The earthquake was located 24 miles north of Cumberland, Ontario and 33 miles northeast of Ottawa. The quake’s depth was measured at 11.2 miles.
Many people in north Toronto felt the shakes in their offices.

WASHINGTON — A Democratic plan to rein in the financial industry is flawed because it fails to tighten control over two large government-sponsored mortgage companies blamed for creating a demand for risky loans and inflating the housing bubble, a leading GOP senator on banking issues says.

The legislation “touches nearly every corner of the economy,” Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby said in the GOP weekly radio and Internet address. “But these major contributors to the crisis are left unscathed,” he added, singling out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“For years, Democrats blocked meaningful reform of Fannie and Freddie, and not much has changed,” Shelby said.

The broadest changes in banking rules since the Great Depression are aimed to prevent a repeat of the near-meltdown that buckled Wall Street in 2008.

The Senate bill would create a council of regulators to oversee risks in the financial system and set up a mechanism to liquidate companies that are too large and interconnected to go through bankruptcy. It also would create an independent consumer protection bureau to police lending and bring previously unregulated complex securities under government oversight.

The Senate is debating the bill. The House passed similar legislation in December.

Obama administration officials have said that while the housing market remains unstable, it is too early to undertake wholesale changes in the housing finance system.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy mortgages from lenders and package them into bonds that are resold to global investors. When the housing bubble burst, the government had to step in and take them over.

Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and fellow Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Judd Gregg of New Hampshire have proposed requiring the government to give up control of Fannie and Freddie within two years and then take steps to get out of the business of mortgage finance. This plan would also repeal the companies’ mandates to promote affordable housing.

Story continues below

A vote on the amendment could come as early as Tuesday.

Shelby also criticized the bill’s consumer protection provisions, saying they overreach and could affect businesses that are not primarily financial companies. He also said the bill’s call for an independent consumer protection bureau within the Federal Reserve would pose risks because it would separate consumer protections from regulators who look out for the safety and soundness of banks.

An alternative consumer provision offered by Republicans last week failed, with two Republicans joining all Democrats in voting in down.

___

On the Net:

GOP address: http://tinyurl.com/22rjeyf

Get HuffPost Business OnTwitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz! Know something we don’t? E-mail us at huffpostbiz

View the Original article

MANASSAS PARK, Va. — There are mothers who will spend today missing sons and daughters fighting overseas. There are women who have lost children in those wars, for whom Mother’s Day will never be the same.

And then there is Eva Briseno.

Joseph Briseno Jr., Eva’s 27-year-old son, is one of the most severely wounded soldiers ever to survive. A bullet to the back of his head in a Baghdad marketplace in 2003 left him paralyzed, brain-damaged and blind, but awake and aware of his condition.

Eva takes care of “Jay” in her suburban Virginia home where the family room has been transformed into an intensive care unit, with the breathing machine and tubes he needs to stay alive.

Try to imagine this life.

Each day starts with two hours of bowel care, an ordeal as awful as it sounds. She labors over his body, brushing his teeth, suctioning fluid from his lungs, exercising his limp arms and legs, and turning him every other hour to prevent bedsores.

She sleeps a few hours at a time, when the schedule says it is her turn, often slumped in exhaustion by his side.

She has been out to dinner with her husband, Joseph Sr., once in seven years.

She could have a better life if she put Jay in a nursing home. Or if she went back to using the home health care nurses the government provided. But one looked indifferently without wiping Jay’s mouth when he drooled. Others fell asleep on the night shift, inattentive while Jay suffered seizures.

Story continues below

It’s hard for a mother to watch such lapses. The nurses don’t love Jay. His parents do. So they have chosen to care for him on their own, and you will not find them feeling sorry for themselves – only for him.

A lesser man would leave, Eva says of her spouse, whom she has known since grade school in their homeland, the Philippines. A lesser woman would cringe at the wound care and bodily indignities that Eva has learned to manage for her son, Joseph says.

