George Smitherman’s husband Christopher Peloso struggled with public role, says ex-mayor

Christopher Peloso will be remembered as a man who had a “real joy” for living, but who struggled with life as a politician’s spouse, a close family friend told the Star.

Peloso, 40, was found dead early on Monday after disappearing for the second time this year. The husband of former Ontario deputy premier and Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman was last seen around 11 a.m. on Sunday in the Bloor St. W. and Lansdowne Ave. area.

Police confirmed his death, but would noFormer Toronto mayor Barbara Hall said Peloso was “an immensely private person who moved into the glass box of political life” when he married Smitherman in 2007.

“He struggled with that,” she said.

Hall stood by Smitherman’s side when Peloso first went missing in September and was dirty and confused by a Toronto police dog near train tracks in the city’s west end.

Now chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Hall recounted how Peloso stayed at home during Smitherman’s 2010 mayoral campaign to raise their recently adopted baby and she would often join him to help out.

“He was a professional in the chocolate and candy industry,” she said, “and he put that all on hold to raise a family.”

Politicians of all stripes paid tribute to Peloso on Monday, including a visibly emotional Premier Kathleen Wynne.

“It’s a very, very sad day for George and his family and Christopher Peloso’s family,” she told reporters after handing out food hampers to residents in Toronto’s east end who had been without power for over six days.

Wynne said she contacted Smitherman by email before Peloso’s body was found. Standing beside her partner, Jane Rounthwaite, Wynne said they both knew Peloso, describing him as a “kind, gentle, loving man.”

“He will be hugely missed and my thoughts and love are with George and the kids . . . it’s just a very, very sad day for the family.”

Foreign Minister John Baird, who sat in the Ontario legislature with Smitherman in the late 1990s and early 2000s, tweeted his condolences. “My thoughts and prayers go out to my friend (George) Smitherman and his two wonderful children on their loss,” Baird tweeted Monday.

Provincial NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, as well as federal Liberal Lader Justin Trudeau, also tweeted condolences.

Mayor Rob Ford, who defeated Smitherman in the 2010 election, released a statement expressing his condolences.

“It is with great sadness that I have learned of the passing of Mr. Christopher Peloso, husband to Mr. George Smitherman, and loving father,” he said. “I would ask all Torontonians to extend their condolences to the family during this difficult time.”

Peloso’s relatives in his hometown, Sudbury, could not be reached Monday and had no comment Sunday evening.

In a statement, Smitherman said “We will celebrate his life and we will find comfort somehow in knowing that he has found peace from the depression that has wreaked havoc on his mind.

“A son and brother, a husband and father of three he will always be remembered for his dedication to others.”

Smitherman and Peloso were married in front of 200 friends and family in 2007 at a resort in the northern mining community of Elliot Lake, Ont. They have two adopted children — a son and a daughter.

Peloso also leaves a 20-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

When Peloso went missing in September, his mother, Mary Ann, told the Star, “The first thing I thought was he needed a break, he needed to get away for a bit . . . But as things went on longer and longer, we got concerned something had happened.”

She described Peloso as a “perfectionist,” “very patient” and “very loving. He has been a wonderful father with the kids.”

His father, Reno, said then that Peloso and Smitherman’s marriage was a happy one, “with its high and low points, just like a typical marriage.”

Peloso’s death serves as a reminder that we still have a long way to go dealing with the stigma of mental health, Hall said.

“We have to work to change people’s attitudes so that people with mental illness are treated the same as people with physical disabilities.”t comment further.

Wet 'n' Wild postpones Sydney NYE event

ABOUT 10,000 people are believed to be missing out on a New Year's Eve party in Sydney as it has been postponed just hours before it was due to start.

Tickets for the event at the newly-opened Wet 'n' Wild theme park cost between $110 and $200 and it will now take place on Australia Day.

NSW Fair Trading says it expects the event promoter to provide a refund to people who cannot attend the postponed eAccording to a statement on the Wet 'n' Wild website, One Cube Entertainment, a promotions company organising the event, made the decision to postpone the NYE Festival due to a major technical production issue.

"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and are currently working on something even better for Australia Day," a One Cube Entertainment spokesperson said in the statement.

An artist manager told AAP One Cube Entertainment had attributed the cancellation to Wet 'n' Wild expressing occupational health and safety concerns.

The manager, who spoke on the basis of anonymity, said contractually his artist was still entitled to a full fee.

NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said under Australian consumer law, a remedy was available if a consumer did not get the service they paid a supplier for.

"You can seek to have refund provided," he told AAP.

Mr Stowe said some ticket holders could not or did not want to attend the postponed event on Australia Day.

"We are expecting the promoters will provide refunds to the consumers who cannot attend," he said."

People who paid for tickets on credit cards will be able to apply for a charge back from their credit institution, Mr Stowe added.

A father called Mick told Macquarie Radio his daughters had been trying to contact Wet 'n' Wild since finding out about the event postponement on Facebook.

"We have been trying to contact Wet 'n' Wild this morning and get a number for this promoter because obviously the kids want a refund but no luck so far," he said.vent in January.

Tony Parker apologises for giving controversial 'quenelle' salute

The San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker has apologised after being photographed giving a salute considered to be antisemitic. In his apology, he said the photograph had been taken three years ago, and added that he had not known at the time that the gesture could be “in any way offensive or harmful”.

The French NBA star was pictured giving the “quenelle”, which has been described as a “reverse Nazi salute”, with its originator, the French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala. Dieudonné, a controversial figurewhose film The Anti-Semite was banned from the 2012 Cannes festival, maintains that it is intended as an anti-establishment gesture. 

French authorities are currently considering banning performances by Dieudonné. French soccer star Nicolas Anelka, a friend of Dieudonné, provoked a furious reaction in France after he used the quenelle gesture in a Premier League match on Saturday.On Monday, a Jewish human rights organisation, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, included Parker's gesture in its list of the Top Ten Anti-Semitic/Anti-Israel Slurs of 2013, and issued a statement calling for an apology. Parker subsequently released a statement which said:

“While this gesture has been part of French culture for many years, it was not until recently that I learned of the very negative concerns associated with it. When l was photographed making that gesture three years ago, I thought it was part of a comedy act and did not know that it could be in any way offensive or harmful. Since I have been made aware of the seriousness of this gesture, I will certainly never repeat the gesture and sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding or harm relating to my actions. Hopefully this incident will serve to educate others that we need to be more aware that things that may seem innocuous can actually have a history of hate and hurt.”

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, responded: “The Simon Wiesenthal Center takes Mr Parker at his word. There is, however, one more crucial step that he needs to take: a statement in French to reassure 600,000 French Jews and the multitude of his young fans in France that he disassociates himself from the quenelle salute and everything it stands for.”Anelka made the salute after scoring a goal during a 3-3 draw between West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United on Saturday. The striker, who faces a five-game ban on anti-discriminatory grounds, said he had performed the salute in tribute to Dieudonné. However, on Monday, Anelka said he would not make the salute again, and used Twitter to say:

“(The) meaning of quenelle: anti-system. I do not know what the word 'religion' has to do with this story! This is a dedication to Dieudonné.”

Anelka's salute prompted condemnation across French society. The minister for sport, Valérie Fourneyron, called it “shocking and sickening”. On Twitter, Anelka continued:

“With regard to the ministers who give their own interpretations of my quenelle, they are the ones that create confusion and controversy without knowing what it really means, this gesture.”

Two other Premier League footballers, the Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri and the Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho, have been photographed performing the quenelle.

Hackers knock League of Legends offline

Hugely popular online game League of Legends (LoL) was knocked offline for a few hours on 30 December by hackers.

It was one of several games and social media sites targeted by the Derp hacking group.

Reports suggest the attack was more mischievous than malicious and was partly aimed at US pro-gamer James Varga.

The attack ended with police calling at Mr Varga's house in response to a fake call saying hostages were held there.

Armed response

The Derp hacking group claimed responsibility for the attack on League of Legends and Mr Varga, aka PhantomL0rd via its Twitter account.

The attack began early on Monday with the group bombarding US and European servers with huge amounts of data to knock them offline. Later in the day the game's Asian servers were knocked offline with the same tactic.

The group switched its focus to Mr Varga who had been documenting LoL's ongoing problems and the Derp group's claim of responsibility via his daily Twitch TV video stream.

Twitch TV is a streaming service that lets people share their live gaming experiences with others. LoL is by far the most popular game watched via Twitch.

Mr Varga's interaction with Derp led it to pursue him through every game he tried to play. By the time the attack was done, the Derp group had caused intermittent problems for people using EA.com. Blizzard's Battlenet, Dota 2, Quake Live, Club Penguin, Reddit and other sites.

