ABC News: U.S.: Mark Zuckerberg's Dinners with Girlfriend Help Spur Life-Saving Facebook Tool

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Mark Zuckerberg's Dinners with Girlfriend Help Spur Life-Saving Facebook Tool May 1st 2012, 10:34 Conversations over the dinner table with his med-student girlfriend helped Mark Zuckerberg formulate his latest big idea — harnessing the power of Facebook to help eliminate the critical shortage of organs for patients desperately in need of life-saving transplants. And it was his friendship with Apple founder Steve Jobs, whose life was extended by years following a liver transplant, in part, that spurred the 27-year-old Facebook founder and CEO to help put that idea into practice. "Facebook is really about communicating and telling stories… We think that people can really help spread awareness of organ donation and that they want to participate in this to their friends. And that can be a big part of helping solve the crisis that's out there," Zuckerberg told ABC's Robin Roberts in an exclusive interview at the company's headquarters. Starting today, users in the United States and U.K. will be able to add that they're organ donors to their Timelines, and if they're not organ donors, they can find links to official organ donation registries and instantly enroll. "We want to make it simple," said Zuckerberg. "You just put in the state or country that you're from, so that we can help link you to the official registries." In the "health and wellness" section of users' timelines, users can list their status as organ donors and explain the decision to their friends, in an effort to raise awareness about the need for donors. More than 112,000 Americans are awaiting organs, and 18 people die every day from the lack of available organs, according to Donate Life America, a nonprofit alliance that is partnering with Facebook. Zuckerberg, 27, has made a fortune on the idea that people want to share everything – from photos, to the intimate details of their romantic lives. Yet, Zuckerberg himself is famously private, keeping details of his personal life – not to mention a much-anticipated Facebook IPO — under tight wraps. In conversation with Roberts, Zuckerberg kept the door on the IPO tightly shut – citing the government-mandated quiet period before the IPO — and saying only "we try to keep very focused on the long term… We'll be judged by how good the things are that we build and whether people like them." But he revealed some small details of his personal life, lighting up when talking about the dinnertime chats he had with girlfriend Priscilla Chan that helped lead to the donation initiative. "She's in medical school now," Zuckerberg said of Chan. "She's going to be a pediatrician, so our dinner conversations are often about Facebook and the kids that she's meeting." Chan told him stories about patients she meets "getting sicker as they don't have the organ that they need." But there were other stories too, of children who ultimately received transplants. Stories, Zuckerberg called, "unbelievable." From Chan he learned of one boy in need of a heart transplant. His skin had turned blue from lack of oxygen, but within weeks of receiving a transplant he was out again playing sports. "How can that not make you happy," he asked. Chan inspired Zuckerberg to try to learn Mandarin Chinese in one year. That venture, he admitted, was unsuccessful, but he picked up enough to natter with Chan's elderly grandmother. Zuckerberg said he was further prompted make Facebook an important tool to encourage donors to register following the death of Steve Jobs, whom he called a "friend." Though Zuckerberg never talked with Jobs specifically about a Facebook donation tool, he said many of the people involved in the project were inspired after Jobs' death. "That definitely, I think, was something that we all had in mind as we were building this out… His story is just one of many, of people who both were able to have an organ transplant that made his life longer and he was extremely thankful for that," Zuckerberg said. Facebook was initially developed by Zuckerberg while still an undergraduate at Harvard. The site was initially conceived as place for college students to socialize. Recently, however, Zuckerberg said he's been surprised by the power of the network and the way users use its tools creatively in times of crisis, like finding loved-ones following tornadoes in the Midwest or the tsunami in Japan. "People are using the same social tools that they're using just to keep in touch with people on a day-to-day basis to solve these important issues," he said. The technology behind the donation application, Zuckerberg said, is a "pretty simple thing." But the ability to link people across hundreds of miles and save their lives? That, he called, "amazing." Both the company and organ donation advocates are hopeful the new tool could change the landscape of the organ donation process. I think it's possible that we will see an impact over the next couple of years, where we would imagine eliminating the transplant waiting list," said Dr. Andrew Cameron, Transplant Surgeon at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

