even for a superhero, she's been told.
Pffft. So much for the perks of fame.
Luckily, hope is finally at hand thanks to none other than Motorola and Project Ara.
'The Power to Decide'
"Our goal is to drive a more thoughtful, expressive and open relationship between users, developers and their phones, Motorola explained in its blog post announcing the new effort. "To give you the power to decide what your phone does, how it looks, where and what it's made of, how much it costs, and how long you'll keep it."
Translation: it's the design-your-own phone project so many of us have dreamed of -- made possible, of course, through open hardware.
Linux Girl has been busy drawing up plans for her next superhero communicator ever since. As for those in the rest of the Linux blogosphere, well, there's been more than a little excitement.
'You Never Have to Settle'
"In a word, awesome," enthused Linux Rants blogger Mike Stone, for example. "I love it. It takes away the need to settle.
"It seems no matter what device you decide on, there's always something you wished was better," Stone explained. "A faster processor or a better camera. This concept makes that whole problem moot. With Ara, you can choose each component, so you never have to settle for second rate."
In fact, "this could literally redefine the mobile market, and I don't mean like Apple claims it does," he added. "I mean REALLY redefine it. It's very exciting."
Google+ blogger Kevin O'Brien saw it similarly.
"This is really exciting," O'Brien agreed. "I would buy one of these when they come out. I am one of the people who still builds computers for my own use, and this extends that into the mobile space. Changing carriers? Just swap out the radio and you are good to go."
Currently O'Brien is "just hanging on with a failing Galaxy Nexus and 6 weeks to go on my contract before I can jump to T-Mobile," he noted. "If I had this phone I could just swap out the bad part and not be as stressed."
Indeed, "I love the idea of being able to have all of the options I want since I tend to prefer a nice foldout keyboard," chimed in consultant and Slashdot blogger Gerhard Mack.
And again: "It's the Phonebloks made for real," suggested Google+ blogger Alessandro Ebersol. "Let's hope the Ara phone will see the light of day."
Modularity in smartphones could "go a long way to overcoming whatever inflexibility is left in the system of small, cheap computers," blogger Robert Pogson suggested. "Rather than just tweaking software, the end user or retailer can mix and match bits of the hardware, too.
"This could be akin to the PCI slots in the old desktop PC," he pointed out. "That became little used as the PC matured, but for something that fits in the hand, it might be the ultimate creation."
So, "rather than the OEMs trying to push a hundred models of smartphone, they can push one framework and the components and let the market decide, Pogson added. "Everyone wins."
As a technologist, Pogson does have some doubts, he admitted. For example, "will a bunch of 'extra' connectors increase the number of points of failure? Will an endoskeleton be tougher than the current exoskeletons?"
Still, "in my heart I know it is the right thing to do and I hope a vibrant ecosystem of small businesses spring forth developing components for this system," he added. "That's the right way to do IT, and Linux can handle anything."
Looking ahead, "one possible future is that everyone will adopt the standard, and an Apple or Samsung smartphone will be a thing of the past," Pogson suggested. "Everyone will buy some framework and add components from a hundred companies to make the smartphone or small, cheap computer that the consumer wants.
"This system could be the ultimate insurance that small, cheap computers are never monopolized," he offered.
"That would be good for consumers, manufacturers, OEMs, and big and little software firms," he pointed out. "Heck, there may yet be ways individuals with good ideas could start up making some module for the system with a very small investment. I could see businesses arising whose role is to assist smaller operations producing some new feature of some now unimagined smartphone."
Bottom line? "It's all good," Pogson concluded. "I hope this project succeeds and is adopted widely."
Not everyone was convinced, however.
"Ara is the opposite of the direction that phones should be going," opined Hyperlogos blogger Martin Espinoza.
"If they want to standardize something, though, it should be the battery," Espinoza suggested. "What people really need is a more durable phone more resistant to the elements that lasts longer, especially since so many of today's phones are worth holding onto -- not a Rubik's Cube of disparate bits."
Moreover, "I honestly don't see how anybody is gonna compete with Google at this point unless Google does something REALLY dumb like not hand the latest Android to the OEMs, and so far Google has shown no signs of being suicidally stupid," offered Slashdot blogger hairyfeet.
"The network effect on Android is just insane -- everyone from local banks to the big chains have Android apps, all the major email providers support Android, the network effect is just too strong at this point," he said.
"Heck, even my 71-year-old dad ended up with an Android tablet as it was the one that supported all the apps he wanted to run and offered the best hardware for the best price," hairyfeet pointed out. "If MSFT can throw away a couple of billion and not make a dent, I honestly don't see how Motorola saying 'We're open!' is really gonna do squat at this point as Android is open too and has the apps."
Last but not least, "I like it" was Slashdot blogger yagu's first reaction. "I think it's a cool idea and it would be fun to 'roll your own' in smartphone goodness."
Yagu's one concern: "I do wonder how this goes over with the general users," he told Linux Girl. "Geeks LOVE to tinker, create, re-configure, and never stop tweaking their gadgets. Can the same be expected or true from people just looking for a new phone?
"A friend and colleague made an observation (brilliant) 20 years ago that stayed with me, served me well: 'Nobody wants a 100-setting microwave, they just want low, medium and high,'" yagu recounted. "So, Ara may be a '100-setting microwave' of the smartphones. There are so many things you can do with options, but nobody outside the techno-geek may care. I love the concept, I'm not sure it's what people want." 
HOUSTON (AP) — As the Houston Texans trickled into the locker room at halftime and learned that coach Gary Kubiak had collapsed leaving the field, their excitement over a big first half quickly disintegrated into dread.
