In cautionary move, Europe centralizes bank oversight

BRUSSELSEuropean Union finance ministers reached an agreement early Thursday to create a single supervisor for their banks - one of the most significant transfers of authority from national governments to regional authorities since the creation of the euro currency.

Under the deal, banks with more than $39 billion in assets supervised or those that represent a significant proportion of their national economies will be placed under the oversight of the European Central Bank.

The deal gives the ECB broad powers, including the ability to grant and withdraw banking licenses, investigate institutions, and financially sanction banks that don't follow the rules.

But perhaps most important is that it paves the way for Europe's rescue fund to directly rescue the continent's troubled banks.

"It's real progress that opens up interesting possibilities," said French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, without giving a specific date for when the first banks could seek direct aid.

That step is crucial because weak banks remain at the core of Europe's financial problems. Many are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy after the investments they made up in boom times plummeted in value. Some governments have stepped in to save their banks, only to worsen their own finances in the process.

European leaders want to shield troubled governments from the burden of supporting their banks. That would be a huge relief to countries like Spain, which are facing the prospect of taking on enormous debts - and worrying markets - in order to bail out their banks.

The magnitude of the deal was reflected in the in size of the fight: Concerns ranged from which banks would be covered to how the ECB would manage to insulate its monetary responsibilities from the new powers to how the deal would affect EU countries that chose not to submit their banks to the ECB's oversight.

This last point was a major contention: Countries that don't use the euro worried their voices in the body that creates banking regulation - the European Banking Authority - would be drowned out by the new euro-machine, particularly since countries with other currencies can opt into the supervision.

The EBA sets all of the rules that govern EU banking, and Britain, in particular - a non-euro country with Europe's largest banking sector - was nervous that the new supervision would mean all the banks under the ECB would vote together at the EBA, effectively steamrolling everyone else.

Ministers reached a compromise that ensures that measures can't pass in the EBA without at least some support from countries outside of the ECB's supervision.

Read More..

McAfee Lands in Miami: I'm Free

Software mogul John McAfee has been released from detention in Guatemala City and has landed in Miami.

Immediately upon landing, according to passengers on the plane, McAfee's name was called and he was whisked off the aircraft. Federal officials escorted the 67-year-old Internet antivirus pioneer through customs spirit him out a side door, out of the view of reporters, according to Miami International Airport's communication director, Greg Chin.

It was not clear whether officials intended to help McAfee avoid the inevitable media circus or wanted to question him. However, he has not been charged with committing a crime in Guatemala or Belize, where the authorities have sought to question him about the murder of his neighbor.

McAfee's departure from Guatemala came earlier today.

"They took me out of my cell and put me on a freaking airplane," he told ABC News. "I had no choice in the matter."

McAfee said, however, that Guatemalan authorities had been "nice" and that his exit from the Central American country was "not at all" unpleasant.

"It was the most gracious expulsion I've ever experienced," he said. "Compared to my past two wives that expelled me this isn't a terrible trip."

McAfee said he would not be accompanied by his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend, but is seeking a visa for her. He also said he had retained a lawyer in the U.S.

Guatemala's National Police/AP Photo

John McAfee Arrested in Guatemala Overnight Watch Video

Software Founder Breaks Silence: McAfee Speaks on Murder Allegations Watch Video

When he was released earlier today, McAfee told the Associated Press, "I'm free. ... I'm going to America."

McAfee, who had been living in a beachfront house in Belize, went on the run after the Nov. 10 murder of his neighbor, fellow American expatriate Greg Faull. Belize police said they wanted to question McAfee about the murder, but McAfee said he feared for his life in Belizean custody.

He entered Guatemala last week seeking asylum, but was arrested and taken to an immigration detention center. He was taken to the hospital after suffering a nervous collapse and then returned to the detention center. The U.S. State Department has visited McAfee, who is a dual U.S.-British citizen, several times during his stay in Guatemala.

During his three-week journey, said McAfee, he disguised himself as handicapped, dyed his hair seven times and hid in many different places during his three-week journey.

He dismissed accounts of erratic behavior and reports that he had been using the synthetic drug bath salts. He said he had never used the drug, and said statements that he had were part of an elaborate prank.

