SPORTS
U.S. vows full investigationinto Taliban corpse videoMarine Corps commandant says video thatpurports to depict Marines desecrating remainsis behavior inconsistent with warrior ethos. 4A.
Orange juice is being heldat the border for testingImported juice will be tested for contaminationwith a fungus-killing chemical; Coca-Cola Co. firstdetected the fungicide, alerted FDA. 3A.
Martin Luther King memorialnew center for celebrationThis will be the first MLK weekend since thememorial was dedicated in October. Now there isspace for talks, scavenger hunts, story time. 3A.
There’s moreto Evoquethan its goodlooks, styleClassy, comfy interior,240 horsepower isappealing, but steepprice is some gripes. 8B.
Airfare likely to climb againand increases could stickDelta makes first move, raising fares $10 eachway on longer routes. United-Continental, U.S.Airways, American, Southwest match hike. 3B.
Storm ends snow drought inMidwest; more on the wayA bitterly cold storm disrupted travel in theMidwest, and Chicago picked up 3 inches ofsnow. A winter weather advisory is in effect fromsouthwestern Missouri to northern Maine. 2A.
Crossword, Sudoku 7BEditorial/Forum 8-9AMarket scoreboard 4BMarketplace Today 7BState-by-state 5ATV listings 6-7D
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WEEKEND, JANUARY 13–15, 2012Newsline
WASHINGTON — President Obama and theDemocratic Party have raised more than $240million for his re-election, swamping his rivals’fundraising as he races to build a war chest todefend against the eventual Republican nomineeand deep-pocketed GOP “super PACS.”
Obama collected more than $42 million duringthe last three months of the year, his campaignannounced Thursday, while more than $24 mil-lion went to the Democratic National Commit-tee, to help build a campaign infrastructure.
The fundraising puts Obama roughly on parwith the amount raised by President George W.Bush at this point in his 2004 re-election effort.But this year’s contest is markedly different.
Aggressive new super PACs, empowered by2010 federal court rulings, now can unleashunlimited amounts of corporate and union mon-ey to denounce or defend politicians. So far, GOP-leaning super PACs have outraised Democraticindependent groups, threatening to undercut thepresident’s financial advantage. These groups areshaking up the early GOP primary contests withmillions of dollars in attack ads.
Obama “will need every penny” to deal withthe Republican onslaught, said Jack Pitney, apolitical scientist at Claremont McKenna College.
In a video and e-mail to supporters earlyThursday morning, Obama campaign managerJim Messina called the fundraising a “pretty goodstart” and said more than half a million peoplehad contributed during the October-to-Decem-ber fundraising quarter. But he implored sup-porters to give more. “There’s no cavalry,” hewrote. “There’s only you.”
Republican National Committee spokeswom-an Kirsten Kukowski said Obama is “more in-terested in campaigning” than in creating jobs.
Mitt Romney is the top GOP fundraiser, col-lecting $56 million. Experts, such as Pitney, pre-dict huge campaign sums for Romney and GOPindependent groups if he wins the nomination.
A pro-Romney PAC, Restore Our Future, al-ready is the biggest spender among candidate-specific super PACs.
Democratic strategist Tad Devine said Obamashould hit the eventual GOP nominee with earlyTV ads. “They need to make sure this campaign isdebated on a terrain of their choosing,” he said.“They are raising the kind of of money to do it.”
Obamaamasses$240Mwar chestPresident, DNC faroutraise GOP rivalsBy Fredreka SchoutenUSA TODAY
DENVER — Zack McLeod is Tim Tebow’s kindof player — and man. And vice versa.
The 20-year-old former high school footballplayer won’t snag any touchdown throws fromhis hero Saturday at Gillette Stadiumwhen the Denver Broncos’ on-fieldmiracle-worker challenges the NewEngland Patriots in an AFC divisionalplayoff game. But McLeod just mightcatch a pass — and more compassionand love than he ever imagined.
As kickoff approaches, Tebow willdo what he always does at pressure-packedtimes — give of himself. The 24-year-old quar-terback will spend a few moments with Mc-Leod, who suffered a traumatic brain injurywhile playing football in 2008. They plan tomeet on the sideline as part of the TebowFoundation’s Wish 15 program that grants re-quests for young people with serious medicalissues.
