Tech stocks, once highfliers, drop; Nasdaq sinks

NEW YORK -- A slump in Internet and other technology stocks pulled the broader market lower Friday, as traders turned on the same companies they flocked to earlier this year. Google, Netflix and other pillars of the Internet economy took a beating.

It was a bad day in an otherwise decent week. The Standard & Poor's 500 index ended the week slightly higher.

Mixed signals in the government's monthly jobs report gave investors little direction Friday. The government said that U.S. employers added more workers to their payrolls last month, but the overall report presented a mixed picture, and the unemployment rate remained at 6.7 percent.

The stock market crept higher to start, began losing steam at lunchtime and then turned lower in the afternoon. The jobs report wasn't the culprit, said Uri Landesman, president of the hedge fund Platinum Management. It was likely the "momentum" traders, he said, people who chased high-flying stocks and are having a change of heart.

Tech stocks had soared over the past year, pushing the Nasdaq composite index up 28 percent, as traders piled into Internet and biotechnology companies. Netflix and Facebook, for instance, doubled in price over that time.

"It's like (traders) took a look at some of these high-flying Internet companies and said, "How can I justify these prices?'" Landesman said.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index plunged 110.01 points, or 2.6 percent, to close at 4,127.73, its biggest one-day drop since February.

The S&P 500 index fell 23.68 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,865.09. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 159.84 points, or 1 percent, to 16,412.71.

Utilities, which investors buy to play it safe and collect dividend payments, bucked the overall market and edged higher. Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and other big corporations whose stocks are often less volatile than the broader market also made gains. Coca-Cola climbed 15 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $38.22.

Before the market opened Friday, the Labor Department reported that employers added 192,000 jobs in March. That's less than economists had expected and also below February's total of 197,000. On the bright side, employers added a combined 37,000 more jobs in February and January than the government first estimated. A half-million Americans started looking for work last month, and many of them found jobs.

Earlier in the week, a string of reports on manufacturing and hiring nudged the stock market to its record highs. Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners, said many investors have argued that tough winter weather held the economy back at the start of the year and that things would turn around as temperatures rose. The jobs report, Pavlik said, didn't support their case. "A lot of what people have been saying about payrolls isn't true," he said.

Pavlik said he thinks the economy is likely to keep plodding along. With the market trading near record highs, it's hard for him to see any good reason for stocks to climb much higher.

In the bond market Friday, traders pushed Treasury prices up and yields down. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.73 percent from 2.80 percent late Thursday. The price of crude oil rose 85 cents to settle at $101.14 a barrel. Gold gained $18.90 to close at $1,303.50 an ounce, its biggest gain in three weeks.

Among other companies making big moves:

— GrubHub jumped 31 percent in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The online food delivery company, which runs the Seamless website, raised $192.5 million in its initial public offering late Thursday, selling shares at $26 each. GrubHub's stock jumped $8 to $34.

— CarMax slumped after the seller of used cars said its quarterly income dropped as an accounting correction outweighed higher demand for cars. The company's stock slumped $2, or 4 percent, to $45.56.

— News that a Swedish drug company rebuffed a merger offer from Mylan, the generic drugmaker, sent Mylan's stock higher. Mylan rose 77 cents, or 2 percent, to $50.63. Meda AB, the Swedish company, didn't explain why its board turned down the proposal.

Nationals owner says payroll 'beyond topped out'

WASHINGTON -- Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner says the club's payroll is "beyond topped out" and that his family is "not going to do something where we're losing tens of millions of dollars a year."

In a rare, wide-ranging session with reporters before Washington's home opener against the Atlanta Braves on Friday, Lerner said the Nationals are still negotiating about their future Florida spring training home with current site Viera and possible new spot Palm Beach.

Even if the team decides to move its Grapefruit League base, Lerner said it's likely the Nationals will spend one or two more years in Viera.

He said sales of full season tickets and equivalents at Nationals Park were "a little bit ahead of last year," and "just short" of 20,000, where the team would cap such plans.

According to figures obtained by The Associated Press from management and player sources, the Nationals' opening day major league payroll was $134.3 million, which put them ninth out of 30 clubs.

That total represents an increase of more than $20 million from 2013, and more than $50 million from 2012, according to AP calculations.

"We're beyond topped out. Our payroll has skyrocketed to like $140 million. ... I don't think we can go much further with the revenue streams that we have," Lerner said.

Asked about what the team's 2015 payroll might look like, Lerner responded: "We take it one at a time. We'll look at it after the season as far as what we can do. We went into this thing — it's a business. We've got to run it smartly. We're not going to do something where we're losing tens of millions of dollars a year. Anybody can understand that."

His father, Ted, the team's managing principal owner, is a real estate magnate who has a net worth of $4.4 billion, according to Forbes.com.

The Lerners took over the Nationals from Major League Baseball in 2006, the year after the club moved from Montreal to Washington.

The team has remained at Space Coast Stadium in Viera for spring training, but the Lerners have been looking into other options. One possibility is to move to Palm Beach, where a new stadium would need to be built.

"It's been a long process, but hopefully sometime in the next few months, we'll cut a deal with somebody," Lerner said.

On other topics, Lerner said the club hasn't "actively been looking in the past few years" for a naming rights sponsor for Nationals Park, and that the owners "really weren't pursuing" having a retractable roof put on the stadium.

GameStop and Halozyme are big market movers

NEW YORK -- Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market:

NYSE

Anadarko Petroleum Corp., up $2.03 to $101.05

The energy company reached a $5.15 billion settlement over numerous sites contaminated by Tronox, which it acquired in 2006.

CarMax Inc., down $2 to $45.56

The used car retailer posted a 7 percent decline in fourth-quarter earnings after it was forced to right an accounting correction.

Philip Morris International Inc., up 53 cents to $82.81

Cigarette production in the Netherlands is being halted by the tobacco company as the economy and health concerns drag on sales.

GameStop Corp., down $1.55 to $42.84

BB&T Capital says Wal-Mart's entry into the used game market is stumbling, which doesn't hurt the video game retailer at all.

Nasdaq

Mylan Inc., up 77 cents to $50.63

The Swedish drug company Meda rejected a takeover bid from the generic drug maker Mylan and talks between the two have ended.

Potbelly Corp., up 82 cents to $17.94

A sharp decline in shares combined with better same-store sales make the sandwich maker a good buy, according to William Blair.

Halozyme Therapeutics Inc., down $3.16 to $8.43

The biopharmaceutical has temporarily halted enrollment in the Phase 2 trial of its drug PEGPH20, used to treat pancreatic cancer.

E-TRADE Financial Corporation, down $1.74 to $20.43

The buzz is fading over a new book on high-frequency and Goldman Sachs posts some disconcerting numbers on payment order flows.

Colorado budget near completion after Senate vote

DENVER -- A $23 billion state budget passed the Colorado Senate with increased funding for education, a bigger rainy day fund, and money for an aerial firefighting fleet.

The Senate passed the budget for fiscal year 2014-15, which begins July 1, on a bipartisan vote of 26-8 on Friday. Only Republicans voted no.

The budget adds $100 million to colleges for financial aid and to limit tuition increases. Per-student spending at public schools is also increasing to keep up with inflation and enrollment growth. And the state's budget reserves are increasing to 6.5 percent, from 5 percent.

Lawmakers also are paying $21 million for an aerial firefighting fleet.

The House passed the budget last week with only one Republican in favor.

A committee will now reconcile differences between the two chambers to finalize the budget.

YouTube video accuses acting Beirut governor of harassment

BEIRUT: Allegations of sexual harassment against Beirut’s acting governor surfaced after a covertly filmed video implicating the official was published on YouTube.