Investigators in Belize said that McAfee was not a suspect in the death of Faull, a former developer who was found shot in the head in his house.

McAfee told ABC News that the poisoning death of his dogs and the murder just hours later of Faull, who had complained about his dogs, was a coincidence.

Click Here for the Blotter Homepage.

Read More..

Assad's forces fire Scuds in Syria escalation: U.S. official

WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have fired Scud missiles at rebels trying to overthrow Syria's government, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, a step seen as an escalation in Assad's struggle to retain power.

U.S. officials said they were unaware of any previous instances in which Scuds were used against the rebels since the start of the 20-month-old uprising, which has killed more than 40,000 people.

White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to confirm the reports, saying he was aware of them but could not discuss intelligence matters.

"If true, this would be the latest desperate act from a regime that has shown utter disregard for innocent life," he said. "The idea that the Syrian regime would launch missiles in its borders at its own people is stunning, desperate, a completely disproportionate military escalation."

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Scuds had been used.

In Brussels, a NATO official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said a number of "Scud-type" short-range ballistic missiles had been launched inside Syria in recent days.

"Allied intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets have detected the launch of a number of unguided, short-range ballistic missiles inside Syria this week," the official said.

"Trajectory and distance travelled indicate they were Scud-type missiles," the NATO official said.

Thomas Houlahan, a military analyst at the Center for Security and Science, said the weapons were probably North Korean-made Hwasong-6 missiles, an improved variant of the original Soviet Scuds.

"In terms of the short-range battlefield missiles, they produce a pretty good missile and because of North Korea's constant need for hard currency, they sell them pretty cheap. So they have moved a lot of missiles around and Syria has ended up with a lot of them," Houlahan said.

"MORE ACCURATE"

He said the Hwasong-6 was more accurate than the original Scud, could carry a warhead of about 1,800 pounds (820 kg) and had a range of about 450 miles.

But he said the use of the weapon raised questions as to why the Syrians were not using their air force instead, which was a better alternative.

"If I want to dump 1,800 pounds of explosives on somebody with fairly decent accuracy and I have an air force and they don't, why the hell am I not using a plane?" Houlahan said.

"If you see a country or an army that has much better options not using them, you start to ask yourself why," he added. "Is it the old problem where dictators can't always trust their air forces?"

NATO agreed last week to send Patriot anti-missile systems to alliance member Turkey to reinforce its air defenses and calm its fears of coming under missile attack, possibly with chemical weapons, from neighboring Syria.

The NATO official said the Syrian missiles had landed inside Syria and no missiles had hit Turkish territory. He said the Western alliance had no information about what casualties or damage the missiles had caused.

Asked if there was any evidence of Syrian use of chemical weapons, he said: "We have no information concerning the payload."

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Assad last week not to use chemical weapons against Syrian opposition forces, saying there would be unspecified consequences if he did so.

The United States, Germany and Netherlands have all agreed to send Patriot missiles to protect Turkey, but the missile batteries are not expected to arrive for several more weeks.

The New York Times, which initially reported Syria's use of the missiles, quoted one official as saying more than six had been fired at the rebels. Another official said the missiles had been launched from the Damascus area at targets in northern Syria, the Times said.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters they would not dispute the Times report.

News of Syria's use of Scud missiles broke as Western and Arab nations sympathetic to the uprising against Assad gave full political recognition to the opposition at a meeting in Morroco.

(Reporting by David Alexander in Washington and Adrian Croft in Brussels; Editing by Michael Roddy and David Brunnstrom)

Read More..

Last S. Korea polls give conservative Park the edge

SEOUL: The last polls allowed before next week's South Korean presidential election all showed a lead for conservative favourite Park Geun-Hye over her liberal rival, but by varying margins.

The four surveys published Thursday, but based on data gathered before North Korea's provocative launch of a long-range rocket on Wednesday, put Park's lead over Moon Jae-In as narrow as 0.5 points or as wide as 3.5 points.

A poll commissioned by KBS TV gave Park, the ruling party candidate, 44.9 per cent of the vote, compared to 41.4 per cent for Moon from the opposition Democratic United Party.

