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  • Years of sacrifice on the path to U.S. citizenship

    NBC News' Ramon Lupercio has fulfilled a dream. This week he became a U.S. citizen, saying, 'If you work hard, somehow you get back everything you have done.'     

    NBC News engineer Ramon Lupercio came to the U.S. in 1986 seeking a better education and a better life. At 16, his family sent him to live with an uncle, wanting more for their son. He had grown up watching American movies, believing America was the best country in the world. Ramon's citizenship is the culmination of a dream. He longed to vote in his new home and often worked three jobs to support his family. Ramon wanted his kids, who were born in the U.S., to understand how lucky they are to live in this country and be citizens here and to know what can be accomplished with hard work.

     

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  • Thrilled and relieved, sick patients cheer court ruling

    Tom Reel / San Antonio Express-News

    Jerry Fielder, 64, of Universal City, Texas, is a cancer patient whose family was turned down by 16 different insurance companies because of pre-existing conditions before accessing coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

    JoNel Aleccia, Senior Writer, NBC News writes

    Jerry Fielder and Beth Ann Levendoski breathed separate sighs of relief Thursday -- one in Texas, the other in California -- on the news that the U.S. Supreme Court had largely upheld President Obama's signature health care law, preserving the guarantees that the seriously ill women will have health insurance. 

    Fielder, a 64-year-old cancer patient from Universal City, Texas, and Levendoski, a 57-year-old San Diego woman with a history of complicated spinal surgeries, were among those with the most to lose from the long-awaited ruling on the Obama Administration’s Affordable Care Act: people with pre-existing health conditions.

    "I am thrilled. I can't tell you what this means," said Levendoski, who is still recovering from two 10-hour surgeries in 2011 to correct spinal fractures and a compressed spinal cord, which left her virtually paralyzed. "I hardly slept all night."

    On a 5 to 4 vote, the nation’s top court on Thursday upheld the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including the controversial proposal that requires all Americans to have health insurance, or face financial penalties. The court interpreted the so-called "individual mandate" as a tax, however. 

    "I was on pins and needles. I was dreading the results," said Fielder. "Then I was like, Oh my God, they upheld it? I can't believe it."

    For Fielder, the ruling means she won’t have to count the months until Medicare kicks in next spring to continue treatment for lymphoma and a fist-sized malignant tumor in her abdomen. 

    Fielder spent most of the past decade struggling to acquire and maintain health insurance after giving up employer-sponsored care when the family decided to start a small business. They assumed they'd be able to buy private insurance, but when Fielder and her husband, Charles, now 65, went looking for coverage, they were stunned to be turned down by 16 different providers because of his history of heart problems.

    They paid $73,000 out of pocket for Charles' heart surgery in 2003, but then, in 2009, came Jerry’s diagnosis.

    “You can pay for a broken leg, you can pay for a broken arm, but you cannot pay for cancer,” she said. 

    Without insurance, Fielder received no treatment for months, growing sicker and weaker as the cancer spread. Only after she gained access to a stop-gap program through the ACA did Fielder get care that has slowed her disease and allowed her to return to work. Charles became old enough to qualify for Medicare last year. 

    Fielder said she has met many families, including single mothers with young children, struggling to find coverage for existing illnesses.

    Courtesy Beth Ann Levendoski

    Beth Ann Levendoski, 57, of San Diego, is enrolled in a PCIP, a health insurance plan provided under the Affordable Care Act for people with pre-existing conditions.

    "Everybody is just a blink away from needing insurance," Fielder said.

    Between 36 million and 122 million adults under age 65 in the United States have a pre-existing health condition and as many as 17 million do not have health insurance, according to the Government Accountability Office. The estimates vary widely because of the type and number of ailments used to define pre-existing conditions in each of five estimates. In the lowest estimate, adults reported whether they had ever been told they had one or more of eight specific conditions. The highest estimate included any individual reporting a chronic condition in 2009.

    Fielder and Levendoski are among more than 67,000 people nationwide who enrolled in Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plans, or PCIPs, which were created to provide insurance for people too sick to get coverage on the private market. Both women were among the first to join in October 2010.

    The PCIPs are temporary programs aimed at bridging the insurance gap until 2014, when the health reform law requires insurers to accept all comers, including those with previously identified health issues.

    Their support for Thursday's ruling was largely echoed by a poll conducted by Truth On Call for msnbc.com, which found that nearly 64 percent of family care doctors queried thought that the high court's ruling was correct, while 36 percent disagreed. 

    For Levendoski, being able to maintain her insurance coverage is the key to her future.

    Poll: Do you agree with the health care ruling?

    A former director of a nonprofit agency, she lost her insurance in 2004 after being laid off. She exhausted benefits through the state COBRA health benefits program and then learned that she couldn't get private insurance because of a history of kidney problems and the degenerative effects of childhood scoliosis, which required repeated surgeries. Her condition grew so dire, she suffered spinal fractures and a compressed spinal cord that left her unable to walk. 

    She exhausted about $55,000 in savings paying for care out of pocket before the ACA was enacted. She eventually lost her home and had to declare bankruptcy because of the medical bills. Levendoski was able to buy insurance and resume her treatment in 2010 after enrolling in the PCIP.

    The two surgeries last year helped relieve the paralysis in her legs, but left her with lasting, debilitating weakness in her arms. Unable to work now, she lives for free with her 80-year-old mother, which allows her to use state disability payments to cover the monthly premium of $467 for the PCIP program. 

    Regaining strength in her arms and re-learning to walk mean Levendoski has a long road ahead, including another major surgery planned in just a few weeks. 

    She was in an agony of anticipation most of this week. When the high court didn't rule on the law as expected Monday, Levedoski was in tears. On Thursday, as early reports appeared mixed, she was worried, then elated. 

    "I am going to be so relieved," she said. 

    More health reform coverage:

    NBC's Tom Costello explains the benefits of the healthcare law and the costs to small business to insure their employees.

     

     

     

  • NYC, automats created lunch as we know it

    Whether it's a power lunch, a working lunch, a three martini lunch or ladies who lunch, a new exhibit at the New York Public Library looks at the history of the midday meal and what can arguably be called the first fast food lunch at the automat.

    By Marcus Harun
    NBC News

    Between noon and 2 p.m. Americans nationwide have their midday meal: lunch. But years ago it used to be a much bigger meal called dinner.

    New York City changed that.

    In the 1900s, New York was industrializing very quickly and the work culture was changing. Bosses were stricter with work schedules and workers only had a half-hour to eat at midday. Employees no longer had the time to go home to eat their family meal, so dinner was pushed to the evening. As a result, a high-speed midday meal called “quick lunch” was born.

    In a new exhibit, the New York Public Library tracks the evolution of lunch over the past 150 years. “Lunch Hour NYC,” on display now through February 2013, is complete with a restored version of an automat, an automatic restaurant that serves fresh food vending machine-style.  Workers would rush to the automat and grab anything they could afford and ran back to work.

    "The food was really good, it was clean, it was fresh," exhibit co-curator Rebecca Federman told NBC News. "It was a different kind of environment than many of us see today and I think that you can't help but have fond memories of dining in such an environment."

    The automat, which first opened in New York City in 1912, served everything from pie to baked beans and every item costed five cents.

    In the 1900s, employers emphasized the importance of making more money, working faster, and producing efficiently, Federman said. Automats flourished in the fast-paced environment.

    "People from other countries coming to visit New York for the first time would always comment about how quickly people ate, specifically lunch," Federman said. "We realized quite quickly that lunch was a topic rich in interesting details that were somewhat specific to New York City."

