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Friday, August 24, 2012


The 2012 Campaign Through the Eyes of ‘Walmart Moms’

Forget Seamus, the Ryan budget or even the “War on Women.” Undecided female voters didn’t even mention some of the 2012 cycle’s most-hyped news topics in a pair of  focus groups on Wednesday evening.
Walmart sponsored the 90-minute focus groups, which were organized by a bipartisan team of pollsters: Margie Omero of Momentum Analysis and Alex Bratty of Public Opinion Strategies. Moderators questioned two groups of “Walmart Moms” — self-described undecided voters who shop at the store at least one a month — in Richmond, Va., and Las Vegas.
It’s a surprisingly rare opportunity for inside-the-Beltway reporters to hear out undecided female voters at length. Even on the campaign trail, interviews often last a few minutes with the most quotable participants. Nonetheless, these women are exactly the fought-over voters for whom campaigns clamor in the final weeks of an election.

Here are a few takeaways from the questioning session:


  1.  Don’t underestimate the power of the first family’s image with female voters. More women discussed the first daughters more than some of President Barack Obama’s most pronounced policy initiatives aimed at female voters (no mention of Sandra Fluke, the Violence Against Women Act, even the administration’s contraception coverage policy). A young Richmond mother of one simply said, “Michelle is hearing what we have to say.” Another Richmond mom even remarked she believed the president watched out for her because he’s “surrounded by women” at home.
  2.  The females in the focus groups were surprisingly risk averse — to the point it evoked thoughts of FDR’s 1944 re-election slogan “Don’t swap horses midstream.” More than one Richmond participant cited “maybe three years isn’t enough” to turn things around. Another particpant warned of a “learning period” if former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) is elected. And a Las Vegas mom argued of Obama, “He’s already in place.” On the other hand, hardly a hand was raised when the Las Vegas women were questioned if they were better off economically than they were three years ago. These voters were generally disappointed in Obama, but they weren’t ready to make the switch yet.
  3.  Romney remains largely undefined among these two groups. Millions of dollars later on the Nevada and Virginia airwaves, most of these women only knew a couple of things about the presumptive GOP nominee: He’s a businessman, family man and, per one Richmond participant, “a nice looking man.” It’s also worth noting that ads casting Romney’s former private equity firm, Bain Capital, in a negative light did ring a bell with a few women. As one Richmond woman described it, “Romney cut jobs when he was in charge of a factory.”

PHOTO: Mitt Romney

Can Romney Convince Walmart Moms He's Up to the Job?


A group of 20 women voters from Richmond, Va., and Las Vegas offered some interesting insights into the dilemma facing many swing voters this election.

Many of these women are struggling economically.

 They spoke of losing houses and jobs. One woman even said that she and her husband want more kids "but we can't afford to have more."

These 20 women - all were moms who shop at Walmart at least once a month - were part of two focus groups conducted by Democratic pollster Margie Omero and Republican pollster Alex Bratty, and sponsored by Walmart.

They expressed disappointment with the job Obama has done so far on the economy. When asked about what accomplishments he'd achieved in his three years in office, many of the women responded with blank stares and silence. In Richmond, the question hung in the air for a while until finally one woman piped up, "His wife is encouraging us to eat healthy."

Yet, they also believe that three years is a short amount of time to fix the big, fat mess that Obama inherited.
Karla, a 35-year old mom of three from Las Vegas, who said she voted for a candidate other than Obama or McCain in 2008, said "Obama has only had three years. You cannot grow a flower in a week."
But while they were willing to cut Obama some slack on the job he's done so far, they really don't know what he'll do in the next four years to make the country any better. When asked what advice they'd give President Obama, Stephanie, a homemaker from Richmond (and a McCain voter in 2008), said, "Tell me how the next four years are going to be different." Kristy, a self-described Republican who voted for Obama in 2008, said she wanted Obama to "lay out the details."

