ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. — A Rochester Hills man who says he learned of his wife's affair by reading her e-mail on their computer faces trial Feb. 7 on felony computer misuse charges.

Thirty-three-year-old Leon Walker used his wife's password to get into her Gmail account. Clara Walker filed for a divorce, which was granted this month.

Leon Walker tells The Oakland Press of Pontiac he was trying to protect the couple's children from neglect and calls the case a "miscarriage of justice."

Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Sydney Turner says the charge is justified.

Privacy law writer Frederick Lane tells the Detroit Free Press the law typically is used to prosecute identity theft and stealing trade secrets. He says he questions if a wife can expect privacy on a computer she shares with her husband.

PA Gov Ed Rendell on NFL and Snow: US Becoming a 'Nation of Wussies'

ABC's Z. Byron Wolf reports:

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell raised eyebrows Sunday when he complained that the NFL postponed the planned Philadelphia Eagles games against the Minnesota Vikings because of the snowstorm that crippled much of the East Coast.

He quibbled Sunday with a Philadelphia meteorologist Sunday about the severity of the storm. Rendell's anger at the postponed game carried into Tuesday, when he called into “The Fanatic” sports talk show on a Philadelphia radio station and expressed his fear that the United States is becoming a “nation of wussies.”

Engaging in a bit of hyperbole, Rendell suggested that Chinese football fans would be heartier, march through the snow to the game, and do math equations; whereas the American NFL postponed Sunday's game.

Here are some of the choicer soundbytes selected from Monday's lengthy exchange between Rendell and show anchor Mike Missanelli:

RENDELL: Maybe it’s because I’m old, and I grant that I’m old. But it just goes against everything that football’s all about.

RENDELL: This is part of what’s happened in this country. I think we’ve become wussies. I agree with Will Bunch and I think that in most places in the world, people would have sneered at us. This is football. I played football. I played in the snow. The fans can make judgments themselves. They can decide if they’ll go to the game—or they’ll drive home a little more slowly, or take Broad Street, which was fine last night. That’s up to the fans.

RENDELL: We have become a nation of wussies. The Chinese are kicking our butts in everything. Will Bunch is right—did you read what Will Bunch wrote?

ANCHOR: I think Will Bunch is full of crap to be honest with you. I read that story.

RENDELL: I think it’s a Pulitzer Prize winner. If this was in China, do you think the Chinese would have called off the game? He’s right, the people would have been marching down to the stadium, they would have walked, and they would be doing calculus on the way down.

RENDELL: What do you think Lombardi would say? He would say we’ve become a nation of wusses.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/12/pa-gov-ed-rendell-on-nfl-and-snow-us-becoming-a-nation-of-wussies.html

The blizzard of 2010... was it a winter wonderland for you?
Or just a really miserable Monday?
We want your snow stories - good or bad...
Plus - we'll share your emails, your photos, and more.
888-766-2428 is the number to call

Operation Santa

List of Participating Offices for 2010

1-800-ASK-USPS

OperationLetterToSanta.com

Office Name Address City State ZIP Code

Los Angeles 7001 S Central Avenue, Rm 338 Los Angeles CA 90052-9631

Oakland Post Office 201 13th Street, Rm 226 Oakland CA 94612-9605

Sacramento Post Office 2000 Royal Oaks Drive Sacramento CA 95813-9998

San Francisco P&DC 1300 Evans Street San Francisco CA 94124-9996

Santa Ana District Office 3101 W. Sunflower Ave Santa Ana CA 92799-0100

Sierra Coastal District Office 28201 Franklin Parkway Santa Clarita CA 91383-9606