Another commissioned by JTBC TV put the lead at 48 per cent for Park over 47.5 for Moon.

Poll numbers have fluctuated quite widely over the course of the campaign, but shown Park with a consistent edge in the race to the December 19 ballot.

Moon had been hoping to receive a boost with the withdrawal last month of the left-leaning independent candidate Ahn Cheol-Soo, a software mogul who threw his support behind Moon, but with only lukewarm enthusiasm.

Daily opinion polls by the independent polling agency Real Meter indicated that Moon had gained some ground in recent days.

Support for Park slipped from 52 per cent to 48 per cent from Saturday to Wednesday, while Moon's figures rose from 44.1 per cent to 47.5 per cent, Real Meter said.

Under South Korea's election law, no more polls will be allowed before next Wednesday's ballot.

- AFP/ck

Read More..

Google Maps returns to iOS as an app after Apple's removal

Screen shots of Google's new Maps app for iOS.

(Credit:
Google)

Once banished from Apple's iOS, Google Maps has returned to the mobile platform in the form of a standalone app.

The official Google Maps app returned to Apple's App store this evening. As expected, the new app includes turn-by-turn navigation, just like its
Android counterpart, as well as public transit directions, and its Street View.

Google supplied the map function to iOS devices until the release of
iOS 6 this fall, when it was replaced by Apple's homegrown mapping solution. The maps were found to be rife with embarrassing errors, leading Apple CEO Tim Cook to issue a rare public apology on the subject. Apple retreated on claims that the app was the "most powerful mapping service ever" and even began promoting other maps apps in its App Store.

The ouster of iOS software chief Scott Forstall was said to be linked to Cook's apology and Forstall's unwillingness to sign it. Richard Williamson, who was in charge of the company's maps software for iOS, was also reportedly fired.

Read More..

Suspect, two others, killed in Ore. mall shooting

Updated 10:30 p.m. ET

PORTLAND, Oregon A gunman opened fire in a suburban Portland shopping mall Tuesday, killing two people and wounding another before apparently killing himself as people were doing their Christmas shopping, authorities said. One other person was reported injured.

Clackamas County sheriff's Lt. James Rhodes said authorities were still trying to get more details about the situation at the Clackamas Town Center. So far, the shooter has only been described as an "adult male."

Authorities said there was no indication that there was more than one gunman. Officials say police did not fire a shot during the incident.

Play Video

Cell phone video: Ore. mall evacuated after shooting

"At first no one really knew what was going down," Mario, a kiosk worker inside the mall, told CBS affiliate KOIN in Portland. "We heard six shots at first, and then people scattered like crazy, everybody left."

"The shots were really loud and really scary... It was echoing all through the mall, so nobody knew where it was coming from at first," witness Larisa Tereahova said.

Another witness said the Macy's inside the mall opens into the food court area, where it was reported the shootings took place. Bautista said it sounded like the shots were coming from that direction.

Macy's employees Pam Moore and Austin Patty told the AP the shooter was short, with dark hair, dressed in camouflage. He had body armor and a rifle and was wearing a white mask, they said.

"I heard about 20 shots and everyone hit the ground," Moore said. "That's when we all just ran."

Governor John Kitzhaber released a statement late Tuesday, saying: "My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. I appreciate the work of the first responders and their quick reaction to this tragic shooting. Oregon State Police Superintendent Rich Evans is on the scene. I have directed State Police to make any and all necessary resources available to local law enforcement."

Read More..

Shooter Kills Self After Oregon Mall Rampage

A masked gunman opened fire today at Clackamas Town Center, a mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two people, injuring one, and then killing himself.

"I can confirm the shooter is dead of an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound," Lt. James Rhodes of the Clackamas County, Ore., Sheriff's Department said today. "By all accounts there were no rounds fired by law enforcement today in the mall."

Police have not released the names of the deceased. Rhodes said authorities are in the process of notifying victims' families. The injured victim has been transported to a local hospital.

Rhodes described the shooter as an adult male.