They were soon informed that he was in stable condition, but the rattled team unraveled in the second half as Indianapolis rallied for a 27-24 victory Sunday night.
"There was a lot of unknown," said defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who coached the team after halftime. "Everything was unknown as to what was going on and what happened to Kube."
Kubiak hunched over and dropped to his knees at the 24 yard line and was immediately surrounded by medical personnel. He was lifted off the field on a stretcher and taken by cart to the ambulance.
"We were all very worried," quarterback Case Keenum said. "When we went back out they told us he was ... stable. We were all upset about that but trying to stay focused at the same time."
The Texans didn't say what was wrong with Kubiak, but did say he didn't have a heart attack. The team said the 52-year-old coach, a former NFL quarterback who calls the team's plays, was conscious and was with his family as he was taken to the hospital.
"He had an episode; he was light-headed and dizzy," Houston general manager Rick Smith said in an interview on NBC. "He was evaluated by a number of specialists ... he is awake and coherent.
We have to assess ... obviously, there's a lot of info. Hopefully, Gary will be back with us tomorrow."
Up 21-3 when Kubiak collapsed, the Texans struggled after halftime for their sixth straight loss after opening the season 2-0 with Super Bowl hopes.
Veteran safety Ed Reed didn't want to blame the loss what happened to Kubiak.
"I thought we dealt with it well," Reed said. "We've just got to finish."
Kubiak's collapse came a day after Denver Broncos coach John Fox was hospitalized in North Carolina as he awaits aortic value replacement surgery. The 58-year-old Fox will have surgery in a few days and will miss several weeks while recuperating.
Fox had been told earlier about his heart condition and was hoping to put off the operation until February. As part of his trip to North Carolina on a bye week, he met with his cardiologist in Raleigh and was told to seek medical attention immediately if he felt any discomfort.
On Saturday, Fox became dizzy playing golf near his offseason home in Charlotte and was taken to a hospital, where tests revealed he couldn't wait any longer to have the surgery.
In college, Minnesota coach Jerry Kill took a leave of absence last month so he could better manage and treat his epilepsy. He has had five seizures on game day in his two-plus seasons with the Golden Gophers.
Kubiak has long been known as a top offensive coach, mentoring quarterbacks in Denver under Mike Shanahan and now Matt Schaub — and Case Keenum — in Houston. Kubiak has had no known public health problems.
Kubiak was hired in 2006, along with general manager Rick Smith, after the Texans finished a franchise-worst 2-14. Smith spent 10 years with Kubiak while the coach was offensive coordinator of the Broncos. Smith was Denver's defensive assistant for four seasons before moving into the front office for his last six years with the Broncos.
The pair has helped transform the Texans, which began play in 2002, from league laughingstock to contender. The team went 6-10 in their first year and 8-8 in each of the next two seasons. Expectations were high in 2010 after Houston finished at 9-7 for its first winning record in 2009. But the Texans instead fell to 6-10, which led to many fans calling for Kubiak's firing.
His original contract was due to expire after the 2010 season, but owner Bob McNair has stepped up to keep Kubiak and defended him several times amid the bumps. Among recent departures were assistant head coach Alex Gibbs (for Seattle) and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan went to join his father, Mike, in Washington.
Last year, the Texans announced contract extensions for both Smith and Kubiak, rewarding them for taking the team to the playoffs last year for the first time. Kubiak's three-year agreement has him under contract through 2014.
McNair said at the time he offered Kubiak a four-year deal, but the coach preferred to make it for three.
Kubiak made his mark as Denver's offensive coordinator under Mike Shanahan, winning two Super Bowls. An eighth-round pick out of Texas A&M, he spent nine years as John Elway's backup. He finished his career 4-1 as a starter, all in emergency relief of Elway.
___
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 4-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Elizabeth Lynch
elynch@marchofdimes.com
914-997-4286
March of Dimes Foundation
Boston, MA, Nov. 4, 2013 - A researcher who showed that what a woman consumes during pregnancy may increase her baby's risk of developing a birth defect will receive the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award for outstanding achievements in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition.
Gary M. Shaw, DrPH, is professor and associate chair for Clinical Research in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also co-principal investigator of the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Stanford University.
Dr. Shaw's research has helped prevent a variety birth defects and identified many risk factors, including medication use, occupational exposures, alcohol use, nutritional factors, medical conditions, and genetic variants. Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, President of the March of Dimes, presented the award to Dr. Shaw during the 141st annual meeting of the American Public Health Association held here.
"Dr. Shaw's research on human birth defects shows that the consumption of alcohol and poor nutrition can increase the risks of birth defects for babies. Through his research, he has influenced how healthcare providers counsel their pregnant patients on what to eat and what they should avoid," said Dr. Howse. "The March of Dimes is honored to recognize Dr. Shaw's efforts toward our goal of giving more babies a healthy start in life."
Dr. Shaw received his doctorate in epidemiology in 1986 from University of California at Berkeley. He has conducted epidemiologic research for 25 years. He has collaborated with many key researchers in the field of birth defects and has published more than 300 scientific papers. Prior to joining Stanford, Dr. Shaw was the Research Director/Epidemiologist of the March of Dimes California Research Division for 20 years.
Dr. Shaw's research focuses on the epidemiology of birth defects, the interaction between genes and the environment on newborn health outcomes, and nutrition and reproductive outcomes. During the last 20 years, he has led eight major population-based epidemiologic studies involving thousands of maternal interviews and DNA sample collections.
