Lance Armstrong left it 'all on table' with Oprah

All the speculation is about to end. In a matter of hours, viewers can judge for themselves whether Lance Armstrong told the truth this time.

Armstrong's confession to Oprah Winfrey about using performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France a record seven times in a row will be televised at 9 p.m. Thursday, the first segment of a two-part special on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Since word of his confession during Monday's taping in Austin, Texas, was first reported by The Associated Press, there has been no shortage of opinions or advice on what Armstrong should say.

The International Olympic Committee didn't wait to listen.

The IOC on Wednesday stripped Armstrong of his 2000 bronze medal, sending him a letter asking him to return it, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

For others who will tune in Thursday, it's not just what Armstrong said that matters. How he said it, whether angry, tearful or matter-of-fact, will be judged as well.

"I left it all on the table with her and when it airs the people can decide," Armstrong said of his interview in a text sent to the AP on Wednesday. He dismissed a story earlier in the day that described him as "not contrite" when he acknowledged doping while dominating the cycling world.

Livestrong, the cancer charity Armstrong founded in 1997 and was forced to walk away from last year, said in a statement it expected him to be "completely truthful and forthcoming." A day earlier, World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman said nothing short of a confession under oath — "not talking to a talk-show host" — could prompt a reconsideration of Armstrong's lifetime ban from sanctioned events. And Frankie Andreu, a former teammate that Armstrong turned on, said the disgraced cyclist had an obligation to tell all he knew and help clean up the sport.

"I have no idea what the future holds other than me holding my kids," Armstrong said in the text.

Armstrong has held conversations with officials from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, including a reportedly contentious face-to-face meeting with USADA chief executive Travis Tygart near the Denver airport. It was USADA's 1,000-page report last year, including testimony from nearly a dozen former teammates, that portrayed Armstrong as the leader of a sophisticated doping ring that propelled the U.S. Postal Service team to title after title at the Tour de France. In addition to the lifetime ban, Armstrong was stripped of all seven wins, lost nearly all of his endorsements and was forced to cut ties with Livestrong.

According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Armstrong has information that might lead to his ban being reduced to eight years. That would make him eligible to compete in elite triathlons, many of which are sanctioned under world anti-doping rules, in 2020, when Armstrong will be 49. He was a professional athlete in the three-discipline sport as a teenager, and returned to competition after retiring from cycling in 2011.

That person also said the bar for Armstrong's redemption is higher now than when the case was open, a time during which he refused to speak to investigators. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a confidential matter.

Armstrong, who always prized loyalty on his racing teams, now faces some very tough choices himself: whether to cooperate and name those who may have aided, abetted or helped cover up the long-time use of PEDs.

Armstrong left his hometown of Austin, where the interview was taped at a downtown hotel, and is in Hawaii. He is named as a defendant in at least two pending lawsuits, and possibly a third. The Justice Department faces a Thursday deadline on whether to join a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping.

That suit alleges Armstrong defrauded the U.S. government by repeatedly denying he used performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong could be required to return substantial sponsorship fees and pay a hefty fine. The AP reported earlier that Justice Department officials were likely to join the lawsuit.

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Jim Litke reported from Chicago, Jim Vertuno from Austin.

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The New Old Age Blog: Officials Say Checks Won't Be in the Mail

The jig is up.

Two years ago, the Treasury Department initiated its Go Direct campaign to persuade people still receiving paper checks for their Social Security, Veterans Affairs, S.S.I. and other federal benefits to switch to direct deposit.

“At that point, we were issuing approximately 11 million checks each month,” or about 15 percent of the total, Walt Henderson, director of the campaign, told me.

After putting notices in every monthly check envelope, circulating public service announcements and putting the word out through banks, senior centers, the Red Cross, AARP and other organizations, the Treasury Department has since shrunk that number to five million monthly checks.

That means 93 percent of those getting federal benefits are using direct deposit or, if they prefer or lack a bank account, a Direct Express debit card that gets refilled each month and can be used anywhere that accepts MasterCard.

“So people have been getting the word and making the switch,” Mr. Henderson said. Now, federal officials are pushing the last holdouts to convert to direct deposit by March 1.

Although officials say the change is not optional, the jig isn’t entirely up. If you or your older relative does not respond to their pleading, “we’re not going to interrupt their payments,” Mr. Henderson said. But the department will start sending letters urging people to switch.

The major motive is financial: shifting the last paper checks to direct deposit or a debit card (only 2 percent of recipients go that route) will save $1 billion over the next decade, the department estimates.