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Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines: UK lawmakers to give verdict on Murdochs

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UK lawmakers to give verdict on Murdochs May 1st 2012, 09:28 LONDON (Reuters) - Newspaper magnate Rupert Murdoch and his son James will be in the firing line on Tuesday when a British parliamentary committee issues its verdict on a phone-hacking scandal that has made the family name politically toxic. Committee members have said they were obstructed and put under surveillance by Murdoch's News Corp during their five year investigation into the hacking of the phones of celebrities, murder victims, politicians and soldiers for newspaper stories. Their report could force James Murdoch to sever his last ties with Britain's biggest satellite TV firm BSkyB, which News Corp had sought to take over before the scandal broke. It will also embarrass Prime Minister David Cameron, who acknowledged again on Monday that politicians were in thrall to the Murdochs and whose Conservative Party faces local elections across much of Britain on Thursday. The committee was likely to criticize James Murdoch for failing to get to the bottom of the scandal, and Rupert Murdoch for the wider culture at the company, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters, adding that Conservative members on the committee were reluctant to criticize James Murdoch any further. Cameron was summoned to parliament on Monday to explain why he would not investigate emails revealing that a ministerial aide had assured News Corp its bid for BSkyB would be approved. He insisted there was no need to refer the case to his independent adviser on ministerial conduct, noting the emails had been handed to a judicial inquiry into press ethics, but did concede that politicians had been too keen to please the media. "I am perfectly prepared to admit that the relationship between politicians and media proprietors got too close," he said during a rowdy debate, blaming politicians of both main parties for the failing. PARLIAMENT MISLED Committee Chairman John Whittingdale opened its hearing of James and Rupert Murdoch last year saying his committee found it inconceivable that only one reporter at News Corp's News of the World weekly had been involved in the hacking scandal. "In the last few weeks, not only has evidence emerged that I think has vindicated the Committee's conclusion, but abuses have been revealed that have angered and shocked the entire country," he said. "It is also clear that Parliament has been misled." Audiences around the world witnessed the 81-year-old Rupert Murdoch - whose newspapers could make or break British politicians - saying it was the most humble day of his life and saw him hit with a foam pie at the height of the scandal last July. He answered many of the questions in monosyllables, sometimes flummoxing the committee members, while James Murdoch infuriated them at times with lengthy management-speak. The committee is expected to say that James Murdoch was incompetent at best for asking few questions about a payoff he approved of more than half a million pounds ($800,000) to a hacking victim who had evidence the practice was widespread. Its report, which may run to 100 pages, is also expected to criticize Rupert Murdoch, the chief executive of the News of the World's parent company News Corp, for allowing a culture of illegality to flourish. Murdoch shut down the paper last year. Les Hinton, the former head of News Corp's British newspaper arm, Tom Crone, a legal executive at the News of the World, and the paper's former editor, Colin Myler, will also come under the spotlight, the source said. Media regulator Ofcom will take the report's findings into consideration in its continuing assessment of whether BSkyB's owners and directors are "fit and proper" persons to hold a broadcast license. James Murdoch resigned last month as chairman of BSkyB, saying he did not want to be a "lightning rod" for damage from the phone-hacking scandal, but remains a director of the broadcaster, in which News Corp owns 39 percent. He admitted last week he had raised the issue of the takeover with Cameron at a Christmas dinner in 2010. The committee will present its report to parliament, which is likely to hold a debate on its findings, and the government then has 60 days to respond. A previous critical report by the committee came before last July's revelation that people working for the News of the World had hacked into the voicemail of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, which fuelled public anger and led to more revelations. Relations between News Corp and Cameron, who once employed an ex-News of the World editor as his spokesman, will face more scrutiny in the coming months when Rebekah Brooks, a former Murdoch confidante and News Corp executive, reveals her text messages and emails with Cameron, a neighbor and former friend. As the committee has to be careful not to prejudice any criminal trials of figures involved in the scandal, it has focused more on the Murdochs and others who have not been arrested. (Additional reporting by Avril Ormsby, Mohammed Abbas and Adrian Croft; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines: Y! Big Story: Occupy actions on May Day