Dr. Shaw is associate editor of the American Journal of Medical Genetics, Birth Defects Research: Clinical and Molecular Teratology and the American Journal of Epidemiology. He is an active member of the Teratology Society, the Society for Epidemiologic Research, the Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research and a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology. He is an elected member of the American Epidemiological Society and was awarded the Godfrey P. Oakley, Jr. Award by the National Birth Defects Prevention Network in 2007 for his significant contributions to the field of birth defects. Dr. Shaw's devotion to preventing birth defects through improved maternal nutrition, and his distinguished research, teaching and service, make him highly deserving of the Agnes Higgins Award.
The March of Dimes established the Agnes Higgins Award in 1980 to recognize her role in improving maternal health during pregnancy, and the health of babies. Agnes Higgins, CM, BSc, PDt., FRSH, LLD, was a nutritionist and executive director of the Montreal Diet Dispensary from 1948 until her retirement in 1981. The March of Dimes first presented the award as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canada's Montreal Diet Dispensary.
Mrs. Higgins helped pregnant women have healthy babies by focusing on the mother's nutritional needs. Services provided at the Dispensary were the precursor of government nutrition programs for pregnant women in the United States, such as WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Since 1980, the Agnes Higgins Award has been presented at the American Public Health Association annual meeting to leaders in the field of maternal-fetal medicine in recognition of their achievement in research, education or clinical services in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition.
In 2013, the March of Dimes celebrates its 75th Anniversary and its ongoing work to help babies get a healthy start in life. Early research led to the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines that all babies still receive. Other breakthroughs include new treatments for premature infants and children with birth defects.
About 4 million babies are born each year in the United States, and all have benefitted from March of Dimes lifesaving research and education.
###
The March of Dimes is the leading non-profit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide and its premiere event, March for Babies, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org. Find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Todd P. Dezen
(914) 997-4608
tdezen@marchofdimes.com
Elizabeth Lynch
(914) 997-4286
elynch@marchofdimes.com
###
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 4-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Elizabeth Lynch
elynch@marchofdimes.com
914-997-4286
March of Dimes Foundation
Boston, MA, Nov. 4, 2013 - A researcher who showed that what a woman consumes during pregnancy may increase her baby's risk of developing a birth defect will receive the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award for outstanding achievements in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition.
Gary M. Shaw, DrPH, is professor and associate chair for Clinical Research in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also co-principal investigator of the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Stanford University.
Dr. Shaw's research has helped prevent a variety birth defects and identified many risk factors, including medication use, occupational exposures, alcohol use, nutritional factors, medical conditions, and genetic variants. Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, President of the March of Dimes, presented the award to Dr. Shaw during the 141st annual meeting of the American Public Health Association held here.
"Dr. Shaw's research on human birth defects shows that the consumption of alcohol and poor nutrition can increase the risks of birth defects for babies. Through his research, he has influenced how healthcare providers counsel their pregnant patients on what to eat and what they should avoid," said Dr. Howse. "The March of Dimes is honored to recognize Dr. Shaw's efforts toward our goal of giving more babies a healthy start in life."
Dr. Shaw received his doctorate in epidemiology in 1986 from University of California at Berkeley. He has conducted epidemiologic research for 25 years. He has collaborated with many key researchers in the field of birth defects and has published more than 300 scientific papers. Prior to joining Stanford, Dr. Shaw was the Research Director/Epidemiologist of the March of Dimes California Research Division for 20 years.
Dr. Shaw's research focuses on the epidemiology of birth defects, the interaction between genes and the environment on newborn health outcomes, and nutrition and reproductive outcomes. During the last 20 years, he has led eight major population-based epidemiologic studies involving thousands of maternal interviews and DNA sample collections.
Dr. Shaw is associate editor of the American Journal of Medical Genetics, Birth Defects Research: Clinical and Molecular Teratology and the American Journal of Epidemiology. He is an active member of the Teratology Society, the Society for Epidemiologic Research, the Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research and a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology. He is an elected member of the American Epidemiological Society and was awarded the Godfrey P. Oakley, Jr. Award by the National Birth Defects Prevention Network in 2007 for his significant contributions to the field of birth defects. Dr. Shaw's devotion to preventing birth defects through improved maternal nutrition, and his distinguished research, teaching and service, make him highly deserving of the Agnes Higgins Award.
The March of Dimes established the Agnes Higgins Award in 1980 to recognize her role in improving maternal health during pregnancy, and the health of babies. Agnes Higgins, CM, BSc, PDt., FRSH, LLD, was a nutritionist and executive director of the Montreal Diet Dispensary from 1948 until her retirement in 1981. The March of Dimes first presented the award as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canada's Montreal Diet Dispensary.
Mrs. Higgins helped pregnant women have healthy babies by focusing on the mother's nutritional needs. Services provided at the Dispensary were the precursor of government nutrition programs for pregnant women in the United States, such as WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Since 1980, the Agnes Higgins Award has been presented at the American Public Health Association annual meeting to leaders in the field of maternal-fetal medicine in recognition of their achievement in research, education or clinical services in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition.
In 2013, the March of Dimes celebrates its 75th Anniversary and its ongoing work to help babies get a healthy start in life. Early research led to the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines that all babies still receive. Other breakthroughs include new treatments for premature infants and children with birth defects.
About 4 million babies are born each year in the United States, and all have benefitted from March of Dimes lifesaving research and education.
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BEIRUT (AP) — Before he became head of an al-Qaida-linked group that is one of the most feared bands of radicals fighting the Syrian regime, he was a teacher of classical Arabic who fought American troops in Iraq and quickly rose through the ranks of the global terrorist network.