But safety enters the picture, too. One reason some beneficiaries resist direct deposit, Mr. Henderson said, is that they fear their electronic deposits can be hacked or diverted. Having grown up in a predigital age, perhaps they feel safer with a check in their hands.

But they probably aren’t. In 2011, the Treasury Department received 440,000 reports of lost or stolen benefits checks. With direct deposit, “there’s no check lingering unattended in a mailbox,” Mr. Henderson noted.

The greater reason for sticking with paper is probably simple inertia. “It’s human nature to procrastinate,” he said.

But unless you or your relatives want a series of letters from the Treasury Department, it is probably time for the last fence-sitters to get with the program.

They don’t need to use a computer. People can switch to direct deposit, or get the debit card, at their banks or the local Social Security office. More simply, they can call a toll-free number, (800) 333-1795, and have agents walk them through the change. Or they can sign up online at www.GoDirect.org.

They will need:

1. Their Social Security number.
2. The 12-digit federal benefit number found on their checks.
3. The amount of the most recent check.
4. And, for direct deposit, a bank or credit union routing number, usually found on the front of a check. They can have direct deposit to a savings account, too.

A caution for New Old Age readers: If you think your relative has not switched because he or she is cognitively impaired and can no longer handle his finances, you can be designated a representative payee and receive monthly Social Security or S.S.I. payments on your relative’s behalf. This generally requires a visit to your local Social Security office, documentation in hand.

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Paula Span is the author of “When the Time Comes: Families With Aging Parents Share Their Struggles and Solutions.”

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How to find the best medical information online

If you turn to Google before turning to a doctor when you're feeling icky, you're not alone.

Last year, 1 in 3 Americans typed their symptoms into search engines and medical websites before seeing their physician, according to a Pew Research Center study released this week.

And with the flu epidemic making its way steadily west, now seems like a good time to talk about the best way to search for health information online.

Searching for medical advice online can never replace a visit to a living, breathing doctor, but there are ways to help you weed through the online clutter and get reliable information.

Medical experts say you can't trust any single site to always have the best or most up-to-date information on any condition, but some sites are more likely to be helpful than others.

Several doctors recommended MedlinePlus, a website at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and managed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. It has easy-to-read and understandable definitions and explanations of diseases, drugs and supplements. Each entry is accompanied by links to other sites and research deemed trustworthy by the medical archivists.

Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital, tells her patients to check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at http://www.cdc.gov and the American Academy of Pediatrics' website at http://www.HealthyChildren.org for peer-reviewed medical information.

"In general I like sources affiliated with hospitals," said Dr. Kevin Pho, a primary care physician in New Hampshire. Websites whose addresses end with .org and .gov are also good, he said.

If you come across a website with lots of advertising, experts say, take the information with a grain of salt. Some sites tailor the information on their page to please their advertisers.

Also, the Medical Library Assn. has put together a list of consumer health sites that it has deemed "most useful": http://www.mlanet.org/resources/userguide.html.

The list includes the association's favorite sites for information about cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

The vast majority of people who search for health information online go straight to search engines such as Google or Bing for the sake of convenience, the Pew study found. That's fine, but you can help ensure that you get the best information by narrowing your search terms.

For example, type in "cancer, chemotherapy, side effects" rather than just "cancer." Or "children flu shot, AAP" to get information about the flu shot from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Additionally, if you are doing research online before seeing a clinician, keep a digital or paper trail of where you got your information.

"Many of my patients come in hesitant about vaccines because of something they heard online, but when I ask them who wrote it, they don't really know where they found it," Swanson said. "What I want is families to grab it, print it, and then we can look at it together."

And if you're worried that your doctor is going to roll his or her eyes when you show up with a stack of printouts or a smartphone loaded up with URLs, get over it.

"We need to face the reality that because of the Internet, patients are more empowered," Pho said. "We can't see ourselves as gatekeepers. We need to see ourselves as curators who can shepherd patients through an abundance of information."

Besides, trying to figure out what to do when you're feeling sick before visiting the doctor is nothing new.

"People are starting the triage process at home, as people have always done," said Susannah Fox, who worked on the study for Pew's Internet and American Life Project. "Now they just have more resources. Instead of looking in a book and calling your mom, you look up your symptoms online and read a blog post about someone who had the same diagnosis."

deborah.netburn@latimes.com

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Helicopter crashes in central London, killing at least two people

LONDON -- A helicopter apparently crashed into a crane atop a high-rise building in central London during the morning rush hour Wednesday, falling to earth and killing at least two people, police said.

