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Ted Ballantine

Wes Welker's wife reminds world of Ray Lewis' dark past, later apologizes

Wes Welker’s wife stirred up a controversy when she insulted Ray Lewis over Facebook after the Patriots loss on Sunday to the Ravens, but it wasn’t long before she had apologized for her comments. 

The wife of New England Patriots wide reciever Wes Welker originally took to Facebook on Sunday, calling out future Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis: “…if anyone is bored, please go to Ray Lewis’ Wikipedia page. 6 kids 4 wives. Acquitted for murder. Paid a family off. Yay. What a hall of fame player! A true role model!”

Wes Welker’s wife, named Anna Burns Welker, released a statement on Monday apologizing for the comments. 

“I’m deeply sorry for my recent post on Facebook,” she said. “I let the competitiveness of the game and the comments people were making about a team I dearly love get the best of me. My actions were emotional and irrational and I sincerely apologize to Ray Lewis and anyone affected by my comment after yesterday’s game.

“It is such an accomplishment for any team to make it to the NFL playoffs, and the momentary frustration I felt should not overshadow the accomplishments of both of these amazing teams.”

Welker’s original comments were in reference to a controversy that surrounded Ray Lewis in 2000, when he was indicted on murder charges in the stabbing deaths of two men. Lewis eventually took a plea deal and came away with only a misdemeanor, but the event represents a dark spot on Ray Lewis’ legacy that remains in the back of the minds of many NFL viewers and players. 

Wes Welker’s wife isn’t the first wife of a Patriots player to take their complaints to Twitter. In 2011, Wes Welker himself was the target of the wrath of Tom Brady’s wife, who was upset that Welker dropped two passes. 

“You (have) to catch the ball when you’re supposed to catch the ball,” wrote Gisele Bundchen, wife of Tom Brady. “My husband cannot (bleeping) throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.”

787 Dreamliner jets grounded all around world due to plane's fire hazard

The 787 Dreamliner, the aircraft made by Boeing, was ordered on Wednesday to be immediately grounded by regulators in American, Europe, Japan and India after it was discovered the jet’s batteries posed a fire risk. The safety hazard marks the latest in a line of setbacks experienced by the 787 Dreamliner in recent years, which likely played a part in the choice by numerous countries to ground the airplane voluntarily.

The problem was first discovered when a 787 Dreamliner landed at an airport in Japan after the pilot reported problems with the jet’s batteries. There was a burning smell coming from the cockpit and it was discovered that the batteries were leaking, and burn marks were discovered around the area where the batteries were located.

Boeing President and CEO Jim McNerney said in a statement to CBS that the company “deeply regrets the impact that recent events have had on the operating schedules of our customers and the inconvenience to them and their passengers.”

This isn’t the first time the 787 Dreamliner’s batteries have caused problems. Just last week, on Jan.7, a battery pack burst into flames inside an empty Dreamliner sitting Logan Airport in Boston. CBS reports that it took firefighters 40 minutes to put the fire out.

The 787 Dreamliner is Boeing’s newest jet. Created in 2009, the Dreamliner has been held back by numerous setbacks, including fuel leaks, malfunctioning computers and battery problems. According to CBS News, the jet is the first Boeing product to utilize lithium ion batteries, which are lighter and charge faster than typical batteries but have a tendency to overheat.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the government entity that regulates aircraft in the United States, said that they will not allow the 787 Dreamliner to take flight until Boeing can prove the batteries do not pose any safety risks.

“As a result of an in-flight, Boeing 787 battery incident earlier today in Japan, the FAA will issue an emergency airworthiness directive to address a potential battery fire risk in the 787 and require operators to temporarily cease operations,” said the FAA in a statement released Wednesday. “Before further flight, operators of U.S.-registered, Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that the batteries are safe.”

Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend never existed, was a hoax all along

A Deadspin report has revealed that the girlfriend of the star linebacker never existed

Manti Te’o, star linebacker at Nore Dame, played all season with the emotional burden of a girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, a Stanford student who had been fighting a losing battle with leukemia. While Te’o was on the field, Kekua was bed-ridden and in a comatose state. It became the most inspirational and heatbreaking sports story of 2012. 

There was only one problem: none of it was true. And now Manti Te’o finds himself in the middle of a hoax gone wrong. 

The girlfriend, the cancer, and the car crash that put her in the hospital, according to reports from Deadspin, were all imaginary. Lennay Marie Kekua, whose death made headlines all over the nation, wasn’t a person at all. There were no records of her birth, death, or funeral; no obituaries to be found. No mention of her death was made in Stanford’s student newspaper, and, according to the admissions office, no student by that name was ever enrolled at the school.