“I can’t walk away from this. She can’t. I’m very proud of my wife,” he said.

What keeps Eva going is hope that stem cells or some future treatment advance will help her son.

“I do believe in miracles,” she says.

Yet desperation clouds her prayers. “Most of the time I ask God if I can take Jay’s place,” she confesses, unable to suppress a sob.

Hearing his mother, Jay cries too, the tears silently slipping from his blind eyes.

For Eva, the tears began the day Jay shipped out, on his 20th birthday in 2003. He was a student at George Mason University, hoping to become a forensic scientist. He had joined the Army Reserves and was surprised to be called up so soon. Eva took a cake to his unit before he left.

At first, she wasn’t very worried: Jay was assigned to civilian work, building community relations. A few months later, the call came. One of those civilians had shot Jay in the back of the head at point-blank range. His spinal cord was shattered, and cardiac arrests led to brain damage that left him unable to see or to speak more than an occasional word.

His family became a mass casualty of the wound.

His parents quit their jobs and drained their savings to take care of him after he came home from hospitals and rehabilitation centers. His younger sisters, Malerie and Sherilyn, help when they can, and Joseph does a big share. But much of the care falls to Eva, a small, doe-eyed woman who weighs 100 pounds to Jay’s 147.

At first, she took care of Jay in the basement, using a hoist that some charities provided to lift him into a wheelchair and the shower. But descending those stairs became a descent into hell. After a while, Eva could no longer bear caring for him in that cavelike setting.

So they moved Jay upstairs, surrounding him with white walls, bright flowers and Washington Redskins gear so he will have cheerful things to look at in case he has glimmers of vision the doctors can’t detect.

Eva fills his days by reading him news stories, telling him how good he looks and how nicely he is dressed, and playing the “young people music” he likes on the radio. He grins when the Redskins win, or when Linkin Park, Eminem, Jay-Z or Beyonce are on. Others get a grimace.

“He doesn’t like Mariah Carey or Kelly Clarkson,” Eva laughs.

She reminisces about Jay as a teen who loved track and field, played pranks on his sisters, tested her nerves when he was learning to drive, and hosted parties with friends in that basement she now avoids.

Jay’s care requires a schedule with such military precision that trips to the grocery store or to church must be planned two days in advance.

It starts at 6 a.m., when Eva gives Jay medicines, logs his blood pressure and temperature, and begins his bowel care. That involves properly positioning him, giving suppositories and bathing him afterward. If it’s not done right, he can suffer obstruction or impaction, and they’ve been down that road before.

Next comes grooming, and cleaning the breathing tube that attaches to his respirator. By noon, Jay is dressed and into a wheelchair, a lunchtime sludge of nutrients draining into his feeding tube while he listens to the TV. Afternoons bring physical therapy and twice-weekly prayer sessions with a deacon who comes to their home.

At night, they give Jay breathing treatments, empty his urine bag and weigh its contents, because a change in volume can be a sign of trouble.

When taking care of such basic needs in babies, “you see them grow” and have the joy of watching them progress, Eva said. “Now, every day is the same,” and the only changes are bad ones, she said, starting to cry again.

A year ago, Jay had a setback and lost the ability to swallow. Two months ago, he suffered a nicked kidney and internal bleeding after an operation for kidney stones.

When the doctors showed Eva his big wound and how to care for it, “I thought at first, ‘I cannot do it,’” she said. But again, she rose to the occasion.

The degree of care the Brisenos provide is unusual, said Dr. Mitchell Wallin, one of Jay’s doctors and a neurologist at Georgetown University and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

“Most patients in this kind of condition would not be able to live at home,” Wallin said. The Brisenos “are doing an incredible job,” he said. “They don’t take enough breaks. They’re almost too dedicated.”

Jay’s father has a plan: forming his own home health care agency to supply nurses for Jay and other wounded veterans.