As for Mitt Romney, he remains a blank slate. Most of these women knew little to nothing about him. But it is clear that ads attacking Romney for his record at Bain Capital have penetrated.

Stephanie and Rebecca voted for McCain in 2008, but both expressed worry over Romney's business record. When asked by the moderator what they'd heard or seen about the campaign so far, Rebecca replied, "That whole thing where factories have shut down, that concerns me. … That's scary because I work for a small business."

"Little guys like us are like a gerbil on the wheel, OK?" she said. "Where's my break? We don't get anything other than another day of work"

Stephanie, who said Obama "hasn't produced a lot," was also dubious as to whether Romney would do a better job on the economy. "Romney cut jobs," she said.

In Las Vegas, Karla A., a mom of three who voted for McCain, opined that in this economy, "You want someone who knows about business." Leanne, a divorced mom and fitness instructor shot back, "But do you want someone who's a shady businessman?"

Moreover, many of these women were worried about replacing Obama with a new guy at such a delicate time. Stephanie from Richmond worried about a steep learning curve for Romney.

 "He won't be able to do anything immediately," she said.

"It scares me to bring a new person in, " said Rebecca from Richmond.

The good news for Romney? As a still very undefined candidate, he has the time to make his case to these voters.

But he's got to do more than just paint broad brush strokes. These women want some specifics.
When asked what advice they had for the two candidates, Sheila, a middle-age mom of a 9-year-old boy from Richmond, said, "What can you give me as far as proof that you are going to work on the economy?"
Bernadette, a young registered nurse, said "give some concrete plans for how you'll make this country better."

Brad Dayspring, an adviser to the Super PAC "Young Guns," said he's found some similar sentiments in focus groups his organization has conducted among women voters. The biggest challenge for Romney, said Dayspring, is to pass "the competency test." Romney does need to point to some tangible plan or example of how he's going to get the economy back on track.

While Romney has some work to do in defining himself and his plans, Dayspring argues that Obama is already defined as someone who "doesn't have a lot of accomplishments."

These women are only peripherally engaged in the political, but they already have a sense that they'll be voting for someone they aren't completely convinced is up to the job at hand.

LEGITIMATE RAPE

Posted on 24th August 2012 by Administrator in Economy |Politics |Social Issues

Pregnant Woman Relieved To Learn Her Rape Was

Illegitimate


August 20, 2012  |                ISSUE 48•34                | More News

LITCHFIELD, CT—Though she was initially upset following the brutal sexual assault last month that left her pregnant, victim Martha Byars told reporters she was relieved Sunday to learn from Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) that her ability to conceive her unwanted child proves she was not, in fact, legitimately raped.
“Being violently coerced into having sex was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, so I take comfort in knowing it wasn’t actually rape,” Byars said of the vicious encounter in which she was accosted in an alleyway by a stranger, pinned to the ground, and penetrated against her will for 25 minutes. “It was absolutely horrific—I felt violated in the worst way imaginable—but thanks to Congressman Akin, I now realize it must, at some level, have been consensual after all.”
“Thank God for that,” Byars added. “I’m so relieved to know that my child’s father, the man who muffled my screams as he forcefully penetrated me over and over and left me hemorrhaging to death on the street, is not a rapist.”

News in Brief

Explaining that the Republican senatorial candidate’s statements had “really opened her eyes” by helping her understand the workings of her own reproductive system, Byars said she only wishes she could have known at the time of her near-fatal assault that the female body has ways to shut down conception during cases of tried-and-true rape.
“Now that I know the truth, I realize none of the telltale signs of legitimate rape were there at all,” mused Byers, noting that her body did not in any way shut down but in fact continued to register excruciating pain throughout the entire cruel ordeal. “I must have at least subconsciously wanted it—otherwise, the sperm wouldn’t have been able to enter my body.”
“Not only is this knowledge a blessing for me,” she continued, “but it will no doubt bring great hope to the tens of thousands of women who are forcibly and savagely impregnated in the United States every year.”