According to a story in the South Bend Tribune, Manti Te’o and Lennay Kekua first crossed paths at a Stanford vs. Notre Dame game in 2009. They exchanged phone numbers, and Manti Te’o’s father stated that she would later make a visit to Teo’s residence in Hawaii. 

“Every once in a while, she would travel to Hawaii, and that happened to be the time Manti was home, so he would meet with her there,” said Brian, Manti Te’o’s father. 

By 2012, Te’o and Kekua were a couple and ESPN was reporting that they talked on the phone every night. Around this time, it was reported by Manti Te’o that the woman had gotten into a serious car accident and was on the “brink of death”. While recieving treatment for her injuries, doctors discovered she had leukemia. Te’o tells Sports Illustrated that he spends every night on the phone with Kekua. In September 2012, Kekua supposedly died from her disease.

Kekua’s Twitter account, on which she frequently communicated with Manti Te’o, was stocked with pictures of a woman currently living in California, according to Deadspin. She had never met Manti Te’o, and wasn’t aware her pictures were being used. The account’s tweets to Te’o have been deleted. 

Manti Te’o addressed the controversy Wednesday, and claimed he was the vitctim of a “sick joke”.

This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her,” said Te’o. “To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone’s sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating…In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was.”

The story is reminiscent of the film “Catfish”, which details how someone can maintain a fake persona and engage in relationships online. 

It is unknown whether Manti Te’o was in on the hoax, or was simply a victim. 

Lance Armstrong admits doping in "no holds barred' interview with Oprah Winfrey

Lance Armstrong has admitted to using drugs during his dominant winning streak

Lance Armstrong has confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs in an interview with Oprah Winfrey taped Monday, marking the end of a decade of denial by the cyclist. 

A 7-time Tour De France winner, Lance Armstrong was banned from cycling for life in October of 2012 by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Armstrong had previously denied any doping allegations, but recently decided to sit down with Oprah for a ‘tell-all’ interview. ABC News has reported that Armstrong confessed his drug use during the interview. 

The interview, according to Oprah, lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes and was described as very “emotional”, though Oprah said Lance Armstrong was “forthcoming” about his drug use during his dominant run in cycling. 

“We were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers. I feel that he answered the questions in a way that he was ready,” said Oprah, appearing on CBS This Morning on Tuesday. “He certainly had prepared himself for this moment. … He brought it. He really did.”

“I think he was just, ready. I think the velocity of everything that’s come at him in the past several months and the past several weeks, he was just ready,” she said.

According to CBS News, Winfrey met first met with Armstrong at a secret lunch in Hawaii. Armstrong had previously denied the interview request, but changed his mind upon meeting with Oprah.

Before the interview, Lance Armstrong visited his LiveStrong Foundation and spoke to about 100 staffers. It’s unknown whether he confessed his drug use to his staffers, but he did apologize at length to them, according to ABC sources familiar with the situation.

The World Anti-Doping Agency, meanwhile, said that Armstrong must confess under oath if he wishes his lifetime ban from sports to be reduced. The organization previously said Armstrong’s ring of drug use was “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sports has ever seen.”

Armstrong has said he wishes to return to sports at some point to compete in triathlon events. 

 

Natalie Wood's mysterious death brought back into spotlight after report reveals new twists

New report: Wood, who drowned under mysterious circumstances in 1981, sustained bruising before she got into water

Natalie Wood, the actress who in 1981 was found dead under mysterious circumstances, has had the cause of her death called into question as a report released Monday revealed new details about the case. The new report raises doubts about the suspected accidental nature of her death.

Wood, 43, was found drowned off the coast of Santa Catalina Island in Southern California thirty years ago. Authorities had originally labeled her death as an accidental drowning, but the strange circumstances the death made the case a national phenomenon and one of the biggest mysteries in Hollywood history. 

Wood had spent that night on a yacht with her husband, Richard Wanger, and her co-star, Christopher Walken. All three had been drinking heavily, and the captain of the boat reported hearing a loud argument in the hours before Wood went missing. 

The occupants of the yacht reported Natalie Wood missing at about 1:30 AM and noticed that the yacht’s lifeboat was missing. The lifeboat was later found floating along the shoreline near were Wood’s body was found. There were scratches on the side of the boat, according to authorities. 

Natalie Wood’s time of death was later determined to be midnight, an half-and-a-half before she was reported missing by her husband. 

Wagner addressed Wood’s death in his memoirs, released in 2008.

“Nobody knows,” Wagner wrote. “There are only two possibilities; either she was trying to get away from the argument, or she was trying to tie the [lifeboat]. But the bottom line is that nobody knows exactly what happened.”