The hacking group said it carried out the series of attacks for "the lulz" in a text chat with Mr Varga that took place while he was being pursued through different games.

During the attack Mr Varga's personal details, including his home address, were posted online. This led someone to place a prank call to his local police department claiming hostages were being held at Mr Varga's home.

More than a dozen armed police responded to the call, which resulted in Mr Varga being arrested and handcuffed. Police then searched his house, but he was released once it became clear that the call was fake.

"I'm still quite shaken up, but I'm good. I'm okay,"  

World waits on Schumacher fate

Schumacher accident: how we reacted                                 

Michael Schumacher's skiing accident in the French Alps has left him in a critical condition and has prompted a huge response on social media. CNN charts how the world responded to the accident as drivers, boxers, tennis greats and fans all joined in to send their best wishes to Schumacher.

1. The 44-year-old, who fell and hit his head on a rock, was in a coma when he arrived at the University Hospital Center of Grenoble and required immediate brain surgery. According to experts, Schumacher's decision to wear a helmet while skiing may prove to save his life.
2. Schumacher is a seven-time Formula 1 World Champion, claiming five of his crowns while at Ferrari. He spent several years at the Scuderia alongside Rubens Barrichello.

   1. Schumacher was skiing off-piste with his son when he fell and hit his head on the rock. He is an experienced skier and has attended many editions of Wrooom, Ferrari’s annual skiing event in the Italian Dolomites, which ended this year after 23 straight years.

      
      

      Felipe Massa, now at Williams, also spent time with Schumacher at Ferrari during the German's final years with the team before the first of 

      1. Seven people reportedly died in the Alps over the weekend, as heavy snowfall and milder temperatures led to a heightened risk of avalanches. Skiers and snowboarders have been warned not to venture off-piste while conditions remain dangerous. However at the Meribel ski resort, where the accident took place on Sunday, the weather was said to be clear and sunny.
      2. And Martin Brundle, a Formula 1 rival of the 44-year-old's during his early years, urged Schumacher to draw on his successes on the track to overcome his current plight.

         1. Schumacher was skiing close to one of Meribel's most difficult pistes, reserved for the world's most accomplished skiers. The resort discourages off-piste skiing, which it says should not be undertaken without a guide.
         2. Schumacher is currently being kept in a coma at a controlled temperature to aid his recovery. President of the FIA Institute Gerard Saillant, a surgeon specialising in brain and spinal injuries, is a fr

            1. Schumacher has his family by his side in the hospital in the French town of Moutiers, and support has poured in for the former driver's loved ones.

               1. Grosjean, a member of the Lotus team, was not the only current Formula 1 star to send his best wishes.

                  1. Perhaps the biggest influence Schumacher has had on a driver is Sebastian Vettel. Schumacher recently said he would be happy to see the four-time world champion surpass his record number of championship wins.
         3. iend of Schumacher's and is with him.
   2. 
      

Russian police detain dozens of people after Volgograd attacks

- Russian police have detained dozens of people in an anti-terrorism operation in Volgograd, the southern city where two suspected suicide bombings killed more than 30 people this week.

The heightened security measures, in which thousands of police officers searched hundreds of people, came as Australia announced limits on the movements of its athletes when they travel to Russia for the 2014 Olympic Games.

The death toll from the attacks has increased to 34 after some of those who were wounded succumbed to their injuries, state media reported.

The two deadly blasts in Volgograd have intensified fears over the danger of terrorism in Russia following a threat earlier this year from a Chechen extremist group to use "maximum force" to disrupt the Games, which will take place in the southern city of Sochi in February.No group has so far claimed responsibility for carrying out the suspected bombings in Volgograd.

Australian restrictions

Australia said Tuesday that none of its athletes competing in the Olympics will travel to Sochi using ground transportation in Russia -- they will only travel by air.

Australian athletes will only train and compete in Sochi and won't vacation elsewhere in Russia after the Games, said John Coates, the president of the Australian Olympic Committee.

"Families of athletes and all other participants of theOlympic Games, including media and spectators, should note the steps weare taking for the safety and welfare of our athletes," Coates said in a statement on the committee's website.

He nonetheless echoed comments from the International Olympic Committee expressing confidence that Russianauthorities will do everything "to ensure the security of the athletes and all of the participants of the Olympic Games."