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Y! Big Story: Occupy actions on May Day May 1st 2012, 01:28 May DayMay Day, also known as International Workers' Day, is a holiday in 75 countries, except for the country where people may work the hardest of all. Occupy though has a notion to take the day for its Spring Reawakening. Its General's Strike Facebook page sums up the mission: "NO WORK - NO SCHOOL - NO SHOPPING - NO BANKING - NO TRADING. THE PEOPLE OF THE PLANETS WILL TAKE TO THE STREETS." Whether you're for, against, or neutral on Occupy, the disruptions will affect business as usual—and that includes traffic. Nearly 60 general assembles have "answered the call" to observe May Day. "V for Vendetta" co-opted for Occupy artThe Occupy demands: A group as large as the 99% is bound to have a lot of demands. The strike ostensibly is to show the 1% that the 99% matter. The demands range from supporting immigrants and labor (preserving bargaining rights, for instance) and a living wage (protesting outsourcing). Outrage still drives the movement, and its list of injustices include college debt, unaffordable health care, bullying, insufficient minimum wage, job sexism, homelessness, foreclosures, and war. Some of the planned May Day events: East Coast Boston: An early 7 a.m. start kicks off a "Financial District Block Party," with "Anti-Capitalist" and "Solidarity" marches throughout the city. The evening event calls for a Death of Capitalism Street Theater Funeral Process that promises to travel "through areas of wealth and commer.ce" Tom Morello throwdownNew York: The pop-up occupation begins the night before, as people started a day early Bryant Park, opposite the Bank of America. Organizers promise to manifest its protests as art, "transforming [the city] into a living, walking exhibition" that includes choirs,dance brigades, even clowns. Guitarist and singer Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine tweeted out a call for 10,000 guitar players for a noon-day jam. South Atlanta. The Georgia capital started a day early at the Bank of America Plaza to protest a foreclosure. The May Day is designed as family friendly, with a 10:30 a.m.-1p.m. march from Troy Davis Park to downtown, then a six-hour party at Coan Park complete with childcare, "cookouts, workshops, film screening, and more." The May Day event follows on the heels of a public exchange: A local journalist published a long, "angry break up letter" about the "concentration of nuttery," and a response detailing Atlanta actions and vision statements. Midwest Chicago: The city has already been dealing with protests due to tthe closure of half of its 12 public health clinics. The Chicago Spring site lists a morning plan to "close the banks which abused their bailout funds" before Union Park meeting, than a 1pm march to Federal Plaza. Detroit: Motor City will have a later start with a noon assembly at Clark Park, and marches that will take protesters past schools, transportation stations, and the Federal Building before ending with a general assembly at Grand Circus Park. West Coast San Francisco: A union disagreement nearly brought an occupation of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, the span that connects San Francisco to Marin County in the north, but that high-profile maneuver has been averted. Golden Gate Ferry workers, however, will be walking out to call attention to contract disagreements over health care coverage, and morning service has been canceled. "The people who were really pushing for it got pushed back hard," said Chance Martin, a member of Occupy San Francisco. But demonstrators plan to turn out in large numbers at the protest sites. They plan to take buses from downtown Oakland and San Francisco to the bridge early Tuesday, organizers said. (April 30, SFGate) Oakland. The city emerged as the West Coast response to New York. The Bay Area metropolis, which grafted an earlier anti-police movement with the 99% message, still listed a 6am occupation of Golden Gate Bridge on its main page as late as April 30, but a tentative schedule listed "anti-capitalist," "anti-patriarchy," and "anti-gentrification" brigades starting at 8:30am, with a downtown convergence, afternoon march, and an evening "reconvegernce." Los Angeles: May Day has been the occasion for immigrant rallies in the City of Angels. This year, a "4-Winds Convergence" will emphasize labor themes and more through four caravans. After a 10 am rally, the caravans will take four separate routes to 6th and Main streets for a 2:30 meeting point, and later the financial district. The caravans will stop at flashpoints along the way. Flash occupations, food giveaways, and other direct actions targeting the foreclosure crisis and police brutality will be undertaken at these flashpoints on our slow, city-paralyzing, carnival-esque descent into the center of the city. (Occupy May 1st) General Strike art: Whatever the outcome of May Day, one thing has clearly emerged: the return of propaganda art. Occupy Art Occupy Art