Ft Lauderdale P&DC 1900 W. Oakland Park Blvd Ft Lauderdale FL 33310-9997

Miami P&DC 2200 NW 72 Ave Miami FL 33152-9997

South Florida P&DC 16000 Pines Blvd Pembroke Pines FL 33082-9997

West Palm Beach P&DC 3200 Summit Blvd West Palm Beach FL 33416-9997

Chicago Main Post Office 433 W. Harrison, 2nd floor Chicago IL 60699-9997

Gilson Post Office 1016 Moss Street Gilson IL 61436-9800

Highland Park Post Office 833 Central Avenue Highland Park IL 60035-9998

New Trenton Post Office 4073 US Hwy 52 New Trenton IN 47035-9998

Fort Point Station 25 Dorchester Avenue Boston MA 02205-9761

Quinnesec Post Office 1214 Quinnesec Ave Quinnesec MI 49876-9519

Northland District Office 100 S. 1st Street, Room 115 Minneapolis MN 55401-2042

Newark Main Post Office 2 Federal Square, Room 211 Newark NJ 07102-9998

James A. Farley Post Office 421 8th Avenue New York NY 10199-9998

Cincinnati P&DC 1623 Dalton Street Cincinnati OH 45234-8902

Oklahoma City Post Office 4025 W. Reno Avenue Oklahoma City OK 73125-9998

Philadelphia Main Post Office 3000 Chestnut Street Philadelphia PA 19104-9998

Greater SC District Office 2001 Dixiana Road West Columbia SC 29172-3007

Chilton Post Office 57 E. Main Street Chilton WI 53014-9998

http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2009/holiday/santalist.htm?from=2009holidaypressroom_rightnav&page=ParticList

WASHINGTON, Dec.15, 2010

Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and John Thune, R-S.D.,
held a press conference Wednesday to rip the Democrats'
new 1,924-page, $1.1 trillion omnibus bill for
containing $8 billion worth of earmarks.

"The bill is loaded up with pork projects, and it
shouldn't get a vote," Thune said.

"I think this is an outrage," railed Cornyn.

But Thune and Cornyn have tens of millions of dollars
for their own earmarks in the bill, including Thune's
request for $8 million for B-1 bomber fleet
maintenance and Cornyn's request for $1.6 million
for the Texas Army National Guard Counter-Drug
Task Force.

"How do you have any credibility on this?," asked
ABC's Jon Karl.

"Because we're going to vote against the bill," said
Cornyn. "This is the wrong way to do business."

"Senator, were you wrong when you put these
earmarks in before," Karl asked.

"Karl, this is not just about earmarks," said Cornyn.
"Earmarks are a symptom of wasteful Washington
spending that the American people have said they
want reformed. We agree with them, and that's why we
will vote against this bill. But you're missing the story
if you think it's just about earmarks. This is about a
flawed process of sweetheart deals cut behind closed
doors, and a big bill, a spending bill, dropped on the
American people and on us on December the 14th,
without adequate time to amend it and debate it and
to reveal to the American people what is in it so they
can cast their judgment."

"So I think -- I think that's to me the context. And
we've said very clearly -- we voted for an earmark
moratorium. We will abide by that, and we will reject
any earmarks requested by us or anyone else,
because that's what the American people told us they
want."

For more:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hypocrisy-alert-abc-news-grills-gop-leaders-earmarks/story?id=12403958