In the video released Thursday, former employee Hoda Sankari speaks to a camera, accusing Nassif Qaloush, who is also the governor of North Lebanon, of sexually harassing her. The video then shows a 10-minute conversation with Qaloush that Sankari secretly filmed on her phone. The two discuss why Sankari’s contract as a laboratory technician in the municipality of Mina had not been renewed.

Throughout the video, Qaloush stands behind his office desk with his hand in his pockets while Sankari stands opposite to him.

When asked why her contract was not being renewed, Qaloush appears evasive, answering, “Because I’m not seeing you,” and “I asked to see you, but you didn’t come.”

He later tells Sankari: “When I like a girl I prefer the easy way ... the easier the better.”

At the end of the video, he asks her to “come close” and a kissing sound is heard, before she exits the office.

In a segment of the video, Sankari speaks directly to the camera and claims she once went to see Qaloush at his office to complain about the delayed payment of her salary. After waiting four hours for him, she said, the official arrived.

“He took me aside to another room in his office, flattered me and asked me if I was married, to which I answered that I was nearly engaged. He gave me his personal phone number and asked to see me in his office after working hours. I realized that it was as if he was brokering a deal, so that I would drop the complaint in return for a relationship,” she said.

She added that she was later called into Qaloush’s office a second time. When she asked if there was an update regarding her complaint, he replied, “No, I wanted to see you for another reason. I missed you, and I want to talk to you about my affection for you.”

“At that point, I grabbed my bag and was about to leave his office when he hugged me from behind and kissed me on the neck. I screamed, which surprised and angered him. I had to contain my anger, and I told him that I am not interested in having relations with him and then I left the room,” she said.

“After that, I decided to go and see him again and record what happened. Even if he harassed me again, I wanted to reveal his actions,” Sankari said.

The Daily Star couldn’t reach Qaloush for comment, as his phone was off. The video was first posted on YouTube Thursday by Ghada Eid, editor-in-chief of the investigative website Al-Taharri.

Arsal and Tripoli wounded face violence

ARSAL/TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Using intimidation and force, armed groups in Lebanon are delaying or preventing the movement of wounded patients for sectarian and political motives, medical professionals say, leading to further injuries and, in some cases, death.

Arsal, a small Sunni town in the Bekaa Valley that staunchly supports the Syrian opposition and hosts tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, has only limited medical facilities. This means patients with acute injuries often require transport to hospitals elsewhere in the predominantly Shiite region – but the road can be dangerous.

Two weeks ago, a young Syrian man with a bullet wound in his leg was being transferred by ambulance from Arsal to Rashaya. The young man’s mother, who asked not to be named, told The Daily Star that her son was unconscious when the ambulance was stopped by armed men in neighboring Labweh, a largely Shiite area where Hezbollah enjoys wide support and the Syrian rebels are far from popular.

“They checked the ambulance and tried to wake him up. They thought he was faking being unconscious,” she said. “They beat him on his head with the butt of a rifle several times.”

“They were shouting and cursing at him.”

Her son remained in a coma for several days, his condition markedly worse than when he set out in the ambulance, she said, and although he has since regained consciousness, he suffers from memory loss and is still recovering from the attack.

When asked, she said she did not know who was responsible for attacking her son.

It’s a familiar story to Dr. Kassem al-Zein, a Syrian national who runs a field clinic in Arsal and said several of his patients had been beaten at an informal checkpoint in the Labweh area before reaching the hospital.

While patients with manifest injuries are mostly allowed to pass without much hassle, Zein said, those who appeared only lightly wounded or had internal injuries were often harassed at the checkpoint.

“All the patients who can move can be subject to a severe beating ... at the Labweh checkpoint,” he said.

The informal checkpoint was erected by Hezbollah a few months ago on the sole road leading into Arsal, an isolated border town high up in the Anti-Lebanon Mountain range, and is policed by armed members of the party. The men, who sometimes wear Hezbollah armbands, wave cars to the side of the road, tersely open trunks and question passengers they deem suspicious.

Another doctor in Arsal, who wished to remain anonymous, said his patients often told him similar stories. “Several of the patients said that some of the armed people shouted at them, and others said they were beaten. They [the gunmen] say, ‘Where is the injury? I want to see the injury.’”

The doctor added that while his work was strictly humanitarian, he tried not to leave Arsal often for fear of being stopped at the Labweh checkpoint and harassed – or worse.

Zein said the checkpoint had taken its toll, particularly on patients who required specialist doctors such as optometrists.

“There are several patients who have eye injuries or diseases who have suffered some complications, and in some cases even lost their sight, because we couldn’t transport them to better hospitals,” he said. “One patient who initially needed vein reconstruction surgery was beaten and now needs eye surgery too.”

George Kettaneh, the secretary-general of the Lebanese Red Cross, said he was aware of the reports and admitted that sometimes there were occasional “problems” on the road from Arsal. However, he downplayed the altercations, describing them as “discussions between young people,” and denied that they were caused by politics or sectarian differences.

Arsal has received an enormous influx of Syrians fleeing the war, including a number of combatants. Some – though not all – of the patients being transferred from Arsal were wounded while fighting against the Syrian regime and its ally Hezbollah. Tensions in the area were stoked recently when Labweh was targeted by rocket attacks that residents blame on Sunni extremists in Arsal, as well as the border town’s reported role as a passage for explosive-rigged cars that have been behind a spate of suicide attacks targeting areas associated with Hezbollah.

But the issue of obstructing basic health care for sectarian reasons is not limited to Arsal.

Patients in the overwhelmingly Alawite Tripoli neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen in North Lebanon have suffered a similar fate during recent clashes in Tripoli, with Sunni gunmen sniping at ambulances in an attempt to stall them, according to health professionals in the area.

During clashes in the last few months, it has proven extremely difficult to evacuate critical patients from Jabal Mohsen. When someone from the neighborhood is injured and needs to be evacuated, the Lebanese Red Cross is required to call the operating militia leaders in the area and ask them to stop shooting so they can retrieve the patient.

“You have to make many calls to different militias,” said Roger Bafitos, who works with a Red Cross ambulance crew. “It takes time. ... Sometimes there are complications.”

According to Noureddine Eid, the managing director of a clinic in Jabal Mohsen, some patients died needlessly because medical staff were unable to get them to a hospital in time.

“You have the feeling that you’re standing above a patient who is dying, and there is nothing you can do for him,” Eid said.

“If an Alawite gets killed, it’s easier than getting shot. Because if he dies, it’s over. But if he gets hit in a critical place, he needs treatment and he needs to get out [of Jabal Mohsen].”

As in Arsal, recent deployments by the Lebanese Army have created a fragile calm in Jabal Mohsen, allowing residents to move with somewhat more freedom than before.

Still, Eid said he was concerned that tensions would rise once again.

“The presidential election ... could bring all the fights again,” he sighed.

U.N. raises awareness about unexploded ordnance

NAQOURA, Lebanon: Mines remain a threat to communities in South Lebanon, according to the U.N., which marked International Day of Mine Awareness Friday.

To mark awareness about the issue, the United Nations Mine Action Support Team used a mock minefield to hold free demining demonstrations for students at three United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon bases, in Naqoura, Shemaa and Marjayoun.

Displays and demonstrations by demining personnel from Belgian, Cambodian, Chinese, French, Italian, Spanish and Sri Lankan contingents were also featured on the day.

In each location, about 70 children from local schools were invited to participate.

Also in attendance was a delegation from the Lebanese Army’s south Litani sector and the regional Mine Action Center, the supervising authority for humanitarian demining activities, as well as representatives of the international community and UNIFIL personnel.

