Romney: 'I'm not concerned about the very poor'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he's "not concerned about the very poor" because they have an "ample safety net" and he's focused instead on relieving the suffering of middle-class people hit hard by the bad economy.

In comments likely to become fodder for his critics, Romney emphasized, "You can focus on the very poor, that's not my focus."

He brought up the subject of the poor in a CNN interview marking his big win in Florida's GOP primary Tuesday night, a major step toward becoming the party's challenger to President Barack Obama in the fall. A multi-millionaire former venture capitalist, Romney has been criticized by Democrats and his Republican rivals alike for earlier remarks seen as insensitive, such as saying "I like being able to fire people" and declaring that he knew what it was like to worry about being "pink-slipped" out of a job.

"I'm not concerned about the very poor." he said Wednesday. "We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich. They're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling."

Asked whether his comment about the poor might come across as odd to some, Romney reiterated.

"We will hear from the Democrat party the plight of the poor and there's no question, it's not good being poor, and we have a safety net to help those that are very poor," Romney said, adding that he's more worried about the unemployed, people living on Social Security and those struggling to send their kids to college.

"We have a very ample safety net and we can talk about whether it needs to be strengthened or whether there are holes in it. But we have food stamps, we have Medicaid, we have housing vouchers, we have programs to help the poor," Romney said. "But the middle-income Americans, they're the folks that are really struggling right now."

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Romney hits morning shows, armed with talking points about Obama’s billions

He runs the PAC RT @StuartRoy: Min invest yields win head 2 head w/ romney MT @chucktodd Santorum SuperPAC up with new ad in MO

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North Carolina Death Row Inmate Writes Letter About Life of 'Leisure'

A convicted murderer on death row in North Carolina wrote a taunting letter to his hometown newspaper about his life of "leisure" in prison and making a mockery of the legal system.

Danny Robbie Hembree Jr. was found guilty of murdering 17-year-old Heather Catterton in 2009 and was sentenced to death on Nov. 18, 2011.

Hembree, 50, is on death row at Central Prison in Raleigh, N.C., but he's not looking for any pity in the letter he sent to The Gaston Gazette.

"Is the public aware that I am a gentleman of leisure, watching color TV in the A.C., reading, taking naps at will, eating three well balanced hot meals a day," Hembree asked in the letter. "I'm housed in a building that connects to the new 55 million dollar hospital with round the clock free medical care 24/7."

He also asks if the public knows that the chances of his "lawful murder" taking place in the next 20 years, if ever, are "very slim."

Hembree has also been accused of killing two other women. One was 30-year-old Randi Dean Saldana, whose burnt remains were found near Blacksburg, S.C. in 2009. The other was 30-year-old Deborah Ratchford, whose body was found in 1992.

He admitted to taking drugs and having sex with Catterton and Saldana on the days they died, but told jurors he did not kill them or dispose of their bodies, according to ABC News' Raleigh-Durham affiliate WTVD. He is scheduled to go on trial for Saldana's killing in March.

Hembree confessed to killing the three women during recorded police interviews, but later said the confessions were an attempt to cover up a string of armed robberies, according to the Gaston Gazette.

In the letter, Hembree also mocks the judicial system.

"I laugh at you self righteous clowns and I spit in the face of your so called justice system. The state of North Carolina has sentenced me to death but it's not real," he wrote.

North Carolina State Representative Paul Stam told WTVD that the letter is a travesty of justice. He said that it is more likely that Hembree will die of natural causes than of the death penalty.

"His punishment does not fit his crime at all," Stam said.

Hembree tells the citizens of Gaston County, N.C., that they should petition that state and force them to carry out his "murder sentence."

The Gaston County District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to request for comment.

"I am a man who is ready to except [sic] his unjustful punishment and face God almighty with a clean conscience unlike you cowards and your cowardly system," Hembree wrote. "Kill me if you can suckers. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

The letter is signed, "Sincerely, Danny Hembree."

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Los Angeles police question someone about arsons

Authorities arrest a man in connection with dozens of suspected arson fires in Los Angeles: http://t.co/vk180vEd

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Man Makes Homemade iPad to Surprise his Girlfriend, and a Teen in Trouble over Negative Tweet about Kansas Governor

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What would inspire you to make a computer from scratch? When Wei Jin-Long wanted to get an iPad for his girlfriend, but couldn't afford it, he decided to build one himself.  Jin-Long, who is a student at the Art & Design Department at Northeast Normal University in Changchun, China, said he studied Internet video programs on how to make tablet PCs and then bought a refurbished laptop computer to start with.  The old laptop came with a main board, video card, CPU and screen.  Jin-Long bought the touch screen and the battery online to complete his masterpiece for a grand total of about $125. He even hand-carved and polished all the holes to give it a more professional look.  Completing the custom tablet took him ten days to finish, but he told The China Daily News that it allows its user to "read, download, watch movies, [and] play games by just touching the screen."  After receiving her gift, Jin-Long's girlfriend Sun Shasha said, "this is the best gift I've ever had, and I will keep it forever."  He designed the tablet to resemble an iPad, with an Apple logo and all.  Shasha added rhinestone around the edges to personalize it eve more.  So what's the biggest difference between Wei's tablet and an actual iPad?  Wei's tablet runs Window's 7, not the MAC operating system.

A Kansas City teenager is receiving backlash for a comment she made against her state's governor on Twitter.  Emma Sullivan was attending a Youth in Government event with her classmates listening as Governor Sam Brownback spoke, when she tweeted, "Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot."  The 18-year-old Shawnee Mission East senior is now declining her school principal's request for her to write a formal letter of apology to Governor Brownback saying she "isn't sorry and doesn't think such a letter would be sincere."  In reality, Sullivan did not actually make the comment she tweeted, and said she was "just joking with friends."  However Governor Brownback's office, which monitors social media for any posting with the governor's name, saw Sullivan's tweet and contacted the Youth in Government program.  What followed was a verbal scolding from Sullivan's principal, Karl R. Krawitz, who instructed Sullivan to write a letter of apology and also offered talking points for how the letter should be written.  Sullivan has refused, and people on Twitter are responding.  Before the incident, Sullivan had 65 followers, currently her following has increased to more than 6,500. She said that she feels her tweet has helped to "open up dialogue" about free speech in social media. Sullivan has not heard from Governor Brownback or his staff, but says she is not opposed to conversing with the governor directly.   Sullivan has also said, "it would be interesting to have a dialogue with him. I don't know if he would do it or not though. And I don't know that he would listen to what I have to say."  Sullivan also admits that she disagrees with Brownback politically, partly because he vetoed the Kansas Arts Commission's entire budget--making Kansas the only state to eliminate its art funding.  So what does Emma's mother have to say about this Twitter controversy?  Julie Sullivan said she is not angry with her daughter, but she could have, "chosen different words."  She also notes that "[Emma] was talking to 65 friends. And also it's the speech they use today. It's more attention grabbing. I raised my kids to be independent, to be strong, to be free thinkers. If she wants to tweet her opinion about Gov. Brownback, I say for her to go for it and I stand totally behind her."  As for Emma, she's still waiting to see if there will be further action against her since she has refused to apologize.

On the other side of the world, Ampon Tangnoppakul, a 61-year-old truck driver from Thailand, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sending cell phone text messages that were deemed insulting to the country's monarchy.  The law imposes seemingly severe penalties for publicly or privately making insults or threats directed at King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 83, and his family.

UPDATE: On Monday afternoon, Governor Brownback submitted a statement to Yahoo! News apologizing to Emma Sullivan, saying, "My staff over-reacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize.  Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms," he said.

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