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A California mother and The Center for
Science in the Public Interest have sued McDonald's Corp. trying to
get the fast-food chain to stop using toys to market meals to young
children.
The lawsuit was filed in California Superior Court in San
Francisco on Wednesday morning.
They claim McDonald's decision to markets its meals directly to
young children violates several consumer protection laws because it
exploits a child's vulnerability.
McDonald's is facing increased scrutiny for the practice. San
Francisco recently became the first city to prohibit fast-food
restaurants from including toys with children's meals that don't
met nutritional guidelines. A similar ordinance was passed in Santa
Clara County.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senators get their first chance Monday to vote
on the tax-cut deal struck by President Barack Obama and
Republicans in a test vote that is expected to get widespread
support.
But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said House Democrats may
try to change the bill to make the estate tax less generous to
wealthy heirs. Hoyer stressed that he expects the House to pass the
package. But, he said, House Democrats are unhappy with a provision
that would allow estates as large as $10 million to go untaxed.
"I think we're going to have a vote on the Senate bill, with
possible changes," the Maryland Democrat said Monday during a
discussion at the National Press Club. "We may have it with
amendments, we'll see what the process is."
The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said a
"good cross-section" of senators in his party are ready to accept
the deal.
Monday's vote is expected to lead to passage in the Senate
Tuesday or Wednesday. The bill would then go to the House.
The legislation would avert a Jan. 1 increase in income taxes
for nearly all Americans, including middle and high earners. The
package also would renew a program of jobless benefits for the
long-term unemployed and put in place a one-year cut in Social
Security taxes.
A pair of polls released Monday showed the public supports the
tax cut compromise by more than a 2-1 margin.
In one survey by the Pew Research Center, 60 percent approve of
the deal and 22 percent disapprove. More than 6 in 10 Democrats,
Republicans and independents voiced support for the package.
An ABC News-Washington Post poll measured 69 percent backing the
package and 29 percent opposed and also found strong bipartisan
support for the agreement.
"Everybody understands what it would mean for the economy if we
don't get this done," Obama adviser David Axelrod said.
"We believe that when it comes back to the House, that we will
get a vote, and that we'll prevail there, because at the end of the
day, no one wants to see taxes go up on 150 million Americans" on
New Year's Day, Axelrod said. "No one wants to see 2 million
people lose their unemployment insurance."