“This day is intended to make local communities aware of the remaining threats from explosive remnants of war in the south of Lebanon, and we would also like to draw attention to the victims and survivors of ERW related incidents and accidents,” said UNMAST Program Manager Leon Louw.

“By involving students, attention can be drawn at the grassroots level to remaining threats, as well as promoting UNIFIL’s efforts to clear areas close to the Blue Line to ease the marking process.”

Louw added that the event also had a commemorative function.

“Today we are ... celebrating the survivors, [who are] overcoming their disabilities caused by ERW, and actively joining and contributing in their societies,” he said.

“We want to spread the message throughout UNIFIL’s area of operation and gather a higher number of participants from several communities,” he added.

As of March 1, 2014, UNIFIL peacekeepers completed over 95,000 square meters of mine clearance and over 4.6 million square meters of battle area clearance. During the process, 2,787 anti-personnel mines, 163 anti-tank mines, 92 unexploded bombs, 28,719 cluster bombs and 3,419 other unexploded ordnance objects have been destroyed.

Due to a lack of funding, however, the Lebanese Mine Action Center has fewer than a quarter of the teams it needs to meet its 2020 clearance targets.

UNIFIL has also facilitated the construction of 300 marker barrels along the Blue Line, supporting security in the region in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.

The annual International Day of Mine Awareness was established on Dec. 8, 2005, by the United Nations General Assembly.

Human rights group urges end to arbitrary detention

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s criminal justice system is blighted by arbitrary detention, arbitrary arrest, lengthy pretrial detention and long delays in trial, according to a report issued by a local human rights organization.

“Suspects are deprived of their liberty for weeks and some for years before a verdict is reached in their case and pretrial detainees drift along in an undetermined status, where they are perceived as the perpetrator, but have not been found guilty by a court of law,” the Alef report concluded.

“Guilty until Proven Innocent” is the result of a detailed investigation into the problem of arbitrary detention in Lebanon, and will be distributed to the country’s politicians, judges and other decision-makers.

Alef spent three years compiling the EU-funded study, which is based on interviews with 30 detainees from different segments of society – both innocent and guilty – and three focus groups with families of detainees.

It was released during a two-day conference Thursday and Friday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Hamra.

“We’re launching a campaign against arbitrary detention. This is a common problem all over the world – even in Europe. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t highlight what’s happening here,” said Darine al-Hage, one of the board members and founders of the nongovernmental organization.

The research revealed a disturbing but unsurprising pattern of arbitrary arrests due to corruption, an inadequate legal framework and a lack of trained law enforcement officers, part of the legacy of the country’s postwar recovery that failed to rebuild its crippled institutions, now disproportionately affecting some of the most vulnerable people in Lebanon – migrant workers, addicts, homosexuals, alleged terrorists, alleged spies, bloggers and journalists.

“When journalists are doing their jobs of covering the news, they are often stopped by the police or by authorities outside of government jurisdiction,” said Firas Talhouk, a researcher with the media freedom NGO the Samir Kassir Foundation.

He pointed to cases of arbitrary detention of journalists by police as well as by non-state entities, such as private security guards at the Solidere development Downtown, as well as in areas associated with Hezbollah.

In other instances, he said that local bloggers had been detained without charges by Lebanon’s Cyber Crime Bureau, often for writing a critical post about a business that then lodged a complaint against them on the pretext of legal grounds.

Members of the LGBT community, many of whom keep their identities secret because of the taboo associated with it and the vaguely worded criminalization of “unnatural” acts enshrined in Article 534 of Lebanon’s penal code, lack the kinds of public support networks that are available to other groups. For members of the gay community, speaking up about arbitrary detention can be particularly problematic.

Samira Khoujouk, executive director of the LGBT rights group Helem, acknowledged that there had recently been some progress in recognizing gay rights – such as in the public condemnation of the medical anal tests of suspected homosexuals in detention and the recognition of the lifestyle as “natural” by the Lebanese Psychologists’ Association.

However, she noted that as long as there was a law against gay sexual relations, there would continue to be unfair detentions that would be difficult to legally contest.

Members of the Alef panel were optimistic that their report could influence decision-makers.

George Ghali, who runs Alef’s monitoring and advocacy program, said, “Many people just don’t know – even judges and politicians.”

From Stick Figures To Portraits, Bush Frees His Inner Rembrandt

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

Former President George W. Bush worked with many world leaders while in office. Now, he's unveiling 24 portraits he painted of some of them. As Lauren Sullivan of KERA reports, the exhibit will be at his new presidential library.

Expecting A Spring Thaw, Shops And Restaurants Warm To Hiring

i i

hide captionEmployment and wages are increasing, along with hopes for more consumer spending, analysts say.

Matt Rourke/AP

Employment and wages are increasing, along with hopes for more consumer spending, analysts say.

Matt Rourke/AP

As winter loosens its grip, employers are taking on more help.

Hotels, bars and restaurants added 33,000 workers, while retailers tacked on 21,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists say those increases suggest employers are growing more confident that Americans will be spending more this year.

"Consumers still have the wherewithal to make discretionary purchases and were just waiting for the snow to be plowed and the temperatures to rise to resume spending," IHS Global Insight chief U.S. economist Doug Handler wrote in his analysis.

The Labor Department report showed that all together, employers added 192,000 jobs in March.

That hiring boost encouraged people to resume their job hunts, pushing up the labor force participation rate to 63.2 percent, from 63 percent the previous month. With more people filling out job applications, there was no improvement in the unemployment rate. It held steady at 6.7 percent.

Still, that was a big improvement over last year's 7.6 percent.

This year's pace of hiring is "consistent with a moderately growing economy at present and a faster-growing economy later this year," Handler said.

The sense that the economy is thawing out after "a long, harsh winter" was echoed by Matthew Shay, who heads the National Retail Federation, a trade group for store owners. "Merchants are eager to move forward with their spring hiring and operational plans," he said in a statement.

The positive momentum also showed up in the construction sector, where employers added 19,000 jobs. Over the past year, construction employment has risen by 151,000.

That hiring helped March mark a milestone: private-sector employment returned to the pre-recession level of 2007.

"Not only have U.S. firms finally brought back all of the 8.8 million jobs that were lost since the last recession, total employment in the private sector stands at an all-time high of 116.09 million," wrote Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist for The Economic Outlook Group.

Government employment remains below 2007 levels, thanks to local, state and federal budget cuts.

And job gains still haven't done much to help the long-term unemployed. More than 10 million people continue to look for work — with more than a third of them unemployed for 27 weeks or more.

With so much slack in the job market, workers continue to have a tough time getting a raise. Average hourly earnings decreased by 1 cent to $24.30 in March — a disappointment following February's 9-cent increase.

But here's one good sign: the workweek grew longer, with the average employee putting in 34.5 hours, a 0.2-hour gain over February.

And the news was even better for factory workers. The average workweek in the manufacturing sector hit 42 hours in March — tied for the highest level since July 1945. That means many factory workers got overtime pay, which could help boost spending for Easter outfits and food in April.

The Two-Way

Jobless Rate Holds Steady As Employers Add 192,000 Jobs

Planet Money

In One Word, What's Your Biggest Source Of Work-Related Stress?

The data show "the recovery is continuing to unfold," said Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. But the White House believes growth would improve if Congress would reinstate expired benefits for the long-term unemployed and raise the minimum wage, he said.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Congress should do more to help job growth by expanding energy production, improving job training and "protecting families and small businesses" from the Affordable Care Act. "I'm glad more Americans have found work, but our economy still isn't creating jobs for the American people at the rate they were promised."

Without Unemployment Benefits Woman Watches, Searches and Prays

There's a small frame hanging on the wall near the computer Josie Maisano uses to search for work. Inside there's a picture of her at this year's State of the Union address and a blue ribbon that Democrats wore that night to highlight the plight of people like Maisano, whose unemployment benefits stopped at the end of December.