“The only way we can move on with our lives is to hire and interview, from the start, these nurses,” he said. “One of them straight up told us, ‘I’m in it for the money.’ We just looked at each other and said, ‘You’re in the wrong house. You’re not coming back here.’”

The Brisenos are proud of their son’s service despite the price they all pay for it now.

“This is the effects of war, its effects on families. War is ugly and the American people need to know this,” said Jay’s father, who spent 17 years in the Army himself.

Eva admits regret but also feels gratitude.

“Probably other mothers regret having their sons or daughters go to war, especially when they come home hurt. It’s not easy seeing your child be in this position,” she said. “We are so proud of Jay and we thank God every single day that we have him.”

___

On the Net:

Brisenos on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/ya5rjfa

also http://www.caringbridge.org/va/jaysjourney/

Motherhood award nominees: http://tinyurl.com/ydnvpus

Charities: http://www.rebuildingtogether.org/

http://www.homefrontonline.com

Mother’s DayIraqWar WireMANASSAS PARK, Va. — There are mothers who will spend today missing sons and daughters fighting overseas. There are women who have lost children in those wars, for whom Mother’s Day will never b…MANASSAS PARK, Va. — There are mothers who will spend today missing sons and daughters fighting overseas. There are women who have lost children in those wars, for whom Mother’s Day will never b… Report CorrectionsWhat’s Your Reaction?Amazing
Inspiring
Funny
Scary
Hot
Crazy
Important
Weird
More on Huffington Post…

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

View the Original article

ATLANTA — Orlando keeps on winning, even when Dwight Howard doesn’t stand out.

One more Magic victory will finish off the Atlanta Hawks.

Rashard Lewis scored 22 points and the backups helped Orlando pull away early with Howard on the bench as the Magic handed the Atlanta Hawks the worst home playoff loss in team history and moved to the brink of their second straight sweep with a 105-75 victory on Saturday.

Howard had 21 points and 16 rebounds but was hardly dominating. No problem for the Magic, who have so many complements to Superman and allowed many of them to shine in Orlando’s seventh straight postseason victory and 13th straight win overall.

Lewis knocked down four 3-pointers. Jameer Nelson scored 14 points. Mickael Pietrus chipped in with 13, hitting three shots from outside the arc. Marcin Gortat, Howard’s backup, grabbed six rebounds in less than 10 minutes. All 10 Orlando players who got on the court made it to the scoresheet.

The Magic are up 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, winning by an average margin of 29 points. Game 4 is Monday night, and about all the Hawks are playing for is pride. No NBA team has ever come back from such a daunting deficit, and the challenge looks even greater considering how well the Magic are playing.

Atlanta never led in this one and was trailing 24-16 when Howard picked up his second foul with 1:45 left in the opening quarter. Even with its big man on the bench, Orlando just kept adding to it lead.

Lewis hit a jumper and Gortat flew through the lane for a dunk that gave the Magic a 28-18 lead after one period. The Hawks never got the margin under double figures again.

Orlando dazzled with crisp passing, always seeming to find the open man. Nelson swished a 3-pointer to make it 33-20, prompting Atlanta to call an early timeout in hopes of finding something, anything to slow the Magic.

Story continues below

No chance.

Even with only one starter on the court, Orlando kept the Hawks in check. By the time Howard returned to the game with just under 7 1/4 minutes left in the first half, the Magic were comfortably ahead 38-24. After Mike Bibby missed a 3-pointer, Howard grabbed the rebound and the Magic worked the ball to Pietrus for a 3-pointer that stretched the margin to 41-24.

The Magic went to the locker room with its biggest lead of the half, 52-33, after a most telling sequence. The Hawks failed to beat the 24-second clock and Orlando went to the other end for yet another trey from Lewis. Atlanta fired up one final miss ahead of the clock, leaving the court to a round of boos from the home crowd.

Showing his frustration, Josh Smith pushed away a cameraman who was attempting to follow him off the court.