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Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines: Founders, CEOs hand Wis. governor campaign cash

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Founders, CEOs hand Wis. governor campaign cash May 1st 2012, 07:17 MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's fan list reads like a who's who of some of the richest people in America — financial gurus, a Las Vegas casino president, even an NBA team owner. And they came up big for the embattled governor, taking advantage of a quirk in state law to help Walker shatter Wisconsin political fundraising records as he faces a pair of recall elections this spring. Walker set the record for a state office with $12.1 million raised last year. Campaign finance records filed Monday show he has already easily surpassed that this year, raising $13.1 million between Jan. 18 and last week. He spent nearly $11 million and had almost $4.9 million in the bank. His biggest donor was Diane M. Hendricks, founder of Beloit-based American Builders and Contractors Supply Co. Inc. Forbes estimates she's worth $2.8 billion. She gave the governor $500,000. She did not immediately return messages left through her company spokeswoman. The next two biggest donors were Sheldon Adelson, chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Sands casino, and Richard DeVos, owner of the Orlando Magic basketball team and co-founder of the Amway Corp., a direct-sales company now under the Alticor company umbrella. Both gave Walker $250,000. Attempts to reach them Monday evening were unsuccessful. Five people each gave Walker $100,000, including John W. Childs, chief executive officer of Boston equity firm J.W. Childs Associates; Warren A. Stephens, chief executive officer of Stephens Inc., a financial management company based in Little Rock, Ark.; Robert Kern, founder of Waukesha, Wis.-based generator manufacturer Generac, and his wife, Patricia Kern; and Patrick G. Ryan, founder of the Ryan Specialty Group, a Chicago brokerage firm. The donors and their money underscore how Walker's reputation has spread throughout conservative circles after he pushed through legislation last year stripping most public union workers of nearly all their bargaining rights. Walker said he made the moves to help the state deal with its budget deficit, but Democrats saw the changes as an all-out assault on unions, one of their key campaign supporters. Looking for revenge, Democrats have forced Walker and five other Republicans into recalls. Party primaries are set for May 8, with a general election to follow June 5. But Wisconsin law permits recall targets to collect unlimited donations from the day the first group registers with the state against them until the state Government Accountability Board schedules the elections. In Walker's case, the first recall committee registered Nov. 4, and the board set the elections on March 30, allowing the governor to raise unprecedented amounts of money for five months. He's spent the time crisscrossing the country, hob-knobbing with the wealthy and the famous. He attended a Christmas party thrown by conservative power broker Grover Norquist and raised money with Hank Greenberg, founder and former CEO of American International Group, at his Manhattan office. He was in Oklahoma last month, mingling with the corporate elite and top Republicans at a fundraiser co-sponsored by Koch Industries, the oil company led by billionaire brothers who are top backers of conservative causes nationwide. The connections he's built have paid off — none of his challengers' ledgers is even in the same galaxy. Monday's filings show Walker's opponent in the Republican primary, college-aged political protester Arthur Kohl-Riggs, raised just $2,045 and spent about $480 between Jan. 1 and April 23. He had $1,565 in the bank. The two Democratic front-runners, Kathleen Falk and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, are light-years behind him as well. Falk's report showed she raised $977,059 and spent $884,859 between Jan. 1 and April 23. She had $118,062 on hand. Barrett, who didn't enter the race until March 30, raised $831,508 and spent $808,975. He had $475,496 on hand. Falk and Barrett's campaigns both issued similar statements blasting Walker for traveling around the country rather than focusing on job creation in Wisconsin. State Democratic Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski issued a statement calling Walker's totals "breathtaking." "It is true we will be badly outspent. It is also true that, at the end of the day, and until Walker makes it otherwise, money does not vote," Zielinski said. "The people vote. And it is the people of Wisconsin who will win victory over Scott Walker on June 5th."