    Scraping together a lunch at home

    At the turn of the 20th century immigrants poured into crowded multi-family New York City tenements. Most families did not get to sit down for a daily meal together, Shapiro said. Many women and children would do piece work for garment manufacturers or shell walnuts at home during the day while their father was at work. A mother and four children would typically have 10 cents to eat lunch daily.

    "People would work in the flat all day long, there was no room for storage, there would have been no room to keep a lot of food," Lunch Hour NYC co-curator Laura Shapiro said. "So, our whole idea of the specialness of a meal at home just didn't exist; it couldn't."

    The exhibit recounts stories of mothers who would send their children to pushcarts on the street to put a meal together for 10 cents. Examples of home lunches include a half loaf of bread, a whole loaf of stale bread or a can of salmon.

    Using cutouts of food items, children who visit the lunch exhibit have the chance to assemble their own "10-cent lunch." The activity challenges children to decide how to efficiently spend their money and feed their families.

    Evolution of the school lunch

    In the 1890s a national school lunch program did not exist in the United States. Kids were supposed to go home to eat lunch – but not all of them were able to. Many poor families couldn’t feed their children breakfast and had no food to eat at lunch.

    "They were often underfed, they were often quite thin and would fall asleep in class, and a lot of the reformers at the time noticed this and made sure to make an effort to get the food served within the school," Federman said.

    In 1908 a charity introduced the first school lunch program in New York City for three cents. By 1920, the Board of Education took over the program and offered lunch to all of the city’s school children. Twenty years later, the federal government adapted the program and schools across the nation began serving lunch, Federman said. 

    Just one more example of how New York changed lunch as we know it.

    “The conditions in New York were work, speed, time, and making money,” Shapiro said. “All those things were the kind of driving engines of life in New York and lunch emerged from that energy.”

    To learn more about the exhibit, visit the NY Public Library Website.

     

  • Bone marrow donors may be compensated after ruling stands

    A mother with three daughters who have Fanconi anemia sued the federal government for the right to compensate bone marrow donors. The U.S. Attorney General will not pursue the case with the Supreme Court, thus making a lower court's ruling law. That means bone marrow donors may now receive vouchers worth up to $3,000. NBC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.

    JoNel Aleccia, Senior Writer, NBC News writes

    Certain bone marrow donors could soon be compensated for their life-saving stem cells after federal officials declined to take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, allowing a lower court order to become law.

    At least one agency, MoreMarrowDonors.org, hopes to begin a pilot program offering up to $3,000 in scholarships, housing vouchers or charity donations -- but not cash -- in exchange for matching donations of marrow cells derived from blood.

    “This decision is a total game-changer,” said Jeff Rowes, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, which filed the lawsuit three years ago on behalf of cancer victims and others seeking bone marrow matches. “Any donor, any doctor, any patient across the country can use compensation in order to get bone marrow donors.”

    That may be the effect of the decision by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to forgo a high court review of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that certain kinds of bone marrow donations are exempt from federal rules banning compensation.

    Under the ruling, donors who provide marrow cells through a process similar to blood donation, called peripheral blood stem cell apheresis, can be compensated because those cells are no longer regarded as organs or organ parts as defined in the National Organ Transplant Act.

    The ruling does not apply, however, to bone marrow obtained through traditional techniques that use a needle to aspirate the cells from the hip.

    Although it applies only to nine states covered by the 9th Circuit Court, Rowes expects the effects to be felt nationwide. 

    The move met with praise from Doreen Flynn, 36, of Lewiston, Maine, the lawsuit’s namesake and the single mother of three daughters with an incurable blood disorder called Fanconi anemia.

    She and other plaintiffs had argued that incentives are the best way to broaden the pool of potential donors and to help ensure that those who are matched follow through with the process.

    Woman challenges bone marrow donation law in effort to save daughters' lives

    Flynn's oldest daughter, Jordan, 13, received a marrow transplant this spring while 7-year-old twins Jorja and Julia may need transplants in the future.

    “I’m overwhelmed by the decision and I’m grateful to be part of this case,” said Flynn. “With two kids who still need to go through transplants, this victory means hope for the future. With compensation, that means there is less chance that a potential donor will back out when called upon, which is a very real concern.”

    But officials with the National Marrow Donor Program, which maintains a registry of 10 million donors, said they were disappointed that Holder didn’t take the matter to the Supreme Court and worried that the ruling would confuse donors about the issue of compensation.

    “Our policy has always been to operate a registry of all volunteers,” said Michael Boo, chief strategy officer with the NMDP and Be the Match. “We will not list donors that have been promised compensation.”

    That policy is also adopted by the Health Resources and Services Administration, or HRSA, which regulates bone marrow transplants in the U.S.

    Permitting compensated donors would limit the NMDP’s ability to cooperate with international registries in 35 countries, said David Bowman, a HRSA spokesman. About 40 percent of blood stem cell transplants facilitated by the program involve an international patient or donor, he added.

    The NMDP also argues that compensation will limit treatment options, divert money from a wider range of patients and, perhaps, decrease the quality of donations. It could skew volunteers’ motivations, perhaps encouraging them to be less than frank when answering the questions vital to ensuring a match, critics have said. 

    About 10,000 people need bone marrow transplants each year, but only about half receive them, according to the NDMP. The Institute for Justice estimates that about 3,000 die waiting for matches, but NDMP officials say there's no way to know that for sure because many factors affect a patient's death, not just the availability of matching marrow.

    Not being listed on the NMDP registry could prove to be a blow to donors hoping to reach the widest range of potential patients, of course.

    Rowes acknowledged that compensation could not begin immediately and that many details remain to be worked out.

    “I’m not saying that we may not have to fight with HRSA and the registry in the future,” Rowes said. “But they are profoundly mistaken if they think they can use their authority as stewards of information that is the property of the American people to interfere with what the courts have said is the lawful use of that information. We’re not backing down.”

    Mother of three Doreen Flynn has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 which makes it illegal to buy and sell organs, including bone marrow. NBC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.

    Related stories: 

  • Police say Zimmerman had chances to defuse situation before shooting Martin

    Bill Dedman writes

    Prosecutors released more documents, photos and audiovisual files on Tuesday afternoon from the case of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, accused of murder in the second degree in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26.

    Here is a PDF file containing 29 pages of investigative reports.

    Follow Open Channel on Twitter and Facebook.

    Zimmerman told police that he saw Martin walking, followed him in his vehicle, passed him without identifying himself, called the police non-emergency line, lost sight of Martin as Martin ran toward his father's home, followed Martin on foot, and then was confronted by Martin, who attacked him when Zimmerman reached into his pocket for his cell phone to call 911.

    The report shows that Zimmerman passed a "lie detector" test, called a computer voice stress analyzer, showing no deception in his statements. Such tests are popular with police departments but usually cannot be admitted as evidence in court.

    After reviewing the evidence and interviewing Zimmerman, the police detective concluded that Zimmerman's actions were "inconsistent" with someone who was afraid of Martin, and that Zimmerman had several chances to end the encounter without violence.

    "Investigative findings show that Zimmerman admitted avoiding a confrontation with Martin while Zimmerman was observing Martin from his vehicle, because, as he told investigators, was afraid of Martin," Det. Chris Serino wrote. "Later in the encounter, Zimmerman exited his vehicle, in spite of his earlier admission to investigators that he was afraid of Martin, and followed Martin in an effort to maintain surveillance of him while Zimmerman awaited the arrival of law enforcement officers. His actions are inconsistent with those of a person who has stated he was in fear of another subject.

