Hasan Gave Neighbor Mattress, Clothes Before Rampage

The Army major who killed 13 people and injured 30 in a rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday remained in a coma on Friday, according to the Associated Press. Nidal Malik Hasan's neighbor in the Casa Del Norte Apartment complex of Killeen, Texas, says the Army psychiatrist gave her loads of his belongings in the days before the mass shooting, according to both the AP and the New York Times. Hasan gave the neighbor an English-language Quran, and on Thursday, after he noticed she had few possessions, "an air mattress, a steamer, a scale, clothes racks, a lantern and men's clothing for her husband, including shirts, slacks and sportcoats, some still in dry cleaning bags marked 'Hasan,' " the Times reports. The military and FBI will jointly investigate the shooting, though the Times notes that "no decision has yet been made as to whether the case will be prosecuted in a civilian or military court." President Obama has ordered that all federal buildings lower their flags to half-staff until Veteran's Day. "We don't know all the answers yet. And I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts," he said in a statement.

The New York Times | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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Gunman Kills One, Injures Five in Orlando at Former Employer's Office

A gunman killed one person and injured five in an Orlando high-rise office building Friday, according to the Orlando Sentinel. (Earlier reports erroneously said that two were dead and as many as 17 had been shot.) Police captured the suspect, a 40-year-old man who once worked for a construction engineering firm in the building, at his mother's home without a fight. The shooting appeared to be confined to the offices of his former employer; all victims were current employees there. "Why did you do it?" a television reporter asked the suspect outside the police department. "Because they left me to rot," he responded. There is no known connection to Thursday's Fort Hood shooting. Nevertheless, the shooting is "the second time this year that one highly-publicized mass shooting was followed the next day by another," notes the New York Times. "In March, a shooting spree in Samson, Alabama that left 10 dead was followed just hours later by a rampage in the small German town of Winnenden, where a 17-year-old killed 15 people before taking his own life."

The Orlando Sentinel | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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Ex-CEO: "I'm Sorry" for Creating Citigroup

Former Citigroup chief John S. Reed apologized for helping create the behomoth bank, which has so far required $45 billion in bailout funds. "I'm sorry," Reed said in an interview with Bloomberg News. "These are people I love and care about. You could imagine emotionally it's not easy to see what's happened." Reed played a key role in creating Citigroup, at the time the world's largest financial company, in 1998 from Citicorp (a commercial bank) and Travelers Group (which owned a large investment firm). Now he says he'd like to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, the law that had banned such mergers until its repeal in 1999. The government, Reed said, should divide banks that grow too large, such as Citigroup, into separate entities. "I would compartmentalize the industry for the same reason you compartmentalize ships," Reed said. "If you have a leak, the leak doesn't spread and sink the whole vessel."

Bloomberg News | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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Chunk of Baguette Stalls Swiss Particle Collider

The Large Hadron Collider has endured its share of mishaps, but perhaps none so befuddling as the most recent: a mysterious piece of baguette has caused one of its cooling units to fail. The collider, which has cost the CERN particle physics laboratory in Geneva more than $6 billion, was supposed to become fully operational more than a year ago, but a faulty magnet connection and a helium leak have delayed the launch. As for Thursday's errant chunk of bread: "Nobody knows how it got there," a spokeswoman told the Times of London. "The best guess is that it was dropped by a bird, either that or it was thrown out of a passing aeroplane."

The Times (of London) | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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More Work, Fewer Workers: New Data Spell Bad News for Job Seekers

The national unemployment rate reached 10.2 pecent in October, the highest level in 26 years, the Department of Labor announced Friday. One day earlier, the department announced that productivity, or output per hour of work, has been increasing strongly. Together, rising unemployment and productivity are bad news for Americans seeking jobs, Gary Burtless writes at the Brookings Institution: "The combination of rising output and shrinking payrolls means that employers are still scrambling to find ways to produce more output with less labor input." Instead of hiring more workers to meet increased demand, employers are just working them harder. Daniel Indiviglio says the federal stimulus package explains the numbers: "Output increased in large part due to the government stimulus," he writes at the Atlantic. "As a result, employers didn't see their real long-term growth prospects change much, so it didn't make sense to hire a lot more workers." Presumably, when growth begins to look more permanent, these companies will start hiring.