The new report, released Monday by Los Angeles authorities, details mysterious cuts and bruises on Woods’ arms and face. This has led investigators to change her cause of death from “drowning” to “drowning and other undetermined factors”.

The bruises were noticed during the original autopsy, but were said to have come during after Natalie Wood was already in the water. “Most of the bruises on the body are superficial and probably sustained at the time of drowning,” the initial autopsy report said.

But the new report raised doubts about this theory, and determined that the bruises likely came before Wood got into the water. “The location of the bruises, the multiplicity of the bruises, lack of head trauma, or facial bruising support bruising having occurred prior to entry in the water,” the recent report states.

According to authorities, Natalie Wood was not wearing a life jacket at the time of her death, and had no history of suicide attempts. The updated report states that the water was so cold at the time that she likely could not have survived long after being exposed.

The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department reopened the case in 2011, and the case remains open. 

 

David Wilson, boyfriend of country star Mindy McCready, dead in apparent suicide

David Wilson, music producer and boyfriend of country music artist Mindy McCready, apparently committed suicide in his Arkansas home on Sunday, according to authorities.

The Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office was reportedly called to David Wilson’s home, which he shared with Mindy McCready, on Sunday night. Authorities found Wilson with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, upon which he was transported to the local hospital. He was declared dead soon after he arrived.

“Today, we mourn the loss of my life partner and my children’s father, David Wilson,” McCready said in a statement released to FOX411 News. “David was my soulmate; he was a caregiver and guiding hand to our sons, Zander and Zayne. He was a precious gift from God to all of us and, yesterday, he returned home and is now with his mother and father.”

The statement continued: “David loved and he was loved. Those who knew and loved him will miss him; those who did not know David missed the opportunity to know a truly loving and gifted man.”

David Wilson, 34, was the father of McCready’s 9-month-old son. McCready also has another son, age 6. Wilson, although he was not the father, had helped McCready fight for custudy of the boy and had taken on a fatherly role in his life.

McCready is best known for her 1996 song, “Guys Do It All the Time,” from the album Ten Thousand Angels which sold 2 million copies.

Both Davis Wilson and Mindy McCready had fought through personal troubles. McCready, according to her website, has suffered from severe depression and has previously attempted suicide by cutting her wrists and attempting to overdose on pills. She also appeared on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab TV Program in 2010.

Notably, McCready had an affair with former Major League Baseball Pitcher Roger Clemens, which ended before she became involved with David Wilson. McCready had also been going through legal troubles lately, as she filed a libel suit against the National Enquirer and her mother.

Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court's "Silent" Justice, speaks for first time in seven years

Clarence Thomas hadn’t spoken a word in his courtroom in seven years. But the Supreme Court Justice, nicknamed “Silent Justice”, broke his silence Monday.

His cryptic remark, according to the court transcript, was simply: “Well-he did not,” which Clarence Thomas apparently mumbled under his breath during court arguments. It was the first word Thomas had uttered since February 22, 2006.

The meaning of the remark is unclear, and it’s not known what Clarence Thomas was referencing. According to CBS News, the remark was unrelated to the case the court was hearing at the time.

The Supreme Court Justice told Business Week last year that he didn’t feel the need to say anything in his courtroom. “I don’t feel any pressure,” Clarence Thomas said. “When I have something to say, I’ll say it.”

“A white person is free to think whatever they want to think, but a black person has to think a certain way,” he told Diane Brady of Business Week in 2007. “Why do you think I get in so much controversy? People have a model of what they think a black person should think.”

Thomas has previously justified his silence in public, mentioning that he prefers to sit back and listen to a case rather than bombard lawyers with questions. In a conversation with CBS reporter Jan Crawford, Thomas likened the Supreme Court environment to that of the “Family Feud” game show and chided his fellow Justices for talking too much. Thomas said he takes a different approach, opting to express his opinion through written words, as he often does with his powerful dissents.

Clarence Thomas maintains that shyness was not a factor in his silence. “Justice Marshall rarely asked questions. Justice Powell rarely asked questions. That’s a personal preference. I certainly wouldn’t do it to provide histrionics for the media gallery or for other people or for critics,” Justice Thomas said on 60 Minutes in 2007. “Critics will always be critics,” he added.

Baseball Hall of Fame gets no new members for first time in 17 years

Steroid use mars 2013 ballot as Sosa, Bonds fail to gain entrance to Cooperstown

The Baseball Hall of Fame netted no new members in the 2013 vote, the first time since 1996 and only the eighth time in history no players have been selected to Cooperstown. 

The 569 members of the Baseball Writer’s Association of America, the entity that votes players into the Baseball Hall of Fame, failed to push any player over the 75 percent-of-the-vote threshold required to gain entrance to the Hall. 