Key transit point

While security in Sochi and its surrounding area is considered to be very tight, the attacks in Volgograd, a major transportation hub for southern Russia, have raised concerns about the potential vulnerability of other areas of the country.

Volgograd is a main transit point for people traveling by train to Sochi, which is situated just over 400 miles (645 kilometers) to the southwest.

The number of people killed in an explosion at the Volgograd's main rail station Sunday now stands at 18, the state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported Tuesday, citing the Emergencies Ministry.

The toll from a blast on a trolleybus during the morning rush hour Monday has reached 16, the agency said, attributing the information to health officials.

Russia's response

Russian authorities have described both explosions as terrorist attacks and vowed to continue their "tough and consistent offensive" against extremists.

About 5,200 police officers are now on the ground in Volgograd for an anti-terrorism operation, Andrei Pilipchuk, a regional police official, said on Russian television.

Police are checking people's documents in all crowded areas of the city and have so far detained 87 people who put up resistance or didn't have documents allowing them to carry weapons, Pilipchuk said.

But it wasn't clear if any of those held had any suspected connection to the attacks or would face any charges.

A total of 1,500 buildings have been "examined" and more than 1,000 people have been searched in the operation, Pilipchuk said.

U.S. offers support

The United States has offered its "full support to the Russian government in security preparations for the Sochi Olympic Games," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement Monday.

"We would welcome the opportunity for closer cooperation for the safety of the athletes, spectators, and other participants," Hayden said.

The U.S. State Department said American citizens planning to attend the Games should "be reminded that threats have been made against the Olympic Games and acts of terrorism, including bombings, continue to occur in Russia."

"This is an exciting, positive, happy international sporting event, but people going there do need to maintain vigilance and watch out for their own security and safety," Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman said at a regular briefing Monday.

Harf said the department was "very focused" on the security situation in Russia, but she declined to say whether any additional measures had been taken since the Volgograd bombings.

Bangladesh court orders arrest of apparel factory owner, five others

Dhaka, Bangladesh-- A Dhaka court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of six people, including the owner of Tazreen Fashions Ltd., after a fire in the apparel factory left 112 people dead last year, officials said.

"A senior judicial magistrate, Wasim Sheikh, today (Tuesday) accepted the charges against 13 accused and issued warrants for the arrest of six people, including the owner," Mohammad Asaduzzaman, inspector of the Dhaka judicial magistrate court, told CNN.

The criminal investigation department launched a probe after the fire on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital and found 13 people guilty of gross negligence of safety measures in the apparel factory, which manufactured clothes for Western retailers.

They were charged with "culpable homicide" because of gross negligence that led to 112 deaths, a court official said.

If proved guilty, the accused could be sentenced up to life in jail or be fined under the Bangladesh Penal Code.

Of the 13 accused, seven have been arrested, and the court will now send arrest warrants to police stations in the localities where the other six reside. The court also asked police to report by February 25 if the six accused were arrested.

The six include Delwar Hossain, the owner and managing director of the company, and his wife, Mahmuda Akther, the chairwoman of Tazreen Fashions. The other accused are officials for the factory, which burned down in November of last year.

A government committee has said the fire was an "act of sabotage." The panel also said the owner of the factory should be held responsible for gross negligence and should face trial for the lack of safety measures that led to the 112 deaths.

Most of the dead in the fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory in Ashulia were women. Almost half of the dead were burned beyond recognition and were buried under government supervision after DNA samples were taken.

More than 200 people also were injured in the blaze.

"The owner of the factory should be brought to justice, as we find that proper safety measures could have lessened the fatalities," said Main Uddin Khandaker, head of the government committee and an additional secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs. He submitted a report on the tragedy to the home secretary this year.

Hossain, the factory owner, has not yet been detained was not available for comment Tuesday. He has admitted to local media that his factory lacked proper safety measures. However, he said he had not been aware of that.

Ready-made garments make up 80% of Bangladesh's $24 billion in annual exports.

President Obama, the merciless?

Editor's note: P.S. Ruckman, Jr. is professor of political science at Rock Valley College and editor of the Pardon Power blog. He is the author of the forthcoming book, "Pardon Me, Mr. President: Adventures in Crime, Politics and Mercy."

- This month, one of the least merciful presidents in the history of the United States granted 13 pardons and eight commutations of sentence. The grants moved President Barack Obama's overall mark past the administrations of John Adams (who served only one term), William H. Harrison (who died of pneumonia after serving only 30 days), James Garfield (who was fatally wounded by an assassin after serving only four months) and George Washington.