Witnesses from the shooting rampage said that a young man in a white hockey mask and bulletproof vest tore through the Macy's, food court, and mall hallways firing rounds at shoppers beginning around 3:30 p.m. PT today.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the busy mall full of holiday shoppers after the shooting began.

READ: Guns in America: A Statistical Look

911 Calls From New Jersey Supermarket Shooting Watch Video

The gunman entered the mall through a Macy's store, ran through the upper level of Macy's and opened fire near the mall food court, firing multiple shots, one right after another, with what is believed to be a black, semiautomatic rifle, according to witness reports.

Katie Tate said she was in the parking lot of the mall when she saw the shooter run by, wearing a mask and carrying a machine gun, headed for the Macy's.

"He looked like a teenager wearing a gun, like a bullet-proof vest and he had a machine, like an assault rifle and a white mask and he looked at me," she said.

Witnesses described the shooter as being on a mission and determined, looking straight ahead. He then seemed to walk through the mall toward the other end of the building, shooting along the way, according to witness reports.

Those interviewed said that Macy's shoppers and store employees huddled in a dressing room to avoid being found.

"I was helping a customer in the middle of the store, her and her granddaughter and while we were looking at sweatshirts we heard five to seven shots from a machine gun fire just outside my store," Jacob Rogers, a store clerk, told ABC affiliate KATU-TV in Portland.

"We moved everyone into the back room where there's no access to outside but where there's a camera so we can monitor what's going on out front," Rogers said.

Evan Walters, an employee at a store in the mall, told ABC News Radio that he was locked in a store for his safety and he saw two people shot and heard multiple gunshots.

"It was over 20, and it was kind of surreal because we hear pops and loud noises," he said. "We're next to the food court here and we hear pops and loud noises all the time, but we don't -- nothing like that. It was very definite gunshots."

Police are tracing the weapon used in the shooting.

Read More..

North Korea's new leader burnishes credentials with rocket

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to its opponents.

The rocket, which North Korea says was designed to put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting targets as far as the continental the United States.

"The satellite has entered the planned orbit," North Korea's state news agency KCNA said.

North Korea followed what it said was a similar successful launch in 2009 with a nuclear test that prompted the United Nations Security Council to stiffen sanctions against Pyongyang that it originally imposed in 2006 after the North's first nuclear test.

The state is banned from developing nuclear and missile-related technology under U.N. resolutions, although Kim Jong-un, the youthful head of state who took power a year ago, is believed to have continued the state's "military first" programs put into place by his deceased father Kim Jong-il.

After Wednesday's launch, which saw the second stage of the rocket splash down in seas off the Philippines as planned, Japan's U.N. envoy called for a Security Council meeting. However, diplomats say further tough sanctions are unlikely to be agreed at the body as China, the North's only major ally, will oppose them.

The rocket was launched just before 10 a.m. Korea time (9 p.m. ET on Tuesday), according to defense officials in South Korea and Japan, and easily surpassed a failed April launch that flew for less than two minutes.

There was no independent confirmation it had put a satellite into orbit.

Japan's likely next prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who is leading in opinion polls ahead of an election on December 16 and who made his name as a North Korea hawk, called on the United Nations to adopt a resolution "strongly criticizing" Pyongyang.

There was no immediate official reaction from Washington, South Korea's major military backer, or from China.

China had expressed "deep concern" over the launch which was announced a day after a visit by a top politburo member to Pyongyang when he met Kim Jong-un.

On Wednesday, China's state news agency Xinhua said North Korea had the "right to conduct peaceful exploration of outer space."

But it added: "Pyongyang should also abide by relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 1874, which demands (North Korea) not to conduct 'any launch using ballistic missile technology' and urges it to 'suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program.'"

U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican who heads the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, quickly condemned the launch and called for tougher sanctions.

"It is clear that Pyongyang is moving ever closer towards its ultimate goal of producing a nuclear ballistic missile in order to threaten not only our allies in the Asia-Pacific region but the U.S. as well," she said.

A senior adviser to South Korea's president said last week it was unlikely that there would be a meaningful set of sanctions agreed at the United Nations but that Seoul would expect its allies to tighten sanctions unilaterally.