"Oh my god. It was just a once in a lifetime experience," says Maisano. "Listening to president Obama, it was just very very heartwarming."

That night, as Maisano looked down from the gallery, Obama called for congress to renew the federal benefits program for the long term uninsured.

"This congress needs to restore the unemployment insurance you just let expire for 1.6 million people," Obama said to loud cheers.

But two months later even more people have lost benefits. The Senate is expected to vote early next week on a bipartisan bill that would restore the program, but its fate in the Republican-controlled House is far from certain. And that leaves more than two million people in limbo.

"I thought that something would have happened a lot sooner," says Maisano.

Every day Maisano, 60, goes to her computer and applies for jobs. She lives in St. Clair Shores, Mich and worked as a secretary in the auto industry from the time she graduated high school until 2008.

Since then, she's been on and off of unemployment and even went through a federal retraining program, only to discover she didn't have enough experience to land a job in the field she studied. Maisano says since her $179 weekly unemployment checks stopped coming she and her husband have fallen behind on their mortgage. She's signed up for food stamps.

"I've almost rubbed my crucifix, rubbed the gold right off of it" says Maisano touching a gold pendant she wears around her neck. "All I do is pray that something good will come along, and it's just not happening."

A Fight Over Policy

Her congressman is Sander Levin (D-Mich), an outspoken advocate for renewing the federal unemployment benefits program.

"I'm not saying everybody's the same, but there really are 2 million Josies," says Levin.

To Levin and most democrats, extending the benefits is the right thing to do.

"If we can't respond to people who have worked in many cases all their lives and who are desperately looking for work, I just feel that personally we've failed," says Levin.

But many Republicans question the wisdom of keeping the program going. This fight goes beyond politics. There's a fundamental policy disagreement.

"Extending this program multiple times, which has been 12 times, it's twice the amount of spending on all the previous programs, so clearly just spending on this program doesn't move the needle," says Dave Camp (R-Mich), who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee.

He argues it has failed people like Maisano who still haven't found sustainable employment.

"Obviously we've sent her checks. She's on her second round of unemployment," say Camp. "That hasn't worked for her. We need actually policies that will create jobs."

But agreement on what those policies might be is even more illusive.

'Part of the Human Race Again'

Maisano searches all the time for news about whether congress might bring back her benefits. But what she really wants is to get a paycheck again.

"I need a job," she says, the emotion clear in her voice. "I want a job. I want to be part of the human race again. This sitting home every day it's driving me mad."

Maisano is smart, she passionate, is an excellent writer and she can start immediately.

Mozilla CEO resignation raises free-speech issues

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The resignation of Mozilla's CEO amid outrage that he supported an anti-gay marriage campaign is prompting concerns about how Silicon Valley's strongly liberal culture might quash the very openness that is at the region's foundation.

Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich stepped down Thursday as CEO, just days after his appointment. He left the nonprofit maker of the Firefox browser after furious attacks, largely on Twitter, over his $1,000 contribution to support of a now-overturned 2008 gay-marriage ban in California.

"There was no interest in creating an Internet lynch mob," OkCupid co-founder Sam Yagun, whose dating service site was among those engaged in online protest, said Friday. "I am opposed to that with very bone in my body."

But Eich's abrupt departure has stirred the debate over the fairness of forcing out a highly qualified technology executive over his personal views and a single campaign contribution six years ago. And it raises questions about how far corporate leaders are allowed to go in expressing their political views.

Some are also questioning whether the episode undercuts the well-groomed image of Silicon Valley as a marketplace of ideas and diversity of thought, and whether, in this case, the tech world surrendered to political correctness enforced through a public shaming on social media.

OkCupid never demanded Eich resign, and after discussing the issue with Mozilla, Yagun ended the call for a Firefox boycott Wednesday afternoon.

In retrospect, however, Yagun said he wished he had framed the Firefox boycott in a slightly different light.

"I would have loved to have engaged in a debate over what happens when freedoms collide," Yagun said. "We have freedom of speech, which I would defend to the end. And we have what I believe is a fundamental liberty of people to marry and love whoever they want. We took a stand that matters to us personally and as a business — and I think the world will be a better place because of it."

While a handful of workers at top tech firms including Apple, Yahoo and Google supported the gay-marriage ban, the vast majority gave money to oppose it.

Mozilla Chairwoman Mitchell Baker touched on the delicate balancing act in her Thursday blog post announcing Eich's resignation.

"Mozilla believes both in equality and freedom of speech," Baker said. "Equality is necessary for meaningful speech. And you need free speech to fight for equality. Figuring out how to stand for both at the same time can be hard."

Eich' s technical reputation is strong. He created JavaScript and helped write the code to run Netscape's Navigator web browser before co-founding Mozilla.

Mozilla, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., declined to make any further comment Friday. Eich did not respond to requests for comment.

Harmeet Dhillon, vice chairman of the California Republican Party, said Silicon Valley can be intolerant, and noted 52 percent of California voters supported the anti-gay marriage measure.

"Many people have told me they're afraid to identify themselves as conservatives," she said. "We face issues of political correctness all the time."

Eich's resignation should serve as a chilling reminder to workers at all levels that their off-duty behavior or personal opinions could still cost them their jobs if their employers are worried about a backlash hurting their business, said Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute.

New York and a few other states prohibit employers from firing workers for political activity, but even those protections are limited.

Some firings of lower-level employees have raised even more troubling questions about worker rights than Eich's resignation, Maltby said. Some women have gotten fired for Facebook pictures showing them wearing a bikini on the beach, and a teacher lost her job for another Facebook photo that showed her holding a beer.

Most employers are vague about their restrictions on what workers are allowed to share online.

"There is no clear line," Maltby said. "The line is whatever offends your boss or the CEO."

Chick-fil-A Inc. President Dan Cathy's opposition to gay marriage has created controversy for the Atlanta-based company best known for its fried chicken sandwiches and closing on Sundays. But he has maintained his position.

While many gay-rights activists and commentators welcomed Eich's departure, there were dissenters.

Andrew Sullivan, a prominent gay blogger, railed against the pressure that led to the resignation.

"You want to squander the real gains we have made by argument and engagement by becoming just as intolerant of others' views as the Christians?," he asked. "You've just found a great way to do this. It's a bad, self-inflicted blow. And all of us will come to regret it."

Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay-rights group, took issue with Sullivan.

"I don't believe this is a question of suppressing free speech," he said. "It's a question of the market regulating itself."

Had Eich stayed in his job, "a tsunami of negativity was going to eventually overwhelm him and the company," Sainz said. "It's entirely a measure of our success as a movement that we are now part of that long list of issues that CEOs have to consider."

Robert P. George, the Princeton University professor and conservative intellectual, said Eich's case was another example of how religious conservatives who only support heterosexual marriage are being victimized for their views. George has dubbed the incident "Brendan Eich's defenstration."

"Now that the bullies have Eich's head as a trophy on their wall, they will put the heat on every other corporation and major employer," George wrote, in a post on First Things, a conservative journal on religion and public policy. "They will pressure them to refuse employment to those who decline to conform their views to the new orthodoxy."

Russell Moore, head of the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, said the Mozilla case signaled "very hostile times" for anyone who believes marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Eich was "hounded out of office," he said.

Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, who was the first openly gay bishop elected in the Anglican Communion, said in a phone interview that a corporate board has a right to take stock of how executives' views shape a companies' reputation.

But Robinson noted that Eich said his personal beliefs would not affect his performance as CEO.

Still, Robinson said he disagreed with the idea that Eich served as an example of bullying by liberals, as some conservatives claim.