    Sanford Police Department

    A photo of the back of George Zimmerman's head, taken during a police interview after the shooting. Zimmerman said Martin attacked him and was astride him, beating him, when Zimmerman fired a single shot into Martin's torso.

    "Investigative findings show that George Michael Zimmerman had at least two opportunities to speak with Trayvon Benjamin Martin in order to defuse the circumstances surrounding their encounter. On at least two occasions, George Michael Zimmerman failed to identify himself as a concerned resident or a neighborhood watch member to Trayvon Benjamin Martin. Investigative findings show the physical dimension of Trayvon Benjamin Martin, and that of George Michael Zimmerman, coupled with the absence of any specialized training in hand to hand combat between either combatant, did not place George Michael Zimmerman in an extraordinary or exceptional disadvantage of apparent physical ability or defensive capacity.

    "Investigative findings show the physical injuries displayed by George Michael Zimmerman are marginally consistent with a life-threatening violent episode as described by him, during which neither a deadly weapon nor deadly force was deployed by Trayvon Martin."

    "The following sequence of events were obtained by admissions made by Zimmerman and cannot be corroborated by independent witnesses, nor can be refuted by independent witnesses:

    In a video clip from Feb. 27, 2012, released by his attorney, George Zimmerman takes investigators back to the scene of his shooting of Trayvon Martin. (George Zimmerman featured at 2:15)

    "While Zimmerman was returning to his vehicle, he states he was attacked by Martin, but only after Martin inquires to Zimmerman, 'What's your problem?'

    "Zimmerman, instead of attempting to inform Martin of the reason he was following him, stated to Martin, 'I don't have a problem.'

    "As Zimmerman responds to Martin, by his own admission, Zimmerman reaches into his pocket attempting to locate his cell phone.

    "As Zimmerman reaches for his cell phone, he stated Martin replies, 'You have one now,' and Martin punches Zimmerman in the face, knocking him to the ground.

    "Zimmerman stated that he was battered by Martin to the point of almost losing consciousness. He stated he ultimately had no choice but to shoot Martin in self-defense."

    The report continues:

    "The encounter between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin was ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman, if Zimmerman had remained in his vehicle and awaited the arrival of law enforcement, or conversely if he had identified himself to Martin as a concerned citizen and initiated dialog in an effort to dispel each party's concern. There is no indication that Trayvon Martin was involved in any criminal activity at the time of the encounter. Zimmerman, by his statements made to the call taker and recorded for review, and his statements made to investigators following the shooting death of Martin, made it clear that he had already reached a faulty conclusion as to Martin's purpose for being in the neighborhood."

    The investigator concludes with a recommendation that Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter. He was ultimately charged with a more serious charge, homicide in the second degree.

    Police also released a copy of Zimmerman's neighborhood watch handbook, including this warning: "Neighborhood Watch is NOT the Vigilante Police. Work with the police. Be our eyes and ears. Report suspicious activity."

    Sanford Police Department

    A page from George Zimmerman's neighborhood watch training manual.

     

  • Wildfires leave Colorado tourism high and dry

    On Monday FEMA authorized the use of federal funds to fight the fires in Colorado that are burning across the state. The most recent fire, in Colorado Springs, resulted in 11,000 evacuations over the weekend. Miguel Almaguer reports.

    By Jack Chesnutt
    NBC News

    FORT COLLINS, Colo. --  After two weeks of around-the-clock work, firefighters are starting to gain the upper hand on the High Park fire near Fort Collins, Colo. But even as some of the residents are allowed to return to their homes, there is another casualty from the 100-square-mile blaze: Northern Colorado’s annual influx of summer visitors seeking clean air and whitewater rivers.

    Jim Clark, executive director of the Ft. Collins Convention and Visitors Bureau, can see a smoky haze over the Roosevelt National Forest from his location downtown.

    “The bad news is...we’re known for our outdoor recreation," he said. "A lot of that at the present time is closed.”

    Clark’s office is handling many out-of-state calls from people who have questions about the smoke from the fire.  For the past several weeks the Colorado Department of Public Health has issued air quality health alerts because of the dense smoke along a 200-mile corridor from Colorado Springs in the south up to the Wyoming border. This week, the smoke has been less of an issue.

    “We have lots of things for them in town -- breweries, shops ... everything is still open," Clark said. "But, there are some folks who would have visited us that probably will stay away.”

    Over the weekend, new flames near Colorado Springs forced thousands to evacuate -- one of several fires emptying campgrounds and hotels across the parched state. 

    Preston Harrington and Darrel Sellers, of Lake Charles, La., had planned to climb nearby Pikes Peak. Then they got evacuated from their hotel. 

    "We're used to the hurricanes and evacuating and what not. And we come up here and expect good weather and since we've been here they've had hailstorms, and now forest fires -- it just reminds us of being back home," Harrington said. 

    Bill Fee, shopkeeper at the Nature of Things Chainsaw Art in Manitou Springs, Colo., said it's devastating for local businesses, especially the weekend before the Fourth of July when they tend to have the most customers. 

    "I do worry for Colorado this year for tourism through the whole entire state -- not just the small town of Manitou, which relies completely on tourism -- it affects [businesses] across the board."

    Clark says it will be weeks or even months before any hard numbers are available to calculate the loss of visitors due to the fire.

    Rafting companies offer refunds

    The losses have already started for Pat Legel, owner of Wanderlust Adventure Rafting in Bellevue, Colo. Legel has spent what should have been a busy start to the rafting season dusting off his rafts and life jackets. “This is historical. This is the longest we’ve been out of business.”

    Legel’s company offers trips down the Cache la Poudre River, one of the most popular whitewater rivers in Colorado. The fire has cut off access to the river where it runs through the burn zone. Wanderlust is one of six local outfitters which have suspended rafting on the Poudre since June 9.

    Legel said his heart goes out to the more than 200 residents who have lost their homes to the fire.  But, for his business, the hardest part is making the daily calls to customers to let them know the river canyon is closed and to arrange refunds on their rafting fees.

    “It’ll be a survival season, if we can get back some time early July. If not, we’ll have to maybe lay some people off and get a loan to carry us through next year.”

    Legel started the company in 1982. He’s now 65.

    "I don’t think I will see the landscape along the river recover in my lifetime,” he said. 

    Tourists changing plans

    Jane Servi had house guests for the weekend at her Larimer County home and had to scramble to make new plans for weekend activities.  She was looking forward to showing the visitors from Boston a Colorado whitewater adventure. But her Poudre River rafting trip was one of hundreds cancelled by the fire. Eventually she found an alternative rafting location nearly 70 miles away. It was disappointing, she said, but she's more concerned "about the people who are up there whose houses have been destroyed, and people who have been displaced."

    Last week "NBC Nightly News" found Grant Houx, owner of St. Peter’s Fly shop in Fort Collins, standing thigh-deep in the Poudre River about 10 miles downstream from the fire. He was whipping a seven-foot-long fly rod through air that tastes like smoke. The water runs clear and cool here, for now. But when late summer rains come, the soot, ash and charred underbrush from 70,000 scorched acres will wash down the Poudre and smaller streams like a black tide.  Not good for trout and other native fish.

    “'Concern’ is one word. We don’t know exactly what the effects of that soot will be,” he said. 

    Houx’s fishing guide service has had “a few” fire-related cancellations. He explains that fishing is still good on several other rivers in the area unaffected by the fire.

    Fires of 2012 follow record year for Colorado tourism 

    According to the Colorado Tourism Office, 59.7 million visitors came to the state in 2011. They spent $10.7 billion. Larimer County, where the High Park Fire continues to burn, represents 2.7 percent of statewide visitor spending.