A YEAR ON FOR THE THIRD KIM

Kim Jong-un, believed to be 29 years old, took office after his father died on December 17 last year and experts believe that Wednesday's launch was intended to commemorate the first anniversary of the death.

The April launch was timed for the centennial of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and the grandfather of its current ruler.

"This is a considerable boost in establishing the rule of Kim Jong-un," said Cho Min, an expert at the Korea Institute of National Unification.

There have been few indications the secretive and impoverished state, where the United Nations estimates a third of the population is malnourished, has made any advances in opening up economically over the past year.

North Korea remains reliant on minerals exports to China and remittances from tens of thousands of its people working on labor projects overseas.

The 22 million population often needs handouts from defectors who have escaped to South Korea in order to afford basic medicines.

Given the puny size of its economy - per capita income is less than $2,000 a year - one of the few ways that North Korea can attract world attention is by emphasizing its military threat.

Pyongyang wants the United States to resume aid and to recognize it diplomatically, although the April launch skippered a planned food deal.

It is believed to be some years away from developing a functioning nuclear warhead and to have enough plutonium for around half a dozen nuclear bombs, according to nuclear experts.

The North has also been enriching uranium which would give it a second path to nuclear weapons as it sits on vast natural uranium reserves.

It says that its development is part of a civil nuclear program, but has also boasted of it being a "nuclear weapons power".

(Additional reporting by Jumin Park and Yoo Choonsik in SEOUL; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Read More..

UN Security Council to meet over N. Korean launch

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council will meet Wednesday to discuss North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket in defiance of threats of sanctions, a Western diplomat said.

"The Japanese and the Americans have requested a Security Council meeting, which will take place late Wednesday morning" around 11:00 am (1700 GMT), the diplomat said.

Japan's chief government spokesman Osamu Fujimura told reporters in Tokyo that the Japanese envoy had already called for UN Security Council president Morocco to "swiftly summon" the council to a meeting.

The Western diplomat predicted the special talks would likely see a "strong response" at the council to the rocket launch that Seoul, Tokyo and their Western allies swiftly condemned as a disguised ballistic missile test that violates UN resolutions triggered by Pyongyang's two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

North Korea had confirmed hours earlier the launch of a long-range rocket and said it had succeeded in its mission of placing a satellite into orbit.

A previous launch of the same Unha-3 rocket in April had ended in failure, with the carrier exploding shortly after take-off.

In 2006, the Security Council imposed an embargo against North Korea on arms and material for ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. It also banned imports of luxury goods and named individuals and companies to be subject to a global assets freeze and travel ban.

In 2009, it imposed a ban on North Korea's weapons exports and ordered all countries to search suspect shipments.

According to Japanese reports, Japan, the United States and South Korea have agreed to demand the Security Council strengthen sanctions on North Korea to levels that match those on Iran.

That would include increasing the list of financial institutions, entities and individuals subject to asset freezes.

Much will depend on the stance taken by UN veto holder China, North Korea's sole major ally and its biggest trade partner and aid provider.

- AFP/ck

Read More..

Start-Ups Silicon Valley Ep. 6: Booty calls and booted dolls

Hermione sans dildo.

(Credit:
BravoTV Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

Last week, we left our protagonists on "Start-Ups: Silicon Valley" hanging on the end of a strap-on.

No, wait. It was Hermione (blonde, British, boozer) who was hanging on to a strap-on at the end.

Her brother Ben (short, pretty, pretty short) was livid with her, even though it was her birthday party. One doesn't play with sex toys in front of VCs.

Not unless those sex toys are social and can entice 100 million users within a week.

Ben reveals to Hermione something more important than whether they lost $500,000 to her dildo dancing: he isn't going to pursue a relationship with Sarah (blonde, big-headed lifecaster).

Well, he has Ashley, you see. She's a model entrepreneur. Actually, that's not quite right. She's a model/entrepreneur. They have been seeing each other for four years. When they're together, they're on. When they're not together, they're entirely off.

"It's perfect,' explains Ben, off-handedly.