"It seems to me when a society makes a determination that something is wrong, for example racial hatred, then somehow it's not intolerant to insist upon that understanding," Robinson said.

Justin Lee, founder of the Gay Christian Network, which tried to build bridges with evangelical opponents of same-sex relationships, described himself as "a passionate supporter of marriage equality." But Lee said he didn't think Eich should have left or been pressured to leave because he donated to Proposition 8.

"As much as I disagree with the donation, this is America, and I believe he has a right to support the political causes he believes in," Lee said.

--

Associated Press writers David Crary and Rachel Zoll in New York and Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this story.

BC-Cotton Bale

NEW YORK -- Cotton futures No. 2 closed .75 cents to $7.10 a bale higher Friday.

The average price for strict low middling 1 & 1-16 inch spot cotton advanced 1.45 cents to 86.61 cents per pound Friday for the seven markets, according to the Market News Branch, Memphis USDA.

Unemployed And Stuck In The Middle, Midwest Woman Must Wait

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

More than three months have passed since the federal program of benefits for the long-term unemployed expired. One Michigan woman, who lost benefits and is struggling to find work, tells her story.

Week In Politics: Money In Campaigns And Health Care Numbers

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

Regular political commentators, E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and David Brooks of The New York Times, discuss the Supreme Court campaign finance ruling and health care enrollment numbers.

IMS Health raises $1.3B from IPO of 65M shares

DANBURY, Conn. -- IMS Health has raised $1.3 billion from an initial public offering of 65 million shares.

The Danbury, Conn.-based company, which provides healthcare data and consulting services to drug makers, payers and healthcare providers, priced the offering at $20 per share. That's within the projected range of $18 to $21 per share.

IMS Health Holdings Inc. is offering 52 million shares. Selling stockholders are offering 13 million shares. The company won't receive any proceeds from shares sold by the selling stockholders.

The selling stockholders are giving the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 9.8 million shares.

IMS Health — which was previously called Healthcare Technology Holdings Inc. — anticipates using most of the net proceeds to pay back existing long-term debt.

The company reported 2013 revenue of $2.54 billion, up from $2.44 billion a year earlier.

The stock is expected to begin trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange under the "IMS" ticker symbol.

The offering is expected to close on Wednesday.

Canada's Pound assigned Olympic broadcast role

LONDON -- After years on the outside looking in, Dick Pound is back with a new role in the International Olympic Committee.

In the latest reshuffle by new IOC President Thomas Bach, the Canadian was handed a key front-line position Friday in Olympic broadcasting.

Pound is the new chairman of the board of Olympic Broadcasting Services, which serves as the host broadcaster for all Olympics. Created by the IOC in 2001, OBS provides a global feed of every sport from every venue.

Pound replaces Hein Verbruggen, the former Dutch IOC member and ex-president of international cycling federation UCI. Pound and Verbruggen were bitter rivals who feuded over cycling's doping problems.

Pound has a strong background in television. As head of the IOC's TV rights negotiations from 1983-2001, he brokered several lucrative television rights deals with American networks.

The 73-year-old Pound is a former IOC vice president and ex-head of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He ran unsuccessfully for IOC president in 2001.

Pound resigned as chairman of the IOC marketing commission and as TV rights negotiator after losing to Jacques Rogge in the presidential vote. He remained out of the IOC's inner circle during Rogge's 12-year term, but has sought to climb back into the higher levels since Bach's election in September.

Pound ran for the policy-making executive board in September and February but fell short. Friday's appointment shows that Bach wants to have Pound in the fold.

Longtime Olympic TV executive Manolo Romero of Spain will serve as vice chairman of OBS.

Other OBS board members include IOC members Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain and Gerardo Werthein of Argentina. IOC administrators Christophe De Kepper, Gilbert Felli, Timo Lumme and Lana Haddad are also on the board.

Pound, an IOC member since 1978, headed WADA from 1999-2008 and served as an IOC vice president from 1987-1991 and 1996-2000.

There is a twist of irony in the selection of Pound to succeed Verbruggen. As WADA chief, Pound sharply criticized Verbruggen and the UCI for cycling's record on doping, including the treatment of Lance Armstrong. Verbruggen sued Pound for defamation, but the dispute was eventually settled out of court.

Pound's elevation to the OBS job is the latest move by Bach to put his own stamp on the IOC. On Tuesday, the German made appointments to the marketing, finance, anti-doping and other IOC commissions.

Separately Friday, Bach announced appointments to the foundation board of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. The members are IOC Vice President Yu Zaiqing of China, executive board member Ugur Erdener of Turkey and honorary member Kipchoge Keino of Kenya.

Caterpillar to hire more workers for new Ga. plant

BOGART, Ga. -- The Caterpillar company is planning to hire 100 more workers for its new manufacturing plant in northeast Georgia.

Human Resources Manager Mike White said Caterpillar is seeking welders and assemblers and some other workers as it prepares to start manufacturing small tractors and add a second shift to build mini-hydraulic excavators.

Once hired, that will bring the workforce at the Athens-area plant up to about 500. White said he hopes to hire another 200 workers by the end of the year.

The Athens Banner-Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1ikSFCi) that Caterpillar still maintains a goal of employing as many as 1,400 workers by 2018 at its million-square-foot facility on Monroe Highway.

The plant, near the Clarke and Oconee county line, opened in October 2013.

BC-Noon Oil

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Grants awarded in NJ community to elevate homes

BRIGANTINE, N.J. -- A low-lying barrier island community north of Atlantic City is the first to be awarded state aid since Superstorm Sandy to help residents elevate their homes.

New Jersey officials announced Friday they have approved housing-elevation grants for 26 properties in Brigantine.

The application process closed last fall, and the Department of Environmental Protection continues to review more than 3,000 applications from homeowners in nearly 100 municipalities.

The funds, from the state's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, will be used to reimburse property owners for engineering, construction and other costs to raise their homes to protect the property from storms and flooding.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency drew up new flood maps after Sandy and required owners in storm-prone areas to elevate their homes. Those who do not will face greatly increased insurance premiums.

"In addition to moving people and property out of harm's way, elevating homes will reduce flood insurance premiums for homeowners by helping them comply with FEMA flood maps," DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said Friday.

The state has committed $100 million in FEMA money to elevate about 2,700 primary residences in the nine counties that were deemed most affected by Sandy: Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Union.

Eligible recipients will be awarded up to $30,000 for the work and will be reimbursed after it's completed.

More than half of those who applied for the state aid are in Ocean and Monmouth counties.

Homeowners who have received grants from the state's Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation program are not eligible for elevation grants.

Congressman's Lament: $174,000 Isn't Enough To Make Ends Meet

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hide captionRep. Jim Moran, D-Va. joins other members of the House of Representatives at a closed-door intelligence briefing on Syria in Sept. 2013.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. joins other members of the House of Representatives at a closed-door intelligence briefing on Syria in Sept. 2013.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

In what world does an annual salary of $174,000 meet the definition of underpaid?

That would be in the nation's capital, where soon-to-be-retired Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., asserted that Americans should know their members of Congress — as the board of directors for the "largest economic entity in the world" — are underpaid.

The longtime congressman made his comments Thursday after the House voted for the sixth straight year to deny members an automatic cost-of-living raise they're entitled to under law.

Not surprisingly, reaction to Moran's assertion was swift and derisive.

"Tone deaf," wrote Daniel Doherty at the conservative Town Hall website.

"The guy is retiring and has apparently gone Bulworth after getting his pension info," said the liberal Huffington Post, referring to 1998 movie featuring a politician who goes rogue and speaks without a filter. (With one big difference: Bulworth, played by Warren Beatty, addresses racial and economic divisions, not congressional pay.)