    Colorado Tourism Office chief Al White says statewide reservations are up “double-digits over last summer” but acknowledges the impact of the fires in northern Colorado and Fort Collins. The hope is that tourists understand that even a 100 square mile fire represents less than one tenth of one percent of the state of Colorado.

    “The High Park fire is a tragedy, but there is still a lot to see and do in Colorado," White said. "And for now, people are still making plans to come here.”

    NBC's Vicky Collins contributed to this report.

  • Analysis: Egypt's big turn under the Muslim Brotherhood

    NBC Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel walks through crowded Tahrir Square as demonstrators celebrate the victory of Egypt's first Muslim Brotherhood President.

    Richard Engel, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent writes

    CAIRO, Egypt – The Muslim Brotherhood has won the presidency.  Will it bring a new Egypt?  I can’t see how it won’t.

    This morning a Christian woman I’ve known casually for years came up to me and asked if I could help her seek political asylum in the United States.  Many Christians, women and moderate Muslims worry about the Muslim Brotherhood’s promise to bring Islamic Law.  It’s not a good sign if the day after elections that people are asking how they can escape the country.

    Last night in Tahrir Square Muslim Brotherhood members were celebrating their victory, calling it not a win for democracy, but divine intervention.  They acknowledged that a free vote brought them to power, but saw God’s hand filling the ballot boxes.  

    In an analysis piece last week I asked, if democracy brings a non-democratic party, is that a win for democracy?  Today some Egyptians don’t think so and have considerable buyers’ remorse, feeling the cliché, "be careful of what you wish for."

    Big changes are in store for Egypt now that Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, once banned in Egypt, has won Egypt's first democratic presidential election. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

    Egyptians face a new Egypt under the Muslim Brotherhood


    In Tahrir Square street vendors now sell badges with Mohammed Morsi's photograph.  Some Egyptians wear them to show support and solidarity, like wearing a U.S. presidential campaign pin.  I bought one.  It’s sitting on my desk now in Cairo.  The laminated badge also has the Muslim Brotherhood’s logo of two crossed swords with a Quran between the blades.  Beneath the swords is a single phrase, “And Prepare.”

    It’s a quote from the Quran which in the light of the Brotherhood’s win deserves elaboration. 

    “And prepare” comes from the Quran’s Chapter 8 on "the spoils of war."  The full quote is:

    “And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allah will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged.”

    “And Prepare” means to prepare for battle against God’s enemies. 

    When I think about the Muslim Brotherhood, I remember a hot, sticky evening in 1998 when I was working as a local journalist in Cairo.  I was in the lawyers' syndicate building in central Cairo. 

    The syndicate was, and still is, dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.  I had many contacts there and was a frequent visitor.  That evening, I sat drinking strong coffee with a group of about a half dozen members of the Brotherhood.  We spoke for hours. 

    I remember the conversation vividly because I have had so many just like it.  The Brotherhood members mostly talked about Israel.  They were obsessed with the Mossad, Israel’s powerful spy agency.  According to them, the Mossad ran everything in the Middle East. 

    They also said America was at war with Islam.  They told me Osama bin Laden was an American creation.  They talked about how Jews ran the world, and how the only group as powerful as the Mossad was the "Jewish Lobby" in Washington.  Jews and Israel, they said, used America’s muscle to dominate the Arab world through proxy dictators like Mubarak.  They told me how Israel was deliberately exporting chemicals that spread AIDS and cancer among Egyptians. 

    Eric Trager, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, studies Egyptian opposition groups. He spoke with NBC News' Charlene Gubash about what the Muslim Brotherhood victory means for the U.S. and the region.

    Egypt's Morsi: Bloodshed will not be in vain

    They told me the Americans people, whom they considered decent and God fearing, were ignorant of the games played on them by Jews and their lobby.  One Jewish-Israeli-American conspiracy rolled into the next.  

    I remember thinking all those 15 years ago as I sipped coffee and looked around at the syndicate, I hope these guys don't come to power.  But even then I suspected one day it would happen – there were simply too many Egyptians who thought just like the people drinking coffee in the syndicate.  

    They packed the universities and professional unions.  They wrote the little paperback books sold on blankets on Cairo sidewalks linking Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, the Bush family, the Jewish Lobby, Freemasons and of course the Mossad in elaborate plots against Egypt and Muslims.  

    There are clearly many Egyptian free-thinkers and intellectuals -- lots of wonderful Egyptian artists and architects and scientists.  But the conversation I was having in the syndicate was much more common.

    Morsi now talks about moderation.  Western diplomats hope he means it and that the Brotherhood will have to become more pragmatic now that it will have to actually run a government.  That could very well happen, but pragmatism seems unlikely to erase a mentality that is deeply ingrained and which will, especially in time of crisis, expose itself sooner or later.

    NBC News: Egypt's ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak slips into coma

    Morsi still has to battle with the military for power.  The military holds key authorities which it took through steps that were probably illegal.  The army’s position looks weaker now that the Brotherhood has won an election that was widely considered free and fair.

    Egypt took a big turn last night.  I hope now the Brotherhood can move beyond a mentality of conspiracies and turn this country into a success.  If it can’t, the Middle East faces a tough road ahead.

    More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

     

  • Thank you Title IX

    By Anne Thompson
    NBC News 


    Way back in what I now like to call the "stone age," 1975, I was a freshman in the fourth class of women to enroll at the University of Notre Dame. My rector was Sally Duffy, a tall graduate student who was also the coach of the women's basketball team. 

    Sally was a great rector, always available to talk things through and give you guidance. But it was clear her true passion was women's basketball. Sally put in many hours laying the ground work for a team that would come to represent the very best of the Fighting Irish. 

    Women's basketball was just a club sport back then. Becoming a varsity sport was a long-shot dream. The very presence of women at Notre Dame was controversial and the idea of women's varsity sports was even more so. The issue was always framed in terms of what the men would lose if women had varsity teams. Talking about what women would gain was always a secondary issue, if considered at all. 

    Tennis legend Billie Jean King has been a tireless advocate for Title IX both before and since its passage. She reflects on her career and the landmark legislation.


    I remember interviewing Father Ned Joyce, who oversaw Notre Dame's athletics, about concerns that men's programs would suffer because of Title IX. I can't remember what he said, but I do remember walking away from the conversation thinking this would not be an easy transition. 

    In urban areas, girls face obstacles 40 years after Title IX 

    In 1977, women's basketball was made a varsity sport at Notre Dame, joining tennis and fencing. These teams were symbols to the university community and the world that women had arrived at Notre Dame and that we belonged.

    I am notoriously unathletic. Warrior three in yoga class is an eternal challenge. But I truly believe that leveling the playing field in the athletic department helped us do the same in the classroom. It gave us a place and a stake in the storied tradition of Notre Dame sports as we made a mark elsewhere on campus.

    Today, women are a proud part of Notre Dame. The university has 12 women's varsity sports teams. 

    The women's soccer, fencing and basketball teams have all won national championships. For the last two years, the women's basketball team has played in the national championship game. Friends don't dare call me when the women's team is on TV any more than they would call me when the Irish are playing football on Saturdays in autumn. They are all holy days of obligation in my book.

    I am very proud to say that today at Notre Dame her loyal sons and daughters march on to victory. Thank you Title IX.  

    Learn more: Women's Sports Foundation

  • No verdict in first day of deliberations in Sandusky trial

     

    What we're following: 

    - No verdict in first day of deliberations in Sandusky trial

    - Taliban siege at Kabul hotel kills at least 23

    - Park ranger falls to death during Mount Rainier rescue

    And did you see...