Video footage showed flaming debris on the ground where the chopper came down in the Vauxhall district of south London, close to the headquarters of MI6, Britain's spy agency.

Scotland Yard said two people were confirmed dead at the scene, with two others taken to the hospital. A fire official told the BBC that one of the dead had been aboard the helicopter. Authorities quickly cordoned off the area and shut down Vauxhall rail station.

[Update, 4:26 a.m. Jan 16: Later Wednesday morning, police said one of the dead was the chopper's pilot. The other victim has not been identified, but the helicopter was not believed to be carrying passengers, police said. 

"At this stage, it appears a commercial helicopter on a scheduled flight was in collision with a crane on top of a building under construction," Scotland Yard said in a statement. 

Police said seven people were treated on the scene for minor injuries. Six people were taken to local hospitals, all for minor injuries except for one person who suffered a broken arm.]

The crash occurred on a gray morning with thick clouds or fog lying low in the sky. Police did not speculate as to the cause of the crash, but the BBC reported that terrorism did not appear to be likely.

Nicky Morgan, a member of Parliament who was walking toward Vauxhall, told the broadcaster that she heard a huge explosion shortly before 8 a.m., a time when commuters and schoolchildren were going about their usual routine.

"I did wonder if it was a bomb explosion, because it was just such a loud bang," she said. "It was the thick black smoke that really meant that this is not right."

Helicopters are common in London, particularly around the city's financial district where many tall buildings are clustered.

The crash site is near the Nine Elms neighborhood south of the Thames, where the U.S. is planning to build a large new embassy.

ALSO:

Blue plaques that pay tribute to London's past may be history

Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian teen in West Bank confrontation

Egyptian lawyer gets 5 years, 300 lashes for Saudi drug conviction

 

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iPhone demand said to be ‘robust,’ recent cuts don’t reflect weak demand

Following recent reports from Nikkei and The Wall Street Journal that suggested Apple (AAPL) slashed iPhone 5 component orders in half due to weak demand,  the company’s stock fell significantly and opened below $ 500 for the first time in nearly a year. The reports have been called into question, however, with many believing they do not represent true consumer interest. Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday, per Apple Insider, that his supply chain checks have indicated that demand for the iPhone 5 “remains robust.” The analyst believes the recent reports are a result of improved yield rates and possibly Apple’s recent supplier changes.

[More from BGR: PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 could cost just $ 350, expected to launch this fall]

Despite the recent concerns, Wu expects Apple to post better-than-expected earnings for the December quarter led by sales of 47.5 million iPhones with a gross margin of 38.7%. Both estimates are above Wall Street’s expectations of between 46 to 47 million iPhones and a 38.3% gross margin.

[More from BGR: HTC One SV review]

Sterne Agee reiterated its Buy rating on shares of Apple with a price target of $ 840.

Wu’s expectations remain bullish compared to other Wall Street analysts. Stuart Jeffrey of Nomura is the most recent analyst to cut his outlook on Apple stock. Nomura reduced the company’s price target to $ 530 from $ 660 Tuesday morning, citing weak demand for the iPhone 5 and increased pressure on Apple’s margins.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Director defends 'Zero Dark Thirty' torture scenes

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Director Kathryn Bigelow is defending torture scenes in "Zero Dark Thirty," saying the military hunt for Osama bin Laden wasn't free of moral consequences.

The best picture Oscar-nominated film opens by declaring it's based on firsthand accounts of actual events.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and other lawmakers have criticized the film as misleading for suggesting torture led to the location of Bin Laden.

But Bigelow writes in the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/10ycTnU) on Wednesday that torture was part of the story and the backlash may be misdirected.

She says critics should perhaps direct their anger at those who ordered U.S. torture policies rather than her film.

Bigelow says it seems illogical to make a case against torture by denying the role it played in counter-terrorism policy and practices.

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The New Old Age Blog: In Flu Season,Use a Mask. But Which One?

Do face masks help prevent people from getting the flu? And if so, how much protection do they give?

You might think the answer to this question would be well established. It’s not.

In fact, there is considerable uncertainty over how well face masks guard against influenza when people use them outside of hospitals and other health care settings. This has been a topic of discussion and debate in infectious disease circles since the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, also known as swine flu.

As the government noted in a document that provides guidance on the issue, “Very little information is available about the effectiveness of facemasks and respirators in controlling the spread of pandemic influenza in community settings.” This is also true of seasonal influenza — the kind that strikes every winter and that we are experiencing now, experts said.