Fair Leadership Compensation

Though Moran's comments may be politically tone deaf given Congress's dismal approval ratings and the fact that the median household income in the U.S. is $51,000, compensation experts like Pete Smith say the guy has a point.

"Politically, he's in a sensitive area," says Smith, who advises corporate and non-profit clients on designing compensation and benefit packages for executives, "given that there is the perception that members of Congress don't work that hard, and don't do their jobs very well."

"But if you want good people in government, you shouldn't limit yourself to just people who can afford it because they'll have to find their wealth elsewhere," he said.

The Ethics Reform Act of 1989 allowed for an annual congressional pay adjustment, but it also gave members the authority to prohibit or revise the adjustment. Since 1992, Congress approved its annual adjustment 13 times, and rejected it 11 times.

Data compiled in a February Congressional Research Service report on Capitol Hill salaries showed that, in real dollars, members of Congress have continued to lose ground over the past two decades.

A Moran staffer who asked to speak on background Friday said that his boss is "not looking at a raise, but more at housing assistance, similar to what other federal employees get."

He noted that Moran's proposal "wouldn't apply to him" because he'll retire at the end of the year and because his primary home is in suburban Virginia – an easy (depending on traffic) commute from the U.S. Capitol.

Smith, the Washington-based compensation consultant, says that while $174,000 sounds like a lot and "isn't a bad level of pay," for leadership-level positions "it seems low by today's standards – both in the for-profit and non-profit worlds."

"There are a lot of non-profit executives who are earning $80,000 for running a food kitchen, for example," he says. "But there are also a lot of non-profit executives earning $200,000, $250,000, $300,000."

Smith says that he believes there is a strong argument for devising a better system, unhooked from politics, to determine congressional pay.

Double Homes/Single Income

Moran's comment no doubt resonated with members of Congress of a certain class — those without the financial means to maintain their district homes and absorb the high rental and housing costs in Washington.

More than a few sleep in their offices; many also share rentals.

The cost of renting an apartment or home in Washington can be eye-popping for members arriving from just about anywhere but San Francisco or New York City.

Take a look at Akron, Ohio, for example, in the district represented by Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan. The average monthly apartment rental in Akron is $779; in Washington that same apartment would rent for $2,042 a month, according to cost of living calculators.

And if you earn $174,000 in Akron? You'd have to up your salary to $251,794 in Washington, given the cost of living – and largely the cost of housing.

"Housing stipends are not unusual," says Smith. "And that would be not a bad way to politically create more income without making the salary look that high."

So while Moran's lament may inspire some sniggers, especially considering many of the other perks of office, his comments no doubt resonated with colleagues spending another weekday night on their office couch.

But who would never consider voting for a pay increase in the current environment.

NASA program offers consultations for businesses

TOLEDO, Ohio -- A federal program is giving companies from northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan a chance to get free, confidential research and development insight directly from NASA experts.

Engineers and technical specialists from Glenn Research Center in Cleveland will consult with participants for up to eight hours and may share declassified technology used by the space agency, The Blade in Toledo reported (http://bit.ly/1dXzDoA ).

Businesses have until Wednesday to apply for the June 12 event at the University of Toledo. It is part of the NASA Roadshow program, which started with a December event where scientists met with several companies at Youngstown State University.

"Initially, the idea is to make a difference in the eyes of the people sitting across the table from us, to provide them with insights," said Joe Shaw, deputy director of the office of technology partnerships and planning at the research center.

The longer-term goal, he said, is "about building and increasing understanding and support from the community that their investment in R&D at NASA and in NASA missions comes around and benefits us here on the ground right now." That means dispelling the idea that the folks at Glenn are rocket scientists who can't help other businesses or fields, Shaw said.

As many as 10 regional companies will be part of the event, and the selection team will favor businesses with good financing and product development backgrounds, rather than startups, said Keith Burwell, president of the Toledo Community Foundation, one of the sponsors.

The NASA participants have expertise in areas such as communications technology, cryogenics, propulsion systems and energy storage and conversion. The breadths of technologies studied by NASA over the years might surprise business people unsure about whether the experts could help them, Burwell said.

The program is patterned after a Cleveland-area program that Glenn Research Center participated in years ago. That effort helped a phonograph maker create an updated process for pressing vinyl records.

"We gave them new perspectives on how to improve their business model," Shaw said.

At least a dozen northwest Ohio companies have applied for the Toledo event.

---

Online:

NASA Roadshow Toledo applications: http://bit.ly/1jL8J3k

Jennifer Lopez-backed company buys Fuse

NEW YORK -- The Jennifer Lopez-backed company that owns NUVOtv, an English-language cable entertainment network aimed at Latinos, has bought the Fuse music network.

SiTV Media said Friday it had agreed to pay $226 million to Fuse's owner, the Madison Square Garden Co. SiTV reportedly outbid Revolt, the music network started by Sean Combs.

Fuse is currently in 73 million homes, more than twice that of NUVOtv. SiTV announced no plans to change or close Fuse, although there's precedent for companies buying networks with greater distribution in order to help their own networks grow. Al-Jazeera bought Current TV and shut Current down.

Lopez is a shareholder and chief creative officer at NUVOtv.

Wall Street orders up GrubHub in market debut

NEW YORK -- Wall Street appears to be in the mood for takeout.

Investors sent shares of online food ordering service GrubHub Inc. jumped 51 percent to $39.20 in early trading in its stock market debut Friday.

GrubHub and its rivals are changing the way people order takeout from restaurants. Instead of calling a restaurant, people can order their next meal online or through a few taps on a smartphone app.

The Chicago company raised $192.5 million after pricing more than 7.4 million shares at $26 per share. That's above the company's previously expected range between $23 per share and $25 per share.

The stock is trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "GRUB."

First-time unemployment insurance claims fall

BATON ROUGE, La. -- First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending March 29 decreased from the previous week's total.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission said Friday that initial claims fell to 1,985 from the previous week's total of 2,131. There were 1,663 initial claims during the comparable week in 2013.

The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, decreased to 2,051 from the previous week's average of 2,086.

Continued unemployment weeks claimed for the week ending March 29 decreased to 19,599 compared to 19,639 the previous week. The four-week moving average for such claims decreased to 19.874 from the previous week's average of 20,326.

Economy adds 192,000 jobs in March

By Kevin G. Hall McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- Employers added a robust 192,000 jobs in March, the government said Friday, and revisions to earlier months point to an improving economy with underlying strength.

Coming after a couple of soft months, the March numbers were a sigh of relief. March numbers suggest that weather, and not some structural problem, slowed hiring in recent months.

Revisions showed that January and February were stronger than first thought, with a combined additional 37,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate held steady in March at 6.7 percent.

Norway's oil fund could dump shares in oil, coal

STAVANGER, Norway -- Norway is considering excluding foreign oil and coal companies from its $860 billion sovereign wealth fund, which manages profits from Norway's own fossil fuel industry.

In a shake-up of the fund that sharpens its environmental focus, Finance Minister Siv Jensen said Friday she had appointed a panel to assess the question on the grounds of possible damage to the climate. It will report back to the government in November.

The move highlights Norway's ambition to be a climate leader globally, while continuing to hunt for oil and gas in its own waters.

The government said the panel would evaluate whether excluding investments in coal and oil companies "is a more effective strategy for addressing climate issues and promoting future change than the exercise of ownership and exertion of influence."

In 2013, the fund's exposure to oil and gas shares amounted to 8.4 percent of its total value. Almost $5 billion was invested in Royal Dutch Shell alone, according to the fund's annual report.