The Hawks shot only 35 percent (29 of 83), and their best player was the biggest culprit. Joe Johnson made only 3 of 15 attempts to finish with eight points. Jamal Crawford led the Hawks with 22 points.

Late in the third quarter, Orlando stretched its lead to 26 points. At that point, Howard’s numbers looked rather mortal – 11 points and nine rebounds. He did the bulk of his scoring and rebounding after the game was long since decided.

Not too many fans were around for the ending. When J.J. Redick swished a 3-pointer to make it 88-59 with more than 8 minutes remaining, many in the crowd popped out of their seats and headed for the exits.

The Magic led by as many as 31 in the final quarter – not quite as dominating as their 43-point win at home in Game 1, but not too far off considering this rout came on the road.

Orlando hasn’t lost in more than a month, and the Hawks – a 53-win team that claimed the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference – surely don’t look like a group that has any chance of ending that streak.

The Magic’s last defeat was a 112-100 setback at San Antonio on April 2. They have lost only three times in their past 30 games, showing they are very much a team that can challenge the two No. 1 seeds, Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers.

As for the Hawks, the end is near.

This is a team that could be headed for a major overhaul despite five straight years of steady improvement.

Johnson heads into free agency this summer, and there’s no assurance the Hawks will be willing to give up the maximum deal it will likely take to keep him. Coach Mike Woodson’s contract is up, as well, and the team has declined to even start talks on a new agreement until after the season.

NOTES: The Magic dominated the boards, finishing with a 51-34 rebounding edge. But their margin was largely piled up on all those Atlanta misses – Orlando had a 41-22 lead in defensive rebounds. … Three technicals were called, all in the third quarter: Smith for Atlanta, Nick Barnes and coach Stan Van Gundy for Orlando.

Get HuffPost Sports OnTwitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz! Know something we don’t? E-mail us at sports

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

View the Original article

SALT LAKE CITY — Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher hit back-to-back 3-pointers during an 8-2 run in the final minute and the Lakers held on for a 111-110 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night that put Los Angeles on the verge of sweeping the Western Conference playoff series.

The Jazz had two chances to win it in the final 4 seconds, but Deron Williams missed from the top of the key and Wesley Matthews’ tip just before the buzzer bounced off the rim.

Bryant finished with 35 points and Fisher scored 20 for the Lakers, who can close out the four-game sweep with a win Monday night in Game 4. Pau Gasol added 14 points and 17 rebounds for Los Angeles.

Williams scored 28 and Kyle Korver added a career playoff-high 23 points for the Jazz.

Ron Artest scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half for the Lakers, who never led by more than four but stayed close enough to win it in a thrilling final minute.

Bryant’s 3-pointer with 54 seconds left tied it at 106. After a jumper by Williams, Fisher hit another from beyond the arc to put the Lakers up 109-108 with 28.6 seconds left.

Carlos Boozer, who had 14 points and 14 rebounds, missed a putback attempt and the Jazz had to foul Bryant, who hit both free throws for a 111-108 lead with 7.8 seconds left. Williams drew a foul with 6.1 seconds and made both from the line to cut it to 111-110

Lakers couldn’t inbound the ball and called timeout. They tried again, but Fisher fell before he could get the pass from Artest, and Korver grabbed the loose ball and called timeout with 4.4 seconds left. Fisher thought he was fouled by Wesley Matthews and stood with his arms in the air asking why there was no call.

After the timeout, Williams’ shot from the top of the key bounced off the rim. There was still enough time for Matthews to get a hand on the rebound, but his tip also bounced off and the Lakers leaped off the bench to celebrate.

Story continues below

This is the third straight playoffs the Lakers have played the Jazz and Los Angeles had lost Game 3 in Utah each of the previous two.

Andrei Kirilenko returned from more than a month out with a strained left calf and had eight points and six rebounds. Paul Millsap added 13 points for Utah.