The New York Times complained that, when it came to the pardon power, there was just "no excuse" for Obama's "lack of compassion" and encouraged him to "do much more." The American Civil Liberties Union called the pardons "a step" and hoped the President would "continue to exercise his clemency powers." Meanwhile, the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, lamented the "drought" of pardons in the Obama administration and called the recent grants "mingy and belated." Conservative columnist Debra Saunders wrote that it was "about time" Obama acted, and even tossed out the possibility/hope that he might "do it again soon."

While it is true that Obama's grants included no one comparable to Scooter Libby, or Marc Rich, much less President Richard Nixon, the intensity and commonality of reactions is noteworthy. Political executives -- presidents and governors -- may not be quite aware of or in tune with it just yet, but theNo one is clamoring for violent criminals to be yanked out of prisons and tossed into the streets to wreak havoc on society. No one is lusting for the considered judgment of judges and juries to be whimsically overturned by politicians leaving office and, in the process, sidestepping accountability times, they are a-changing.But, increasingly, there is recognition that budgets are tight, and prisons are both overcrowded and expensive. The recidivism of those who spend time in prisons and exit without anything like serious rehabilitation is also costly. Congress' recent recognition of the failure (if not outright unjust nature) of sentencing laws appears, to many, as still yet another indicator that there is consensus regarding the status of the so-called war on drugs: It has not worked out very well.Judges have complained loudly about mandatory minimum and three-strikes laws which have limited their ability to tailor punishments to fit crimes -- a basic notion of justice. Public opinion polls also suggest Americans are increasingly uncomfortable with over-criminalization in the law.

The pardon power will always carry an inherent political "risk," because no one can perfectly predict the future behavior of recipients and everyone's judgment can be second-guessed, if not mischaracterized. Informed persons know Mike Huckabee did not "pardon" Maurice Clemmons and Michael Dukakis did not "pardon" Willie Horton. But, of course, executives cannot always survive political storms with the support and encouragement of informed persons.

Nonetheless, the Founding Fathers considered the pardon power an integral part of our system of separation of powers and checks and balances. Its presence in the Constitution is premised on the notion that Congress and the Courts are not always perfect. Anyone care to disagree? It simply follows that, if the pardon power is being neglected or abused, then government is not doing what it was meant to do.

Alexander Hamilton furthermore noted, in the Federalist Papers, that the criminal codes of nations have an almost natural tendency toward over-severity. For that reason, he argued, there should be easy access to mercy. Yes, you read that right, "easy access," or, in other words, something very different than what is going on in the Obama administration.

The fortunate thing is, presidents and governors can very easily minimize the political "risk" of pardoning by granting pardons regularly, consistently, throughout terms, as opposed to, very questionably, at the "last minute."

While Christmas pardons may make some feel warm and fuzzy, they also send a message that is more counterproductive than anything. They seem to say mercy is an afterthought, or worse, a gift, that may or may not be deserved.

The fact of the matter is the majority of individual acts of executive clemency in our lifetime have been pardons, which simply restored the civil rights of the recipients. No one was sprung from jail. Violent criminals were not tossed into the streets. Judges and juries were not overturned. Recipients have typically committed minor offenses, many involving no incarceration whatsoever, and usually, many years if not decades before pardon. FBI background checks documented they had integrated back into society as law-abiding productive members. Their pardons were not "gifts" so much as they were well deserved recognition.

Have these pardons been high-wire maneuvers? Have they required presidents to spend precious political capital? Not at all. Obama has granted 52 pardons to date. There is a much better than average chance that readers cannot name a single recipient. George W. Bush granted almost 200.

So, why can't Obama restore the civil rights of more applicants? Why doesn't he? There is no obvious answer to that question, save lack of care and concern. Where is the President who said his religion teaches him the importance of redemption and second chances? Where is the hope?

Ashes 2013: Alex Doolan called into Australian cricket squad for Sydney Test Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/ashes-2013-alex-doolan-called-into-australian-cricket-squad-for-sydney-test-20131230-302ad.html#ixzz2ozS1vGJO

Tasmanian batsman Alex Doolan could make his Test debut in Sydney this week as Shane Watson battles to be fit for the Ashes series finale.