Little else is known about Abu Mohammad al-Golani, the man who leads the Nusra Front — including where he is now or even if he is still alive.
"His identity is really a bit of a mystery," said Charles Lister, analyst at IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center.
Syrian state media said last week that al-Golani, also known as the emir of Jabhat al-Nusra, was killed in fighting in a coastal stronghold of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government. But rebels deny that, describing the report as propaganda.
Al-Golani is so mysterious that no one can say with certainty what his real name is. Al-Golani is a nom de guerre, indicating he was born in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
A native of Syria, he joined the insurgency after moving to Iraq, regional intelligence officials say.
There, he advanced through al-Qaida's ranks and eventually returned to Syria shortly after the uprising against Assad began in March 2011.
Lister, who follows Syria's rebel brigades, said he is skeptical about reports of al-Golani's death. If true, they would have stirred up considerable chatter on jihadist forums and social media platforms, he said.
Rebel leaders in Syria agree.
"We haven't seen anything unusual among the ranks of Jabhat al-Nusra fighters that suggest their leader has been killed," Islam Alloush, spokesman for Jaysh al-Islam, or the Islamic Army rebel umbrella group, told The Associated Press via Skype.
Iraqi, Jordanian and Lebanese security officials describe the 39-year-old al-Golani as one of the top leaders of al-Qaida.
According to two senior Iraqi military intelligence officials, he was once a teacher of Arabic before moving to Iraq, where he turned to militancy and eventually became a close associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of the militant group al-Qaida in Iraq.
After al-Zarqawi was killed by a U.S. airstrike in 2006, al-Golani left Iraq, briefly staying in Lebanon, where he offered logistical support for the Jund al-Sham militant group, which follows al-Qaida's extremist ideology, the officials said.
He returned to Iraq to continue fighting but was arrested by the U.S. military and held at Camp Bucca, a sprawling prison on Iraq's southern border with Kuwait. At that camp, where the U.S. military held tens of thousands of suspected militants, he taught classical Arabic to other prisoners, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were revealing information from secret files.
After his release from prison in 2008, al-Golani resumed his militant work, this time alongside Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of al-Qaida in Iraq — also known as the Islamic State of Iraq. He was soon appointed head of al-Qaida operations in Mosul province.
Shortly after the Syrian uprising began, al-Golani moved into Syrian territory and, fully supported by al-Baghdadi, formed the Nusra Front, which was first announced in January 2012.
A leader of Jordan's ultra-Orthodox and banned Salafi movement said al-Baghdadi sent al-Golani and Abu Jleibeen, a senior al-Qaida operative who has a relationship by marriage to al-Zarqawi, to fight in Syria, where al-Golani was named "general emir" of Nusra and Abu Jlebeeb an emir of the southern Daraa province, birthplace of the Syrian uprising. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing police retribution.
Under al-Golani's leadership, Nusra has grown into one of the most powerful rebel groups, with an estimated force of 6,000 to 7,000 fighters across the country.
The U.S. State Department, which placed Nusra on its list of terrorist organizations in December 2012, said the group has claimed nearly 600 attacks, including suicide attacks, small-arms operations and bombings in major cities.
"Through these attacks, al-Nusra has sought to portray itself as part of the legitimate Syrian opposition while it is, in fact, an attempt by al-Qaida in Iraq to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people for its own malign purposes," the department said.
Al-Golani gained prominence in April, when he rejected an attempted takeover of Nusra by al-Baghdadi, revealing a widening rift within al-Qaida's global network. Al-Golani distanced himself from claims that the two groups had merged into a group called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as announced by al-Baghdadi.
Instead, he pledged allegiance directly to al-Qaida's leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, who was said to be against al-Baghdadi's bid to merge both groups, and said his group will continue to use Jabhat al-Nusra as its name.
In a recording, the soft-spoken man vowed that allegiance to al-Zawahri will not change the group's behavior inside Syria.
"We say to our people in Syria that Jabhat al-Nusra will continue to defend your religion, your dignity and blood and will not change its behavior toward you or other fighter groups," he said.
Al-Golani himself was listed by the State Department as a "specially designated global terrorist" in May.
In another recording, he said his ultimate goal is the overthrow of Assad and the institution of Shariah law throughout the country.
Despite some friction with members of the mainstream Free Syrian Army rebel umbrella group, the two sides often work together against Assad's troops in opposition-held areas. The group is more popular in Syria than the ISIL, which is largely made up of foreign fighters and has been criticized for its brutality and for trying to impose a strict version of Islamic law in areas under its control.
Nusra, by contrast, is made up mostly of Syrians, many of whom fought American forces in Iraq.
Rebels acknowledge knowing close to nothing about al-Golani. The Nusra Front, like al-Qaeda in Iraq, obscures the real identity of its senior leaders.
A Jordanian security official said only the top echelon in al-Qaida know al-Golani's real name, but he's commonly known to them as "Al Sheikh Al Fateh," the Conqueror Sheik. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to make statements to journalists.
An Internet search for al-Golani's picture turns up just one, an image of a young, bearded man in black fatigues.
"It's difficult to know anything," Alloush said. "He doesn't come out in the open."
___
Abdul-Zahra reported from Baghdad, Iraq. Associated Press writers Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, and Deb Riechman in Washington contributed to this report.