Election 2012 challenge: How to win over 'frustrated' Walmart moms (video)

A Republican and a Democratic pollster share their survey data on Walmart moms, 27 percent of registered women voters. A majority voted for Obama in 2008, then swung toward the GOP in 2010.

By Staff writer / November 2, 2011


 
Mitt Romney campaign pollster Neil Newhouse and Democratic pollster Margie Omerto say their research suggests that average Americans blame a bad economy on themselves for using too much credit and living beyond their means.

What do Walmart moms want, and who will win their hearts in the 2012 election?
That question lies at the center of this critical bloc of swing voters, according to Republican pollster Neil Newhouse and Democratic pollster Margie Omero, who released a survey Wednesday on this demographic group.
A Walmart mom is a woman with children age 18 or younger living at home who shops at Walmart at least once a month. They represent 27 percent of all registered women voters and 14 percent of the overall electorate. A majority voted for President Obama in 2008, swung toward the Republicans in the 2010 midterms, and are still unhappy with Mr. Obama. But they haven’t given up on him.
“These women are frustrated,” says Mr. Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies, speaking at a Monitor-hosted breakfast Wednesday. “They see Wall Street getting bailed out. ... There’s a resentment there that they see a government activism that doesn’t impact them directly. They want their share.”
Specifically, says Ms. Omero, this group is more concerned about paying for college and the price of groceries than they are about how high their taxes are.
“When I listen to the Walmart moms, in these focus groups, they didn’t say, ‘You know what I need, I need fewer environmental regulations for businesses, that will really help me out,’ ” says Omero. “They said, ‘I would like college affordability, and milk for everybody, and affordable housing, pay my electric bill.’ These very tangible things.”
How these concerns play into each party’s election strategy is a different question. Newhouse is the pollster for presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, though he declined to speak for the campaign. Still, when asked about Mr. Romney’s poll numbers – which seem stuck in the mid-20s among GOP voters – Newhouse asserted that “this campaign has just begun, and we’ve got a long ways to go.”
For now, when asked to frame a broader Republican narrative for the election, Newhouse zeroed in on personal responsibility.
“It’s probably that if we get government out of the way and out of our lives, that at least to a greater extent, it will enable these families to make ends meet and to do better on a personal basis,” Newhouse said. “It will help in terms of job growth, reducing the deficit. It’s a more complicated message when you’ve got 52 percent of these voters who say they expect government to play more of a role.”
The personal-responsibility message may seem at odds with a demographic that is looking for more help from the government, but the Walmart-sponsored poll found that Walmart moms are more likely to blame themselves than any other group or person for the state of the economy.
Twenty-five percent of Walmart moms blame “people who took on too much credit and live beyond their means,” the No. 1 answer. In second place was former President George W. Bush, with 22 percent. Third was “Wall Street banks and big corporations,” at 15 percent. Obama came in fourth with 7 percent.
Among the public at large, big banks and corporations came in for more blame (21 percent) than Mr. Bush (15 percent), the pollsters said.
But no matter where the blame is placed, there’s no doubt the nation is in an extended sour mood.
“This is the longest period of sustained pessimism we’ve had in this country since we started doing polling,” Newhouse says. “We’ve had, I think this is 93 or 94 straight months where a plurality of Americans believe the country is off on the wrong track.”
Newhouse notes that Obama’s negative job approval is noteworthy for its intensity. And even if GOP voters have not coalesced around a challenger to Obama, Newhouse isn’t worried about getting voters to turn out next year.
“When people are upset, they’re going to vote,” he says.
And for now, says Omero, Walmart moms in particular have yet to engage in the 2012 campaign. They are focused on matters closer to home. For Obama and the Democrats, that presents a challenge. Even though Obama won the “Walmart mom” vote in 2008, it’s not clear the Democrats can get them again.
“They’ll definitely need more ‘touches’ from a campaign to be engaged at the same level of more regular voters,” Omero says.
Tell me what you think of this article.  Your honest opinion is welcomed.  It is an interesting concept, but has not come to life  yet. And the name has been changed to RAPE AXE. So look it up check it out and state your opinion.