As part of the review, the fund is set to nearly double the value of investments in renewable and alternative energy holdings even though existing stocks are underperforming the market badly. They are currently worth 20 billion-30 billion kroner ($3.3 billion-$5 billion).

In the four years to end-2013, the fund's $5.2 billion of environmentally mandated stocks returned just 12 per cent compared with an overall stock market return of 54 per cent.

Jensen also proposed scrapping an ethics council which decides which companies should be excluded from the oil fund on ethical grounds. She suggested that Norway's central bank take over that responsibility.

Under the current mandate, fund managers are barred from investing in companies that produce tobacco and weapons or breach human rights.

Lancome taps Lupita Nyong'o as new face

NEW YORK -- The fashion and beauty industry's love affair with Lupita Nyong'o continues: The Oscar winner has been named the new face for Lancome.

The Mexican-born Kenyan will be the first black ambassador for the brand, which features Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz and Lily Collins as spokeswomen. In a statement Friday, Nyong'o said she was proud to represent Lancome, adding "beauty should not be dictated, but should instead be an expression of a woman's freedom to be herself."

It's the first major endorsement deal for the 31-year-old, who won the best-supporting Oscar for her role in "12 Years a Slave." Her striking beauty and fashion sense made her the It Girl for the Hollywood awards season.

Lancome ads featuring Nyong'o will start appearing this summer.

RIPTA offering PawSox bus service on Sundays

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority is offering express bus service to and from McCoy Stadium when the Pawtucket Red Sox play on Sundays.

RIPTA's special service will run from Kennedy Plaza in downtown Providence to McCoy Stadium starting Sunday. The one-way fare is $2.

Most Sunday games start at 1:05 p.m. On those days, buses will leave downtown from Bus Stop P at 12:30 p.m. For the Aug. 31 game, which starts at 6:05 p.m., buses will depart at 5:30 p.m.

Buses will leave McCoy Stadium for Providence 20 minutes after the game is over.

Bush's 'Art Of Leadership' Puts Putin And Others On Display

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hide captionFormer President George W. Bush says his favorite from among the portraits he's painted of world leaders is the one he did of his father, former President George H.W. Bush. "I painted a gentle soul," he says.

George W. Bush Presidential Center

Former President George W. Bush says his favorite from among the portraits he's painted of world leaders is the one he did of his father, former President George H.W. Bush. "I painted a gentle soul," he says.

George W. Bush Presidential Center

"The Art of Leadership: A President's Personal Diplomacy" officially opens Saturday at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.

As the nation's 43rd president says: "Who woulda thought it?"

Talking with his daughter Jenna Bush Hager during a pre-recorded interview on NBC-TV's The Today Show , the self-deprecating Bush says:

"I was little reluctant to put them out [publicly], because I'm not a great artist. I don't want people to think I'm a great artist. On the other hand, I did want to refresh the Bush Center. I want people to come and visit us. We view ourselves as a place where people can learn."

Bush, who as we've said before took up painting after he left the White House in January 2009, has put more than two dozen portraits he's done of other world leaders on display. The subjects include Russian President Vladimir Putin, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Also on display: "artifacts, photographs, and personal reflections to help illustrate the stories of relationships formed on the world stage," according to the center.

Bush says his favorite from among the paintings is that of his father, the nation's 41st president. "I painted a gentle soul," he tells Jenna Bush Hager.

i i

hide captionFormer President George W. Bush's portraits include one of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The exhibition at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas includes mementos from Bush's time in office.

George W. Bush Presidential Center

Former President George W. Bush's portraits include one of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The exhibition at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas includes mementos from Bush's time in office.

George W. Bush Presidential Center

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Enrollment Numbers Put Obamacare Battle To Rest?

Audio for this story from Tell Me More will be available at approximately 3:00 p.m. ET.

The White House passed its enrollment goal for the Affordable Care Act. But will Democrats run on Obamacare or away from it? Republican strategist Lenny McAllister and The Root's Corey Dade weigh in.

Nest disables feature on smoke alarms

NEW YORK -- The high-tech home monitoring device company Nest Labs is disabling a feature on its smoke alarms due to the risk that owners could unintentionally deactivate it with the wave of a hand.

Nest was acquired Google earlier this year for $3.2 billion.

Nest developed technology that allows owners to turn off the alarm at a distance, among other things.

The company says, however, that a "unique combination of circumstances" could delay an alarm in the event of a real fire.

Nest is halting sales of all new Nest Protect alarms to ensure none without updated software are sold.

CEO Tony Fadell said that concerns about the product were raised during lab testing, and that there are no known instances in which customers have deactivated their alarm unintentionally.

Labor protest sparks clashes in Brussels

BRUSSELS -- Belgian police used water cannon and pepper spray on protesters who had showered them with oranges and cobblestones during a demonstration by labor unions demanding a better deal for Europe's working men and women.

The demonstration in Brussels, in which thousands took part peacefully, was called by the European Trade Union Confederation to protest austerity measures implemented across the 28-country European Union.

Protesters also voiced their concerns over social dumping, whereby businesses import cheaper workers to replace local hires, or export jobs to a low-wage country or area.

As well as paralyzing traffic Friday in the Belgian capital, the demonstration sent the U.S. Embassy into lockdown.

Southwest CEO's compensation flat at $4 million

DALLAS -- The CEO of Southwest Airlines Co. received $4 million in compensation for 2013, unchanged from the year before, as he and other top executives didn't get salary increases although profit and the stock soared.

The airline said in a regulatory filing on Friday that Gary Kelly was paid a salary of $675,000 and a $929,070 bonus and incentives last year. That was a 3 percent decline in bonus and incentive pay.

Most of Kelly's compensation was in stock awards, which Southwest valued at $2.25 million on the day they were granted, matching the grants he got in 2011. He also received $162,808 in other compensation including deferred pay, contributions to retirement and profit-sharing plans, home security and free travel on the airline.

Dallas-based Southwest said in a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its board believed Kelly could have received more in stock awards based on his "strong performance and significant contributions." But, the board's compensation committee "deemed it appropriate" to keep the stock award flat.

Southwest, which is the nation's fourth-biggest airline and owns AirTran Airways, earned $754 million last year, a 79 percent increase over 2012 thanks largely to lower fuel prices. Revenue rose 4 percent to $17.7 billion. Shareholders benefited — the stock jumped 84 percent.

Kelly started in Southwest's finance office in 1986. He was chief financial officer before being named CEO in 2004 and chairman in 2008.

The Associated Press formula calculates an executive's total compensation during the last fiscal year by adding salary, bonuses, perks, above-market interest that the company pays on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock and stock options awarded during the year. The AP formula does not count changes in the present value of pensions.

Detroit bankruptcy plan may mean airport upgrades

DETROIT -- An aging airport in Detroit could again get passenger service if $28.5 million in funding is approved as part of the city's bankruptcy plan, officials said.

The money for Coleman A. Young International Airport on the city's east side would pay to upgrade hangars and the airport's passenger terminal, the Detroit Free Press reported (http://on.freep.com/1gUwpBD ). It also would fund a new loading bridge for passengers.

"I look at Detroit city airport and think it is a jewel that nobody's polished," said Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant and president of Colorado-based Boyd Group International. "Our idea is that it could be the thing that revitalizes that entire area. The airport has huge value both as a facility and also in terms of revitalizing that whole area of Detroit."

The funding also could help pay personnel costs, including training and benefits, as well as maintenance and security at the facility. The plan from state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr calls for investments in the airport over the next few years.

Known as City Airport, commercial passenger service ceased in 2000. Private pilots, cargo companies and charter operations still use the facility.

The airport is located on about 260 acres and is a relatively quick drive from downtown Detroit. Residential areas nearby have struggled with blight for years as the city's population declined and earlier efforts to improve and expand the airport fell short.