Kirilenko got a standing ovation when he entered with 6:54 left in the first. He had three rebounds and two points in less than a minute, tipping in his own miss with 6:07 left. He added a block on Bryant with 5:24 left in the period.

NOTES: The Jazz shot 11 for 18 in the second quarter. … Bryant had 20 points at halftime – four more than the rest of the Lakers’ starters combined. … Bryant scored the Lakers’ first nine points. … Gasol had 10 points in the period after scoring just four in the first half. … Korver’s previous playoff high was 14 against the Lakers two years ago.

Get HuffPost Sports OnTwitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz! Know something we don’t? E-mail us at sports

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

View the Original article

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — One round away from one of the biggest wins of his career, Lee Westwood of England knows what to expect on the final day of The Players Championship.

Not only because of his 16 years and his 30 victories worldwide, or his 54-hole lead last month at the Masters.

Saturday on the TPC Sawgrass was enough of a reminder.

Westwood watched a two-shot lead turn into a two-shot deficit. Over the final hour, Robert Allenby picked up three shots on the last three holes, while Heath Slocum dropped four shots on the last six holes.

The day ended with Westwood hitting a daring shot with a 6-iron through a gap in the trees for a par on the 18th hole for a 2-under 70 to finish the third round with a one-shot lead, same as he started. He has more company now – Masters champion Phil Mickelson included – but the course is as significant as the names behind him on the leaderboard.

“There was no real scope for thinking about anything else other than what I was doing,” Westwood said. “It’s that kind of golf course. If you play well, birdies are available. If you don’t hit good shots, they penalize you. That’s what good golf courses do to you.”

This day, there was a little of both.

Mickelson suddenly was back in the picture, along with that No. 1 ranking, because of his 66 that put him five shots behind.

Tiger Woods was not, courtesy of a bogey-bogey finish for a 71 that put him 10 shots behind.

Story continues below

Allenby was five shots behind when he walked off the 13th tee. He made up ground quickly with a 6-iron to about 12 feet on the par-5 16th for eagle, then a 12-foot birdie on the island-green 17th that curled into the side of the cup. He shot a 67 to get in the final group.

“That’s the thing,” Allenby said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen out there. All you can do is just play your own golf. But I knew I had to push it a little bit just to try to get within reach. Obviously, the leaderboard changed a couple of times through the back nine. Luckily for me, I did well on the finishing holes.”

Westwood was at 14-under 202.

“The golf course changed a lot. It got really firm this afternoon,” Westwood said. “I thought I played well – gave myself a lot of chances, missed a couple, but all in all, I was pleased with the way I played. I didn’t make too many poor shots out there.”

He certainly didn’t on the 18th after his drive landed in a drain grate. He took a free drop, saw a gap in the trees and hit a 6-iron onto the green to give himself another shot at winning.

“Had to go under one limb and then over the next lot of trees,” Westwood said. “It just looked perfect for the trajectory.”

Mickelson began the day nine shots out of the lead, same as Woods.

They went opposite directions, however. Mickelson didn’t make a bogey until the final hole for a 66 to put himself back into the picture, just five shots behind Westwood. The 10 players ahead of him have a combined 14 victories on the PGA Tour.

“I feel like things started to click a little bit today, and I think I’ve got one more low round in me,” Mickelson said. “I just hope that it will be enough, that I’ll be within striking distance.”

To reach No. 1 for the first time in his career, Mickelson has to win and have Woods finish out of the top five. Woods did hit part with a bogey-bogey finish for a 71 that put him 10 shots behind in a tie for 45th. Woods final bogey came after he popped up another 3-wood and had to hit fairway metal to the green.

It was the second time this week he hit a fairway metal for his second shot to a par 4.

“I had it going for a little bit,” Woods said. “I thought if I could have birdied 16 and 17, I’d have been right back in the tournament.”

Even for the 14 players separated by five shots, so much depends on Westwood and Allenby.