Wetern Digital sent an email to its registered customers over the weekend, warning them not to use their external hard drives on machines that run OS X Mavericks. But the problem seems to go beyond WDD MyBook Studio II external drives; at the very least, the FirmTek eSATA ExpressCard doesn't work properly with Mavericks, and Promise Technology's Pegasus R4-based arrays fall over with Mavericks. Until Apple issues a workaround or patch, it would be very wise to avoid using any external hard drive, or any eSATA- or Thunderbolt-based peripherals, on Mavericks systems.
Word of the problem started circulating early last month, with a post on the Western Digital forum, complaining about lost data on a WD MyBook Studio II. Since then, more than 100 posts on a dozen different threads repeated the observation that upgrading to Mavericks leads to lost data on the WD MyBook Studio II.
Western Digital responded with an email last Friday that says, in part:
As a valued WD customer we want to make you aware of new reports of Western Digital and other external HDD products experiencing data loss when updating to Apple's OS X Mavericks (10.9). WD is urgently investigating these reports and the possible connection to the WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager, and WD SmartWare software applications. Until the issue is understood and the cause identified, WD strongly urges our customers to uninstall these software applications before updating to OS X Mavericks (10.9), or delay upgrading. If you have already upgraded to Mavericks, WD recommends that you remove these applications and restart your computer.
The WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager, and WD SmartWare software applications are not new and have been available from WD for many years, however solely as a precaution WD has removed these applications from our website as we investigate this issue.
That generic advice from WD was updated with additional recommendations, on Nov. 1:
If you have already upgraded to Mavericks and are experiencing difficulty in accessing your external hard drive, please do not save anything to the drive, disconnect the drive from your computer, and contact Western Digital Customer Service at http://support.wdc.com/country/ for further assistance.
A WD Tech Support staff member has just published these detailed instructions:
Run the SmartWare uninstaller application located in /Applications/
Using Apple's Activity Monitor from /Applications/Utilities quit the following processes:
WDDMService
WD Quick View
SmartwareServerAppDelete /Library/LaunchDeamons/com.wdc.WDDMService.plist (Entry that causes WDDM to start.)
Delete /Library/LaunchDeamons/com.wdc.WDSmartWareServer.plist (Entry that causes the SmartWare Server to start.)
Delete /Applications Support/WDSmartware (Removes all SmartWare support programs)
Delete /Application/WDSmartWare (SmartWare user interface)
Delete Library/Preferences/com.wdc.smartware.plist
From System Preferences->Users Login Items remove WDQuickview for all users. (Entry that runs WD Quick View when a user logs in. There should be a single entry for all users. Deleting it from one any account should remove it for all accounts.)
Following those instructions will take out WD SmartWare, and at that point you will be able to access the drive, without fear of destroying data. It isn't clear at this point if Apple and/or Western Digital will be able to get your data back. It also isn't apparent why WD failed to test sufficiently to avoid this problem before it was released to the masses. Finally, it isn't known if (as the WD email asserts) other external hard drives, from whatever manufacturer, are having the same problem.
Apple support forums look like vicious mud-slinging arenas (what else is new?), but knowledgeable speculation at this point focuses on the possibility that the SATA bridge firmware card inside the WD MyBook isn't cooperating with Mavericks. David Morgenstern at ZDNet too reports on several additional, probably related, problems.
For starters, many eSATA ExpressCard are having problems, specifically on the 17-inch, mid-2010 MacBook Pro, when it's upgraded to Mavericks. The Apple Support community has customer complaints about the LaCie eSATA/USB 2in1 ExpressCard, the Griffin eSATA ExpressCard, the Seritek 2SM2-E adaptor, the generic JB Micron adapter, a Lacie eSATA 2 port ExpressCard, the Sonnet Tech Tempo SATA ExpressCard/34, the Merax eSATA ExpressCard, the Best Connectivity ExpressCARD/34mm, the FirmTek eSATA ExpressCard, and more. Several posts on the Apple forum give various suggestions for installing older drivers that may or may not work. Apparently, this is only an issue with the 17-inch, mid-2010 MacBook Pro.
In addtion, the Promise Thunderbolt Pegasus R4 has encountered several problems that appear to be Mavericks-related.
If you're having eSATA- and/or hard drive-related problems with Mavericks, please post details in the comments. We'll run a follow-up story in Tech Watch as soon as more details filter in. (Add a comment.)
This article, "OS X Mavericks upgrade destroys data, reports Western Digital," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.