Uploaded by  on Jun 21, 2010
A South African doctor, Dr.Sonnet Ehlers says she has created a female condom intended to deter rapists.




South African doctor invents female condoms with 'teeth' to fight rape


June 20, 2010|By Faith Karimi, CNN
Dr. Sonnet Ehlers shows a spiked female condom, whose hooks she says stick on a man during rape.
South African Dr. Sonnet Ehlers was on call one night four decades ago when a devastated rape victim walked in. Her eyes were lifeless; she was like a breathing corpse.
"She looked at me and said, 'If only I had teeth down there,'" recalled Ehlers, who was a 20-year-old medical researcher at the time. "I promised her I'd do something to help people like her one day."
Forty years later, Rape-aXe was born.
Ehlers is distributing the female condoms in the various South African cities where the World Cup soccer games are taking place.
The woman inserts the latex condom like a tampon. Jagged rows of teeth-like hooks line its inside and attach on a man's penis during penetration, Ehlers said.
Once it lodges, only a doctor can remove it -- a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest.
"It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it's on," she said. "If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter... however, it doesn't break the skin, and there's no danger of fluid exposure."
Ehlers said she sold her house and car to launch the project, and she planned to distribute 30,000 free devices under supervision during the World Cup period.
"I consulted engineers, gynecologists and psychologists to help in the design and make sure it was safe," she said.
After the trial period, they'll be available for about $2 a piece. She hopes the women will report back to her.
"The ideal situation would be for a woman to wear this when she's going out on some kind of blind date ... or to an area she's not comfortable with," she said.
The mother of two daughters said she visited prisons and talked to convicted rapists to find out whether such a device would have made them rethink their actions.
Some said it would have, Ehlers said.
Critics say the female condom is not a long-term solution and makes women vulnerable to more violence from men trapped by the device.
It's also a form of "enslavement," said Victoria Kajja, a fellow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the east African country of Uganda. "The fears surrounding the victim, the act of wearing the condom in anticipation of being assaulted all represent enslavement that no woman should be subjected to."
Kajja said the device constantly reminds women of their vulnerability.
"It not only presents the victim with a false sense of security, but psychological trauma," she added. "It also does not help with the psychological problems that manifest after assaults."

Wal-Mart Moms Torn on Health Care Become Campaign Targets

Angela Proxmire doesn’t know which is worse: keeping the health-care law President Barack Obama passed, which has cost her family money and peace of mind, or the prospect that Mitt Romney will be elected and scrap the measure outright.

The 45-year-old mother of three has had to switch her family’s doctors and health plans to avoid premium increases her insurer blamed on the 2010 law, and stop sending her asthmatic 13-year-old son to biannual sessions with a specialist. Yet when she looks toward the November elections, conflicted over whether to support Obama as she did in 2008 or cast her vote for Republican rival Romney, she’s worried about the alternative.

Shoppers at a Costco Wholesale Corp. store in Chicago. Photographer: Tim Boyle/Bloomberg
“I feel a little bit like Obama hasn’t come through with his promises on health care because it’s a huge chunk of our income, and costs have been going up,” Proxmire said as she shopped for plastic storage bins and housewares at a Wal-Mart store in Sterling, Virginia. “I can’t say I know exactly what Romney will do, but I know he wants to get rid of it, and that scares me too, thinking that it could be even more expensive and then we’re really on our own to figure out how to find coverage.”

Proxmire is part of a group of mostly low- to middle-income mothers living in suburbs and exurbs who are viewed by both the Obama and Romney campaigns as potentially crucial swing voters, and are conflicted over the issue of health care.