Let’s jump to the bottom line for older people and caregivers before getting into the details. If someone is ill with the flu, coughing and sneezing and living with others, say an older spouse who is a bit frail, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the use of a face mask “if available and tolerable” or a tissue to cover the nose and mouth.

If you are healthy and serving as a caregiver for someone who has the flu — say, an older person who is ill and at home — the C.D.C. recommends using a face mask or a respirator. (I’ll explain the difference between those items in just a bit.) But if you are a household member who is not in close contact with the sick person, keep at a distance and there is no need to use a face mask or respirator, the C.D.C. advises.

The recommendations are included in another document related to pandemic influenza — a flu caused by a new virus that circulates widely and ends up going global because people lack immunity. That is not a threat this year, but the H3N2 virus that is circulating widely is hitting many older adults especially hard. So the precautions are a good idea, even outside a pandemic situation, said Dr. Ed Septimus, a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

The key idea here is exposure, Dr. Septimus said. If you are a caregiver and intimately exposed to someone who is coughing, sneezing and has the flu, wearing a mask probably makes sense — as it does if you are the person with the flu doing the coughing and sneezing and a caregiver is nearby.

But the scientific evidence about how influenza is transmitted is not as strong as experts would like, said Dr. Carolyn Bridges, associate director of adult immunization at the C.D.C. It is generally accepted that the flu virus is transmitted through direct contact — when someone who is ill touches his or her nose and then a glass that he or she hands to someone else, for instance — and through large droplets that go flying through the air when a person coughs or sneezes. What is not known is the extent to which tiny aerosol particles are implicated in transmission.

Evidence suggests that these tiny particles may play a more important part than previously suspected. For example, a November 2010 study in the journal PLoS One found that 81 percent of flu patients sent viral material through air expelled by coughs, and 65 percent of the virus consisted of small particles that can be inhaled and lodge deeper in the lungs than large droplets.

That is a relevant finding when it comes to masks, which cover much of the face below the eyes but not tightly, letting air in through gaps around the nose and mouth. As the C.D.C.’s advisory noted, “Facemasks help stop droplets from being spread by the person wearing them. They also keep splashes or sprays from reaching the mouth and nose of the person wearing them. They are not designed to protect against breathing in the very small particle aerosols that may contain viruses.”

In other words, you will get some protection, but it is not clear how much. In most circumstances, “if you’re caring for a family member with influenza, I think a surgical mask is perfectly adequate,” said Dr. Carol McLay, an infection control consultant based in Lexington, Ky.

By contrast, respirators fit tightly over someone’s face and are made of materials that filter out small particles that carry the influenza virus. They are recommended for health care workers who are in intimate contact with patients and who have to perform activities like suctioning their lungs. So-called N95 respirators block at least 95 percent of small particles in tests, if properly fitted.

Training in how to use respirators is mandated in hospitals, but no such requirement applies outside, and consumers frequently put them on improperly. One study of respirator use in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, when mold was a problem, found that only 24 percent of users put them on the right way. Also, it can be hard to breathe when respirators are used, and this can affect people’s willingness to use them as recommended.

Unfortunately, research about the relative effectiveness of masks and respirators is not robust, and there is no guidance backed by scientific evidence available for consumers, Dr. Bridges said. Nor is there any clear way of assessing the relative merits of various products being sold to the public, which differ in design and materials used.

“Honestly, some of the ones I’ve seen are almost like a paper towel with straps,” Dr. McLay said. Her advice: go with name-brand items used by your local hospital.

Meanwhile, it is worth repeating: The single most important thing that older people and caregivers can do to prevent the flu is to be vaccinated, Dr. Bridges said. “It’s the best tool we have,” she said, noting that preventing flu also involves vigilant hand washing, using tissues or arms to block sneezing, and staying home when ill so people do not transmit the virus. And it is by no means too late to get a shot, whose cost Medicare will cover for older adults.

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Toyota moves to settle two high-profile sudden acceleration cases

Toyota Motor Corp. has quietly moved to settle two high-profile sudden acceleration lawsuits in recent weeks in what appears to be a strategy to keep potentially damaging cases away from juries.

The confidential negotiations, which include a case involving two deaths in a horrific 2010 crash in Utah, come on the heels of a $1.1-billion settlement late last month. That deal involved hundreds of plaintiffs who contended Toyota diminished the value of their vehicles by hiding defects. And in November, Toyota paid $25.5 million to settle shareholder claims that failure to disclose vehicle problems led to a drop in the company's stock price.