A cute girl in an ugly world
Meanwhile, another perfect pair -- Kimmy (dark, deeply ambitious, dullish) is hanging out with Dwight (light, tight, hairy).

Dwight and Kimmy besmirch Sarah as being a sad, dumb freeloader. Her greatest advantage, they opine, is that she's a cute girl in a place where most people are ugly.

Oddly, Dwight and Kimmy are cute too. Kimmy, though, is very serious about her fashion site, Shunova.

What kind of fashion site is it? Shunoidea.

Ben and Hernione are off to try another investment pitch. This time, they encounter former astronaut Esther Dyson. Hermione immediately sucks up to Dyson that she's wearing space pants in her honor.

Dyson looks like she would love to suck Hermione up in a Dyson vacuum cleaner.

Ben enthuses about Ignite, their app that is all about being able to predict your lifespan. And, um, motivating yourself to die later than you might.

Ignite also includes a pad that you step on and, oh, measure things. This is colloquially known as the
iPad. Dyson asks to see it.

There's a slight problem. It doesn't exist yet. Dyson looks like she'd happily suck Ben up into a Dyson too.

A booty call ignited
But what of David (gay, sane)? His start-up is called Goal Sponsors. It's sort of similar to, um, Ignite. Without the iPad and the actual calculation of when you're going to die. But with sponsors.

Yes, it's AA for the health-neurotics.

"We just have a lot of chemistry and not a lot of time to sleep."

Is this David talking about his start-up? No, it's Ben talking about his model relationship with Ashley. He describes it in British as "snuggles." He translates this as "booty call."

Ben is worried that with Ashley in town he will not be able to use his head. Really.

The potential investors from Gramercy Ventures -- together with Dyson -- go to see prototypes of the Ignite Pad. It's a bathroom scale. But because you can give it more meaning through your smart iPhone, it's a very smart bathroom scale.

Potential investor Michael Gale -- he who may (or may not) have been offended by Hermione's strap-on performance -- asks whether "Ignite" is too male a brand name. Hermione goes into an imaginative explanation involving sperm.

Ben suddenly looks as if he is about to give birth.

"When Ben and I first kissed, she came two days after."

A slightly odd chain of events, you might imagine. Actually, this is Sarah's tale of woe concerning Ashley's sudden arrival at the last SXSW. Sarah has heard Ashley is in town now. David explains to her that they're both gorgeous.

Yes, of course they're at a party. Sarah is upset. David tells her he understands. Sarah believes Ben is trying to have his cake and eat it.

There's quite a lot of cake on Sarah's face. But, as yet, no egg.

Ignite has ignition

Meanwhile, Gale explains to Ben and Hermione that he doesn't like egg on his face either. He hates looking stupid. But Dyson actually likes the Ignite idea, so, together, they're going to give them $500,000.

Yes, the strap-on didn't make the investors stroll off. There was a clue when the meeting started. Gale brought some red champagne. Yes, blood red.

Hermione celebrates with her human strap-on. He's called Jay. She worries he's gay. Because he's keeping her at bay.

But then she decides that's a good thing. She must, after all, concentrate on her start-up.

Sarah booted
But first, another party.

"It's going to take a certain kind of guy to ever be able to deal with me," offers Hermione to Ashley. Yes, indeed. An insane guy, might be one thought.

Oddly enough, Hermione then chooses the next moment -- entirely by coincidence -- to tell Ashley that Sarah had been on a date with Ben. Yes, a date that included kissing.

More Technically Incorrect

"I didn't know that you guys were together," Sarah tells Ashley. With typical sensitivity, she goes on to insist that Ben had told her there was nothing between him and Ashley.

Oh, other than that he had mentioned that Ashley was stalking him.

Ashley gets shirty with Sarah. She demands that she lay off Ben. Sarah confronts Ben. She asks him to admit that he called Ashley a stalker.

Ben denies it and then utters a line that must have been fed to him: "You want to create drama wherever you are."

Yes, Ben, they do, those wily producers.

Meanwhile, Sarah is left to sniffle and philosophize.

"When girls are taken advantage of by a guy, we should stand together," she says.

It's as if she's never watched any of the "Real Housewives" franchise.

Read More..