A veiled Iranian woman walks past a mural depicting the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, and national Iranian flag, painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. Iran’s hardliners unveiled two new “Death to America” songs at the site of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran Saturday to keep the anti-U.S. sentiments alive. The live performance Saturday is a warm-up to the main event: A major anti-U.S. rally on Monday marking the Nov. 4 anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover in 1979 by militant students. The event is marked every year with protests outside the compound’s brick walls. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A veiled Iranian woman walks past a mural depicting the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, and national Iranian flag, painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. Iran’s hardliners unveiled two new “Death to America” songs at the site of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran Saturday to keep the anti-U.S. sentiments alive. The live performance Saturday is a warm-up to the main event: A major anti-U.S. rally on Monday marking the Nov. 4 anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover in 1979 by militant students. The event is marked every year with protests outside the compound’s brick walls. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
An Iranian woman walks past an anti-U.S. mural, painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. Iran’s hardliners unveiled two new “Death to America” songs at the site of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran Saturday to keep the anti-U.S. sentiments alive. The live performance Saturday is a warm-up to the main event: A major anti-U.S. rally on Monday marking the Nov. 4 anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover in 1979 by militant students. The event is marked every year with protests outside the compound’s brick walls. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
An unidentified woman walks under an anti-U.S. graffiti painted on the walls of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. Iran’s hardliners unveiled two new “Death to America” songs at the site of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran Saturday to keep the anti-U.S. sentiments alive. The live performance Saturday is a warm-up to the main event: A major anti-U.S. rally on Monday marking the Nov. 4 anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover in 1979 by militant students. The event is marked every year with protests outside the compound’s brick walls. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
An unidentified woman walks under an anti-U.S. graffiti painted on the interior walls of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. Iran’s hardliners unveiled two new “Death to America” songs at the site of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran Saturday to keep the anti-U.S. sentiments alive. The live performance Saturday is a warm-up to the main event: A major anti-U.S. rally on Monday marking the Nov. 4 anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover in 1979 by militant students. The event is marked every year with protests outside the compound’s brick walls. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A man walks past a satirized painting of the Statue of Liberty painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. Iran’s hardliners unveiled two new “Death to America” songs at the site of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran Saturday to keep the anti-U.S. sentiments alive. The live performance Saturday is a warm-up to the main event: A major anti-U.S. rally on Monday marking the Nov. 4 anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover in 1979 by militant students. The event is marked every year with protests outside the compound’s brick walls. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Tens of thousands of demonstrators are gathering outside the former U.S. Embassy in Iran for the biggest anti-American rally in years as a show of support for hard-line opponents of President Hassan Rouhani's historic outreach to Washington.
Such protests occur every year outside the former embassy compound to mark the anniversary of its 1979 takeover following the Islamic Revolution. A total of 52 hostages were held 444 days.
But Monday's rally is the largest in years after calls by groups such as the Revolutionary Guard for a major showing, including chants of "death to America" that some of Rouhani's backers have urged halted.
Rouhani's overtures are backed by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Opponents, however, say they will not back down, raising the prospect of deeper internal rifts.
Associated PressA federal appeals court has granted a Texas request to reinstate restrictions on abortion providers after a lower court blocked the state from fully implementing the new law.
The stay follows a ruling by District Judge Lee Yeakel on Monday — a day before the law was to have gone into effect. It requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinics they practice in.
Yeakel said the provision was unconstitutional and presented an undue burden on women seeking abortions.
But Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott quickly appealed for a stay to allow the law to go forward. On Thursday, a panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted his request.
The appeals court said Yeakel's ruling focused on emergency room treatment of women experiencing complications following an abortion, which it said "overlooks substantial interests of the State in regulating the medical profession and the State's interest in 'protecting the integrity and ethics of the medical profession.' "
The Associated Press says:
"In its 20-page ruling, the appeals court panel acknowledged that the provision 'may increase the cost of accessing an abortion provider and decrease the number of physicians available to perform abortions.' However, the panel said that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that having 'the incidental effect of making it more difficult or more expensive to procure an abortion cannot be enough to invalidate' a law that serves a valid purpose, 'one not designed to strike at the right itself.'
"The panel left in place a portion of Yeakel's order that prevents the state from enforcing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration protocol for abortion-inducing drugs in cases where the woman is between 50 and 63 days into her pregnancy. Doctors testifying before the court had said such women would be harmed if the protocol were enforced."
This photo provided by the FBI shows Paul Ciancia, 23. Accused of opening fire inside the Los Angeles airport, Ciancia was determined to lash out at the Transportation Security Administration, saying in a note that he wanted to kill at least one TSA officer and didn’t care which one, authorities said Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/FBI)
This photo provided by the FBI shows Paul Ciancia, 23. Accused of opening fire inside the Los Angeles airport, Ciancia was determined to lash out at the Transportation Security Administration, saying in a note that he wanted to kill at least one TSA officer and didn’t care which one, authorities said Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/FBI)
ALTERNATE HORIZONTAL CROP - This June, 2013 photo released by the Hernandez family Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013, shows Transportation Security Administration officer Gerardo Hernandez. Hernandez, 39, was shot to death and several others wounded by a gunman who went on a shooting rampage in Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport Friday. (AP Photo/Courtesy Hernandez Family)
John S. Pistole, left, Administrator of Transportation Security Administration and Ana Fernandez, center, wife of TSA agent Gerardo Fernandez, victim at LAX shooting, before a press conference in Porter Ranch, Calif. on Saturday Nov. 2, 2013. A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, killing a Transportation Security Administration employee and wounding two other people in an attack that frightened passengers and disrupted flights nationwide. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Transportation Security Administration employees classify the luggage to return to passengers at Los Angeles International Airport's Terminal 3 on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at the airport on Friday, killing a Transportation Security Administration employee and wounding two other people in an attack that frightened passengers and disrupted flights nationwide. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
From left to right, FBI Special Agent in Charge David L. Bowdich, United States Attorney Andre Birotte Jr., and Los Angeles Police Department Commander Andrew Smith in press conference to provide an update on the investigation of the shooting incident at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), on Saturday Nov. 2, 2013 at Westwood Federal Building in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Seeking to stir fear in "traitorous minds," a man suspected of a shooting spree at Los Angeles airport allegedly set out to kill employees of the Transportation Security Administration in the attack that left one person dead and others wounded, authorities said.
At a news conference Saturday announcing charges against Paul Ciancia, U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. spelled out a chilling chain of events at LAX that began when he strode into Terminal 3 Friday morning, pulled a Smith & Wesson .223-caliber assault rifle from his duffel bag and fired repeatedly at point-blank range at a TSA officer. The officer was checking IDs and boarding passes at the base of an escalator leading to the main screening area.