The Brookings Institution | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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Reid Warns Senate of Saturday Sessions Next Month

Democratic aides say Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has told his colleagues to expect to work several Saturdays in December, according to Roll Call. "Reid hopes to spend the bulk of the month on the Senate's health care reform bill, but the chamber also will need to complete the annual spending bills that fund the government," which will expire on Dec. 18. Reid is waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to estimate the cost of the Democrats' bill; that report appears likely to arrive at the end of next week, leaving little time for debate before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Roll Call | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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With Vacancies Rising, Chains Open "Pop-Up" Shops

Temporary retail outlets are "are very much the rage" this season, according to an article in Time. While landlords generally avoided granting short-term leases for commercial real estate in previous years, a rapid increase in vacancies has persuaded many to reconsider. As budgets get tight, leasing companies have become less likely to hold out for long-term contracts. "Plus, having a store filled gives other retailers the impression that the location must have some value," says one retail leasing director. Retailers see pop-ups as low-overhead way to make the most of the holiday season. Toys "R" Us, for instance, is opening up about 80 temporary mall outlets for the season, while the Gap and American Eagle are opening pop-ups to hawk a few specific products in individual locations. Time warns, however, that pop-ups may aggravate a particular pet peeve of customers: "return policies are often much stricter.

Time | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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Report: Democratic Strategist Says White House Warned Him for Fox News Appearance

A anonymous Democratic strategist says that, after he appeared on the Fox News Channel, a White House official called to tell him not to appear on the network again, according to the Los Angeles Times. "The call had an intimidating tone, he said. An implicit suggestion, he said, was that 'clients might stop using you if you continue,' " notes the Times. White House officials appear on Fox, though they have been engaged in several disputes with the network this year. White House Communications Director Anita Dunn says the allegations are baseless. "On the contrary, [the administration] had urged people to appear on the network, Dunn wrote in an e-mail."

The Los Angeles Times | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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Democrats "Very Close" To Reaching Health Care Votes

Only a day after thousands of protesters took to the streets to fight the Democratic health care plan, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has said that the Democrats are "very close" in securing the 218 votes needed to pass the bill. The two issues that could prevent the bill's passage are abortion and coverage for immigrants, which have divided conservative Democrats. According to Roll Call, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus threatened to vote down bill after reports surfaced that the House bill would include language used in the Senate version to deny coverage to immigrants. Talking Points Memo reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has "left herself enough wiggle room to delay the vote" in the event that these issues aren't by the end of the day. While these issues "threatened to complicate the bill," Politico says, they don't seem to be "enough to derail it." President Obama is expected to throw his full support behind the bill later today and will visit the House for further discussions tomorrow.

Talking Points Memo | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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Who Wants to be President of Palestine? Anybody?

In spite of his announcement that he will not seek re-election in January, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' plans for retirement may be deferred as no potential successors have expressed any interest in taking his seat. Palestine Liberation Organization leaders have responded to the news by ignoring his three-months' notice, and Israel and the U.S. were also careful not to take his word as permanent, knowing that Palestine may not be able to find a suitable replacement. "It's definitely an Israeli interest, as it is an American, Western, Palestinian one, that there be a moderate and pragmatic Palestinian leadership," an Israeli official commented. Abbas, who is a member of Palestine's Fatah party, is known for these qualities and has been a major player in peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine. Analysts predict that if tensions persist between Fatah and the radical Hamas party, there may not be an election at all, and Abbas will simply remain in office.

Reuters | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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Should Fido Be Vaccinated for Swine Flu?

Although there have been a few scattered reports of swine flu cases in turkeys and pigs, the World Health Organization has stated that we don't yet need to worry about an outbreak among animals. In Denmark, a new strain of the flu—which officials say is part human, part swine—has begun affecting farm-bred minks, although so far, it's not yet impacted their owners. However, WHO officials warn, it is possible that pigs could operate as a "mixing vessel" and create additional strains of the flu. The incidents of animal swine flu—however isolated—demonstrate the "constantly evolving ecology of influenza viruses… and the need for constant vigilance," officials say. In other words, keep an eye on your pets.

ABCNews | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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China to Hold Humanoid Robot Olympics

China is planning to hold the first International Humanoid Robot Olympic Games next year, challenging robots to compete in events ranging from dancing to domestic services. The Olympics will be limited to robots that resemble humans and have arms and legs. Wheels are strictly forbidden, Xinhua reports. According to the BBC, the games will join a growing roster of robot-based events, including the robot World Cup, a robot cocktail-mixing competition (extra points for chatting up patrons), and the annual California RoboGames. The games will take place in the city of Harbin, which is known for its successful robot soccer team.

BBC | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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