Defining Wal-Mart Moms

Dubbed Wal-Mart moms, these voters are defined by polling experts who have studied them as women with children 18 years of age or younger living at home and who shop at the superstore at least once a month. They supported Obama in 2008 and then switched to back Republicans in the 2010 congressional election. They comprise 27 percent of all registered women voters, making them about 14 percent of the electorate, according to the research.

Their fluid voting patterns put them up for grabs in the 2012 presidential contest. They are a key area of focus for Romney’s campaign, which employs Neil Newhouse, who has researched them extensively, as its pollster.

“Health care decisions are really part of the daily struggle that these moms go through,” said Margie Omero, a Democratic polling expert at the Washington-based firm Momentum Analysis who partnered with Newhouse to research the group. “They’re the ones that have to make doctor’s appointments and do the follow-ups and fill the prescriptions. A lot of these moms aren’t quite sure how the health-care reform bill is going to affect them, so there are some opportunities for candidates in both parties to really talk about that.”

Supreme Court Ruling

The discussion is likely to heat up this month, with the Supreme Court to rule as soon as June 25 on a legal challenge to the health-care law and Democrat Obama ramping up his defense of the measure that Romney promises to repeal and replace it. The measure was designed to expand insurance to at least 30 million people -- in part through mandating that every adult American obtain coverage -- and control soaring costs in an industry that accounts for 18 percent of the U.S. economy.

While the economy is by far the top issue on voters’ minds, women are much more likely than men to name medical care as an important topic, said Liz Hamel, director of public opinion and survey research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, which tracks views of the health-care law.

Gender Gap

A May 8-14 survey by Kaiser showed that while 50 percent of men have an unfavorable opinion of the measure, compared with 31 percent who view it favorably, women are nearly split and more likely to favor it, with 42 percent viewing it positively compared to 39 percent who see it negatively.

“There’s probably a bigger group of women who are in play with their attitudes on it,” Hamel said.
That’s true at the Sterling Wal-Mart, located in politically competitive Loudoun County, Virginia, which supported Obama in 2008 and one year later joined the state’s other voters in backing Republican Bob McDonnell for governor.

An exurb situated 29 miles outside of Washington near the Dulles Technology Corridor, the county is Virginia’s fastest growing, adding 142,000 residents between 2000 and 2010, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The growth was largely spurred by an influx of minorities; the Hispanic population in the county tripled during that decade while the Asian population rose from 9,000 to 46,000.

‘On the Fence’

As Sarah Petrus and her 12-year-old daughter strolled the toy aisle at the Wal-Mart, the woman said she’s “on the fence about” the law. A nursing student who backed Obama’s Republican opponent Arizona Senator John McCain in 2008, Petrus said while the president’s health-care proposal had some good aspects, it hasn’t worked out as planned.

“I am interested in Romney because I am really hoping he can improve it so that health-care costs actually go down, but it always concerns me when a new president comes along -- it’s so much uncertainty,” Petrus said. “Maybe Obama should get more time and some of the benefits will start panning out.”

If there’s one constant in how Wal-Mart moms view the health-care law, say pollsters, it’s that they want specific, quantifiable information about what they and their families have to gain or lose from it.

“They’re open to hearing from both sides on health care, and they want to feel that how they vote is a positive for their families,” said Alex Bratty, a Republican pollster who works with Newhouse at Alexandria, Virginia-based Public Opinion Strategies and has also partnered with Omero to track Wal-Mart moms. “There’s this hunger for real reassurance: ‘Show me the specifics, show me the plan, show me how it’s going to work.’”

Romney Challenge

The challenge is especially acute for Romney, Bratty said, since these women -- who like most swing voters tend not to pay much attention to the political debate until just before the election -- don’t know much about the presumptive Republican presidential nominee or his health-care plans.

Romney has been working in recent days to fill in some of those blanks, delivering a June 13 speech in Orlando, Florida, in which he said he would give states and insurance companies the responsibility for covering the uninsured and provide tax breaks to help people afford medical coverage. He would scrap the mandate to purchase insurance that is central to Obama’s measure and the prohibition barring insurance companies from denying coverage to everyone with a pre-existing health condition; only those who already had insurance would enjoy that protection.

