Granny's Old Trunk

Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary, whose grand jury testimony led eventually to public disclosure of the child sex-abuse allegations engulfing the school, was placed on administrative leave Friday afternoon.

The news came after the university said McQueary, who has received numerous threats, wouldn't be attending Penn State's game Saturday against Nebraska.

For some — including Penn State fans who blame McQueary for costing legendary coach Joe Paterno his job and damaging the football program's reputation — an indefinite administrative leave is not good enough. They want him fired — now. "How is it Mike McQueary, who saw the incident, [is] still employed and JoePa, who never saw anything [is] out of the job?" asked one commenter on Twitter. Read More>>>

Penn State puts Mike McQueary, who reported sexual abuse, on leave

VIENNA -- In a show-and-tell based on secret intelligence, the U.N. atomic agency shared satellite images, letters and diagrams with 35 nations Friday as it sought to underpin its case that Iran apparently worked secretly on developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran's chief envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency rejected the presentation as based on material fabricated by the United States and its allies.

"There is no indication and proof that Iran's activities is toward military purposes," he told reporters, in comments that those inside the closed meeting showing the evidence said essentially matched his statement to that gathering.

Western diplomats, in contrast, said that the briefing was a convincing supplement to a report presented earlier this week.

Based on 1,000 pages of research and nearly a decade of probing Iran, that document included evidence that the agency says indicates the Islamic republic is working on the clandestine procurement of equipment and designs to make nuclear arms.

"While some of the activities identified in the annex have civilian as well as military applications, others are specific to nuclear weapons," the report said.Read More>>

IAEA shows Iran nuke program intel to 35 nations

(CBS/AP)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - In a massive shakeup, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno and school president Graham Spanier were fired Wednesday night by the board of trustees amid the growing furor over how the school handled child sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach.

The longtime coach, the winningest in major college football, was ousted at the end of day that began with his announcement to retire at end of the season, his 46th.

It was not to be.

"The university is much larger than its athletic teams," board vice chair John Surma said during a packed press conference.Read More>>>

Paterno fired over Penn St. child abuse scandal

ROME – A day after Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi promised to bow out of the country's political picture sooner rather than later, Italians said they are not convinced he will actually leave.

"I am starting to think they will have to carry Berlusconi on a stretcher or at gunpoint," said Pier Luigi Bascolo, a 63-year-old retired taxi driver. "I don't think he's going to walk out on his own."

The beleaguered Berlusconi, the latest head of state to fall victim to the fast-spreading European debt crisis, told Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Tuesday that he would resign from his office as soon as the country's latest austerity package made its way through Parliament. Read More>>

Italians cast doubt on PM's resignation; market reacts

A storm hit Tununak in western Alaska on Tuesday.

A powerful storm with hurricane-force winds slammed into western Alaska on Wednesday, causing power failures in some tiny coastal villages and warnings that the area could suffer major flooding.

In a Tuesday forecast, the National Weather Service described the storm as “extremely dangerous and life-threatening” and of “an epic magnitude rarely experienced.” The service said, “All people in the area should take precautions to safeguard their lives and property.”No injuries had been reported by Wednesday afternoon, and some of the worst winds had subsided. But forecasters warned that the storm was still strong and the could cause flooding later as waters surge.By late morning, power had been lost, restored and lost again in Point Hope, a village of fewer than 900 people on a thin spit in the Chukchi Sea. The village school, which has an emergency generator, served as a shelter and provided food on Wednesday. Classes had been canceled since Tuesday. Residents worried that houses and their plumbing would begin to freeze as temperatures dipped close to zero with the wind chill. Read More>>

Powerful Storm Pummels Western Alaska

Sharon Bialek, the first woman to step forward publicly with sexual harassment charges against Herman Cain, suggested Wednesday the presidential contender was lying yesterday when he said he doesn't remember Bialek.

On MSNBC Wednesday, Bialek recounted an incident, which others have said they witnessed, in which she approached Cain at a Tea Party rally.

"I simply grasped his elbow and leaned in towards him to acknowledge he knew exactly who I was," she said. "He acknowledged who I was."

Bialek declined to reveal what she said to Cain at the event, but she said, "It was simply a few statements to jar his memory ... That was only a month ago."

At a press conference on Tuesday, Cain said he did not recall ever seeing Bialek before she came forward with her allegations on Monday. "I tried to remember if I recognized her, and I didn't. I tried to remember if I remembered that name, and I didn't," he said.