    - Salvador Dali painting worth $150,000 stolen from NYC art gallery

    - Light at night can harm your health

    - Miami Heat win NBA championship

     

     

     

  • Track the International Space Station

    At 16 orbits a day, the ISS is passing over the U.S. and and can be seen from cities across the country. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    The International Space Station orbits the earth 16 times a day.  But it just so happens that this week's orbit patterns bring it right over the top of some big U.S. population centers.  This week you'll see a bright light moving faster than any plane across the sky -- you'll just need to get to a dark place. As you watch, remember: the ISS is home to six people, travelling 17-thousand miles an hour, and they're more than 200 miles high.  

    Find out more by visiting NASA's website, spaceweather.com and the ISS tracker. 

     

  • Record heat to mark official start of summer

     

    What we're following: 

    - Egypt's Hosni Mubarak reportedly in coma, clinging to life

    - Record heat to mark official start of summer

    - 1.5 million children in danger of starvation in West Africa

    And did you see...

    - No charges for Texas father who killed daughter's alleged molester 

    - Slowing economy could force Fed to take action

    - Veterans return from war to find jobs gone

     

     

     

  • Painkiller use breeds new face of heroin addiction

    Deaths from heroin abuse rose from six in 1999 to thirty in 2011, and this year it is on track to be even worse. NBC's Kate Snow reports.

    Yardena Schwartz
    NBC News

    Chicago Police Capt. John Roberts never thought that moving to the suburbs would mean that his 14-year-old son Billy would immediately be introduced to drugs. And never did he ever imagine that Billy, a high school athlete, would even think of touching heroin.

    After 33 years in the Chicago Police Department, Roberts was finally ready to retire. He couldn’t wait to move his family out to the suburbs, where he thought his kids would live in a safer environment, attend better schools and be sheltered from some of the ugly realities of city life.

    But after growing addicted to prescription painkillers, Billy and his friends could no longer afford their habit. They soon turned to heroin, which they could buy for a tenth of the price of their favorite pill, Oxycontin. Billy was 19 when he died of a heroin overdose, but he wasn’t the only one of his friends to suffer that fate.

    John Roberts, a retired Chicago police captain, started the Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization after losing his teenage son to a heroin overdose.

    At first, Roberts couldn’t believe what was happening to his family , and that heroin could affect a good kid like Billy. But then he realized he wasn’t alone.  

    Across the country, heroin use is growing at an alarming rate and is affecting a surprising segment of the population.

    “Kids in the city know not to touch it, but the message never got out to the suburbs,” said Roberts, who founded the Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization to help other families cope with the shock of teen heroin use. Like most parents in upper-middle class neighborhoods, Roberts said, “We didn’t think it would ever be a problem out here.”

    According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, initiations to heroin have increased 80 percent among 12- to 17-year-olds since 2002. In 2009, the most recent year for which national data is available, 510 young adults between the ages of 15 and 24 died of a heroin overdose. That figure was just 198 in 1999, meaning that the rate of young adult deaths caused by heroin more than doubled in one decade. Close to 90 percent of teen heroin addicts are white, data show.

    Recovered teen heroin addict Alyssa Dedrick and her mother, Mary, discuss their family's struggle with addiction, and how in the suburbs, heroin abuse is "right under our noses."

    Crackdown on painkiller abuse fuels new wave of heroin addiction

    “Part of the problem is they don’t realize how bad it is,” said Roberts. “After Billy used it a few times, he thought he was OK, because he didn’t seem like a junkie.”

    The biggest problem seems to be the connection between prescription painkillers and heroin. The opiate high that teens seek from drugs such as Oxycodone (the actual drug contained in OxyContin brand pills) may also be obtained from heroin, which is much cheaper, easier to buy, and offers users a more intense high.

    “It’s hard to talk about the heroin problem without talking about the prescription drug problem,” notes Rafael Lemaitre, of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Given new research on skyrocketing prescription drug abuse, the link between opioid pills and heroin is even more alarming. 

    The number of teenagers seeking treatment for heroin abuse has skyrocketed, and the number of deaths from heroin among high school and college-age kids more than doubled from 1999 to 2009. NBC's Kate Snow reports.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths from prescription drugs tripled nationwide between 2000 and 2008. In a recent national survey on teen drug abuse conducted by the University of Michigan, one in eight high school seniors admitted to using prescription painkillers they weren’t prescribed. Overall, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, drug overdose (from both prescription and non-prescription drugs) is now the leading cause of accidental deaths in the United States. Officials fear that the over-prescription of powerful painkillers and the lack of awareness about the danger associated with them could continue to fuel the problem.

    “Kids are going to believe that this is not a problem, and parents are going to continue to leave their prescription opioids unattended if they don’t know about the risks,” said Westley Clark, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment at the Department of Health and Human Services.

    While marijuana has historically been the usual suspect, prescription pain killers are now becoming the latest and most dangerous gateway drugs.

    In dozens of interviews with former young heroin addicts, NBC News found that every single heroin user had arrived at shooting up the same way: starting with expensive prescription drugs, which they purchased from friends for $20-$60. When they became too addicted to afford pills, they listened to friends who told them they could get a better, cheaper high if they used heroin instead. For $3-$10 a bag, they said, they started off by snorting the drug, never thinking that they would end up injecting it. Most of them started shooting up within weeks.

    Alyssa Dedrick was an honor roll student from a nice Boston suburb, and her high school’s cheerleading captain, until she discovered Oxycontin. When she and her friends could no longer afford the pills, they tried smoking heroin. Dedrick, now 23 and fully recovered, never imagined she would ever try the drug, let alone plan on injecting it. She said she just wanted to see what it was like, but within a week she was putting a needle in her arm.

    Chris O’Connor grew up in a loving Catholic family in a wealthy Boston suburb. His father works in commercial real estate, his mother is a homemaker. For a while, O’Connor was able to hide the fact that he was driving to the city on a regular basis to score heroin from dealers on the street. He earned excellent grades in high school, and even went on to study at Georgetown University, where he did pretty well at first.

    “I just thought it wouldn’t affect me,” said O’Connor, who is now 27 and still recovering after more than 20 stints in treatment. “People who come from a privileged background are generally shielded from negative outcomes in life,” he said.

    With the cost of prescription drugs on the rise and heroin becoming purer and cheaper, the drug that spawns fear in other generations has become more appealing to a younger set.  

    For teens living near major cities, heroin can also be easier to buy than prescription drugs.  Rather than having to find someone who has a prescription, they can just do what Chris O’Connor did and take a quick drive into the city, where they know they can score at any hour of the day.

    According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, Mexican heroin production has increased significantly in recent years, from an estimated 7 metric tons in 2002, to 50 metric tons in 2011. That sevenfold increase has made heroin more available in metropolitan areas across the country, including Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

    For families like the O’Connors, who once considered themselves immune to heroin, the crucial difference between life and death was early recognition, treatment and constant support.

    It’s taken Chris more than a decade, but he can now triumphantly say he’s been clean for at least a year. Many of the friends he once used with have not been as fortunate.

    “I think ultimately what saved my life was the love of my family, being there for me unconditionally,” he said. “I had so many psychologists and therapists. The best ones weren’t the smartest ones, they were the ones who cared the most.”

     

    Resources for addiction recovery:

    Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization (HERO)

    National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) 

    Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

    Faces and Voices of Recovery

    Nar-Anon

    Partnership for a Drug Free America

    Parents for a Change

    Learn to Cope

    Family Healing Strategies

    Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy

    Addiction Research Institute

    Moms Tell

    I Can Help

    Robert Crown Center

  • Native Americans to get millions after win in Supreme Court

     

    What we're following: 

    - Top Pakistan court disqualifies prime minister from office

    - Native Americans to get millions after win in Supreme Court

    - New consumer agency launches tell-all website

    And did you see...