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Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines: Invisible man casts shadow over US-China talks

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Invisible man casts shadow over US-China talks May 1st 2012, 04:01 WASHINGTON (AP) — The blind Chinese lawyer at the center of a diplomatic storm between Washington and Beijing is a taboo topic in each capital. Neither side wants the biggest human-rights issue between the two since Tiananmen Square to disrupt high-level strategic and economic talks set to begin on Thursday. President Barack Obama's administration and China's officials have signaled that the global economy, North Korea, Iran and Sudan — issues in which millions of lives are at stake — have become far more important in U.S.-Chinese relations. Thus, both refuse to admit anything is amiss as a high-profile dissident is believed to be sheltering with U.S. diplomats in China. To listen to officials in both countries, Chen Guangcheng is an invisible man. Obama himself refused to address the issue on Monday, declining to confirm that the blind lawyer is under U.S. protection in China or that American diplomats are attempting to negotiate an agreement for him to receive asylum. "Obviously, I'm aware of the press reports on the situation in China, but I'm not going to make a statement on the issue," the president said at a joint White House news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. He added obliquely, "What I would like to emphasize is that every time we meet with China the issue of human rights comes up." Speaking later, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, similarly declined to talk about Chen but said she would raise human rights issues at the upcoming meetings in Beijing. She said she and Obama had worked hard to have "an effective, constructive and comprehensive" relationship with the Chinese "A constructive relationship includes talking very frankly about those areas where we do not agree, including human rights," she said. "That is the spirit that is guiding me as I take off for Beijing tonight. And I can certainly guarantee that we will be discussing every matter, including human rights, that is pending between us." Clinton added that "the freedom and free movement of people inside China" were "issues of great concern to us." Neither Obama nor Clinton offered information as the administration and the Chinese government sought to prevent the biggest human rights issue with China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations to disrupt high-level strategic and economic talks set to begin in Beijing on Thursday. Earlier, State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland was also tight-lipped, refusing to answer any questions about Chen. She confirmed that the top U.S. diplomat for Asia, Kurt Campbell, is in Beijing to prepare for the fourth round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, but would not say if he was discussing Chen and pointedly did not utter the dissident's name. Campbell arrived in Beijing early Sunday, at least a day ahead of schedule and, according to activists, is in intensive discussions with the Chinese to strike a deal over where Chen should go — either to asylum in the United States or to stay in China or go to a third location — before Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner get there. But Nuland said the meetings will go on as planned. "Both sides want to solve this in a low-key manner and they do not want this to dominate other issues in the (strategic and economic) dialogue so that's why they are working hard to find a speedy solution," said Bob Fu of the Texas-based rights group ChinaAid, which was involved in Chen's escape from house arrest last week and his subsequent arrival into the protection of U.S. diplomats in Beijing. Despite the silence, the handling of his case — the most serious issue between the two nations since an American spy plane was forced to land on China's Hainan Island in 2001 — will have profound ramifications on both sides of the Pacific. Obama's options are limited. Facing a tough fight for re-election in November, he cannot afford to ignore the situation. Doing nothing to help a visually impaired, self-taught lawyer who has fought against forced abortions and corruption in China would open Obama up to attacks from his presumed Republican opponent, Mitt Romney. It would also draw intense criticism from the human rights community in the United States, one of his core constituencies. But at the same time, pressing the issue too hard may prompt a backlash from China, on which the U.S. is increasingly reliant for foreign capital and support as it seeks to lead the global economic recovery, deal with North Korea and Iran's nuclear programs and prevent a potential war between Sudan and South Sudan. The key to resolving the situation may well rest with an aging cadre at the top of China's Communist Party, who could either promise protection for Chen and his family in China or allow him to leave the country, possibly even to Hong Kong or Macao, as they prepare for their own leadership transition later this year. "Mr. Chen prefers