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Searching for Supplies: Reuters: “Desperation gripped Philippine islands devastated by Typhoon Haiyan as looting turned deadly on Wednesday and survivors panicked over shortages of food, water and medicine, some digging up underground water pipes and smashing them open. Five days after one of the strongest storms ever recorded slammed into cities and towns in the central Philippines, anger and frustration boiled over on Wednesday as essential supplies dwindled. Some survivors scrawled signs reading ‘Help us’.”
Looting Turns Deadly: Washington Post: “Government officials say that more than 1,000 armed forces personnel have been deployed nationwide to restore order, and in Tacloban, local police have imposed an evening curfew. But roughly 10 miles outside of the city Tuesday, a mob of looters ransacked a government building storing packages of rice, Rex Estoperez, a spokesman for the National Food Authority, said in a telephone interview. The incident illustrated much about the hasty relief efforts, Estoperez said. The packages of rice were not piled securely, and when the looters entered the building, the rice bags collapsed, knocking over a wall and killing eight of the looters. The others in the mob walked out with whatever they could grab — thousands of sacks of rice, which they are trying to resell locally for 1,000 pesos ($45) per sack.”
Help On the Way: New York Times: “International relief groups said they were rapidly escalating their response to the storm in Tacloban and elsewhere. Doctors Without Borders, the Paris-based medical provider, said its teams had traveled by car, boat, plane and helicopter to some of the more outlying areas of northern Cebu island, eastern Samar island, Panay island and western Leyte Province, where neither the Philippines government and other agencies had been able to reach. The teams found desperation, the group said in a statement. The village of Guiuan in Samar was flattened and half of Roxas City on Panay was destroyed. ‘Access is extremely difficult and is preventing people from receiving help,’ said Natasha Reyes, the group’s emergency coordinator in the Philippines.”
It’s Wednesday, November 13th, welcome to the Slatest PM. Follow your afternoon host on Twitter at @Dan_Gartland, and the whole team at @Slatest.
(Another) School Shooting: Associated Press: “School officials say three students were shot outside a Pittsburgh high school, and police are searching for a gunman. Pittsburgh school district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh says the students were shot outside Brashear High School on Wednesday afternoon as they walked to a vehicle they’d all taken to school earlier in the day. She says their injuries appear to be non-life-threatening. Two were grazed in the head and one was shot in both the foot and arm. It’s not clear who shot them. Pugh says the victims were not on school property but close by.”
Snapshot Turns Down $3 BILLION: Wall Street Journal: “Snapchat, a rapidly growing messaging service, recently spurned an all-cash acquisition offer from Facebook for $3 billion or more, according to people briefed on the matter. The offer, and rebuff, came as Snapchat is being wooed by other investors and potential acquirers. Chinese e-commerce giant Tencent Holdings had offered to lead an investment that would value two-year-old Snapchat at $4 billion. Evan Spiegel, Snapchat’s 23-year-old co-founder and CEO, will not likely consider an acquisition or an investment at least until early next year, the people briefed on the matter said. They said Spiegel is hoping Snapchat’s numbers – of users and messages – will grow enough by then to justify an even larger valuation, the people said.”
Moneybox: I’m Glad Snapchat Turned Down $3 Billion and You Should Be Too
The First Obamacare Numbers: Washington Post: “Just over 106,000 people selected insurance plans during the health care law’s first month of open enrollment, the Obama administration announced Wednesday. The numbers represent a fraction of the half-million health sign-ups the Obama administration had initially projected, before healthcare.gov’s rocky roll out thwarted many shoppers’ attempts to sign up for insurance. Budget forecasters previously projected that 7 million people would enroll in coverage during this year’s open enrollment period, which runs until March 31.”
Weigel: Obamacare Authors Not Really on Board With This “Gut Obamacare” Idea
Get Ready For More Rob Ford Details: Toronto Sun: “Among the redacted information to be released are interviews with former Ford staffers Mark Towhey, David Price and George Christopoulos, according to media lawyer Iain MacKinnon… Some of the most startling allegations concern the night of March 17, 2012. Former special assistant of communications Isaac Ransom told police, according to MacKinnon, that he was summoned to City Hall about 9 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day in 2012 and found Ford there with a few people including a woman he believed may be an escort. He said Ford had drank half of a 40 oz bottle of vodka and was talking about getting hammered and getting laid that night. His staff tried unsuccessfully to convince him not to go to Bier Markt, according to Ransom. He said he did manage to stop Ford from smoking pot in his office before he left. He said he’s never seen him do cocaine.”
The Slatest: The Rob Ford Show Continues In What Feels Like Slow Motion
Whitey Bulger Update: NBC News: “A defiant Whitey Bulger refused to look at the families of his victims as they spoke Wednesday at the Boston mob boss’ sentencing hearing. They called him a coward, a domestic terrorist, a psycho, Satan — and a rat, a label the former FBI informant despises. They demanded he pay attention as they vented grief and rage they have carried for decades. ‘Look at me,’ pleaded Theresa Barrett Bond, daughter of Arthur ‘Bucky’ Barrett, who was killed in 1983. Bulger, who will likely be sent to prison for the rest of his life when the judge sentences him Thursday, instead studied the papers in front of him.”
Sports Nut: Chasing Andrew Wiggins
Domestic Terrorism?: Associated Press: “Medford, Ore.’s police chief says more federal agents are arriving to help investigate the detonation of an explosive device that damaged the Jackson County prosecutor’s office. Police Chief Tim George also said Wednesday he considers the early-morning explosion an act of domestic terrorism, but the FBI said it was too early to call it that. No one was hurt in the blast that shattered windows and damaged the exterior of the brick building.”
Future Tense: After Fukushima, Japan Finds Beauty in Solar Power
An”Accident,” You Say?: Associated Press: “More than three years after the naked, decomposing body of British spy Gareth Williams was discovered stuffed inside a locked gym bag at the bottom of his bathtub, the mystery over his bizarre death lingers, and a police investigation has done little to clear it up. London’s Metropolitan Police said Wednesday that their investigation had found that Williams likely died in an accident with no one else involved. But the tentative conclusion, which the police hedged by acknowledging many gaps haven’t been filled in, is unlikely to calm conspiracy theories surrounding the case.”
See you back here tomorrow. Until then, tell your friends to subscribe, or simply forward the newsletter on and let them make up their own minds.