Obama’s Pitch

Obama and his allies are targeting women voters with material touting popular provisions of the law that are already in place, such as the guarantee of coverage for those suffering from pre-existing conditions and allowing children to remain on their parents’ health plans until age 26. The Democratic National Committee sent out mailers in March that listed ways the law would help them, including “preventing discrimination against women like you.”

“It’s a propaganda war in essence, and it really is going to depend on which side is able to define for women a more compelling story about what is good or bad for them about this legislation,” said Susan J. Carroll of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “It’s more a battle of perception that anything else.”

During a June 6 Wal-Mart Moms focus group in Virginia, a woman identified as Stephanie J. named health care as a top issue and said she was struggling in the current system. Costs are so high, she said, that the insurance plan she can afford won’t cover testing for both herself and her son for celiac disease, a gluten intolerance from which her daughter suffers that is thought to be hereditary.

Demanding Specifics

Stephanie said she wanted more specifics from Romney about how he would manage costs. “Show me an affordable but good health care,” she said. “How are you going to do that?”

Wal-Mart moms also are preoccupied with the sluggish economy, as they are often the ones in their households who most directly deal with the real-world consequences of joblessness and underemployment: paying bills, shopping for groceries and gas, and maintaining ever-tighter budgets.

“We’re OK, but we live on a budget, and it gets harder all the time,” said Proxmire, the mother of three.
Some have fared even worse. A mother of two identified as Sarah S. at the Wal-Mart focus group said the weak housing market has left her husband, a contractor, with little work and upended their housing and family plans.

“We lost our home and we’ve had to downsize,” she said. “We wanted more kids and we haven’t had them, because we’re afraid we can’t afford them.” 



3 hours ago


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

Two people were killed and nine injured in a shooting incident Friday morning outside the Empire State Building by a disgruntled ex-employee of a nearby business, officials said.
 The suspected gunman, Jeffrey Johnson, 58, who was laid off a year ago, approached a former co-worker on the street and shot him three times, killing him, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
A construction worker who witnessed the incident followed Johnson as he walked away, Kelly said. The construction worker alerted police, who confronted Johnson. He turned his .45-caliber pistol on the officers, and was killed as they opened fire, Kelly said.
Some of those injured in the incident may have been hit by police bullets, he said, adding that the nine injured are expected to survive.


Louis Lanzano / AP
A disgruntled ex-employee opened fire Friday morning and shot 
10 people, killing one. The gunman was then shot and killed at the scene.

Kelly said Johnson was a designer of women's accessories at Hazan Imports until he was laid-off in a downsizing sometime last year.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene Friday morning on streets crowded with tourists and commuters alike.
Chris Watkins told the Wall Street Journal he saw a man running through the crowd carrying a handgun and wearing a backpack. "He was shooting toward the crowd, not toward anyone in particular," Watkins said, adding that he ran into a nearby drug store when he heard shots. He said he later saw four people lying in the intersection of 34th St. and Fifth Ave.
"I heard pop, pop, pop, pop, and I ran back into my offices,” Gloria Walker, another witness, told NBC News. "I ran, I ran, I ran."
Another witness, Darrin Deleuil, told the Wall Street Journal that he saw the shooter, wearing a suit and fedora shoot one victim point blank on 33rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue. "He looked like an old gangster," Deleuil said. "He looked real calm to me. He made sure he didn't miss him." 
The FDNY told NBC News they responded to a call about the shooting at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street at 9:07 a.m. Friday and arrived at 9:13 a.m.


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


Gloria Walker describes witnessing the shooting at the Empire State Building to WNBC: "It was pandemonium."

1465 comments                   Join the discussion


A shooting victim lies covered on the ground at West 33rd St. after a shooter opened fire near the Empire State Building on Friday, Aug. 24 in New York City.