    - Lawsuit claims Hebrew National hot dogs aren't kosher

    - Rielle Hunter says she wasn't John Edwards' first mistress

    - Microsoft announces Surface tablet

     

     

     

  • Chicago funeral home director: 'These kids don't expect to live a full life'

    Nathan Weber / for msnbc.com

    Spencer Leak, director of Leak & Sons Funeral Home on Chicago's South Side, stands outside St. Andrews Temple during the wake of Kenneth Jones, who was killed while allegedly trying to flee an attempted robbery on Saturday, June 9, in the Park Manor neighborhood.

    Ron Mott writes

    CHICAGO – Business is disturbingly steady for Spencer Leak, Sr.


    It’s not that he is unaccustomed to being busy. After all, he is a successful funeral home director with two locations and his family has been in the funeral business for almost 80 years.

    It’s just that many of the people arriving for their “homegoing,” as the services often are called, are so young. Leak said he’s been doing upwards of 125 funerals a year for homicide victims, many of them young adults, some just teenagers, who are victims of the recent surge in violence rocking this city.

    “These kids don’t expect to live a full life,” said Leak, a former executive director of the Cook County Department of Corrections. “You get about a thousand other kids who come to these funerals. They see how it’s celebrated and they think this is how I’ll be celebrated when I get shot.”

    Chicago’s police commissioner has pointed to gang-related conflicts as the driving force behind the recent surge in gun deaths. From the start of this year through June 18, at least 240 people have been killed, according to the Chicago Police Department. 

    Just last weekend seven people were killed and 35 injured – marking the third weekend in a row with gunfire victims totaling well into the double digits. The weekend before, 46 people were hurt and eight killed across Chicago. The previous weekend, 29 were injured and three were killed in shootings.

    More Chicago mayhem: 35 hurt, 7 killed in shootings

    Homicides are up about 35 percent over last year at a time when violent crime nationwide is trending down. U.S. violent crime rates fell in 2011 for the fifth straight year, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation data

    On June 11, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) signed a new law into effect targeting gangs. The Illinois Street Gang RICO Act strengthens penalties for organized crimes. Also, police announced plans to put officers on overtime during weekends to patrol the city’s most violent neighborhoods.

    “It’s a sad indictment on us,” said Leak. “The spike in crime we’re seeing now is not something that’s surprising to me. I’m talking to at least two-to-three mothers a week whose kids were killed in the streets of Chicago, and I’m just one funeral director.”

    Nathan Weber / for msnbc.com

    Pall bearers take the casket of homicide victim Kenneth Jones, 27, to a hearse after the funeral service at St. Andrews Temple on Chicago's South Side on Monday, June 18, 2012.

    Leak believes the solution to reducing the incidence of murder is multifaceted, adding that police are doing all they can. But he cites a lack of religious upbringing among many of today’s young black men as a major factor in the plague of violence.

    “We’ve got to start trying to get these kids into some type of church setting,” he said. “We’ve got to preach to kids and try to show them what they’re doing is wrong.”

    ‘More than just a gang situation’
    That message is what Pastor Corey Brooks attempts to convey every day. This spring, he protested Chicago’s violence by perching himself atop a vacant motel across the street from his church on the city’s South Side. For 94 days, he sat in a tent on the roof, hoping to call attention to the problem while raising money to buy and raze the motel, which he has done.

    Now, Brooks is walking across the country – from New York to Los Angeles – for his Project H.O.O.D. (Helping Others Obtain Destiny) initiative. He wants to build a $15 million community and economic development center in the motel’s place.

    Brooks has developed a reputation for undertaking the risks of officiating funerals for suspected gang members, services which have been, on occasion, marred by further violence. He doesn’t believe the violence is simply about gangs.

    “It’s more than just a gang situation,” Brooks said from Coatesville, Pa., an hour’s drive west of Philadelphia, where he was walking with about 10 people. “It’s much bigger than that. You have one of the most economically hit areas, in unemployment. You have a bunch of different social ills, no spirituality whatsoever. And violence is the result.”

    A young girl's family family mourns as gang-related violence escalates in the Windy City. WMAQ's Natalie Martinez reports.

    Brooks said members of his New Beginnings church are taking to the streets in the neighborhood every Friday and Saturday night, from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m. They walk around in groups and Brooks claims there have been no murders on those nights in the Woodlawn section of Chicago since they began the so-called “HOODvasions.”

    “We need all hands on deck. We need all of the compassionate people we can get to get their hands on this issue,” said Brooks.

    “It’s not just a black issue. This is an American issue.”

    Leak agrees, calling on the president, himself a Chicagoan, to address the violence and get involved in the citywide conversation that seeks solutions.

    And, he argues for tougher responses to nonviolent juvenile crimes like “stealing a lady’s purse or hubcaps,” Leak illustrated.

    “If we don’t get these kids when they’re 7 or 8 years old, we’ll lose them,” he warned. “I used to get them at the jail at 17, and it was too late.”

    These days the losses he gets could not be more final.

    More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

  • Egyptians face a new Egypt under the Muslim Brotherhood

    EPA/MOHAMED MESSARA

    Supporters of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi celebrate in Cairo's Tahrir Square after the Brotherhood claimed victory in the presidential election on Monday.

    Richard Engel writes

    Analysis

     CAIRO, Egypt – It could be the end of Egypt as we know it. Early, still unofficial, but credible results, show that the Muslim Brotherhood has won Egypt’s presidency. 

    However the military has made a series of decrees that threaten to usurp the new president’s power – setting the stage for a major showdown between the remnants of the old regime who make up the ruling military council and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. 

    Still, the biggest country in the Arab world is poised to start its first experiment in Islamic democracy.

    Many Egyptians are celebrating – after all, a majority of voters elected the Muslim Brotherhood’s firebrand candidate Mohammed Morsi.  

    Other Egyptians are calling this a “black day” that will set back Egypt a hundred years.

    Oh, that’s an exaggeration some Egyptians and Middle East analysts argue.   

    The Brotherhood will have to be answerable to future voters, they say. 

    Democracy will keep the group in check, they say. 

    The Brotherhood will be forced to adopt a center of the road policy, they say.

    The Brotherhood is really quite moderate, they say.

    Egypt will end up like Turkey, with an Islamist government, but secular laws, they say.

    If Egyptians don’t like the Brotherhood, protesters can just go back to Cairo’s Tahrir Square and get rid of it, they say.

    I wouldn’t count on it.

    A power struggle is underway between the Egyptian military and the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, which says its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, won the country's first free presidential election. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

    Democracy if undemocratic group comes to power?

    The Muslim Brotherhood is a fundamentalist group. It is anti-American at its core, despite recently sending delegations to the United States to win friends. The Brotherhood is vehemently anti-Israel. The group is also largely anti-democratic. The Brotherhood was happy to use elections to gain power, but it believes wholeheartedly in Islamic law, the immutable rulings from God that are not subject to ballot boxes or opinion polls. 

    Military guards Egypt power as Islamists claim victory

    If democracy brings an undemocratic group to power, is that a victory for democracy?

    The Brotherhood has a few basic tenets which will likely be at the core of future policy, basic truths that shape its worldview. 