The 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was marred by players suspected of using performance enhancing drugs during baseball’s now-infamous “Steroid Era”. Players on the ballot included Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens, all players who broke records at a prolific pace but later became surrounded by controversy for their role in steroid scandals. 

Sammy Sosa, a one-time MVP, garnered just 12.5 percent of the vote, leading some observers to believe he will never get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Sosa issued a statement saying, “We are still winners and there is always next time.”

Barry Bonds, seven-time MVP and the all-time leader in home runs, tallied a meager 36 percent of the vote, while seven-time Cy Young award winner Roger Clements gained only 37 percent of the vote.

A few players did come close to entering the Baseball Hall of Fame, including Jeff Bagwell, former Astro’s first baseman, who received 59 percent of the vote. He was beat out by teammate Craig Biggio, who gathered 68.2 percent of the vote but still fell short of the 75 percent required to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame. Notably, the two were never associated with steroid use. 

Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson told the Chicago Tribune: “Obviously, no one in Cooperstown was rooting for a shutout, but we have a great respect for the process.”

Players remain on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for 15 years, and only 21 percent get elected to the Hall their first time. Still, some find it hard to believe the notable names that didn’t get voted in.

“To ignore the historic accomplishments of Barry Bond and Roger Clemens…is hard to justify,” baseball players union chief Michael Weiner told the media on Wednesday. “Moreover, to penalize players exonerated in legal proceedings–and others never even implicated–is simply unfair.”

The 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is considered to be a better bet in terms of electing players, as many haven’t been accused of steroid use. That ballot includes Frank Thomas and Greg Maddux. 

Executive order to bypass Congress, expand gun control laws being considered by President

An executive order designed to expand gun control laws without congressional approval is being considered by President Obama, according to Vice President Joe Biden. 

In the wake of last month’s massacre at Conneticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School, Obama has said he is weighing proposals to curb gun violence, including a ban on assault weapons, and is willing to take any route necessary–even if it means an executive order which would become law without a vote from Congress. 

Vice President Biden revealed the possibility of an executive order before a Wednesday meeting with victims of gun violence. Biden has been charged with the task of coming up with gun law proposals by the end of the month and reporting them to the President. 

“We are not going to get caught up in the notion that unless we can do everything, we’re going to do nothing. It’s critically important that we act,” Biden told the press. “There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven’t decided what that is yet.”

Biden did say that, outside of an executive order, he has “three or four or five” policies in mind, but declined to comment on specifics. The Washington post reported that the proposals may include a more intensive screening process when purchasing a gun, a limit on large magazines and a national system designed for tracking the sale and whereabouts of weapons.

Biden met with gun violence victims and anti-gun groups Wednesday, and on Thursday will meet with the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups. Among the attendants on Thursday will be representatives from Walmart, the U.S.’s largest gun seller.

Biden has experience crafting gun control policy, as he helped write the Brady Bill, which in 1993 instituted a national five-day waiting period for retail purchases of handguns. 

“This is not an exercise in photo opportunities or just getting to ask you all what your opinions are. We’re reaching out to all parties on whatever side of the debate you fall,” Biden said.

Jack Lew to be nominated by President for Secretary of the Treasury

Jack Lew, current chief of staff for President Barack Obama, will be nominated by the President Thursday to serve as the nation’s next treasury secretary. If his nomination is confirmed by the Senate, Lew will replace Timothy Geithner, the current treasury secretary who is expected to step down later this month. 

Lew, according to White House sources that spoke with ABC News, was the only person under serious consideration for the job. Over the last two years he has played a key role in negotiations with Congress on tumultuous issues such as the debt ceiling and the fiscal cliff. This experience was a large factor in his consideration for the job, according to ABC News, as Congress will again debate raising the debt ceiling later this year.

Lew previously served as Bill Clinton’s budget director, and held that position during the three-year period in the 1990’s where the nation saw budget surpluses. He also spent three years as a hedge fund manager at CitiGroup prior to joining President Obama’s staff. 

“Jack Lew will bring an impressive record of service in both the public and private sectors for over three decades and economic expertise to this important role, and his deep knowledge of domestic and international economic issues will enable him to take on the challenges facing our economy at home and abroad on day one,” said the White House in a statement released to the media. “Throughout his career, Jack Lew has proven a successful and effective advocate for middle class families who can build bipartisan consensus to implement proven economic policies.”

But the Senate must first confirm Lew’s nomination, and the process may be rocky. Senator Jeff Sessions, R-Miss., has spoken out against Lew.

“Jack Lew must never be Secretary of Treasury. His testimony before the Senate Budget Committee less than two years ago was so outrageous and false that it alone disqualifies (him),” said Sessions in a statement he released Wednesday.