Even after these settlements, the world's largest automaker still faces more than 300 sudden acceleration lawsuits in state and federal courts. Many of the plaintiffs assert that faulty electronics were to blame, allegations that Toyota has consistently denied. The company has steadfastly maintained that the only defects that could have caused the problem were improperly installed floor mats and sticky gas pedals for which the automaker instituted recalls. Several government investigations found no flaws in the automaker's electronics and pointed to driver error as a more likely cause.

Still, legal experts said juries hearing emotional cases involving serious injuries or deaths could come to a different conclusion, potentially exposing Toyota to massive, headline-grabbing verdicts that could sully its reputation. The automaker, they said, appears to be following a well-worn playbook used by big companies in mass litigation: settle cases in which the risk of losing is deemed too great and aggressively defend those that would play favorably in court.

"The strategy is to settle and move on rather than risk a huge loss," said Byron Stier, an expert on major products litigation at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles who has extensively studied the Toyota cases. "The wrong case could stir up a lot of bad publicity, so just move on."

For Toyota, paying off plaintiffs in catastrophic injury or death suits might cost tens of millions of dollars. But these private settlements would keep potentially sensitive evidence out of the courtroom that could aid plaintiffs in other lawsuits. For example, some plaintiffs' attorneys have been examining the source code for Toyota's throttle management system in preparation for trial, reviewing millions of pages of company engineering documents, and consulting with electronics and software experts.

Perhaps more important, settling the toughest cases outside of a courtroom would help Toyota put sudden acceleration in the rearview mirror. The Japanese automaker has been dogged by the issue since it began recalling millions of cars for the problem in late 2009, a move that led to multiple federal investigations, record fines, hundreds of lawsuits and a rare apology from Toyota's president to Congress.

The latest cases to settle had been selected by judges as the first among a large group of federal and state cases to go to trial. So-called bellwether cases, they were chosen as representative cases that help predict the outcome of numerous suits that make similar claims.

One of the settled bellwether lawsuits, a lemon law claim case brought by retired police officer Michael Houlf in Los Angeles Superior Court, had been set for trial this month but was formally dismissed Dec. 28, court filings show. Settlement terms were not revealed.

The other, called Van Alfen vs. Toyota, was filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana and was to begin trial in mid-February. Although both sides have agreed on terms, the deal is still awaiting final approval, according to individuals familiar with the matter who requested anonymity because the settlement is confidential.

That case, considered one of the strongest acceleration claims filed against Toyota, involved a 2008 Camry that accelerated out of control in western Utah. The vehicle crashed into a rock wall, killing the driver, Paul Van Alfen, as well as a passenger and injuring two others in the car. In the course of trial preparation, the court sanctioned Toyota for inspecting the Camry and its black box data recorder without the consent or presence of the Van Alfen family, casting what the judge called a "cloud of suspicion" over the automaker's conduct in the case.

But late last month that sanction was lifted with the consent of Mark Robinson, a Newport Beach attorney representing the plaintiffs — a strong indication the suit would be settled out of court. Robinson, a veteran trial lawyer who has several other cases against Toyota, declined to discuss the settlement. Attorneys for Houlf did not return multiple calls seeking comment.

Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said he was "not going to be able to comment on either case," and added that the remaining lawsuits against Toyota "will be approached and defended on a case-by-case basis."

During the process of discovery, plaintiffs' lawyers have spent considerable time studying Toyota electronics. But because much of the evidence gathered in the settled cases was sealed under a protective order it cannot be used in other suits, effectively eliminating potentially negative facts from the record. One of the key benefits to Toyota in settling, experts say, is permanently setting aside facts that it finds inconvenient or embarrassing.

Toyota still faces roughly 200 sudden acceleration suits in federal court, 100 in California, 20 in Texas and a smattering of individual suits around the country. The automaker also is contending with suits filed by the Orange County district attorney and a coalition of state attorneys general, both of which Toyota has said are close to settlement.

The next trial date is April 15, when Toyota is scheduled to face a wrongful death claim in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Attorney Garo Mardirossian said he plans to argue that the 2006 Camry's lack of a brake override system contributed to the death of Upland woman Noriko Uno in August 2009 after her sedan took off at high speed, hit a telephone pole, flipped in the air and crashed into a tree.

Mardirossian said he's conducted dozens of depositions and has witnesses who will testify that the car's brake lights were on — an indication that the problem may not have been caused by driver error. He's open to settlement offers, he said, but for now "I'm getting ready for trial."