    They include:

    • America is at war with Islam.
    • Women are lustful creatures who need to be veiled and controlled. 
    • Israel is a temporary abomination that needs to be – and one day will be – excised from the world.
    • Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group that the U.S. considers a terrorist group, is fighting a heroic struggle.
    • Islamic law is fair to all minorities, including Christians since it proscribes tolerance and protection for people of “the book.”  (Christians, by the way, don’t think they need to be “tolerated” or “protected” which they believe implies they are second class citizens who need to be accepted and defended like village idiots).
    • Secrecy is tantamount. 
    • Victory comes through patience. 

    On the positive side, the Brotherhood is basically a working man’s group that supports Egypt’s legions of poor, often ignored by former President Hosni Mubarak. If Mubarak's former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik had won the election, Egypt would very likely have turned violent, with an unpredictable outcome.

    I also wouldn’t count on Egypt ending up like Turkey. In Istanbul, women often dress provocatively and there are bars on nearly every corner. The country is economically booming. The Muslim Brotherhood is much more hard-line than Turkish Islamists. 

    AP Photo/Ahmed Gomaa

    Mohammed Morsi and his supporters celebrate his apparent victory in the Egyptian presidential election at his campaign headquarters in Cairo, Egypt on Monday.

    Brotherhood vs. military showdown
    The Egyptian military is terrified of the Brotherhood. Morsi has repeatedly said he will purge all parts of Egyptian society of “remnants” of the former regime.

    The military worries that once Morsi is sworn in, he will try to imprison or at least sideline senior military officers. Sunday night, as votes were being counted showing Morsi in the lead, the military launched a controversial preemptive strike.

    In a decree that is very likely illegal, the military declared that the new president does not have the authority to declare war or remove military officers. The military declared its autonomy and immunity in a blatant attempt to castrate the new president before he takes office.  

    The power struggle between Morsi and the military that is now under way will likely take months to sort out. Morsi and the military will battle over the parliament, the constitution and Sunday night’s decree. 

    While it’s too early to know who will win this showdown, it seems unlikely that the military can hang on to its self-appointed authorities – as every Egyptian knows the kinds of powers a president should and should not have. 

    Slideshow: Egypt's revolution and the fall of Mubarak

    Ahmed Youssef / EPA

    Egypt's popular uprising over 18 days of popular protest culminated in the downfall of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11, 2011. CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO SEE A FULL SLIDESHOW

    Launch slideshow

    A new dawn
    It’s a new dawn for Egypt.  If the military truly feels threatened, it might stage a real coup, sending tanks into the streets, instead of what many Egyptians have called its attempted “soft coup,” through decrees and court decisions in recent weeks. 


    The Muslim Brotherhood talks about understanding and moderation. After declaring victory last night, Musri said he will be inclusive. Morsi wants to reassure Egyptians and Egypt’s allies that the country will remain stable.  If pushed, however, the Muslim Brotherhood’s true colors will show. 

    Good luck, Egypt! Critical choices and potential major changes lie ahead.

    Already Monday, Shafik’s campaign started contesting the early, unofficial results, as Egypt hangs in the balance. 

    More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

     

  • More evacuated as wildfires spread in Colorado, New Mexico

     

    What we're following: 

    - More evacuated as wildfires spread in Colorado, New Mexico

    - Final prosecution witness says Jerry Sandusky forcibly raped him

    - Bartering takes hold in austerity-wracked Greece

    And did you see...

    - Teacher of the Year gets pink slip amid budget cuts

    - New dating method shows cave art is older

    - Air Force eyes pressure vests in F-22 oxygen problem

     

     

     

  • How to avoid banks' 'hidden fees and deceptive practices'

    Some of the new regulations on banks have been eating into their profits which means they're finding new ways to make money: by charging additional fees. NBC's Lisa Myers reports.

    By Talesha Reynolds
    NBC News

    While some banks are moving toward simpler, more consumer-friendly disclosures, others continue to hit customers with “hidden fees and deceptive practices,” according to a recent study by the Pew Charitable Trust analyzing the practices of the country's largest banks and credit unions.

    The study said Americans paid an estimated $29.5 billion in bank fees in 2011.

    Richard Hunt, President of the Consumer Bankers Association, defends banks' overdraft fee practices, and explains why banks have to charge them.

    Consumer groups offer these tips to keep more of your money in your account:

    • Read all disclosure documents thoroughly.
    •  Monitor your bank statements closely.
    • Sign up for email or text alerts so you know when your account balance is running low.
    • Ask questions of the bank about the types of fees they charge and the terms and conditions of the account.
    • Consider linking your checking account to a savings account to cover potential overdrafts.
    • Shop around. Compare banks and find one that charges the lowest or fewest fees.
    • Provide yourself a cushion. This is easier said than done, but it can save a lot of heartache down the road.
    • Know the difference between opting out and opting in. If you opt out of overdraft protection, you won't be able to use your debit card if you don't have enough money in your account.  You may be embarrassed, but you won’t pay a fee.

    Susan Weinstock of Pew Charitable Trusts talks about the findings of their recent study, which shows banks' overdraft fees on checking and debit accounts are still "excessive."

     

  • Foreclosures jump in troubling sign for housing recovery

     

    What we're following: 

    - Foreclosures jump in troubling sign for housing recovery

    - Jobless claims rise as job market struggles

    - Prime Minister David Cameron grilled over connections to Rupert Murdoch's empire

    And did you see...

    - Matt Cain throws first perfect game in Giants history

    - Lance Armstrong charged with doping by U.S. Anti-Doping Agency 

    - Huge asteroid to fly by Earth today

     

     

     

  • Cameras help kids cope with cancer

    The Pablove Shutterbugs program is lifting spirits by teaching kids about the art of photography as they battle a serious illness. NBC's Chris Jansing reports.

    By Craig Stanley
    NBC News

    LOS ANGELES – When Layne Simkins, 12, was diagnosed with leukemia last year, he spent a lot of time in the hospital. 

    And while there, in addition to receiving treatment, he also developed a new skill: the art of photography.

    Through a program called Pablove Shutterbugs, Layne and other children living with different types of cancer are given a digital camera and a photography mentor for hands-on training.

    Click here to learn more about Pablove Shutterbugs.

    Layne, whose work was featured at the 'Gallery Show' in Los Angeles in May, credits mentor, Graham John Bell, for much of his newfound artistic insight. 

    "He's taught me a lot of skills -- how to hold the camera and how to keep it still when you're taking the pictures," Layne said. "He's the one who showed me that you could see the most boring thing ever and just take a picture of it a certain way, and it will just become really interesting."

    Slideshow: Photos from the 'shutterbugs'

    Aiden / The Pablove Foundation

    Kids diagnosed with cancer discover the art of photography in the Pablove Shutterbugs program.

    Launch slideshow

    'The world really is a beautiful place'

    Layne, now in remission, has come a long way as a photographer. His mother, Wendy Simkins, said she's also noticed another kind of growth.

    "It's helped him come out of his shell a little bit more," she said. "Since he's been diagnosed with the cancer, he's had a tough time, 'cause he's stuck at home. This gave him an opportunity, when he was able to go out or do things, that he can look through the lens and not really think about what was going on with himself. [He] could really think about, 'Wow. There's a whole world out there, but this is just a small part of my life that I'm battling now. But I have such a great future to look forward to. And the world really is a beautiful place."

    Jeff Castelaz and Jo Ann Thrailkill reflect on the life of their son and the inspiring moments of creation born in his memory.

    Pablove Shutterbugs co-founder Jo Ann Thrailkill said part of the program's purpose is to help bring a sense of normalcy to the lives of children afflicted with cancer.

    "Your child isn't in school when they're in treatment and ... your life is constantly revolving around medical appointments," Thrailkill said.