Officials also are talking to two startup regional carriers about providing passenger service, airport manager Jason Watt said Thursday. Details weren't released, but the planes could provide flights to destinations such as Chicago, Boston and New York, the newspaper reported.

"We're nowhere near capacity, not even close," Watt said.

In Orr's plan, the city would explore a possible sale or lease of the airport but would continue to subsidize and operate it until that time. The proposed upgrades don't include a runway extension or a new runway, something that observers have long said is needed, but officials are optimistic.

"The end goal to all of this is to turn the airport into a destination where people would like to come and benefit from all the wonderful things that are happening downtown," Watt said. "Our location is second to none."

The Detroit area's main airport is Detroit Metropolitan Airport, which is located in the suburb of Romulus.

Medford denies business license to pot club

MEDFORD, Ore. -- The Medford City Council rejected an appeal from a medical marijuana club that wants a business license.

Medford police say a business known as The Lounge charged $10 at the door, and patrons with valid medical marijuana cards were given a gram of pot to consume on the premises.

The city doesn't give licenses to businesses engaged in activities illegal under federal, state or local laws, the Mail Tribune newspaper reported (http://is.gd/t2gHAr). Medical marijuana is legal under state law but illegal under federal law.

Phil Studenberg, an attorney for The Lounge, said the matter likely will go to court.

"It's an issue that's going to be resolved somewhere else, but probably not here," Studenberg said Thursday.

Medford officials have been trying to navigate through conflicting laws amid a larger national debate on marijuana. The city has placed a permanent moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, even though dispensaries can receive a license to operate from the state.

The council recently revoked the business license of MaryJane's Attic and MaryJane's Basement. A Jackson County judge then partially reinstated the license, pending a decision on an appeal. The judge allowed MaryJane's to sell clothing, candles and other products, but not dispense medical marijuana.

Kevin McConnell, deputy city attorney, said the owner of The Lounge, Phil Carvalho, indicated he collected the $10 cover to help pay for utilities.

The council unanimously rejected the request for a business license.

Councilman Daniel Bunn said the city's position on medical dispensary laws might be one of the first to make it into the court system.

"It might come down to us," he said. "On this issue, we drew the short straw."

A Plea to Slow Down the Drugging of the American Boy

Last week, Esquire published a piece I wrote called “The Drugging of the American Boy.” The point of the story, briefly, is that we as a society—doctors, parents, teachers, anyone who works with kids—need to slow down when it comes to assigning an ADHD diagnosis to any child. And we need to slow down even more when it comes to writing a prescription for any child to take a powerful drug. When a disorder becomes as widely diagnosed as ADHD, one doctor put it, “to a doctor, everything starts to look like it.” We’re seeing a compounding effect. ADHD is a serious and real disorder, and a misdiagnosis can result in a needless regimen of powerful drugs administered to a developing brain, or worse.

Publication of the story has ignited something of a firestorm on our website, on Twitter, and in other venues—clear evidence of how volatile the subject is, and of how much is at stake when it comes to getting good information and making the right decision for our kids. One man tweeted in response to the story, “We need more stories like yours. Diagnosed in 1^st grade. Hated being on [the medication]. Will NEVER put my kids on anything for being a kid.” A parenting blogger, meanwhile, listed a litany of difficulties faced by parents of ADHD kids, wondering why I hadn’t addressed these. She called my story “woefully lacking” for ignoring their plight in favor of writing about kids who might not have ADHD but are put on drugs anyway—a totally different problem. On Twitter: “Sensationalism. No balance here. Playing outside, reduced sugar aren’t enough to help a kid escape his own brain.”

Now, I never made any such argument, and I also never argued against the use of drugs for a properly diagnosed disorder and when behavioral therapies had been tried first. The piece I wrote is very clear on this point—that with a properly reached diagnosis of ADHD, the correct dosage of the correct drug can be life-changing for a boy, in a good way. But I understand the tendency to view anything written about ADHD through the lens of one’s own experience—especially if you’re a parent. You want what you did to be the right thing.

After months of reporting, the main point I wanted people to come away knowing is that if ADHD isn’t diagnosed properly, and if a decision is made too quickly to medicate without first trying behavioral therapy, we could end up with a lot of kids—mostly boys, according to the statistics—being strongly medicated for a real disorder that they don’t happen to have.

So we need to slow down.

But how? How to get a more careful diagnosis for your child? What should doctors do when in their office sits a boy who can’t stay still? Psychologist William Pelham is the director of the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University. He has published more than three hundred professional papers on ADHD, won more than forty federal research grants, and served as president of the American Psychological Association’s Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. There are few clinicians in the world who possess Dr. Pelham’s expertise on the subject of ADHD. He created what he called the Buffalo Treatment Algorithm for ADHD, so called because he came up with it at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he is distinguished professor emeritus of psychology, pediatrics, and psychiatry. It is elaborate—as any process in which a decision is being made about whether to medicate a child should be—but uncomplicated. It consists of six steps, and many steps within the steps. Eight-week group-based behavioral parent training course. … School-based daily report card established by parent. … Ongoing, brief idiographic assessments of functioning. … Discuss with family risks and benefits of additional treatments to develop management plan, taking into account parental preference, family resources, and risk:benefit ratios.

The last step is called “Parental Choice” and offers two options: a low, trial dose of medication, and increasingly intense behavioral interventions. If one of those doesn’t work, he suggests trying the other. Thus Pelham is by no means anti-medication. He just recommends exhaustive behavior therapy as the first course of action—and the second, third, fourth, and fifth—before trying drugs.

“It is how I think intervention for ADHD kids should be done,” Pelham wrote to me. His approach is by design slower and much more involved than the current state-of-the-art diagnostic process described to me by numerous doctors, a method of diagnosis that is as cursory as it is increasingly common: a ten-minute exam of a child, followed by a prescription for psychotropic drugs. Pelham’s approach is also probably more expensive, and a lot harder. And it defies a major study that found that, among ADHD treatment options, drugs alone were about as effective as drugs combined with behavioral treatment. But that study is almost two decades old and has been widely doubted in recent years. As for the expense and the difficulty, these are real challenges, especially for low-income families. But that’s no reason to pretend that a proper diagnosis isn’t the right thing to do.

States revolt against powerful new painkiller

BARRE, Vt. -- State officials fighting well-publicized battles against heroin and prescription drugs are revolting against a powerful new painkiller that some fear could make the battle even harder.

On Thursday, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin announced an emergency order that would make it harder for physicians to prescribe a new class of drugs that includes Zohydro.

Last week, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick banned Zohydro, the first time the state has ever banned a drug.

Late last year, 28 attorneys general urged the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the drug's approval or require the manufacturer to reformulate the drug to make it more difficult to abuse.

San Diego-based Zogenix, which makes Zohydro, says its drug no more potent than other hydrocodone medications and is taking steps to ensure doctors and patients understand its risks.

Associated Press reporter Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vt., contributed to this report.

New plant locating in Smithville

SMITHVILLE, Miss. -- A start-up motion furniture company is locating a manufacturing plant in Smithville in northeast Mississippi..

Gov. Phil Bryant and officials from Behold Home Inc. say the project will create 80 jobs over three years.

The announcement came Thursday at a news conference in Smithville.

The north Mississippi town was devastated by a tornado on April 27, 2011.

The tornado killed 16 people. Authorities said 153 homes, four churches, the Town Hall, the police headquarters and 14 of the 15 businesses in the one-square-mile town were destroyed.

The Mississippi Development Authority provided assistance in support of the project for building modifications. Three Rivers Planning and Development District assisted with the project, as well.

Behold Home is headquartered in Tupelo.