Doolan has been called up to the Test squad as cover for Watson, who hurt his groin during Australia's convincing win over England in the Boxing Day Test.

Doolan, 29, rose to prominence last summer with an unbeaten 161 for Australia A against the touring South Africans and began this year's Sheffield Shield season with a match-winning century against NSW. 

Ryan Harris is also in doubt for the Sydney Test because of a chronic knee problem.

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However, the selectors omitted Doug Bollinger from the squad, leaving bowling all-rounder James Faulkner and WA quick Nathan Coulter-Nile as the reserve pacemen. 

Coach Darren Lehmann indicated after the win in Melbourne that Watson could be left out of the team if he was unable to bowl despite helping Australia to victory with an unbeatn 83 at the MCG.

“With some players still being assessed by our medical team after four demanding Tests, we have decided to add Alex to ensure we have sufficient cover in our batting line-up should it be required," said national selector John Inverarity.

“Alex is a talented player who came under strong consideration for selection ahead of the Ashes series after a string of solid performances in four-day cricket for Tasmania at the start of this season, but also after an excellent finish to last season and we feel those performances warrant his inclusion in the squad of 14 for Sydney.

“Doug, who has been bowling impressively this season, has been released to play Big Bash League as the NSP feels there is sufficient cover with James Faulkner and Nathan Coulter-Nile also in the squad.” 

Squad: Michael Clarke (c), Brad Haddin (vc), Chris Rogers, David Warner, Shane Watson, Alex Doolan, Steve Smith, George Bailey, James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Nathan Coulter-Nile.

Redskins fire Mike Shanahan

Redskins coach Mike Shanahan was fired Monday morning following a meeting with team owner Dan Snyder. The embattled coach, who put the finishing touches on a 3-13 record with an uninspiring loss to the Giants on Sunday, leaves the organization with a 24-40 record, and that includes the 7-0 finish to the 2012 season thanks, in large part, to quarterback Robert Griffin III.

“Redskins fans deserve a better result,” Owner Daniel M. Snyder said. “We thank Mike for his efforts on behalf of the Redskins. We will focus on what it takes to build a winning team, and my pledge to this organization and to this community is to continue to commit the resources and talent necessary to put this team back in the playoffs.”

Executive Vice President/General Manager Bruce Allen added: “We are going to take a smart, step-by-step approach to finding the right coach to return the Redskins to where we believe we should be. We will analyze accurately and honestly all of the decisions that were made over the past year."According to the Washington Post, Shanahan's assistants will meet with Allen Monday, and could possibly be retained based on the Redskins' next coach.

Shanahan made it clear in recent weeks that he had no plans to resign. That may have something to do with the $7 million he has remaining on his contract, as well as the fact thathe'd like to fix the mess he's created in his four years in Washington"I've told you from Day 1, I love these guys," the coach said last week. "We've been working extremely hard to put this thing together. We've had a couple of bumps, which we all know, with the salary cap [penalty]. But I'm looking forward to building this team. Like I said, I'll get the chance to sit down with Dan at the end of the season and we'll go from there."

On Monday, shortly after he was fired, Shanahan met with the media.

"Is this a better place than it was when you came here four years ago," he said. "Instead of opening it up for questions, that one is probably asked of me more than any other one so I'll answer that.

"When we first came here, we knew we were in some tough situations relative to the salary cap. Any time that you release $100 million worth of players, you're talking about a lot of football players that have been very successful and that's always hard to do. ...

"I thought over the first two years, even though it was tough with five and six wins, I thought overall that the direction of the team was going in the right direction," Shanahan continued. ... "Going into the third year, I thought we had to get some defensive players. And when we got that $36 million (salary cap) hit, we weren't able to get some of those players we wanted to get. But to show you what our football team did, we were still able to win the NFC East.

"I was proud of them being able to do that. Anytime you're the 28th-ranked defense and 31st in special teams, usually you don't do it. Offensively, we were able to overcome some battles and we found a way to win -- at least the last seven games. ...

"[Depth] is what I thought really hurt us this year. Depth on our special teams, depth on our defense. We didn't have the speed we had a year ago. But the thing I feel good about going into this year is that we don't have those problems financially. ... I believe we're in at least a situation that we're better off today than we were four years ago."

With Shanahan now out of picture, RG3's coach at Baylor, Art Briles, could be in the mix to replace him.

Shanahan, who was hired before the 2010 season, becomes the Redskins' latest high-profile coach to not work out. He follows names like Norv Turner, Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier and Joe Gibbs out the door.