    Thrailkill's husband and co-founder, Jeff Castelaz, added, "We're trying to help families to get their child into a situation where they can be in sort of a school-type situation.  Where they're learning something."

    The program is named after the couple's youngest son, Pablo, who died in 2009 from Wilms Tumor, a rare form of childhood cancer, at the age of six. They started the Pablove Foundation in 2008 to raise money for pediatric cancer research. Three years later -- with the help of their friend Catherine Berclaz, a producer, creative director and co-founder -- the Pablove Shutterbug program was born. 

    Catherine Berclaz discusses the origin of Pablove Shutterbugs and its mission—to teach children with cancer how to express themselves through the art of photography.

    Pablo had a strong interest in photography, often taking photos and arranging shoots with his older brother, Grady. Jeff and Jo Ann said the photos Pablo took are a strong part of his legacy today.

    "What we realized about Pablo was that, when he passed away, every possible photo we could find that he took or that he was in -- became very, very precious to us," Jeff said. "The photos and videos that we found that we had never seen, really, to this day, carry a really important place in our lives."

    An amazing imagination

    Pablo’s passion for photography lives on in Pablove Shutterbugs, which gives its young participants an opportunity to cultivate their photographic proficiency.

    "A lot of our kids are painters," Jeff said. "They like to draw, but they can't be touching those materials anymore. I think, with photography, it's something clean.  It's a way for them to express themselves."

    Layne's mentor, who said Layne showed "amazing creative imagination" despite battling fatigue during the early weeks of the program, says Pablove Shutterbugs gives the students a sense of control.

    NBC's Chris Jansing sits down with shutterbug Layne Simkins. Layne shares some of his work and talks about his battle with cancer.

    "Photography for me has always had the power to freeze a split second in time - something that will never happen again, that's it, it's history," Bell said in an e-mail. "This enables them if they wish to remove themselves outside of their current situation and play with those split seconds on their terms."

    Beyond creative expression, Berclaz said the program includes educational and social components.  But one topic they choose not to discuss is cancer.

    "In this room, cancer has no place," Berclaz said. "We talk about photography. We talk about visuals. We talk about what colors they like. We talk about technique ... They get to talk about something else besides cancer treatment with other kids, which is a really great thing for them ... And the work they put out is astonishing."

    Berclaz recalled a positive experience in which she asked one of the past program participants how he enjoyed a class session.

    "I love it," the student told her. "There's no needles."

    Layne, who said he often had to deal with those needles during hospital visits, was appreciative of the program. In fact, he's incorporated photography into his future.

    "If I'm not, like, a photographer when I grow older," Layne said, "I'm sure taking pictures would definitely be a hobby [of] mine."

  • MRI, CT scan use spikes, study finds. Should we be worried?

    Robert Bazell, Chief science and medical correspondent writes

    The latest medical images can provide spectacular pictures, giving doctors and patients enormous amounts of information about a wide range of medical conditions. But doctors may have gotten overly enthusiastic about using them.

    A study out Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the number of MRIs quadrupled, CT scans tripled and PET scans went up 57 percent between 1996 and 2010. The researchers tracked up to 2 million members of six large health systems in the U.S.

    There is no question that before performing a surgery, for example, a doctor wants to see as much as possible. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) uses magnets and radio frequency fields to scan the body and help doctors make diagnoses of tumors, torn ligaments or strokes without surgery. A PET, or positron emission tomography, scan can be conducted alone or combined with MRI with radioactive isotopes to show metabolic activity in the body such as cancer.  

    The images help; the question is just how much.

     “The increase in use of advanced diagnostic images has almost certainly contributed to both improved patient care procedures and outcomes, but there are remarkably few data to quantify the benefits of imaging,” radiology professor and lead author Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman from the University of California, San Francisco, and her colleagues write.

    Why does it matter? The biggest reason is cost. Americans now spend an estimated $100 billion a year on medical imaging. For each patient, each procedure can cost between a few hundred and several thousand dollars. Usually doctors order them for the best of reasons, but sometimes it is defensive medicine based on the fear of lawsuits or, even worse, the need to amortize the huge cost of a piece of equipment the practice has purchased. 

    Another major downside of increased imaging is the “false positive,” which is the discovery of a growth or other apparent problem that presents no danger but needs to be removed -- with additional cost and anxiety.

    The biggest danger with scanning comes from CT, or computed tomography. A CT scan exposes the patient to huge amounts of X-rays. One CT scan of the chest, for example, zaps a patient with the same amount of radiation as 150 old-fashioned X-rays. In their survey of medical records, the authors of the latest study found that 3.9 percent of patients were receiving an exposure or more than 50 millisieverts every year. In comparison, that is about the equivalent of the one-time amount that the Japanese government estimates that the nearby residents of the Fukushima power plant got in the hours before they evacuated.

    A recent Institute of Medicine report on risk factors for breast cancer listed chest CT scans high on the list. Last week, an international study found that children who get CT scans have a slightly higher risk of later developing leukemia and brain cancer. While the absolute risk of cancer is still small, the British researchers suggested minimizing radiation exposure as much as possible.

    In a separate report released by the UCSF researchers Monday, Smith-Bindman said a woman should ask her doctor these questions before getting a CT scan:

    • Is this scan absolutely necessary?
    • Is it necessary to do it now?
    • Are there alternative tests?
    • How can I be sure the test will be done in the safest way possible?
    • Will having the scan information change the management of my disease?

    For the sake of our pocketbooks and peace of mind, we all might be well advised to ask our doctors the same questions about any medical scan we receive.

    Robert Bazell is NBC's chief science and medical correspondent. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter @RobertBazellNBC

    More health news: 


  • Last picture show? For classic film, it's the end of an era

    Director Paul Bunnell sits down to discuss his latest film, "The Ghastly Love of Johnny X."  It's likely to be the last feature ever shot on Eastman Kodak Plus-X 5231, a legendary stock used in iconic films like Schindler's List.

    By Steven Louie
    NBC News

    I recently sat down with director Paul Bunnell to discuss his latest film, “The Ghastly Love of Johnny X.” It’s a historic achievement partly because it’s likely to be the last feature ever shot on Eastman Kodak Plus-X 5231—an iconic film stock used in movies like Schindler’s List.

    Plus-X is the stuff of legend for filmmakers like Bunnell, and its essence is built into the fabric of Johnny X. Not only was it shot and printed on black-and-white without a digital intermediate, but the production’s fate depended on gathering enough Plus-X from around the world to finish the movie, a feat Bunnell tackled with the help of his Kodak representative. So the journey to finishing Johnny X, spanning the better part of a decade, became interlaced with Bunnell’s struggle to find the last of the Plus-X—a second layer of drama embedded in the making of this film.  “I mean we don’t do movies like that anymore,” Bunnell says. “It’s the end of an era.”

    He describes Johnny X as a “mad concoction about juvenile delinquents from outer space who are banished to planet earth.” It’s part sci-fi, part juvenile angst, and part melodrama.  But most of all Bunnell hopes it will provide some good, old-fashioned fun at the movies. Your next chance to see Johnny X will be June 14 at the Oak Cliff Film Festival in Dallas.

     

     

     

  • Commerce Secretary suffered seizure before weekend hit-and-run car accidents

     

    What we're following: 

    - Commerce Secretary John Bryson suffered seizure before weekend hit-and-run car accidents

    - Manhunt after 3 killed, 3 wounded in shooting near Auburn University

    - Jerry Sandusky trial set to begin

    And did you see...

    - Massive Spain bailout may only be stopgap measure

    - Rafael Nadal wins record 7th French Open title

    - President Obama's 'doing fine' remark continues to hurt campaign

     

     

     

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