to stay in China if he and his family's safety can be guaranteed. In the current environment in China that might not be possible so a viable solution is to have him and his family come to the U.S.," said Fu. He said a face-saving option may be to let Chen and his family come to the U.S. for medical treatment. The ouster of powerful politician Bo Xilai following a deputy's visit to the U.S. consulate in Chengdu in February has already laid bare some of the party's dirty laundry ahead the changes and the Chinese will be loath to lose more face over Chen, whose case was raised repeatedly by American officials, including Clinton herself, until the information blackout began last week. Human rights has been a distasteful issue for Beijing for decades and it has criticized the U.S. approach as lecturing. Clinton made waves on her first trip abroad as secretary of state when she said that human rights could not dominate the entire agenda with China at the expense of other pressing issues. Her comments drew fire at the time, but the relationship has clearly evolved as global priorities have shifted. While China in the 1990s was in need of foreign investment and diplomatic partners and was willing to send jailed dissidents into exile to get them, Beijing sees little need for such concessions now, with its diplomatic clout and coffers bulging with foreign exchange. As the first and second largest economies, the U.S. and China have intertwining interests, and as the reigning superpower and burgeoning world power, they are frequently jostling for advantage across the globe. ___ Matthew Pennington in Washington and Charles Hutzler in Beijing contributed to this report.

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Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines: Santorum wants promises from Romney before backing

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Santorum wants promises from Romney before backing May 1st 2012, 07:49 By PHILIP ELLIOTT | Associated Press – 13 mins ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Santorum wants to ensure the GOP's policy platform represents conservatives' interests. Newt Gingrich wants help retiring his campaign debt and repairing his reputation. Both Republicans are expected to endorse their former rival Mitt Romney — and signal to their backers to fall in line behind the party's presumptive nominee — but each wants assurances that Romney will deliver for them. Neither is rushing toward the task. Meanwhile, it doesn't appear that Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is going to go that way. Paul is still in the race and hasn't yet recognized Romney as the party's nominee. The tea party favorite and former Libertarian presidential nominee seems unlikely to endorse given deep differences with Romney on economic and foreign policy issues. Romney plans to meet Santorum on Friday and Gingrich plans to endorse him this week, an end-of-primary dance that happens every four years once the party settles on a nominee. Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, quit the race April 10 but has stopped short of publicly embracing Romney as the GOP's standard bearer after a bitter primary season that featured Santorum calling Romney "the worst Republican in the country" to run against Obama. Not long after, Santorum was telling CNN's Piers Morgan about Romney, "It's very clear that he's going to be the Republican nominee and I'm going to be for the Republican nominee and we're going to do everything we can to defeat Barack Obama." Morgan could not goad him into a proper endorsement. Gingrich all but bowed out last week, saying: "It's clear Romney is the nominee and the focus should be on defeating Obama. We should not focus on defeating ourselves." He plans to officially end his campaign in the coming days and endorse Romney. Romney, for his part, has been working to bring the party together after a bruising primary season, and nods from Santorum and Gingrich could help mend those wounds. Both Santorum and Gingrich have fervent followings among conservatives who make up the base of the party and who generally view Romney skeptically because of his positions on a host of issues. Romney has changed his position on bedrock issues such as abortion and gay rights. He supported the 2008 Wall Street bailout that angered conservatives and paved the way for the rise of the tea party. And he signed a health care overhaul as governor that provided the groundwork for Democrats' national law that requires all Americans to buy insurance or face a fine. Romney's health care overhaul in Massachusetts required health care coverage. That's the primary issue Santorum plans to discuss Friday when he meets privately with Romney. "We want to make sure he doesn't replace it with any kind of mandate," Santorum adviser Hogan Gidley said. He added, "Rick just wants to have a candid, open conversation about making sure the folks in the 11 states that voted for him, and the conservative movement, have a voice in the Romney campaign." Advisers caution that an endorsement — or a public appearance for that matter — is unlikely to immediately follow Santorum's private meeting with Romney. Santorum