The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, November 8, 2012 - 3A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, November 8, 2012 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS HOWELL, Mich. Mich. shootings spree suspect arraigned, jailed A man suspected in two dozen random shootings along a 100- mile stretch of roadway in south- eastern Michigan was charged with several gun crimes Wednes- day that are likely the first of many charges. Prosecutors believe that Raulie Casteel, a geologist, is responsible for the shootings last month that mostly targeted moving vehicles or near Interstate 96. One person was injured. A man suspected in two dozen random shootings along a 100- mile stretch of roadway in south- eastern Michigan was charged with several gun crimes Wednes- day that are likely the first of many charges. NEW YORK New storm bears down on NYC, NJ A nor'easter blustered into New York and New Jersey on Wednesday with rain and wet snow, plunging homes right back into darkness, stopping commuter trains again, and inflicting anoth- er round of misery on thousands of people still reeling from Super- storm Sandy's blow more than a week ago. Under ordinary circumstanc- es, a storm of this sort wouldn't be a big deal, but large swaths of the landscape were still an open wound, with the electrical system highly fragile and many of Sandy's victims still mucking out. their homes and cars and shivering in the deepening cold. Exactly as authorities feared, the nor'easter brought down tree limbs and electrical wires, and utilities in New York and New Jer- sey reported that some customers who lost power because of Sandy lost it all over again as a result of the nor'easter. LOS ANGELES Calif. man behind anti-Muslim film e gets prison time The California man behind an anti-Muslim film that roiled the Middle East was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison for violating his probation stemming from a 2010 bank fraud convic- tion by lying about his identity. U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder immediately, sentenced Mark BasseleyYoussef after he admitted to four of the eight alleged violations, includ- ing obtaining a fraudulent California driver's license. Pros- ecutors agreed to drop the other four allegations under an agree- ment with Youssef's attorneys, which also included more proba- tion. None of the violations had to do with the content of "Inno- cence of Muslims," a film that depicts Mohammad as a reli- gious fraud, pedophile and wom- anizer. CAIRO Top Egyptian prosecutor bans online porn Egypt's top prosecutor ordered government ministries on Wednesday to enforce a ban on pornographic websites, three years after a court denounced the sites as "venomous and vile." An official in the prosecutor's office said the order followed a protest Wednesday by ultra- conservative Muslims known as Salafis, who have launched a cam- paign called "Pure Net" to pro- hibit the pornographic websites. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. In the past, though, similar orders were not enforced because of high costs associated with tech- nical applications in blocking the thousands of websites and their various pages. -Compiled from Daily wire reports Global markets plunge in fear of U.S. policy gridlock PAUL BEATY/AP President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama wave while boarding Air Force One before leaving O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Wednesday. Obama heads back to divided govern--ment Boehner promises towork towards compromise on tax laws WASHINGTON (AP) - One day after a bruising, mixed-ver- dict election, President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner both pledged Wednesday to seek a compromise to avert looming spending cuts and tax increas- es that threaten to plunge the economy back into recession. Added Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.: "Of course" an agreement is pos- sible. While all three men spoke in general terms, Boehner stressed that Republicans would be willing to accept higher tax revenue under the right conditions as part of a more sweeping attempt to reduce deficits and restore the Election causes concern for future of world economy LONDON (AP) - Stock mar- kets plunged Wednesday on concerns that newly re-elected President Barack Obama will struggle to agree on a budget deal with a divided Congress and as Europe's economic outlook dark- ened further. The ease with which Obama secured four more years in the White House - avoiding the uncertainty of ballot recounts, as in 2000 - had buoyed mar- kets early in the day. But as the day wore on, investors grew con- cerned over the implications of a still divided Congress. Though the Democrats main- tained the presidency and their majority in the Senate, the Repub- licans remain in command in the House of Representatives. That could lead to a logjam in policy- making, not least over the par- lous state of the country's public finances. The most pressing matter fac- ing the U.S. government is the so-called "fiscal cliff" - a com- bination of higher taxes and government spending cuts that automatically take effect unless Congress agrees on a new budget by Jan. 1. Economists warn that a failure to reach a concrete deci- sion will push the world's largest economy back into recession. "The initially favorable reac- tion has evaporated with the ugly task of dealing with the fiscal cliff eclipsing earlier optimism," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief econom- ic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. U.S. stocks opened lower and kept falling throughout the morn- ing in New York. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 2.5 percent at 12,918.23 and the broad- er S&P 500 index off the same rate at 1,392.99. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares dropped 1.6 percent to close at 5,791.63 while Germany's DAX fell 2 per- economy to full health. While the impending "fiscal cliff" dominates the postelec- tion agenda, the president and Republicans have other con- cerns, too. Obama is looking ahead to top-level personnel changes in a second term, involving three powerful Cabinet portfolios at a minimum. And Republicans are head- ing into a season of potentially painful reflection after los- ing the presidency in an econ- omy that might have proved Obama's political undoing. They also have fallen deeper into the Senate minority after the second election in a row in which they lost potentially winnable races by fielding can- didates with views that voters evidently judged too extreme. One major topic for GOP dis- cussion: the changing face of America. "We've got to deal with the issue of immigration through good policy. What is the right policy if we want economic growth in America as it relates to immigration?" said former Republican Party Chairman Haley Barbour. Obama drew support from about 70 percent of all Hispanics. That far out- paced Romney, who :said dur- ing the Republican primaries that illegal immigrants should self-deport, then spent the gen- eral election campaign trying to move toward the political middle on the issue. The maneuvering on the economy - the dominant issue by far in the campaign - began even before Obama returned to the White House from his home town of Chicago. After securing a second term, the president is com- mitted to bipartisan solutions "to reduce our deficit in a bal- anced way, cut taxes for middle class families and small busi- nesses and create jobs," and he told congressional leaders as much in phone calls, the White House said. cent to 7,232.83. The CAC-40 in France dropped 2 percent to 3,409.59. Sentiment has also been hit by a downbeat set of European eco- nomic forecasts from the Euro- pean Commission. The executive arm of the European Union now expects the 17-country eurozone to contract by0.4 percent this year and to grow by only 0.1 percent next year. Figures showing that Ger- many, Europe's largest economy, saw industrial production in September fell by 1.8 percent, worse than market expectations for minus 0.6 percent, also hurt sentiment. The turnaround in stocks mar- kets was evident in currencies, too- when risk appetite wanes, the dollar usually finds support. By late afternoon London time, the euro was 0.4 percent lower at $1.2762, a full cent lower than where it had been trading earlier. Investors are also turning their attention toward a crucial vote in the Greek Parliament later in the day. If lawmakers don't back a 13.5 billion ($17.3 billion) package of spending cuts and tax increases, the coun- try faces the prospect of los- ing access to its bailout lifeline and potentially defaulting on its mountain of debt and leaving the euro. That toxic combination could have massive negative reper- cussions in financial markets, regardless of whether a biparti- san budget solution is reached in the U.S. in the coming weeks. "Strange to think that over 100 million votes cast in the U.S. may have less impact upon the markets over the next month or so than some 300 votes due to be cast in the Greek parliament this evening," said Gary Jenkins, managing director of Swordfish Research. Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nik- kei 225 index closed marginally lower at 8,972.89. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.7 percent to 22,099.85. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.5 percent to 1,937.55. 39 dead after strong Legalization of pot in two quake in Guatemala states challenges drug war Hundreds more reported injured or missing in 22 states SAN MARCOS, Guatemala (AP) - A 7.4-magnitude earth- quake rocked Guatemala on Wednesday, killing at least 39 people as it toppled thick adobe walls, shook huge landslides down onto highways, and sent terrified villagers streaming into the streets of this .idyllic moun- tain town near the border with Mexico. One hundred people were missing, and hundreds were injured. The quake, which hit at 10:35 a.m. in the midst of the work day, caused terror over an unusually wide area, with damage reported in all but one of Guatemala's 22 states and shaking felt as far away as Mexico City, 600 miles to the northwest. San Marcos, where more than 30 homes collapsed, bore the brunt of the temblor's fury. More than 300 people, includ- ing firefighters, policemen and villagers, tried to dig through a half ton of sand at a quarry in the commercial center of town in a desperate attempt to rescue seven people believed buried alive. Among those under the sand was a 6-year-old boy who had accom- panied his grandfather to work. "I want to see Giovanni! I want to see Giovanni!" the boy's mother, 42-year-old Francisca Ramirez, frantically cried. "He's not dead. Get him out." She said the boy's father had emigrated to the U.S. and there was no way to reach him. President Otto Perez Molina flew to San Marcos to view the damage. He said the death toll stood at 39, most of it in this lush mountainous region of 50,000 indigenous farmers and ranchers, many belonging to the Mam eth- nic group. "One thing is to hear about what happened and another thing entirely is to see it," Perez told The Associated Press. "As a Guatemalan I feel sad ... to see mothers crying for their lost chil- dren." The president said the govern- ment would pay for the funerals of all victims in the poor region. Many of the colorful adobe buildings in the 10-square-mile center of San Marcos were either cracked or reduced to rubble, including the police station and the courthouse. The temblor left a large gash in one of the streets, and hundreds of frightened vil- lagers stood in the open, refusing to go back inside. Hundreds of people crammed into the hallways of the small town hospitalwaitingfor medical staff to help injured family mem- bers, some complainingtheywere not getting care quickly enough. Ingrid Lopez, who went to the hospital with a 72-year-old aunt whose legs were crushed by a falling wall, said she had waited hours for an X-ray. "We ask the president to improve conditions at the hospi- tal," she said. "There isn't enough staff." The quake, which was 20 miles deep, was centered 15 miles off the coastal town of Champerico and 100 miles southwest of Gua- temala City. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Guatemala since a 1976 temblor that killed 23,000. Officials said most of 100 missing were from San Marcos, which is surrounded by lush mountains. The mainly indige- nous inhabitants farm corn and heard cattle, mostly for their own survival. Colorado and Washington to allow recreatioinal marijuana use DENVER (AP) - First came marijuana as medicine. Now comes legal pot for the people. Those who have argued for, decades that legalizing and taxing weed would be better than a costly, failed U.S. drug war have their chance to prove it, as Colorado and Washington became the first states to allow pot for recreational use. While the measures earned support from broad swaths of the electorate in both states Tuesday, they are likely to face resistance from federal drug warriors. As of Wednesday, authorities did not say whether they would challenge the new laws. Pot advocates say a fight is exactly what they want. "I think we are at a tipping point on marijuana policy," said Brian Vicente, co-author of Colorado's marijuana measure. "We are going to see whether marijuana prohibition survives, or whether we should try a new and more sensible approach." Soon after the measures passed, cheering people poured out of bars in Denver, the tangy scent of pot filling the air, and others in Seattle lit up in cel- ebration. Authorities in Colorado, however, urged caution. "Fed- eral law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly," said Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who opposed the measure. As the initial celebration dies down and the process to passed across the country in implement the laws progresses the 1930s. over the next year, other states Pot has come a long way and countries will be watch- since. In the 1960s, it was a ing to see if the measures can counterculture fixture. In both help reduce money going 1971, President Richard Nixon to drug cartels and raise it for declared the War on Drugs. governments. Twenty-five years later, Cali- Governments in Latin Amer- fornia approved medical ica where drugs are produced marijuana. Now, 17 states and for the U.S. market were largely Washington, D.C., allow it. quiet about the measures, but Meanwhile, many more cit- the main adviser to Mexico's ies either took pot possession president-elect said the new crimes off the books or direct- laws will force the U.S. and his ed officers to make marijuana country to reassess how they arrests a low priority. fight cross-border pot smug- On Tuesday night, broad sec- gling. tions of the electorate in Colo- Analysts said that there rado and Washington backed would likely be an impact on the measures, some because cartels in Mexico that send pot they thought the drug war had to the U.S., but differed on how failed and others because they soon and how much. viewed potential revenue as Both measures call for the a boon for their states in lean drug to be heavily taxed, with times. A similar measure in the profits headed to state cof- Oregon failed. fers. Colorado would devote, "People think little old ladies the potential tax revenue first with glaucoma should be able to school construction, while to use marijuana. This is differ- Washington's sends pot taxes ent. This is a step further than' to an array of health programs. anything we have seen to date," Estimates vary widely on said Sam Kamin, a University how much they would raise. of Denver law professor who Colorado officials anticipate has studied the history of pot somewhere between $5 million prohibition. and $22 million a year. Wash- The Justice Department says ington analysts estimated legal it is evaluating the measures. pot could produce nearly $2 When California was consider- billion over five years. ing legalization in 2010, Attor- Both state estimates came ney General Eric Holder said it with big caveats: The current would be a "significant impedi- illegal marijuana market is ment" to joint federal and local hard to gauge and any revenue efforts to combat drug traffick- would be contingent upon fed- ers. eral authorities allowing com- Federal agents have cracked mercial pot sales in the first down on medical pot dispen- place, something that is very saries in states where it is much still in question. legal, including California and Both measures remove crim- Washington. Individual pot inal penalties for adults over 21 users may not be immediately possessing small amounts of impacted, as authorities have the drug - the boldest rejec- long focused on dismantling tion of pot prohibition laws trafficking operations.