.Mayor Michael Bloomberg, right, and police commissioner Ray Kelly, left, hold a press conference after a shooting outside the Empire State Building on Friday. A disgruntled former employee at a women's apparel shop shot a former co-worker outside the Empire State Building before being killed by police, officials said Friday in the first detailed account of the shooting. The shooter was identified as Jeffrey Johnson.
Bystanders and a police officer stand on Fifth Avenue to view the scene after a multiple shooting outside the Empire State Building, Friday.
Police lean over a sheet covered body on Fifth Avenue as they investigate a multiple shooting outside the Empire State Building on Friday.
A woman identified as a victim is treated at the scene of a shooting near the Empire State Building on Friday.
 
Rebecca Cox talks to media while recounting what she saw immediately following a shooting 
  
Law enforcement stands near the covered body of the suspected shooter on
 Fifth Ave. near the Empire State Building, Friday in New York City.
Empire State Building shooting

NBC News confirms the gunman who opened fire at the Empire State Building is dead. NYPD reports at least four people have been shot outside the building. Below is a collection of images from users in and around the area of the Empire State Building. Latest updates will be at the top of the page.
  1. tstrahan4NY
    Statement from the Empire State Bldg after today's shooting: "The building is fully operational at this time"

  2. Spanishfli9
    Watching the copters over the ESB madness on a Friday morning pic.twitter.com/k8dnXMz9

  3. EvErskine
    Mayor @MikeBloomberg about to brief media on Empire State Building shooting watch live on nyc.gov pic.twitter.com/Y2FnjmW5

  4. ShanHalligan
    Many people trying to cross 5th ave or enter building. Police not letting anyone through. #ESBshooting #WWLP pic.twitter.com/wUVAhfra

  5. ShanHalligan
    Large crowds gathered near 33rd and 5th ave where police have blocked off entrance to Empire State Building. #WWLP pic.twitter.com/Ctac11Vx
  6. NBCNews
    Gunman was fired from job yesterday, returned to scene today to target his boss, local/federal officials say @NBCNewYork #ESBshooting

  7. Not my type of photography but I feel it's very important to share. Here is the scene of today's shooting at the Empire State Building. Thoughts and prayers for the victims.
  8. kwelkernbc
    According to a White House Official: President Obama was notified about the shooting shortly after 9:30am by Homeland Security Adviser.

  9. katcreag4NY
    FBI on scene of shooting at #ESB. Suspected gunman is deceased, on sidewalk #NBC4NY yfrog.com/gzs8ehmpj

  10. Heartbreaking day in #nyc. 3 blocks south of the #esb.
  11. NBCNews
    .@NBCNewYork confirms two people have died in the Empire State Building shooting, the suspect and a bystander. #ESBshooting

  12. AdamGabbatt
    Public looking south down 5th Ave outside #ESB - towards scene. pic.twitter.com/8F3t5YuQ

  13. SteveFiz
    Update from 34th St, NYPD seem to have things under control, but no clear picture of the scene yet #empirestate pic.twitter.com/tHxX66Mr
  14. NBCNews
    .@NBCNewYork's @Jonathan4NY reports shooter a disgruntled employee from a business inside Empire State Building #ESBshooting

  15. ScottMAustin
    Chaos at Empire State Building pic.twitter.com/h1W0vMO2
  16. joyousash
    @chetmancini right outside our front door. 34th and 5th. Sounds like 7 were shot & the shooter was shot by NYPD

  17. jasonoh
    fired esb guide came back and opened fire, killing 4 & injuring others pic.twitter.com/FwXTtLVu
  18. NBCNewYork
    #BREAKING: 2 shot outside Empire State Building. | bit.ly/PgCyY5

  19. NYCphotos
    There was a shooting in front of the Empire State Building around 9 am. We heard it from the M34 bus at 5th Ave. pic.twitter.com/Yfh8CxBy