“When we told Zack (this week), he justscreamed, ‘Nooooo waaaay!’ ” says his father,Pat McLeod, who, like wife Tammy, is a Harvard
University chaplain. “We are hoping Tim willthrow him a pass. Zack still has great hands.”
One thing is for sure: Tebow will hug McLeod.The son of evangelical missionaries, Tebow —
voted America’s new favorite athlete in an ESPNpoll — says giving a warm embrace and words ofencouragement to those in need puts every-
thing into perspective before agame.
“We’re playing a game, and youwant to win, but you know that it’snot the end of the world,” Tebowsays. “Even a bad loss on the foot-ball field is better than spending aday (recovering) in a hospital.”
Tebow discussed a wide range of topics in anexclusive interview with USA TODAY, includinghow he copes with fame.
The latest flash point came Sunday. The Bron-cos, stumbling into the playoffs with a three-game losing streak, shocked the PittsburghSteelers with a 29-23 wild-card victory in Den-ver. In an NFL-record 11 seconds, Tebow fired an80-yard scoring dart that ended the overtimethriller and added to a season-long list of Te-
Please see COVER STORY next page u
By Ron Chenoy, US Presswire
No time for romance: Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow says he is too busy to have a girlfriend.
Tebow: Manbehind maniaTebow: Man
behind maniaBy Jon SaracenoUSA TODAY
Ravens’ Lewisspreads gospel
about nutrition, 1C
COVER STORY
By Chris Pizzello, AP
Freemanis notdone yetSays careeraward isnice, buthe hasmoreto do,1D
USAS AS TODADAD Y SA S YA napshots®
Source: Bloomberg BNA
RememberingMartin Luther KingPercentage of employers giving workers apaid day off:
1990
2012
2005
2000
1995
31%
29%25%
22%17%
By Rachel Huggins and Karl Gelles, USA TODAA YTODAYTODA
Family of Tammy Gatlin is outragedthat her killer was pardoned, 3A
By Rogelio V. Solis, AP
Miss. pardons angervictims’ families
Three gamesthis weekendfeature arematch:Broncos vs. Patriots,Texans vs. Ravens andGiants vs. Packers, 1C
USA TODAY
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It’s a bad year for people who sufferfrom paraskevidekatriaphobia — the fearof Friday the 13th.
Why? There are three thisyear, instead of the usual two.There was one in 2011.
That’s not all. For the firsttime since 1984, those threeFriday the 13ths — today,April 13 and July 13 — areexactly 13 weeks apart.
Three Friday the 13thshappen every few years. Thelast was in 2009, and the nextis 2015. What’s special about2012 — and what won’t occuragain until 2040 — is that thisis happening during a leapyear, says Tom Fernsler, aUniversity of Delaware mathprofessor who sometimes goes by thename Dr. 13.
It’s hard not to feel something aboutFriday the 13th, Fernsler says. “I find that95% of people in the world are supersti-tious about something, and the other 5%are liars,” he said.
The number 13 and Friday are recur-ring presences in mythological, spiritualand religious tradition. In Christianity, 13
people attended the Last Supper beforeJudas’ betrayal and Jesus’ death on aFriday. A Norse myth warns of dire con-sequences for dining in groups of 13.Friday the 13th was the date the medi-eval Knights Templar were imprisoned.
And, though not as historic,rapper Tupac Shakur died onFriday, Sept. 13, 1996, afterbeing gunned down Sept. 7.
For many pagans, 13 is alucky number, because it cor-responds with the number offull moons each year, says IvoDominguez Jr., owner of Bell,Book & Candle, a pagan andoccult book and gift shop inDover, Del.
While Friday the 13th canfeel special, it isn’t. In a 400-year period, the 13th falls ona Friday more than any otherday: 688 times, Fernsler says.
Fernsler has made it a hobby to finddates and events associated with thenumber 13, as well as Friday the 13th.The day has hosted some famous births,such as Fidel Castro and Butch Cassidy.
Dominguez argues Friday the 13thfears are “self-fulfilling prophecy,” add-ing there’s a “strong power in peopleconvincing themselves something un-lucky will happen.”
Paraskevidekatriaphobics,this is a bad year for youBy Wade MalcomThe (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal
13JAN.
APRIL
13
13JULY
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
NFL PLAYOFFSSCORES INSIDE $1.00T H E N A T I O N’S N E W S P A P E R
Eli Manning: Giants QB
Range Rover