is in no rush to rally to Romney's side. People close to Santorum said deep resentment remains between the men. But he also recognizes he risks looking like a sore loser and is expected to eventually support Romney. Even so, key members of Santorum's team have rallied behind Romney in recent weeks. Mike Biundo, Santorum's former campaign manager, signed on with the Romney campaign in Boston to lead outreach to conservatives. Foster Friess, the driving force behind a pro-Santorum super PAC that kept his presidential ambitions afloat, has agreed to rejoin Romney's camp. For Santorum, there are political considerations if he is to keep the door open to a future presidential run. He has tremendous sway among conservatives, and is mindful of his personal political brand. Embracing a candidate whom some conservatives don't trust could backfire in the long run because many of Santorum's supporters voted for him in hopes of preventing Romney from winning. So, people close to Santorum said, he wants assurances from Romney that the party's platform would represent conservatives' interests, and that Romney would govern as a conservative. Unlike Gingrich, Santorum also doesn't need Romney's help to retire campaign debt. Gingrich has reported more than $4.5 million in debt. He is looking for other quick ways to pay off vendors and has rented out his e-mail lists to private businesses. A better option would be a nod from Romney to his supporters that it's time to help the one-time foe, much as he did for former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who bowed out last summer and locked arms with his rival. Romney thanked him with a check for $2,500 — the maximum personal donation allowed — as did at least 12 other family members. Gingrich also leaves the GOP campaign with his reputation battered. He is looking to repair his standing as one of the party's intellectual heavyweights. Romney, now the party's leader, could afford him that platform. But Gingrich hasn't yet committed to a joint appearance with Romney. He might just do it on his own and be done with it. Understated endorsements have been the norm this year. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced he was backing Romney in a written statement, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman announced his withdrawal from the race and endorsement of Romney without Romney at his side. Play Video Mitt Romney on Santorum Exit: 'Good … ABC News In this Feb. 7, 2012, file photo Republican … Associated Press 4 reasons Rick Santorum hasn't endorsed … Rick Santorum promises he'll be "all in" as Republicans try to deny President &#8230 Full Story »4 reasons Rick Santorum hasn't endorsed Mitt Romney The Week (RSS) Play Video Interview with Rick Santorum ABC News Most Popular Dentist pulls out all of her ex-boyfriend's teeth after split Bronx Zoo SUV plunge: Father who lost family says, 'I want to die' Cannibal shrimp: The invasion has begun Australian billionaire plans to build Titanic II Ted Nugent Booted From Army Concert Man sues BMW, alleging motorcycle seat gave him two-year erection U.S. battling giant shrimp invasion 4-year-old's makeup routine sparks outrage The shockingly high price tag of obesity High school player hits bird with pitch [ [ [['A picture is worth a thousand words', 5]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/why-facebook-bought-instagram-4-theories-160400376.html', '[Related: Why Facebook bought Instagram: 4 theories]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 9]], 'http://contributor.yahoo.com/join/yahoonews_virginiabeach', '[Did you witness the jet crash? Share your story with Yahoo! 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Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines: Secret Service closes ranks in sordid scandal

Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines The latest news and headlines from Yahoo! News. Get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Secret Service closes ranks in sordid scandal May 1st 2012, 07:39 By ALICIA A. CALDWELL | Associated Press – 9 mins ago WASHINGTON (AP) — After two weeks of disturbing revelations about a tawdry prostitution scandal, the Secret Service and its supporters are circling the wagons to restore the "secret" part of its mission. Retired agents have been instructed to stop talking to reporters. Secret Service agents are dismantling Facebook accounts, hanging up on reporters and notifying headquarters — even calling police — when journalists knock on their doors at home for interviews about the investigation. "What purpose do these revelations, true or exaggerated, serve? What ever happened to one's pride in being discreet and keeping a confidence?" asked the president of the Association of Former Agents of the U.S. Secret Service, Pete Cavicchia, in an email to members. Cavicchia, head of a New York-based security and investigations firm, praised retired agents who declined interviews, urged others to "exercise the proper caution" and added, "We as an organization and individually do not have to add to the damage and speculation at this time." Cavicchia said Monday that the email speaks for itself. The scandal and what it's