After shooting a TSA officer and going up an escalator, Ciancia turned back to see the officer move and returned to finish him off, according to surveillance video reviewed by investigators.
Investigators said Ciancia, an unemployed motorcycle mechanic, fired on at least two other uniformed TSA employees and an airline passenger, who were all wounded. Airport police eventually shot him as panicked passengers cowered in stores and restaurants.
Ciancia, 23, remained hospitalized Saturday after being hit four times and wounded in the mouth and leg. The FBI said he was unresponsive and they had not been able to interview him.
The duffel bag also contained a handwritten letter signed by Ciancia stating he'd "made the conscious decision to try to kill" multiple TSA employees and that he wanted to "instill fear in their traitorous minds" said FBI Agent in Charge David L. Bowdich.
Federal prosecutors filed charges of first-degree murder of a federal officer and committing violence at an international airport. The charges could qualify him for the death penalty.
The FBI was still looking into Ciancia's past, but investigators said they had not found evidence of previous crimes or any run-ins with the TSA. They said he had never applied for a job with the agency.
Authorities believe someone dropped Ciancia off at the airport. Agents were reviewing surveillance tapes to piece together the sequence of events.
"We are really going to draw a picture of who this person was, his background, his history. That will help us explain why he chose to do what he did," Bowdich said. "At this point, I don't have the answer on that."
The note found in the duffel bag suggested Ciancia was willing to kill almost any TSA officer.
"Black, white, yellow, brown, I don't discriminate," the note read, according to a paraphrase by a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The screed also mentioned "fiat currency" and "NWO," possible references to the New World Order, a conspiracy theory that foresees a totalitarian one-world government.
When searched, the suspect had five 30-round magazines, and his bag contained hundreds more rounds in boxes, the law-enforcement official said.
Terminal 3, the area where the shooting happened, reopened Saturday. Passengers who had abandoned luggage to escape Friday's gunfire were allowed to return to collect their bags.
The TSA planned to review its security policies in the wake of the attack. Administrator John Pistole did not say if that would mean arming officers.
As airport operations returned to normal, a few more details trickled out about Ciancia, who by all accounts was reserved and solitary.
Former classmates barely remember him and even a recent roommate could say little about the young man who moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles less than two years ago. A former classmate at Salesianum School in Wilmington, Del., said Ciancia was incredibly quiet.
"He kept to himself and ate lunch alone a lot," David Hamilton told the Los Angeles Times. "I really don't remember any one person who was close to him .... In four years, I never heard a word out of his mouth."
On Friday, Ciancia's father called police in New Jersey, worried about his son in L.A. The young man had sent texts to his family that suggested he might be in trouble, at one point even saying goodbye.
The call came too late. Ten minutes earlier, police said, he had walked into the airport.
In the worrisome messages, the younger Ciancia did not mention suicide or hurting others, but his father had heard from a friend that his son may have had a gun, said Allen Cummings, police chief in Pennsville, a small blue-collar town near the Delaware River where Ciancia grew up.
The police chief called Los Angeles police, who sent a patrol car to Ciancia's apartment. There, two roommates said that they had seen him a day earlier and he had appeared to be fine.
But by that time, gunfire was already breaking out at the airport.
"There's nothing we could do to stop him," Cummings said.
The police chief said he learned from Ciancia's father that the young man had attended a technical school in Florida, then moved to Los Angeles in 2012 hoping to get a job as a motorcycle mechanic. He was having trouble finding work.
Ciancia graduated in December 2011 from Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Orlando, Fla., said Tina Miller, a spokeswoman for Universal Technical Institute, the Scottsdale, Ariz., company that runs the school.
A basic motorcycle mechanic course takes about a year, she said.
On Friday, as swarms of passengers dropped to the ground or ran for their lives, the gunman seemed to ignore anyone except TSA targets.
Leon Saryan of Milwaukee had just passed through security and was looking for a place to put his shoes and belt back on when he heard gunfire. He managed to hide in a store. As he was cowering in the corner, the shooter approached.
"He looked at me and asked, 'TSA?' I shook my head no, and he continued on down toward the gate," Saryan said.
Authorities identified the dead TSA officer as Gerardo I. Hernandez, 39, the first official in the agency's 12-year history to be killed in the line of duty.
Friends remembered him as a doting father and a good neighbor who went door-to-door warning neighbors to be careful after his home was burglarized.
In brief remarks outside the couple's house, his widow, Ana Hernandez, said Saturday that her husband came to the U.S. from El Salvador at age 15.
"He took pride in his duty for the American public and for the TSA mission," she said.