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House Democratic Caucus has voted to
reject President Barack Obama's tax deal with Republicans in its
current form.
By voice vote, the rank and file Democrats passed a resolution
Thursday that said the tax package should not come to the floor of
the House for consideration. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., introduced
the resolution.
Said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas: "If it's take it or leave it,
we'll leave it."
Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., said "it's a pretty clear message.
We don't like the bill." Rep. Shelley Berkley, a Nevada Democrat,
told reporters that "one person voted against" keeping the bill
off the floor for a vote. "That would be me," she said.
Michael Steel, spokesman for Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, noted
that Obama has said failing to stop all of the tax hikes scheduled
for Jan. 1 would have serious consequences for the economy. He
said, "House Republicans agree."
Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the House's No. 3 Democrat,
said when asked what comes next, "I don't know. We'll wait and
see."
Earlier Thursday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said
Democrats were in a very rough position, saying that continuing to
fight the compromise bill might place the middle class and jobless
at further risk.
"We're going to have an increase in taxes on working Americans
... if we continue to have gridlock," Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat,
said on MSNBC.
Speaking Thursday at a White House event promoting American
exports, Obama said the vote will determine whether the economy
"moves forward or backward."
The president again pressed Congress to pass the agreement,
saying it has the potential to create millions of jobs. He said if
it fails, Americans would see smaller paychecks and would result in
fewer jobs.
The deal that Obama struck with the GOP would let rich and poor
Americans keep Bush-era tax cuts that were scheduled to expire this
month. Even so, 54 House Democrats wrote a letter to House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi saying they were against the deal, and that was before
the party caucus decision to deny it a vote on the House floor.
Led by Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont, the 54 Democrats said they
were against "acceding to Republican demands to extend the Bush
tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires."
"We're paying a king's ransom," Welch said in an interview.
"We didn't need to and couldn't afford to."
The 54 Democrats, by themselves, would not be enough to block
the package in the House, depending on how much support it gets
from Republicans.
After Obama publicly defended the plan for a third day
Wednesday, and Vice President Joe Biden met with Democratic
lawmakers in the Capitol for a second day, several Democrats
predicted the measure will pass, mainly because of extensive
Republican support.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., predicted the tax cut compromise
"will be passed by virtually all the Republicans and a minority of
Democrats." He said he would vote against it.
Even among Democrats, "there's more support in the caucus than
there appears," Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia told reporters
after he and fellow Democrats met with Biden. "I think some people
felt they had to vent."
Obama said more congressional Democrats would climb aboard as
they studied details of the $900 billion year-end measure.
Raising the direst alarm yet, his administration warned fellow
Democrats that if they defeat the plan, they could jolt the nation
back into recession.
Larry Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser, told reporters
that if the measure isn't passed soon, it will "materially
increase the risk the economy would stall out and we would have a
double-dip" recession. That put the White House in the unusual
position of warning its own party's lawmakers they could be to
blame for calamitous consequences if they go against the president.
With many House and Senate Republicans signaling their approval
of the tax cut plan, the White House's comments were aimed mainly
at House Democrats who feel Obama went too far in yielding to
Republicans' demands for continued income tax cuts and lower estate
taxes for the wealthy.
Obama says the compromise was necessary because Republicans were
prepared to let everyone's taxes rise and to block the extension of
unemployment benefits for jobless Americans if they didn't get much
of what they wanted.
Economists say the recent recession officially ended in June
2009. But with unemployment at 9.8 percent, millions remain out of
work or fearful of losing ground economically, and the notion of
the nation falling back into a recession would strike many as
chilling. It also could rattle markets and investors.
The deal Obama crafted with Senate Republican leaders would
prevent the scheduled Dec. 31 expiration of all the Bush
administration's tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003, even though
Obama had often promised to end the cuts for the highest earners.
House Democrats, who will lose their majority in January, still
hold a 255-179 edge in the current Congress. To pass a big bill
with mostly Republican votes would mark a dramatic departure from
recent battles, such as the health care overhaul, which was enacted
with virtually no GOP support in either chamber.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday rejected
claims that he betrayed Democrats by cutting a deal with
Republicans on Bush-era tax cuts and implored his party to back the
compromise, arguing it could jump-start the economy.
Speaking to reporters at a joint appearance with Polish
President Bronislaw Komorowski, Obama said economists predict
higher job growth in 2011 and 2012 if Congress passes the agreement
and urged lawmakers to examine the details of the deal and "get
this done."
The White House has been leaning hard on fellow Democrats to
support the tax deal that would extend the cuts at all income
levels for two years, extend jobless benefits for the long-term
unemployed and cut the Social Security payroll tax for a year.
But House Democratic leaders protest that the overall package
gives up too much to the wealthy. They're putting Obama on the
defensive, even as the deal picks up support among GOP lawmakers
and business groups.
The president forcefully rejected suggestions he had abandoned
his allies to strike an agreement with the GOP.
"I think it is inaccurate to characterize Democrats, writ
large, as quote-unquote betrayed," he said.
Obama was sending Vice President Joe Biden to Capitol Hill
Wednesday afternoon to urge resistant House Democrats to support
the package. Biden lobbied Senate Democrats on Tuesday.
Some Democrats are unhappy that Obama agreed to extend expiring
tax cuts not just for the middle class but also for higher earners,
and that he agreed to impose a lower estate tax on wealthy heirs.
Both provisions are seen by many Democrats as giveaways to the rich
that will do little to help the economy.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Brushing past Democratic opposition, President
Barack Obama announced agreement with Republicans Monday night on a
plan to extend expiring income tax cuts for all Americans, renew
jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and grant a one-year
reduction in Social Security taxes.
The emerging agreement also includes tax breaks for businesses
that the president said would contribute to the economy's recovery
from the worst recession in eight decades.
Obama's announcement marked a dramatic reversal of his long-held
insistence, originally laid out in his 2008 campaign, that tax cuts
should only be extended at incomes up to $200,000 for individuals
and $250,000 for couples. He explained his about-face by saying
that he still opposed the move and noted the agreement called for a
temporary, two-year extension of cuts at all income levels, not the
permanent renewal that Republicans have long sought.
At the same time, it signaled the arrival of a new era of
divided government following midterm elections in which Republicans
won control of the House and strengthened their hand in the Senate.
"We cannot allow this moment to pass," Obama said.
Officials said that under the plan, unemployment benefits would
remain in effect through the end of next year for workers who have
been laid off for more than 26 weeks and less than 99 weeks.
Without an extension, two million individuals would have lost their
benefits over the holidays, the White House said, and seven million
would have done so by the end of next year.
The Social Security tax cut would apply to workers, not
employers, and would drop from 6.2 percent of pay to 4.2 percent
for one year. The White House said the result would be to fatten
take-home pay by $120 billion over the course of the year.
In addition, administration officials emphasized that the
agreement would extend a variety of other tax breaks for lower and
middle-income families, including the Earned Income Tax Credit and
the child tax credit.