Bialek said she was "very disappointed but not surprised" by Cain's response, which she said "disrespected me and millions of other women across the country who are violated in the same way in the workplace."Read More>>>

Sharon Bialek: Herman Cain knows who I am

It's official ... Australian zoologist Adam Britton (L) measures the world's biggest captive crocodile in Bunawan in the Philippines. Photo: AFP

A small Philippine town yesterday laid claim to having the world's largest captive crocodile after an Australian expert measured the saltwater beast at more than six metres.

The male reptile was captured in Bunawan in the Agusan marsh on the southern island of Mindanao in September and measured at 6.2 metres by Australian zoologist Adam Britton, Bunawan town council member Apollo Canoy said.

"We are happy to announce that we have the biggest crocodile in the whole world," Canoy said in a telephone interview.Read More>>>

World's biggest crocodile a major attraction

Miss Venezuela, Ivian Sarcos, reacts as she hears she has been named Miss World 2011. Photograph: Paul Hackett/Reuters

Demonstrators gathered in Earls Court, west London, as the Miss World contest returned to a London venue for its 60th anniversary show. Around 50 protesters carried placards that read, among other things, "Miss Deed" and "Miss Ogynist".

Rebecca Mordan, who helped organised the protest, said the wide age range of the protesters showed that feminism was still relevant today.

"You can't pull the wool over young women's eyes," said Mordan. "They're living and growing up in a culture that sees pornography as increasingly mainstream. This is the soft end of that, reducing women down to the sum of their parts."

The Miss World event, involving women from 113 countries, is still watched by an estimated 1 billion people around the world. Read More>>>

Miss World met with protests at 60th anniversary show in London

The 25th annual IMTA Convention concluded this weekend in New York City. Models, actors, singers and dancers from around the world competed in modeling and talent events with 300 agents, managers and casting directors in attendance who were searching for new faces and judging the competitions. Michelle Paige from Philadelphia, PA is the winner of the prestigious IMTA Model of the Year.

New York, NY (PRWEB) July 31, 2011

Celebrating 25 years of IMTA Conventions was one of the many highlights of the week. Special recognition was given to the Agents, Managers and Casting Directors who have been at IMTA for the entire 25 years. Karen Lee, Joan Stephens, Arthur Bronfin, Clair Sinnet, Joey Hunter, Michael Flutie, Heinz Holba, Cynthia Kazarian, David Vando and Judy Savage were honored. The IMTA Member Directors who have been part of the IMTA for 25 years were also recognized: Diane Dick, Janie Head, Voloney White, Wendi Davis, on behalf of Margaret O’Brien, and Joe Rickie, on behalf of Rose Perez. IMTA also recognized Nancy Mancuso, Chief Operating Officer of IMTA, for more than 25 years of dedicated and inspired leadership of the Association. Read More>>>

International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Cava 22, the bar where an Apple employee lost control of an unreleased device sometime around July 22.

(Credit: Greg Sandoval/CNET)

Against a backdrop of lost, unreleased devices and allegations that employees impersonated policemen, Apple forced the company's chief of security into retirement, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

John Theriault, a former FBI agent who came to Apple from Pfizer in 2007, was the man in charge of Apple's security unit during a span that saw the company embarrassed multiple times when important trade secrets were exposed.

Theriault was not immediately available for comment, and a Apple spokesman declined to comment. The blog 9to5mac.com first reported Theriault's departure.Read More>>>

Apple pushed security executive out

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt testifies before a senate subcommittee investigating Google's dominance in Web search.

"Apple's Siri is a significant development--a voice-activated means of accessing answers through iPhones that demonstrates the innovations in search," Schmidt said during an appearance before a Senate antitrust subcommittee in September. "Google has many strong competitors and we sometimes fail to anticipate the competitive threat posed by new methods of accessing information."
Read More>>>

Siri as a 'threat' to Google's search business

ATHENS - Prime Minister George Papandreou and his main rival decided late Sunday to create a new unity government under a new prime minister, who will go ahead with debt relief guide the country with the European Union and new elections. Mr. Papandreou agreed to resign once the details have been completed

The conformity appeared to break a political deadlock that paralyzed Greece facing a serious financial crisis that threatens to infect the euro zone countries, especially Italy. European leaders see the agreement debt relief hit Greece on October 26 as vital to include the crisis in Greece and the isolation of Italy, a much larger economy that political leaders have also struggled to cut budgets and make off the debt. Read More>>>