NJ Nursing Home Aide Allegedly Beat 89-Year-Old Patient With Dirty Diaper
An employee of a South Jersey retirement home was indicted this week on assault charges, accused of beating an 89-year-old Alzheimer’s patient with a dirty diaper, authorities said. Karen A. Long, 57, worked at the Woodbury Mews in Woodbury, a senior living facility that bills itself as “The Community That Treats You Like Family.” In the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 13, another employee at the home spotted Long striking a patient in the head with a soiled adult diaper, authorities said. The man was in the facility’s memory-impaired unit, which charges up to $5,400 per month for its assisted living services, according to the center’s web site. Long, of Salem County, has been charged with assaulting an institutionalized elderly person and faces 18 months in jail if convicted. According to court records, Long has previous convictions for welfare fraud and drug possession. [via INQURIER]
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JI SHEHAD: Al-Qaeda Blows Up 2 Retarded Women In Marketplace, 73 Dead
Remote-controlled explosives strapped to two mentally retarded women detonated in a coordinated attack on Baghdad pet bazaars Friday, Iraqi officials said, killing at least 73 people in the deadliest day since the U.S. sent 30,000 extra troops to the capital last spring. The chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, claimed the female bombers had Down syndrome and that the explosives were detonated by remote control, indicating they may not having been willing attackers in what could be a new method by suspected Sunni insurgents to subvert stepped up security measures. The first attack Friday occurred at about 10:20 a.m. in the central al-Ghazl market. Four police and hospital officials said at least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded. Firefighters scooped up debris scattered among pools of blood, clothing and pigeon carcasses. About 20 minutes later, a second female suicide bomber struck a bird market in a predominantly Shiite area in southeastern Baghdad. That blast killed as many as 27 people and wounded 67, according to police and hospital officials. One witness who declined to be identified told AP Television News that the woman said she had birds to sell, then blew herself up as people gathered around to inspect them. [via ABC NEWS]
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EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: Microsoft Offers To Buy Yahoo for $44.6 Billion
NEW YORK (Dow Jones) — Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) went public Friday with an offer to buy Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) for $44.6 billion, a move designed to create a more credible competitor to industry leader Google Inc. (GOOG) and deepen Microsoft’s position in the market for online business software. The offer, for $31 a share in cash and stock, represents a 62% premium to Yahoo’s closing price Thursday. It comes offer comes as Yahoo continues to struggle against Google in the race for online-advertising revenue and Internet — search market share despite efforts to upgrade its systems. Yahoo’s shares have lost about 40% of their value over the past three months. Yahoo shares jumped 45% to $27.88, but haven’t topped $31, indicating the market doesn’t expect a higher competing bid. Microsoft fell 5.4% to $30.87. Google, already down after issuing weaker than expected fourth-quarter results Thursday evening, was trading 9.2% lower early Friday. A deal would bring together two pioneers in their respective industries that stagnated as new competitors did a better job of adapting to changing technology and the habits of users. It’s unclear how well a combination of those cultures would work. Microsoft is widely viewed as a lumbering technology giant struggling to become more nimble, while Yahoo is trying to recapture the spark of its more free-wheeling days as an Internet startup. Yahoo, however, would add a commanding presence in Internet content and users to Microsoft’s deep pockets and near monopoly over the desktop software that enables most routine computer use. [via DOW JONES]