revealed about the culture inside the Secret Service have been a shock to an agency that is famously discreet. More than a dozen Secret Service agents contacted by The Associated Press have abruptly hung up or declined to return multiple messages to discuss their agency and former coworkers. One reported it to headquarters when an AP reporter visited his home in the evening; some retired officials who were interviewed quickly notified headquarters about what questions reporters were asking. A police officer came to the Annapolis, Md., home of Greg Stokes — one of the employees who already has lost his job in the scandal — and directed an AP reporter to leave his property. At the home in Virginia of another employee who also lost his job, David Chaney, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office parked a patrol car — sometimes two of them. A deputy reprimanded reporters who came to the front door. Chaney made his Facebook account inaccessible after he was identified as one of the officers involved, but not before reporters found it. Chaney joked on the account about his work with former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin while he was protecting her in 2008. The AP published a photograph it took of Chaney working in Palin's protective detail in October 2008 during a campaign rally in Carson, Calif. A former agent, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to protect relationships with current agents, said senior officials have kept a tight rein on information about the continuing investigation about what happened in Colombia. The silence shouldn't be surprising for an agency whose job involves keeping secrets, said Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, a former general counsel for the House Committee on Homeland Security who is now a partner with a Washington consulting firm. "It's a discreet organization. That's part of its mission," she said. "If you are dealing with the Secret Service or any type of intelligence agency you are going to see the same kind of response." In Washington, where Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan has briefed members of Congress and President Barack Obama about the investigation, the Secret Service has issued only limited public statements since the April 12 incident, which implicated a dozen agents, officers and supervisors and 12 other U.S. military personnel in a night of heavy drinking in Cartagena, Colombia, before Obama's visit to the Summit of the Americas. Some were accused of bringing prostitutes back to their hotel rooms. The Secret Service already has forced eight employees from their jobs and was seeking to revoke the security clearance of another employee, which would effectively force him to resign. Three others have been cleared of serious wrongdoing. The military was conducting its own, separate investigation but canceled the security clearances of all 12 enlisted personnel. A spokesman for the Secret Service, Edwin Donovan, said he was not familiar with instructions to former agents not to agree to interviews with reporters. Donovan said longstanding rules prohibit current employees from speaking with reporters unless it's authorized by supervisors or the public affairs office in Washington. Cavicchia said the April 16 email was nothing more than a reminder to let "cooler heads" prevail when thinking about discussing the agency's inner workings or discussing current or former "protectees." More secrets won't remain that way for long. Congressional hearings are expected to start within weeks. This week, lawmakers are expecting answers to dozens of detailed questions they submitted about the scandal. Most important, according to the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., are assurances that the women in Colombia were not associated with narcotics or terror groups or a foreign government. ___ Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington and Sarah Breitenbach in Annapolis, Md., contributed to this report. Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap Play Video Investigation Deepens In Secret Service … CBS4 Miami FILE - In this Monday, June 30, 2008 … Associated Press More Secret Service agents gone; Obama … Associated Press Play Video More Secret Service Agents Could Lose … CBS 2 New York Most Popular Dentist pulls out all of her ex-boyfriend's teeth after split Bronx Zoo SUV plunge: Father who lost family says, 'I want to die' Cannibal shrimp: The invasion has begun Australian billionaire plans to build Titanic II Ted Nugent Booted From Army Concert Man sues BMW, alleging motorcycle seat gave him two-year erection Rihanna turns tables on beach paparazzi Bicyclists capture hit-and-run on tape Escape puts China, U.S. in awkward spot Natalie Wood's daughter arrested [ [ [['A picture is worth a thousand words', 5]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/why-facebook-bought-instagram-4-theories-160400376.html', '[Related: Why Facebook bought Instagram: 4 theories]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 9]], 'http://contributor.yahoo.com/join/yahoonews_virginiabeach', '[Did you witness the jet crash? 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