A more appealing case, from Toyota's perspective, may come in federal court in late October. It involves an 84-year-old Georgia woman who fractured three vertebrae in a Camry in 2009 after it accelerated through a playground and crashed into a gymnasium. As part of the bellwether selection process, that suit was proposed by Toyota as one of three it would prefer to face first in federal court.

While awaiting trial last summer, the plaintiff, Ida Starr St. John, died. Cale Conley, one of St. John's attorneys, said he would continue the suit on behalf of her estate and hoped to assert a wrongful death claim. But that could help Toyota make the case that St. John's age, rather than a vehicle defect, led to the crash, while denying the jury the chance to see a potentially sympathetic plaintiff.

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SoCal Edison destroyed downed poles before inspection

A state probe into the widespread power outages caused by a furious 2011 windstorm was unable to determine whether toppled utility poles met safety standards because Southern California Edison destroyed most of them before they could be inspected.

The winds that roared through the San Gabriel Valley knocked down hundreds of utility poles, snapped cables and uprooted scores of trees, leaving nearly a quarter of a million Edison customers without power, some for a full week.

In a report released Monday, the California Public Utilities Commission found that at least 21 poles were unstable because of termite destruction, dry rot or other damage before tumbling over in wind gusts of up to 120 mph on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 2011.

But more than 75% of the 248 Edison poles that were knocked down in the storm were destroyed by the utility before they could be inspected, a violation of commission rules.

"At the onset of [power] restoration efforts, preservation of failed poles was not made a priority by Southern California Edison," the report says.

Of the 248 poles that failed, partial segments of only about 60 poles were collected and delivered for analysis by commission engineers — the remaining poles were "discarded by SCE staff," according to the report.

Efforts to reconstruct downed poles, many of them sliced into segments smaller than 10 inches, "were immensely hindered by the nature of SCE's collection and cataloging methodology," investigators reported.

Edison workers scattered small pole segments in various collection bins, "making it nearly impossible to determine which failed pole they belonged to," according to investigators.

A spokesman for the utility declined to comment on the report, saying the utility was in the process of formulating a statement.

Commission investigators also found that at least 17 wire pole support systems did not meet safety standards.

The report calls on Edison to update its emergency response procedures and test them on a yearly basis.

Officials will consider formal enforcement actions, including financial penalties, if Edison does not comply.

In a statement Monday, U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) — who represents Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino and other San Gabriel Valley cities — called for "immediate action" to ensure the issues raised in the report would not recur.

"This report confirms that by following such regulations and by asking for mutual assistance, power could have been restored more quickly," Chu said.

Former Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, who until recently represented part of the affected area, said the report "confirms what everyone who lived through the windstorm knew from personal experience, that Edison was not prepared and public safety and consumers suffered as a result."

State Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge) said the report raises fears that Edison equipment might sustain similar damage in future disasters.

"I am concerned that service and safety doesn't seem to be their priority," said Liu, who is married to California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey.

The report comes less than a year after an Edison-commission study determined the utility had inadequate plans in place for emergencies and communicating with the public. The study, by Maryland-based Davies Consulting, also said the utility could have shortened power restoration time by one day or more by doing a better job of tracking and preparing for bad weather.

At the same time, the consultant commended Edison for having adequate staffing and managing a response that left no workers or customers injured.

joe.piasecki@latimes.com

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The Golden Globes, Starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and Nobody Else

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:  

RELATED: The Way the World Could Have Ended

Now, we know what you’re thinking. Forget the rest of the show. And the red carpet. And the after-parties. And Lena Dunham, and maybe even Unimpressed Tommy Lee Jones. Now if only someone could just put together all the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler bits from last night’s Golden Globes — what little their was after that fantastic monologue, anyway. Well, you’re in luck. Don’t thank us, thank Flavorwire. Oh, fine, thank us a little bit:

RELATED: The Only ‘Kiss From a Rose’ Cover You’ll Ever Need

RELATED: Let’s Get Honest with ‘The Avengers’

If you were wondering, we were totally rooting for the fish: 

RELATED: ‘Roseanne’ Predicted Internet Addiction; A Weather Alert from Hell

RELATED: Yes, Someone Turned Their Dead Cat Into a Helicopter

As you may have heard, it is very cold in Los Angeles. As you also may have heard, cold in Los Angeles is very different than cold anywhere else, and, well, it’s quite funny watching them squirm:

And, finally, here is a cat using its feline agility to maneuver itself into a hammock. Yes, we are jealous: 

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