At Least 14 Killed in Russia Bus Explosion; 2nd Attack in Two Days Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmaxworld.com/GlobalTalk/russia-explosion-Olympics-bus/2013/12/30/id/544270#ixzz2oys3rJAu Alert: What Is Your Risk for a Heart Attack? Find Out Now

MOSCOW — A bomb ripped apart a bus in Volgograd on Monday, killing 14 people in the second deadly attack blamed on suicide bombers in the southern Russian city in 24 hours and raising fears of Islamist attacks on the Winter Olympics.
President Vladimir Putin, who has staked his prestige on February's Sochi Games and dismissed threats from Chechen and other Islamist militants in the nearby North Caucasus, ordered tighter security nationwide after the morning rush-hour blast.


Investigators said they believed a male suicide bomber set off the blast, a day after a similar attack killed at least 17 in the main rail station of a city that serves as a gateway to the southern wedge of Russian territory bounded by the Black and Caspian Seas and the Caucasus mountains.
A Reuters journalist saw the blue and white trolleybus — a bus powered by overhead electric cables — reduced to a twisted, gutted carcass, its roof blown off and bodies and debris strewn across the street. Windows in nearby apartments were blown out by the explosion, which investigators called a "terrorist act."

"For the second day, we are dying. It's a nightmare," a woman near the scene said, her voice trembling as she choked back tears. "What are we supposed to do, just walk now?"
The bomb used was packed with "identical" shrapnel to that in the rail station, indicating they may have been made in the same place and supporting suspicions the bombings were linked, said Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the investigators.
Health Ministry spokesman Oleg Salagai said 14 people were killed and 28 wounded in the bombing on Monday.

"There was smoke and people were lying in the street," said Olga, who works nearby. "The driver was thrown a long way. She was alive and moaning. . . . Her hands and clothes were bloody," he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
On Sunday, investigators initially described the station bomber as a woman from Dagestan, a hub of Islamist militancy on the Caspian, but they later said the attacker may have been a man. In October, a woman from the North Caucasus blew up and killed seven people on a bus in Volgograd.
The city has held a place in Russians' sense of national identity since, when known as Stalingrad, its Soviet defenders held off German invaders to turn the course of World War Two.
Chechens and other North Caucasus militants have also staged attacks in Moscow and other cities in the past.

Putin, who has not spoken publicly since the attacks, ordered a federal committee that coordinates counterterrorism efforts to step up security nationwide including in Volgograd, and to report to him daily, the Kremlin said.
The violence raises fears of a concerted campaign before the Olympics, which start on Feb. 7 around Sochi, a resort on the Black Sea, 700 kilometers (450 miles) southwest of Volgograd.
In an online video posted in July, the Chechen leader of insurgents who want to carve an Islamic state out of the swathe of mainly Muslim provinces south of Volgograd, urged militants to use "maximum force" to prevent the Games from going ahead.
"Terrorists in Volgograd aim to terrorize others around the world, making them stay away from the Sochi Olympics," said Dmitry Trenin, an analyst with the Moscow Carnegie Center.
The International Olympic Committee expressed condolences to those affected by the attacks and said "we have no doubt that the Russian authorities will be up to the task" of providing security at the Games.
"Unfortunately, terrorism is a global phenomenon and no region is exempt, which is why security at the Games is a top priority for the IOC," a spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland.
In power since 2000, Putin secured the Games for Russia and has staked his reputation on a safe and successful Olympics, even freeing jailed opponents including oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the Pussy Riot punk band to remove a cause for international criticism at the event.
Putin was first elected after winning popularity for a war against Chechen rebels, but attacks by Islamist militants whose insurgency is rooted in that war have clouded his 14 years in power and now confront him with his biggest security challenge.
Police said additional officers were being deployed to railway stations and airports nationwide after the bombing at the Volgograd rail station on Sunday, but the attacks raised questions about the effectiveness of security measures.
The police force in Volgograd, a city of a million people on the west bank of the river Volga, has been depleted as some 600 officers were redeployed to Sochi to tighten security around Olympic sites, a police officer told Reuters.
More attacks can be expected before the Olympics and cities in southern Russia where the Games are not being held are easier targets than Sochi, said Alexei Filatov, a prominent former member of Russia's elite anti-terrorism force, Alfa.
"The threat is greatest now because it is when terrorists can make the biggest impression," he said. "The security measures were beefed up long ago around Sochi, so terrorists will strike instead in these nearby cities like Volgograd."