___
Associated Press writers Alicia Chang in Los Angeles and Geoff Mulvihill in New Jersey contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-11-03-US-LAX-Shooting/id-2478a1ed496840c383cdfccd7440fe06Lighted pylons at the Century Boulevard entrance to Los Angeles International Airport, which normally flash in a multicolored sequence, shine a steady blue Saturday evening, Nov. 2, 2013, in honor of Gerardo Hernandez, the Transportation Security Administration officer slain at an LAX terminal Friday. He is the first TSA officer to die in the line of duty in the history of the 12-year-old agency, created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. A police entry checkpoint, part of an increased visible police presence, is seen in the foreground. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Lighted pylons at the Century Boulevard entrance to Los Angeles International Airport, which normally flash in a multicolored sequence, shine a steady blue Saturday evening, Nov. 2, 2013, in honor of Gerardo Hernandez, the Transportation Security Administration officer slain at an LAX terminal Friday. He is the first TSA officer to die in the line of duty in the history of the 12-year-old agency, created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. A police entry checkpoint, part of an increased visible police presence, is seen in the foreground. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
This photo provided by the FBI shows Paul Ciancia, 23. Accused of opening fire inside the Los Angeles airport, Ciancia was determined to lash out at the Transportation Security Administration, saying in a note that he wanted to kill at least one TSA officer and didn’t care which one, authorities said Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/FBI)
ALTERNATE HORIZONTAL CROP - This June, 2013 photo released by the Hernandez family Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013, shows Transportation Security Administration officer Gerardo Hernandez. Hernandez, 39, was shot to death and several others wounded by a gunman who went on a shooting rampage in Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport Friday. (AP Photo/Courtesy Hernandez Family)
John S. Pistole, left, Administrator of Transportation Security Administration and Ana Fernandez, center, wife of TSA agent Gerardo Fernandez, victim at LAX shooting, before a press conference in Porter Ranch, Calif. on Saturday Nov. 2, 2013. A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, killing a Transportation Security Administration employee and wounding two other people in an attack that frightened passengers and disrupted flights nationwide. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Transportation Security Administration employees classify the luggage to return to passengers at Los Angeles International Airport's Terminal 3 on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at the airport on Friday, killing a Transportation Security Administration employee and wounding two other people in an attack that frightened passengers and disrupted flights nationwide. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The gunman charged in the deadly shooting at Los Angeles International Airport lay bloodied and handcuffed on the floor of Terminal 3 after being gunned down by police, but he replied to critical questions that helped authorities lock down the scene.
Paul Ciancia, 23, was hauled away moments later on a stretcher and later heavily sedated for medical reasons, but not before he told investigators he had acted alone when he opened fire in the terminal, a law enforcement official who has been briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Ciancia, an unemployed motorcycle mechanic who recently moved to Los Angeles from the small, blue-collar town of Pennsville, N.J., also told police a friend had dropped him at LAX on Friday just moments before he shot a Transportation Security Administration officer at point-blank range and wounded three other people, including two more TSA workers.
Officials do not believe that the friend knew of the shooter's plans. Ciancia arrived at the airport in a black Hyundai and was not a ticketed passenger.
Ciancia was under 24-hour armed guard at the hospital Sunday after being shot four times, the official said. He was sedated for medical reasons, the official said, adding that one gunshot to the mouth blew a molar out of his jaw.
Ciancia is facing charges of murder of a federal officer and committing violence at an international airport. The charges could qualify him for the death penalty.
It was not immediately clear when he would make a first court appearance given his medical condition.
In court documents and interviews, authorities spelled out a chilling chain of events, saying Ciancia walked into the airport, pulled a .223-caliber assault rifle from his duffel bag and fired repeatedly at 39-year-old TSA officer Gerardo I. Hernandez. He turned back to see Hernandez move and returned to finish him off, according to surveillance video reviewed by investigators.
He then fired on two other uniformed TSA employees and an airline passenger, who all were wounded, as he moved methodically through the security checkpoint before airport police shot him as panicked travelers hid in stores and restaurants.
It wasn't clear why Ciancia targeted TSA officers, but what he left behind indicated he was willing to kill any of them that crossed his path, authorities revealed.
The shooter's duffel bag contained a handwritten letter signed by Ciancia stating he'd "made the conscious decision to try to kill" multiple TSA employees and that he wanted to "instill fear in their traitorous minds," FBI Agent in Charge David L. Bowdich said.
"Black, white, yellow, brown, I don't discriminate," the note read, according to a paraphrase by a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The screed also mentioned "fiat currency" and "NWO," possible references to the New World Order, a conspiracy theory that foresees a totalitarian one-world government.
The letter also talked about "how easy it is to get a gun into the airport," the law enforcement official said.
When searched, the suspect had five 30-round magazines, and his bag contained hundreds more rounds in boxes.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday that Ciancia's actions show how difficult it is to protect travelers at a massive airport such as LAX.
The terminals are open and easily accessible to thousands of people who arrive at large sliding glass doors via a broad ring road that fronts the facility and is designed to move people along quickly.
"It's like a shopping mall outside the perimeter, it's almost like an open shopping mall," McCaul said.
The FBI has served a search warrant on a Sun Valley residence where Ciancia lived, Ari Dekofsky, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said Sunday. Agents are still interviewing people, she said.
Authorities believe the rifle used in the shooting was purchased in Los Angeles. Ciancia also had two additional handguns that he purchased in Los Angeles, but which weren't at the crime scene, a law enforcement official said. The official, who has been briefed on the investigation, was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
The purchases themselves appeared legal, although authorities were still tracing them, and it's unclear if the shooter used his own identification or someone else's, the official said.
"He didn't buy them on the street. He didn't buy them on the Internet," the official said. "He bought them from a licensed gun dealer — the rifle and the two handguns."
Hernandez, a three-year veteran of the TSA, moved to the U.S. from El Salvador at age 15, married his sweetheart, Ana, on Valentine's Day in 1998 and had two children.
The other two TSA officers wounded in the attack have been released from the hospital.
Brian Ludmer, a Calabasas High School teacher, remained in fair condition at Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the leg. Two other people suffered injuries trying to evade the gunman, but weren't shot.
The FBI was still looking into Ciancia's past, but investigators said they had not found evidence of previous crimes or any run-ins with the TSA. They said he had never applied for a job with the agency.
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Associated Press writers Alicia Chang and Gillian Flaccus in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-11-03-LAX%20Shooting/id-1cb48e135e5848578d9f99dd6d749a80