WASHINGTON (AP) - An outline of a bipartisan economic package is
emerging that would temporarily extend the Bush-era tax rates for
all taxpayers, while extending jobless benefits for millions of
Americans.
Differences remained over details, including White House demands
for middle- and low-income tax credits. But the White House
expressed optimism Monday, raising the possibility of a deal in
Congress by the end of the week.
"They are making progress," said White House spokesman Bill
Burton. "The president is confident that within the next couple of
days or so we'll find a way to extend tax cuts to middle class
families and do some other things that the president thinks are
important, helping to grow the economy and create jobs."
Questions remained about how many concessions Obama could
extract from Republicans in exchange for extending current tax
rates for high earners, a proposal he opposed.
But without action, lawmakers face the prospect of delivering a
tax hike to all taxpayers at the end of the year, when the current
rates expire and revert to higher pre-2001 and 2003 levels.
Negotiations between the Obama administration and a bipartisan
group of lawmakers centered on a two-year extension of current
rates.
At the same time, a jump in the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent
is putting pressure on Republicans to accede to President Barack
Obama's demand that Congress extend unemployment insurance for a
year. GOP congressional leaders had opposed an extension of
benefits without cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.
"I think most folks believe the recipe would include at least
an extension of unemployment benefits for those who are unemployed
and an extension of all of the tax rates for all Americans for some
period of time," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Senate's
Republican negotiator in the talks.

After Alexis Pilkington, a 17-year-old Long Island girl, committed suicide earlier this year, trolls descended on her online tribute page to post pictures of nooses, references to hangings and other hateful comments. A better-known example involves Nicole Catsouras, an 18-year-old who died in a car crash in California in 2006. Photographs of her badly disfigured body were posted on the Internet, where anonymous trolls set up fake tribute pages and in some cases e-mailed the photos to her parents with subject lines like “Hey, Daddy, I’m still alive.”

Many forums and online communities are looking for ways to strike back. Back in February, Engadget, a popular technology review blog, shut down its commenting system for a few days after it received a barrage of trollish comments on its iPad coverage.

Many victims are turning to legislation. All 50 states now have stalking, bullying or harassment laws that explicitly include electronic forms of communication. Last year, Liskula Cohen, a former model, persuaded a New York judge to require Google to reveal the identity of an anonymous blogger who she felt had defamed her, and she has now filed a suit against the blogger. Last month, another former model, Carla Franklin, persuaded a judge to force YouTube to reveal the identity of a troll who made a disparaging comment about her on the video-sharing site.

But the law by itself cannot do enough to disarm the Internet’s trolls. Content providers, social networking platforms and community sites must also do their part by rethinking the systems they have in place for user commentary so as to discourage — or disallow — anonymity. Reuters, for example, announced that it would start to block anonymous comments and require users to register with their names and e-mail addresses in an effort to curb “uncivil behavior.”

For More Information:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/opinion/30zhuo.html

NEW YORK (AP) - Hank Steinbrenner thinks Derek Jeter and the New
York Yankees will agree to a new contract.
New York's co-chairman said last night in a telephone interview
with The Associated Press he and his brother feel "confident"
that Jeter will remain with the Yankees.
A baseball official familiar with the discussions says the
Yankees resumed negotiations yesterday with Jeter and his agent,
Casey Close. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because
the team didn't make an announcement.