The attacks also threatened to fuel ethnic tension, which has increased with an influx of migrant laborers from the impoverished Caucasus and Muslim Central Asian nations to cities around Russia, including Volgograd, in recent years.
"They need to be chased out of here. It has become a transit junction — there are all these non-Russians, both good and bad," said Olga, a saleswoman at a store near the mangled bus. "We've plenty bandits of our own. Why do we need others?"
Police were checking documents of people in Volgograd, with a focus on migrants, said Russian news agency Itar-Tass.
Volgograd will be one of the venues for the 2018 soccer World Cup, another high-profile sports event Putin has helped Russia win the right to stage, and which will bring thousands of foreign fans to cities around Russia.
The first Olympics in Russia since the 1980 summer Games in Moscow, Sochi is a chance for Putin to show how the country has changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
He has faced criticism in the West and from Russian activists who say he has smothered dissent and encouraged discrimination against homosexuals since starting a third term as president in 2012.
Sunday's attack was the deadliest to strike the ethnic Russian heartlands since January 2011, when a male suicide bomber from the North Caucasus killed 37 people in the arrivals hall of a busy Moscow airport.

2013: The Year of Broken Obamacare Promises

President Obama's inauguration in January kicked off a year of broken promises about his signature health care law, threatening to turn a presidency based on vows of hope and change to one doling out disappointment and failures.

The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, but it was in 2013 that the health care reform law implode into a nightmare of broken promises. Assertions made by the president and Health Secretary weeks ago, months ago and even years ago have over and over again proved to been misleading at best and complete untrue at worst

No, you may not be able to keep your doctor or your plan. And, no, the website is not user-friendly.

CM Arvind Kejriwal's first day in office; transfers Delhi Jal Board CEO, 8 other bureaucrats

Arvind Kejriwal swung into action on the first day in office after being sworn in as the seventh chief minister of Delhi.

On his first day in office, Kejriwal worked for six hours and transferred nine senior bureaucrats, including the CEO of the Delhi Jal Board Debashree Mukherjee.

Chasing his promises of a corruption-free Delhi with better civic amenities, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader held his first cabinet meeting, issuing a decree against government officials and ministers using red beacons in their vehicles.

“No minister or official in Delhi government will use red beacons,” a top official said.

A fortnight ago, the Supreme Court had come down heavily on the unauthorised use of red lights meant for top dignitaries holding constitutional posts.

After taking the oath of office and secrecy at Ramlila Maidan, Kejriwal and his six newly appointed ministers — Manish Sisodia, Somnath Bharti, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Rakhi Birla, Girish Soni and Satender Jain— headed for the Delhi secretariat via Rajghat, where they paid tributes to Mahatma GandhiEven as wishes poured in —anti-graft activist Anna Hazare and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated the new CM— Kejriwal did not take a break.

He distributed portfolios among his ministers, keeping the key home, power, planning, finance, services and vigilance departments. He also met Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi.

The USP of the AAP’s first day in power was its stand against anti-VIP culture, an issue the rookie party has stressed time and again.Kejriwal arrived at Barakhamba in the heart of the city in a Delhi Metro train. From there, he headed for the swearing-in venue, Ramlila Maidan, in a car. Kejriwal on Monday had refused ‘Z’ category security after staking claim to the government.

Kejriwal, who has promised to slash power tariff by 50% and provide free water to each household using 700litre a day, sought the help of people to root out corruption in Delhi.

Delivering a speech after taking oath, Kejriwal pledged to fight graft with the help of Delhi residents.  He, however, assured there would be no witch-hunting against bureaucrats.“I told bureaucrats to work with honesty. The bureaucracy is a bit worried. I told them that honest people need not be scared,” he said after the cabinet meeting.

The Congress, the BJP and Left parties congratulated Kejriwal, hoping that the new government will “live up to the expectations”.

The AAP, with 28 legislators, depends on the outside support of the eight Congress MLAs to form a stable government. With 32 seats, the BJP is the single largest party in the 70-member House.

The chief minister will have to prove majority by January 3. However, Kejriwal did not seem bothered about the floor test. “I’m not worried. This is a minor issue. If we don’t get it (majority), we will go for a re-election and win again,” Kejriwal said after taking oath