U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, the only player in the top 10 with a major, didn’t make a birdie until the ninth hole in his round of 69. He was at 12-under 204, along with Torrey Pines winner Ben Crane (68) and Francesco Molinari of Italy, who had a 71.

Slocum, who won the opening playoff event last year against a cast of stars, ran off three birdies in four holes around the turn to reach 15 under until a three-putt from the fringe below a steep ridge on the 13th changed everything. Slocum also bogeyed the 15th, then dumped his tee shot into the water on the par-3 17th for a double bogey. After all that work, he shot 72.

“What I’m going to have to do tomorrow is play perfect and finish strong,” Slocum said.

His poor finish put him at 11-under 205, three shots behind and tied with Tim Clark (66), Charley Hoffman (69) and Chris Stroud (66), a newcomer to this stage.

Westwood closed out both of his nines well. He hit a towering 5-wood over the trees on the par-5 ninth for a simple up-and-down for birdie, then the 6-iron on the 18th through the trees. His lone birdie on the back required a small break when his tee shot went through some pines and left him only an 8-iron to the green at the par-5 16th.

Get HuffPost Sports OnTwitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz! Know something we don’t? E-mail us at sports

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

View the Original article

In honor of Mother’s Day, HuffPost Impact presents It Just Takes One, a series on children and the tutors, mentors, guardians and others who have made a difference in their lives. Read the complete series and have a Happy Mother’s Day!

This is not your typical “helping Africa” story. No Sally Struthers infomercial. No pleas from Bono (though if you want that, here you go!).

Not to say that celebrities aren’t doing fantastic work in Africa, but this story takes place out of the spotlight. It’s about Deb McNally, a mother and wife from Wisconsin. She spent the majority of the last 20 years raising and educating her two sons. She home-schooled them both through 8th grade, and then they went off to high school. Finding herself alone in her home during the day, she realized something was missing.

“When my youngest went off to high school, I found myself without the need to teach, but still a great desire to teach,” she said. “I decided to get creative and see if there was a way to combine my love of teaching and travel and I started looking around for volunteer opportunities.”

She discovered Global Volunteers, an organization that connects individuals with volunteer opportunities around the world, where they can work with communities, provide health care, take care of children, or an assortment of other tasks. When Deb saw a photo of children in Senchi Ferry, a village in Ghana, making her decision was easy. She decided to spend two weeks there with Global Volunteers, teaching children English. That was in April 2007.

“I went for two weeks, but I never imagined that my life would be turned around by that first experience,” she told me. “The kids just came in droves — they would walk a mile and a half to two miles just to have an opportunity to be taught.”

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

View the Original article

LOS ANGELES — Robert Downey Jr. is packing a bigger box-office punch with his second “Iron Man” movie.

“Iron Man 2″ took in $52.4 million domestically on its opening day Friday. That’s nearly a 50 percent increase over the $35.2 million first day of the original “Iron Man” two years ago.

That puts the Paramount release based on the Marvel Comics superhero on track for a debut weekend of $125 million to $135 million, which would make it the fifth-biggest opening weekend on the box-office charts.

The first “Iron Man” movie had a $98.6 million debut weekend.

“Iron Man 2″ has taken in nearly $150 million overseas since it debuted in many international markets last week. Worldwide, the movie has climbed to a $200 million total.

Get HuffPost Entertainment OnTwitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz! Know something we don’t? E-mail us at entertainment

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

View the Original article

Get HuffPost Entertainment OnTwitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz! Know something we don’t? E-mail us at entertainment

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

View the Original article

Boulder Daily Camera:

UQM Technologies is proof that the federal recovery act is working, Vice President Joe Biden said Friday at the company’s new facility just east of Longmont.

Last year, UQM won a $45 million grant that was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to ramp up its production of propulsion systems for electronic vehicles.

Read the whole story: Boulder Daily Camera

Get HuffPost Denver OnTwitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz!Know something we don’t? E-mail us at denver

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

View the Original article